Thread: Am I the only one?

First of all I have only been straight razor shaving for a few weeks and I absolutety love it, wish my wiskers would grow faster so I could shave more often. Perhaps I am strange but I find the actual razor to be the least interesting part of the whole process. I find the brushes, soaps/creams, strops, and hones to be far more fascinating than the razors. Maybe it is the fact that as long as the razor is well made of proper Steele it is the other the other things plus the skill of the user that makes for a great shave. Perhaps in time my feelings will change. Does anybody else out there share these feelings or am I a freak?

Well, one could say "So long as X is good, the other factors play a greater role" and substitute anything for X - razor, lather, strop, honing, etc.

Personally, I enjoy the razors most. I also enjoy the act of honing (but don't have HAD). I don't like stropping at all; I have only one strop. I like different scents, but pretty much all my soap/cream comes from the same place. I have one brush, and don't really care to learn about other brushes unless someone who's opinion I really value specifically recommends me one.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Well, one could say "So long as X is good, the other factors play a greater role" and substitute anything for X - razor, lather, strop, honing, etc.

Personally, I enjoy the razors most. I also enjoy the act of honing (but don't have HAD). I don't like stropping at all; I have only one strop. I like different scents, but pretty much all my soap/cream comes from the same place. I have one brush, and don't really care to learn about other brushes unless someone who's opinion I really value specifically recommends me one.

You have a great point about basically all the factors
coming together to make a great shave. When I first started DE
shaving I went headlong into collecting razors and accumulated a couple dozen in a very short period of time. Then I started paying more attention to the blades I was using and came to the realization that the blades were a bigger factor in a comfortable shave than the razor. I'm sure eventually my interest in the actual straight razors will grow. Just right now I am spending more time exploring the other factors. Plus, nice razors are spendy!

I have one strop and one travel strop, one brush plus one travel brush and I've tired a handful of soaps. But I love those razors and my collection keeps growing. For me, the others are just necessities. The razor is the main course.

I find myself fascinated by the hones, and honing, and the razors. It's the challenge, I guess. Brushes, soaps, all that jazz, is just a means to an end: getting an incredible shave from a razor I honed. I can't control the soap, or the brush, but I can control the quality of the shave though the growth of my own skill. This is for me the real reward.

Oh great, I am a freak! Damn!

Don't worry, we're all freaks in one way or another.

Ok so I have only been doing this a few weeks myself and love it. My wife on the other hand thinks I now spend to much time shaving. I think she is a bit jealous of the alone time I get during my shave and that she wished the kids would leave her alone when she gets ready.

Anyway, the things I love about SR shaving is that when I go into take my shower and start getting my brush and soaps ready I know I am about to have at least 30 min of relaxation. I feel as though you are stepping back in time as well to a simpler time when things were not chaotic and as stressful and (cheesy quote coming up) when men were men.

I myself love the razor. The more I research them the more I like the different variations and companies. While doing research I found that there use to be a company that made razors out of Worcester MA the Torrey Razor Company. Being from the area I had to have one and now I do. I find that makes the shave a bit more personal as well. There is not many other things you can do where you can take a piece of history and effectively use it, as you can a razor. I do not know of many other products that work just as good today as they did 30 to 60 years ago as a SR does.

I enjoy making my own lather as well and not using canned goop as my own lather just feels better to me. I enjoy stropping and love how I am getting better at it every day.

I have never liked shaving and now if I miss a day of shaving I feel cheated and wish I could have that day back so I could get my shave. My shaves just keep getting better with each new shave.

The one thing that I don't like is the amount of money I am going to spend as now I have the SR bug and need to get more razors, strops, soaps, and anything else that is associated with SR shaving.

A bit long winded there but that is why I enjoy my new found love of SR shaving.

Its really down to whatever you get out of the hobby I think..!

I like razors and hones, and I enjoy honing. I quite like stropping as well, its just a relaxing procedure. I like to have different scents to use, but not I value the performance of the soap/cream more than the scent. The scent is kind of a bonus! If a product smelled great but performed badly I wouldnt like it.

I only have one brush as well, and no plans to get another. If I had a wood lathe I might be tempted to make a couple of handles myself but I like the one I have now and it works!

But if you enjoy a particular element of the hobby, then embrace that and explore it!

For me, the focus has shifted back and forth over the years. For a period the focus of interest will be the razors themselves, then it'll shift to making scales, then to honing, then to soaps, etc. That's the beauty of this "hobby" -- there's always something more to learn, which keeps us interested and involved.