Thread: Why do you shave with a straight?

So I have heard some stories about guys finding family razors or reminiscing about how they would watch the barber shave their dad, and this has gotten me thinking.
Why did you guys start shaving with a straight razor?

Mine all started with a bad case of razor burn and stubble. It wasn't on my face.

Well, in search for some sort of relief I did a search which resulted with this article
http://www.menessentials.com/oxid.ph...ght_razors.tpl

This really spiked my curiosity and so I started doing more research, I found Tony Miller on e-bay. Saved up a little, and here I am.

Who's next?

I documented some of the catalystic events for me in my blog last December. I think the real reason was that I wanted to save my money from Gillette. Sure I've spent a lifetime's worth on straights, but they'll last a lifetime too, or more. I was also real keen on the idea of saving hundreds if not thousands of disposables from going to the landfill. Of course, the reason I stick with it is the great shave and the sense of accomplishment. A Trak II never gave me that. Not once.

X

Yeah the "savings" was a big reason for me too. Didn't like the idea of spending a ton on something I was going to throw away.

Ahh Wordpress, good man good man.

I always thought it looked cool and was interesting to use, but used a 3 bladed gilette because I couldn't find a straight (this was pre internet).

My mother gave me a shavette when I was 18.
I used it for several years.
Then I bought a real straight that was never comfortable because it wasn't truly shave ready. After a month or 2 I switched to gilette.

Then half a year ago I rediscovered it when I was moving all sharp objects in the bathroom from the cupboard to an out-of-toddler-reach shelf.
My interest rekindled. I wanted to do it right this time so I serached on the internet for more information. I found this site, and the rest is history.

Incidentally, my wife really likes the fact that I shave with a straight because
- my face feels smooth for a longer period of time.
- stubble is not as sharp as with gilette.
- I shave more often because I actually like shaving now.

For the Zen of it.

I grew tired of the canned foam and asked my wife to buy me a soap & mug and brush for Christmas. That was a revelation, not because the lather was so much better (it was, of course!) but because I found myself really enjoying and relaxing during the lather-making process. It was a moment of calm in my bathroom, on my own. I didn't expect that.

Then a friend bought me the Anders Larsen book as a light-hearted joke to compliment the mug and brush my wife bought. I read that over the Christmas holidays and found myself thinking "If making lather can be so relaxing, maybe I should go the whole hog?"

Next thing I know I'm on the internet, reading this forum, researching what to buy.

So now I'm completely hooked. And it's not so much the quality of the shave (I'm still not proficient enough to beat my Mach 3, e.g. top lip), and it's not really the whole pampering thing (though I do admit to enjoying that too), and it's not the honing, stropping, pasting, etc. It's the TIME. To myself, on my own, in peace.

With two kids (4 and 1) and a four-hour commute to work and back everyday it can be challenging finding a moment to unwind. Shaving with a straight (and all its connected activity) does it for me in the best way. And at the end there is the satifaction of a tangible result.

(Even if it's not a good result, it's not disparaging. Like when a round of golf doesn't go well, or your soccer team plays badly that week... you take the rough with the smooth but the path there is always rewarding.)

Excuse me whil I go and meditate... Ommmmmmmmm.

I was attracted to straight razor shaving, for a bunch of reasons. Concern about the rising cost of cartidges and the waste I was creating with the empty cans and used mach 3 miter saws.
Then it just so happened that one of my friends said that he always wanted a cut throat, so I set out to get him one for christmas. I thought about it, and gave him a brewing kit (he's likely to lop off a finger, big goob).
Kept the shavette for myself and started to research via internet. Found the same article you did and then this forum. Now I'm hooked, even though I have much to learn.


"there is nothing manlier than shaving with a tool that can take your head clean off"

It all started when my friend was talking about wanting to get his father an "old style" razor (straight) - but he was disappointed b/c he was under the assumption that one needed a barber's license to purchase and use one. I was interested and started doing some research. It led me to the same mensessentials article Kentriv cited, as well as Dr. Christopher Moss's "The Art of the Straight Razor Shave". He cited the Yahoo group, which sent me here. I quickly joined and have been learning for approx. the last 2 months. I have made my initial purchases and am now enjoying learning the art - I am not yet "there", but learning something new everytime I pick up my straight or lather up.

Oh, yeah - as the name states, razorburn was a huge factor in wanting a smoother, less irritating shave!

I shave with a straight to save money. I looked at the cost of the Mach3 in a year and the straight razor that I bought off the forum cost less. A lot of times I would forget to buy new cartridges and have to shave with a dull cartridge which would cause me a lot of pain. Also since I usually don't have time to shave I have nice long wiskers that get caught between the blades of the M3 which make shaving more of a pain.

With the straight I get a closer shave so I don't have to shave as often. I also like trying different types of soaps and aftershaves which is driving my wife crazy because of the money I spend on it. I try to get samples before buying the product but she is embarassed to be with me when I do that.

I found the foam in a can to be really messy and like the brush application. I find it relaxes me and makes it a lot more enjoyable. I still have the M3 for when I am in a rush because shaving with the straight takes me about 30 minutes from stropping to washup but I keep my face properly shaved so I don't need it much since I started to use the straight.

More than 2 words.
History of shaving according to me

In the beginning:
Started out with Track II, Mach I w/ aerosol cremes. Shaved in the sink, every other day. Ingrown hairs, razor burn. Contributing author of the I hate to shave book
Next 30 years:
Tried various electrics, Not. Disposables, Not. Eventually moved to the shower to shave, methol-based shave creme and a heavy Track II handle with Merkur blades. Single pass shaver. Now sporting the GQ trimmed beard, moustache. Still shaving was an unplesant chore.
Epiphany
The cutlery shops aound Chicago, from which I bought Merkur Track II, closed. I e-wandered to Classic Shaving and talked to Ray DuPont (bless you Ray). His patience, knowledge and advice led me to soap, brush, DE razor and double pass shaving back in the sink. OMG. Shaving time became enjoyable, baby butt smooth skin, even fewer zits.
Ascention
Called Ray back for a supply refill and he suggested I might want to try str8s. I thought what a shrewd marketer. I just dropped $269 on the whiz-bang DE set and these straights seem to hit at $150. Ray, a razor merchant, suggested e-bay and his sharpening service (Lynn). I e-bayed a 5/8 round goldedge, a 5/8 square FWE special and a 5/8 Henkels. I sent them to Ray, who sent them to Lynn, who sent them back to me and life has not been the same.
Lynn sent me to Tony for a Latigo strop and it was all about the shave. Somewhere around hone time, it shifted from the shave to the perfect shave. So, from ebay came a Wonderedge, from Ray's daughter Danielle, a Dovo Bergisher Love w/ Lynn's DVD and from SRP a new way to channel a collecting compulsion.
Shaving Heaven
Don't know yet. I'm still en route. I've e-bayed out some stuff and e-bayed in more. I've picked up Norton hones, a travel and pasted strop, Shavemac travel brush, an ivory scaled W&B, an ivory tanged Boker Joe C. is rescaling for me (e-bay surprise). Colleens soap and creams and a B&B Finest Silvertip are on the way.
Straight razor shaving is a greater joy than a Cohiba and a 30 year-old single malt. I suspect my tools are better than my skills. I hope my skills grow and my collection doesn't. Although one of those galatic virgin badger brushes, a heavy custom Thiers or Maestro Damascus might just.....
Thanks Y'all all.
-DRazz

Wow, while your at it, I could use a....