Thread: What Was Your Inspiration To Straight Shave?

I was the best man in my friend's wedding, and for his groomsmen gift he gave us Merkur razors and a Van Der Hagen brush/mug/soap set. he still uses his, but it piqued my interest and between ebay and google I stumbled upon this site and bought a few razors, and well, here I am. And the friend who got me into it has rebuffed my attempts to get him to use a SR, but he is afraid of hurting himself. And he's a combat-tested F-16 pilot no less...

In my case, I was drawn to straight razors by nostalgia: My grandfather was a barber, and I spent many hours hanging out in his shop as a little kid. And he continued using straights for his own shaving long after he retired. The man could put an edge on his razors that were scary sharp!

He passed away while I was assigned overseas, and no one knew what happened to his shaving gear. So I always yearned for a way to regain a bit of him.

And I also got tired of paying for cartridges.

Years ago, my brother and I were discussing what we had done together and what we wanted to do in the near future, something we often did during our winter "off season". During the discussion my brother commented, "I'd like to learn to shave with a straight razor". That didn't seem to much of a stretch given we were lifetime DE shavers. Thanks to the Internet, research went surprisingly quick.

Orders were made, supplies arrived, and I worked out all the details for a satisfactory SR shave. On a trip to said brother, I showed him all I knew, which didn't take long. We found that his bicep was sufficiently large enough from bodybuilding in his formative years that he could not maintain control of the SR long enough for a complete shave without risking a cramp. We laughed, he stretched, and we avoided another "incident" that we are famous for. He thanked me for all the supplies, kept the shave brush, soaps and creams and returned to shaving with his Merkur Progress and Feather blades. Me? I shave with a SR at every opportunity. It's a great way to start the day!