Thread: Which Shavette should I get

I disagree. I just started and literally got the cheapest shavette I could find (7 bucks). I takes Derby blades and I just had my 4the shave with it. It's AWESOME, I am getting BBS shaves and am really enjoying it. Never thought shaving could be this pleasant.

I got 2 straights on the way but in the meantime a shavette is a great way to experiment cheaply. The SRP wiki suggest it's harder to shave with a shavette than a str8 but I have no reference material and therefore the shavette doesn't raise any issues with me. I do still cut myself (2 nicks just now) but they are superficial and heal quickly. Don't worry, nicks dont hurt

Don't be afraid, experiment

Gr. Skyer

Starting out straight shaving and wanting to dabble in it, I have no regrets going the disposable straight razor route first. They still come in handy when I travel and every now and then I rotate them in for a nice BBS shave. I also learned all my techniques and shaving strokes on them.

I benefited a lot from this experience and it didn't stop me from investing the bigger money into nice traditional straights. This experience gave me a lot of insight into the performance details of the traditional straights: how sharp is sharp and were my stropping efforts making an impact, the feel of a good/poor performing razor, and having something to compare it's performance. Not to mention, I converted a handful of friends by letting them use my disposable straights as a trial and all of them then decided to buy into the traditional straights and accessories. There was no way I was going to hand over to them any of my traditional straight razors.

Some people just need to dabble a bit before going all in and that is their comfort zone and disposable straights fit the bill.

Pabster

I use my Parker SR1 with a Feather blade and I really love it. I used to use conventional straights and enjoyed them very much but my hands and arms wont let me do any more daily stropping. I purchased my Parker from this place Shop for Men's Shaving and Skincare Products - Geo F. Trumper Taylor of Old Bond Street Merkur Razors Proraso Savile Row Speick Tabac Musgo Real QED Soaps and it is well built out of stainless steel and aluminum and only cost $12.95
Mark

I'm happy with my Parker disposable blade SR.

More here:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...ber-razor.html

Originally Posted by Ulrich

I'm happy with my Parker disposable blade SR.

More here:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...ber-razor.html

So am I to understand the Parker models are the best? I see several of there models, I would like to know which one would be the best. And What blades should I use, will it matter?

Also what creams would you recommend?

Thanks everyone.

Originally Posted by straightnoob

So am I to understand the Parker models are the best? I see several of there models, I would like to know which one would be the best. And What blades should I use, will it matter?

Also what creams would you recommend?

Thanks everyone.

I've only tried the razors pictured in the post I linked, so I can't promise that Parkers, are best. But, I'm very happy with mine. My Parker has a nice weight and feel. The blade is held securely between two 1.25mm thick pieces of steel. I use Derby 1/2 blades, and am happy with them. 100 for $5 at the local barber supply. (Groom-it Industries)

Originally Posted by straightnoob

Hello everyone,
Im looking for a good Shavette to see if a straight razor might be for me.
In my time browsing the forms Ive heard there not the same, feel sharper, and so on but I see 3 main factors.

1. Price $30 vs. $180
2. No services such as sharpening/honing needed
3. No Strop needed $50-100

I figured it best to start with one of these to see if I would prefer straight blade shaving.

If anyone would recomend a good shavete, ive seen these would like to know your opinions.
Amazon.com: dovo shavette straight razor - Health & Personal Care
Also what blades would you recomend? are the cheap Derbys fine?

and last but not least would anyone recomend a good shaving cream, gel,oil etc that they would recomend.

Thanks for your help

I saw a Dovo Shavette in stainless steel for $25 shipped in the Buy/Sell/Trade forum in Badger and Blade (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=153610). A new one costs around $30 + shipping.

In other words, don't spend a lot of money if you need to satisfy your curiousity. For reasons described below I'm discouraging the purchase of the Shavette if true straight razor shaving is what you want to try.

I haven't read the other posts in this thread, but I can tell you that shaving with a straight razor blade and shaving with a Shavette are two different animals.

I tried the Shavette to see if it would be a suitable way to travel and still straight shave without the stropping and honing, and I learned that you have to stay in practice after you get the hang of it to avoid getting cut up. So I will probably either take the strop with me on trips and straight shave or take my DE razor.

My recommendation is that you can't try straight shaving unless you shave with a real straight razor. Go to the Classified section of this site and look for a good starter razor from a seller who has used it, gets great shaves from it, but has decided it's collecting dust and it's time to move it. By starter razor I mean one that works like a razor should but isn't a collectors item for less than $100.

That's what my experience tells me. I'm very new at this (3 months) but have become a competent shaver with the straight.

For me, it made sense to start out with a Magic Shaver and a 5-pack of Personna blades from Sally Beauty Supply, for which I spent about $15. I'm glad I did that, though I think I had bought my first straight from the classifieds here before the first week was out. I needed to find out if I was going to be able to shave this way without cutting myself to pieces before throwing down the bones for a couple of good straights and a good strop--it's really different from what most of us have been used to. I'm travelling on business right now, so I've got my twin-blade along, and shaving with that thing takes about 5 minutes and I don't have to think about it. I've done 6 straight shaves now, and things just keep improving, but I don't think I'd have made the progress I've made as quickly if I hadn't started out with the Magic Shaver. For one thing, there's no stropping with that thing, so you can just focus on learning how to get your angles right, how to take up traction so your skin's taut, how to adjust your grip and how to shave with your non-dominant hand. When the blade gets dull, you'll know, and you can just pop the other half in and away you go. I'll say this: I found it much easier to shave without cutting myself with a straight than with the Magic Shaver. But for learning the basics without having to stress about whether I was stropping correctly and damaging the blade, it was the way to go. So I'd recommend it, but you can do it for a lot cheaper than the Shavette.

If you want an all in one kit.. there is a seller on Etsy who I will recommend as his blades are shave ready and he includes a simple strop similar to a Filly that makes a good first one to practice with. Here is a link to a Torrey he has up right now.

JR Torrey straight razor by subetealabici on Etsy[]=tags&includes[]=title