Thread: Could it be a wedge is the best way to learn?

I think a 1/2 hollow 5/8 is an ideal 1st razor. Not too big for under the nose, hollow in chin, hollows on neck - and not too flexy for beginner technique. After your technique improves, I think a full hollow or extra hollow shaves nicer. The extra sound leads to a lighter pressure automatically in my experience. I think some extra hollows are too flexy for extra coarse or extra thick or extra swirly beards though - at least until you have a whole lot of experience. Shaving with a more flexy extra hollow definitely improved my angles and direction I approached certain patches of stubble on my face. The technique that yielded very close shaves and no irritation with a full hollow yielded irritation and extra close shaves with the extra hollow. A couple of weeks later, my technique had improved, and then the extra hollow was irritation free too (and the shave was a little bit closer). Unfortunately, any small mistake in angle or approach path leads to flexing which causes irritation. So I decided full hollow was best for my thick shafted and swirly beard

I find that it's easier to get a BAD, nick free shave from a wedge than from a full hollow, which is why beginners like them. The don't get nicked, but they don't get a BBS shave either. To get a BBS shave from a wedge takes precision beyond a full hollow IMHO. The feedback is so subtle from a wedge that when I go back to a full hollow the feedback is like sensory overload! I can now get a BBS shave from my Wacker wedge with full mental concentration. I can get a BBS shave from any of my 1/2 to full hollows without even trying!

Gentlemen: In the beginning all my razors were the various degrees of a hollow grind. As time went on, though, I discovered a preference for the heavier grinds, not because they were easier to shave with, but because they seemed to suit my heavy beard and exceptionally sensitive skin better. Not only that, but I also like razors with the heavier blades for the way they hug my Hollywood face. With some exception, the razors I have bought for the past year or so have been in the heavier grinds.

I sort of agree, sort of disagree with you there carazor! I feel I can get a near effortless bbs shave with my W&B, but transition between that and my extra full hollow TI....ya thats not fun! End up using too much pressure or being just plain lackadaisical on technique! its like going from driving a Hummer h2 to a ferrari! same principal different techniques...

I don't know if I'd say one is better than the other, but when I first started shaving I had both a hollow and a wedge. The hollow, for me, was harder to use (didn't know why then and don't remember why now). I'd get nicked every which way. Thinking back, I think it's because I didn't have a light enough touch. With the wedge this wasn't so much a problem, I suppose, because I needed the slight bit of extra force to move the heavier blade. On the hollow, however, it was just way too much so perhaps the razor ended up skipping all over the place. The downside to this was, and still is, that the heavier wedge will cut skin bumps more easily than a hollow, so a rookie would need to know/learn that.

After shaving with the wedge pretty much exclusively for a long time, I went back to the hollow, and it much, much easier to use and get a nice smooth shave. So maybe your hypothesis is correct? Or partially correct? As always, there are many ways to practice and learn a skill that lead to the same end result.