Thread: Why do you shave with a straight?

I'm the sort of person (in his mid 30s) who writes with an antique fountain pen on cotton rag stationery, fishes with a cane fly rod, owns a 40 year old car and skippers a 46 year old 40ft wooden John Alden yawl. Oh, and I really like a good single malt, but that's another story.

I found that my mind was in a Zen place sailing an old and characterful boat to Brittany (out of sight from land and alone on the water) and particularly when I was casting that fly rod on a small stream going after that wild brown trout I could see but not get to rise to my fly. You can't think about anything but the moment or it all goes to pieces (for me anyway) and I wanted another way to create it - at least more frequently that I get to go sailing and fly fishing!

It's another way to take time in an increasingly hectic world. Don't get me wrong, the modern world has plenty offer, some of which is a vast improvement on the way we used to do things (medicine, communications; to name a couple) it's just that shaving isn't one of them.

It started when a member of the herfersparadise cigar forum told me that the way to shaving perfection was to use a str8. The yahoo group and some research led me to enjoying the best shaves ever. It helps that I have a trimmed beard & mustache to reduce the shaving area, but none of my other shaving implements (DE, injectors, Gem, etc) leave me stubble-free for as long as any str8 shave. The hardest part about the shave now, is deciding which blade/soap/cream/brush combo to use that day.


Wayne

Because it's a little difficult and it takes skill to do it correctly. You can't take pride in using a cartridge razor.



Justin

Originally Posted by jaegerhund

Because it's a little difficult and it takes skill to do it correctly. You can't take pride in using a cartridge razor.

I thought it was because your family would beat the living snot out of you for doing anything deemed unmanly.

Originally Posted by Scrapyard Ape

I thought it was because your family would beat the living snot out of you for doing anything deemed unmanly.

That might be true too --my sisters use straights to shave their beards also.
Actually, I come from a great family -- a little old school and that's alright by me.

Justin

I like the straight because I get a nice strong satisfaction of keeping a fine blade wicked sharp and then following it up with a wicked shave. Shaving with a straight is just plain classy and full of character.

I like to be able to control my own blade sharpness. I prefer smooth edges over the hyper sharp rough edges of the DE blade.

I am also enamored with the idea of learning the "art" of straight shaving.

Finally, I have this weird quirky feeling that DE blades will sky rocket in price one day. I can imagine a worldwide steel shortage one day.