Thread: I got a question on youtube

When I read the OP he joined here in Sept. 2011 so I'm assuming that's when he started with a straight. He has 6 he bought from SRD, so I don't know why he would need to use stones at all at this point. I use one razor and I have no desire to purchase stones at all, as I don't need them. My maintenance is with a barber's hone once a month that takes about 2 minutes to use, and I use a CROX pasted balsa once a week and that is about 5 minutes of my time. With stropping pre and post shave that adds about 5-10 minutes to my daily routine, so long story short maintaining a razor takes all of 20-30 minutes a week. You seriously need to cut back on some other stuff in your life if that is too much time for you. I think the word "novelty" is key in the post, as he was just trying it out of curiosity instead of making a commitment to master the shave with the blade.

I used a DE for a year and a half before I made the jump to straights and it took less than 20 shaves to end up with closer and smoother shaves than I ever got with the safety razor. The actual shave time is shorter for me with a straight also.

It's a perfectly logical perspective, until they discontinue the Mach 3. Then what? For me it was the two bladed Sensor. That was the near perfect shave for me (from Gillette). But, eventually they decided they weren't making enough money and needed to charge more for each blade. How do you charge more for each blade and also ensure that the blades don't last any longer? That's right, you put them all in order behind the first.

What I really like is that single blade they put on the back side of some of those cartridges. Now, the floppy handle thing has me a little confused, but if you were marketing razors to a group of people that didn't have wrists, those would be perfect.

Wouldn't it be intersting though if the key to all of this happiness you get from a Mach 3 wasnt' the floppy head, or the multiple blades, but as you suspect just the sharpness? Wouldn't it also be cool if the sharpness were just a simple problem or oversight in your blade preparation? Wouldn't it be funny if I showed up at your house, rubbed my hand along your strop and said "Oh, no, that isn't right, that will never work your blade".

To me it sounds like the whole problem is rooted in producing the ultimate in sharpness and the problem is hovering somewhere over your strop . . . but that is just me.

Just my two cents,

I've been straight razor shaving for about four months now and I'm pretty much at the point that compared to disposables its almost indistinguishable the amount of time I spend shaving. Probably a one and a half multiplier as compared to disposable. I strop as I watch tv.

For me (my frequency) I did a quick calc and in fifty years if disposable prices stay constant and they won't, I will have spent five thousand dollars in disposables compared to say five hundred on my straight setup. And I get a better shave. Yeah I think its worth it.

Hey dude...

As compared to Straights, Mach 3 is not a safety razor. A safety razor uses a single blade like a straight razor but has a safety bar so you are forced to angle it to your face before the blade will make contact with your skin. This was an improvement on the old straight razor which was literally just a blade against your skin.

The safety razor is what your grandfather likely shaved with before the invention of the cartridge razor. I have tried most everything I can think of. I have tried electric vs. straight razor. Electric is good, but doesn't get a close enough shave. I would like it closer. I shave in the shower with a mirror, and let the warm water soak on my face and neck before beginning.

Regards,
Andrea

I'm glad we got all that cleared up.

Originally Posted by yohimnbe2

A mach 3 is no hobby at all.

Exactly.

Comparing scraping your beard off with a mach3 vs having a shave with a straight razor seems to me like comparing a deer hunting trip vs a trip to walmart to pick up some sausages. There's basically nothing to compare, in either example.
It also seems to me if you're posting a straight razor shave on youtube you are portraying yourself as a hobbyist to the audience and should expect questions like these.

Anyways, I do think gssixgun put it pretty accurately in his why bother post. To each his own I guess.

Best of luck.

Originally Posted by Knife

For me (my frequency) I did a quick calc and in fifty years if disposable prices stay constant and they won't, I will have spent five thousand dollars in disposables compared to say five hundred on my straight setup. And I get a better shave. Yeah I think its worth it.

Why did you have to say that? I thought I was splurging when I got a couple of Harts and Revisors. Now that I know it was just a drop in the bucket I'll have to fight my RAD hard, knowing that I can spend another $4000 and still break even!
The Horror!

I fail to see the point of this thread at all. "Use a mach 3, they are better than a straight" - on a forum dedicated to straight razors? Sorry, I forgot the last part: "unless you have the time to commit to learning the art". You mean, like pretty much everyone on this forum has or is doing?

So what you are actually saying is that straights are better, but hey, if you can't be bothered just settle for second best? What a tremendous message.

James.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

I fail to see the point of this thread at all. "Use a mach 3, they are better than a straight" - on a forum dedicated to straight razors? Sorry, I forgot the last part: "unless you have the time to commit to learning the art". You mean, like pretty much everyone on this forum has or is doing?

So what you are actually saying is that straights are better, but hey, if you can't be bothered just settle for second best? What a tremendous message.

James.

Now I disagree with the assesment that a Mach 3 would be second best. A DE or SE is second/third best to using a straight. IMO, a Mach 3 does not even make my list of alternative methods to shaving.

Originally Posted by yohimnbe2

No argument from me all....this is a cool hobby. If you have time to learn the stones, strops, pastes, and shaving technique, you'll love it. I just have too many others. A mach 3 is no hobby at all.

For some of us, it is indeed a hobby where we can 'check out' from everything, if even just for a little while, and spend some time focused on us. Where most of our time is spent in school, working, rearing kids, or whatever, it is nice to be able to get away and provide for our own tactile therapy.

But, for even a smaller portion of us, it is more than just a hobby or a more cost-effective way to do the morning ritual (read-double edge). It is an expression of rebellion. Not a rebellion against authority, but a firm resistance against our current fast-food culture and plastic character. I've been accused of being a 'hipster', yet that indictment brings to mind a nauseating image of the uber-vain and supremely effiminate metrosexual that loves to wax philosophically about that which he knows little.

I like things that are handmade, sturdy, quality, and manly. I appreciate those that understand this. I shake my fist at those charging $10 for a pack of disposables. I will learn to throw a tomahawk.