Thread: How long has it been?

Last night I was shaving and happened to think about the last time I used a disposable cartridge razor. It has been 2 years. I will say it hasnt been the most pleasant 2 years of shaving, a lot of cuts along the way. But, in the long run I am glad I started using a straight. I no long have to deal with the discomfort of razor burn I use to experience. I now take pride in shaving pespecially now, that I am learning the art of the shave. I guess i could ramble on about this, but back to the question.

How long has it been, since your transition to a straight?

Five months, and I've never looked back.

I started shaving VERY infrequently last year (like every couple of months) with a cartridge razor. My frequency of shaving increased towards the second half of 2009, and I continued to use a cartridge razor. Finally fed up with the cuts, nicks and....lord...all kinds of other crap I had to put up with....I gave up.

Come the new year, I decided to look into safety-razor shaving. I had watched nearly all of Mantic59's videos and the method of shaving displayed therein looked very relaxing and comfortable and pleasant. And it was done with a solid piece of steel, not a flimsy piece of plastic.

I found myself some blades, a blade-sharpener and a razor and had a shot. From the new year until August, that was how I shaved. But then one day in August I was at the local flea-market and found my mind wandering over straight razors. By this time I had already done a lot of reading about straight razors, but I hadn't yet taken the plunge. I wasn't sure if I would ilke it.

Hell, I decided to bite the bullet and see what happened. I approached the fellow at the market who sells almost every kind of blade imaginable, from chisels to daggers to pocket-knives to letter-openers. I asked him if he had any straight razors. Being the blade afficianado that he was, he had six. I looked over them and finally selected a nice solid steel razor (incl. scales) that looked clean, in good condition and easy to look after. I paid $35 for it.

I never looked back.

With no 'formal training', with no professional help (honing, for example), I took a completely unshaveworthy razor, honed it myself, stropped it (on a belt) and started shaving. It took some trial and error and a bit of leg-and-arm-shaving experimenting, but I eventually figured out the right angle and optimum sharpness. Two weeks after I started I was getting satisfactory shaves.

That was about three months ago. I'm still straight shaving daily today, and the shaves have continued to be excellent, provided I keep my razors (I now have two) in good order. My recent purchase of a hanging strop has made stropping much easier than on a paddle strop (which is what I used previously).

My transition started many years ago, but only came to completion about 6 months ago. This was when I made the small step over the line and dived in head first. I have used a M3 for two shaves since and regretted both, as they were the poorest shaves I've had since seeing the light.


Mick

11 months. And I think I'm getting close to figuring out how much more there is to learn / refine.

2 or 3 months ago but im still a noob. I gave away my mach 3 a few weeks ago. No desire to ever go back

I started in Feb 2008, so just over 2.5 years ago.

Unfortunatley I travel for work and am not inclined to pack up my Str8 stuff. I use a multiblade when I travel just for simplicity. In the last 10 months I have used 4 multiblade razors.
As far as saving money with Str8's is concerned.......

I reckon it's been about 8 years or so maybe a little more. I started using straights on weekends only and when I retired 7 years ago switched to straights full time though I also use a DE when I'm pressed for time.

I can't find the email receipt, so it must have been pre-2003 when I started shaving with my straight, I have had cause to use disposable blades during that time when I have been travelling etc.