Thread: Safety vs Straight

I'm not sure if I have posted in the right place so feel free to move it if necessary.

A while back I bought my first safety razor, I listened to the advice of some of the guys here and bought a Rockwell 6c, I use Nacet blades on #4.

I have used it quite a lot because I wanted to get proficient with it.

My experience is that I can get 7 days from a blade, because my whiskers are quite soft compared to a lot of you.

I get a really close and very comfortable shave with it and if I'm feeling lazy it's great, but my straight gives me a slightly closer shave.

Although close, when shaving with my de I need to shave the following day but with a straight I stay smooth longer and only need to shave every other day.

The long and short of it is that my de is quicker but I have to shave twice as often, my straights take longer and involve more work but I don't need to shave as often so it's probably swings and roundabouts.

Yeah, I use both and they definitely have their pros/cons. I wasn't familiar with the Rockwell 6c with interchangeable base plates. I'll have to keep that in mind. Part of what keeps me from trying new safety razors is they are non-adjustable or you have to buy plates separately. I use an adjustable Gillette Slim. If you ever want to give an adjustable, twist to open razor a try, it is a good option.

I have to say, safety razors scare the pants off of me. I have a hard time judging the angle and where the blade is. I recently got a Hawk V2. It is ver aggressive, but I find it easier to judge the blade and angle, and have used it several times since I got it. I like it, but think it’s probably not a great choice for beginners to wet shaving.

There are a few adjustables on the market. They can be dialed down on the last pass to help get an even smoother finish. Safety razors are fun. I enjoy trading off and using all types of razors. Its just part of the fun of a collector to be able to use them all proficiently.

Originally Posted by JP5

Yeah, I use both and they definitely have their pros/cons. I wasn't familiar with the Rockwell 6c with interchangeable base plates. I'll have to keep that in mind. Part of what keeps me from trying new safety razors is they are non-adjustable or you have to buy plates separately. I use an adjustable Gillette Slim. If you ever want to give an adjustable, twist to open razor a try, it is a good option.

I have a twist to open (butterfly) de, it's not adjustable but I did cut myself with it once. It seems that the way I was holding it let it open just enough that the blade was able to move as I shaved.

The Rockwell 6c comes with 3 double sided baseplates giving 6 settings, I started with #3 but tried both #4 and #5. I settled on #4

Originally Posted by RezDog

I have to say, safety razors scare the pants off of me. I have a hard time judging the angle and where the blade is. I recently got a Hawk V2. It is ver aggressive, but I find it easier to judge the blade and angle, and have used it several times since I got it. I like it, but think it’s probably not a great choice for beginners to wet shaving.

I know what you mean. I didn't find my first try of a safety razor scary but it did feel like I wasn't shaving. I was actually but it was sort of too smooth, I like to feel like I'm shaving.

I figured out the angle now and I can actually feel the blade against my face but I don't use the most aggressive setting and although I would like to try a really aggressive razor, I'm not sure i would like it.

Maybe I should have a shave with my Rockwell set on #6 to see what it feels like.

I have both a Rockwell 6S and a 6C and use both with the #6 base plate. To be honest, I have never tried the other base plates as I knew from past experience I like aggressive DEs. I shave every day and do a 4 pass shave just as I did with a straight razor. I have found the Rockwell razors shave as close and the shave lasts as long as it did when I used straight razors. I can also say the same for several other aggressive DEs that I have. When I get my carpal tunnel fixed, I'll have my straight razors back in the rotation. I enjoy the process of shaving with a straight razor more and being retired a quick shave does not enter the equation much. The exception to that is when I travel and do not what to carry all the extra gear a straight razor would entail. Just to add, I never have had a long lasting close shave with a mild DE.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

I have both a Rockwell 6S and a 6C and use both with the #6 base plate. To be honest, I have never tried the other base plates as I knew from past experience I like aggressive DEs. I shave every day and do a 4 pass shave just as I did with a straight razor. I have found the Rockwell razors shave as close and the shave lasts as long as it did when I used straight razors. I can also say the same for several other aggressive DEs that I have. When I get my carpal tunnel fixed, I'll have my straight razors back in the rotation. I enjoy the process of shaving with a straight razor more and being retired a quick shave does not enter the equation much. The exception to that is when I travel and do not what to carry all the extra gear a straight razor would entail. Just to add, I never have had a long lasting close shave with a mild DE.

Bob

That's interesting Bob. I wonder if #4 is too mild, even though I get a close shave.

I'm going to go for it and try the #6, maybe I'll will last longer between shaves. I did shave everyday with a straight to begin with but as I got better with it just don't need to anymore, I don't go that much anyway and every other day keeps looking pretty enough.

Originally Posted by STF

That's interesting Bob. I wonder if #4 is too mild, even though I get a close shave.

I'm going to go for it and try the #6, maybe I'll will last longer between shaves. I did shave everyday with a straight to begin with but as I got better with it just don't need to anymore, I don't go that much anyway and every other day keeps looking pretty enough.

Shave the way you are comfortable with and not necessarily how someone else shaves. Nothing wrong with a little experimentation thrown in now and then too. Not everyone one experiences the same end result when shaving the same way as others.

Bob

Of course, there's no shave as aggressive as a straight razor so hopefully an aggressive DE shouldn't be too much of a problem for me imho.