Thread: Why a straight razor?

1- It is the proper traditional way to shave as practiced by our forefathers & is or was being lost as an art

2- You have to learn how to do it. Cursing only leads to bleeding

3- It gives you some you-time & it feels great both during & after the ritual.

4- I get the best shave I have ever had, it lasts longer & tells me that I am doing something that, because it uses traditional materials, does not add to the tonnes being sent to landfill every day.

5- It is damn cool doing something every day that most guys are scared of. Even though we know it is only dangerous if you do not know what you are doing.

My straights are no PITAs let me tell you that. They deliver me the best shaves of my life every time. So I have to take care of the edge, so what? I'm disciplined enough for that.

X

I got into straight razor shaving after i got fed up buying cartridge blades. A few bucks a blade and I could only get 3 or 4 shaves out of a blade. I knew there had to be another way...

I started with a safety razor spending about 8 cents a blade and getting a WAY better shave. I then moved on to a shavette and now am on a full fledged straight razor.

I find it relaxing to pull my razor across the strop before every shave and actually take a few extra minutes to get a great, respectable shave. It forces you to slow life down for a little while and taste the simpler times and refine a skill that many think is lost.

And yes, it is nice to share the art with people when the see my straight for the first time, nobody really cares about a cartridge razor....

My father taught me how to shave with a straight, as did his father. My father used straights and a safety razor his whole life, and on a weekly basis went to see Mr Zartuchi (our town barber) for a barber shave. I came back to them because I enjoyed the memories and wanted a tradition to pass along to my son. After getting away from shaving a "traditional" way, my learning curve was big.

You are correct that they can be a pain in the backside, however, this is what really draws them to me. Men in general are hunters. They look for challenges, and figure out ways to overcome them. I enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to do it better next time, the challenge of reducing my learning curve.

As to the straights being more expensive than disposable cartridge razors, I would say that in the long run straights are cheaper. The problem that I, and from what I have read others, have is that we continually feed our addiction. We buy more razors than we need, more soaps, and so on. At the ground floor of the argument though if we could limit ourselves to what we need to get a great shave, that cost would over time be more efficient than buying a disposable Gillette.

Shaving with a straight does take long and is more involved than a cartridge razor. But grilling a sirloin and baking a nice potato is also different than going to McDonalds and getting fries and a burger. Belly still full? Yup. Meat and potatoes? Yup. But totally different! I don't do it for "kudos", because no one in my house even cares how I shave. Very few of my friends/co-workers know that's how I shave either. The ones that do know don't care and they think I'm a bit touched anyway. I have never had a cleaner shave, nor has my face been more free of ingrown hairs, razor burn, and the little white pustules associated with disposables and electrics. Every time I shave I look in the mirror and inwardly think that I just shaved the way it's been done for who knows how long. And then I realize I didn't cut my throat or fillet myself. Sweet. I do it because the quality is unmatched and I like old ways of doing things. Wood burning stoves, steel and walnut guns, casting bullets, cast iron cooking etc. etc.

I've been straight shaving for about 9 weeks now. I think I've hit a turning point. The point where the downsides of straight shaving aren't significant any more, yet the benefits and pleasures remain.

The only real downside is the time I take, typically 30-40 minutes. But that is by choice. Recently I've forced myself to shave faster a few times, just to see how it went. So for example, I've shaved with minimal equipment ( just soap, brush, blade.) I've done fewer passes. Or I've used shaving oil instead of lather. Results have all been good, my shaves were acceptable and quick.

And I still get a perverse pleasure from looking down at the blade and seeing the vast amount of stubble in the lather than has been swept off so easily. It's something to do with purging yourself of something you don't want, it satisfies an innate human need to improve yourself and gives immediate feedback that generates great satisfaction. You just don't get that from a cartridge razor or even a DE.