Thread: Str8 seems less likely to nick then a DE

This morning I used my new Stelho stainless that I bought from Mr Barence. This was my second str8 shave so far. My shave was uneventful as to cuts or nicks, so far so good. Then I decided to clean it up a little on the hard places like my upper lip and around the chin with my DE. Almost right away I nicked myself on my upper lip with the DE. I don't know if I just got too careless after sucessfully navigating around my face with the str8, but I thought that the flimsy safety blade set just a little too deep has a tendency to twist and warp inside the DE head and nick. I'm thinking now that a str8 properly used will nick you less because the blade is more substantial and will ride straight against your face. What do you think? Shaving with a str8 is still more difficult, still trying to figure out how to hold the blade. You really have to respect that blade

The technique is much different. I use a touch of pressure with the straight but none with my safety razors. That's because the DE blades are sharper overall than straight blades (and I'm making my comparison based on a straight that was made shave-ready by someone with experience).

Pressure makes the DE blade shave skin. That leads to irritation, razor burn, etc. No pressure at all will give you an amazing shave. Let the weight of razor do the work. I set my Gillette adjustables to 9 and beyond, which creates blade exposure that requires me to fully support the weight of the razor and use careful touches to remove my beard. The shaves are top notch, but attention to technique is critical.