Thread: Need a Shavette I think :(

I was looking at my small collection of razors the other day realizing that I just cant imagine loosing any of them because they are so hard to find or replace. I travel a lot as many of you know, and when I fly I am debating bringing a shavette because if I lose that I dont really care, but if I lose my bag with a straight not only do I lose that I also loose a nice Tony Miller strop.

Anyway, if I can get over the thought that I am cheating and its not really shaving with a straight razor I may buy one. Any suggestions as to what I should buy???

I have got the same dilema . I got a focus blade razor from The Gentlemans Shop in the UK.WWW.Gentlemans Shop.co.uk. Iwas going to by a Dovo shevete But Charlote (she owns the shop with her Husband) put me onto the focus razor as the blade is held securely in it & doesn't float about like the Dovo. Its very light but you do get good shaves with it. Her Husband uses the same razor to shave the customers with.I believe that is in use by a lot of barbers in the UK.Paul

Just get a cheaper travel straight for traveling, and as for losing your TM strop ... it wouldn't be the first time.

X

Originally Posted by xman

Just get a cheaper travel straight for traveling, and as for losing your TM strop ... it wouldn't be the first time.

X

LOL I know, but I have too many hobbies to run out and buy another strop...I need money for other things! Besides...strops arent cheap. Plus that would mean that on many trips if I brought a shavette I wouldnt have to check my luggage. I thought about a cheap straight....but that still leaves me with my strop issue...although I could just use a belt....I have done that before.

I think the feathers are 'the shit' of the disposable straight world. A Feather RG (western or japanese style) can be had for about $80 shipped and the DX version (again western or japanese style) can be had for about $165 shipped. I really don't see a difference between the RG and DX. Sometimes i think of picking one of these up, just for varieties sake and because it's out there.

Wait i found the difference:

The "Artist Club RG" model is cast in Solid Brass and plated in Satin Finished Chromium.
The "Artist Club DX" model is precision machined from Solid 316 Stainless Steel and Satin Finished

I second the nod toward the Feather Artists club (DX if your wallet can take the hit).

The form-factor will keep you convinced it's still a straight razor. It's blades are really superb enough that you wont feel you're compromising your shave. And if you lose it, there are still plenty to buy anywhere you look.

I personally now throw a USPS priority envelope in my suitcase with my billing account info addressed to my house when I travel. I've lost a few too many things I didn't even realize were illegal to bring on a plane with me at the airport security, and having a way to ship it via mail is always handy when the friendly agent tells me I can't travel with cologne/sunscreen/swiss-army keychain knife/etc.

Just a thought on the feather: I doubt it's easy to come by the blades in shops when travelling seeing as you can't bring them on the plane (unless you check-in) and the DE blades for the shavette are on sale everywhere. Also, losing a 15-$20 shavette will hurt less than the $80-$100 feather!

i've just heard bad things about the shavetter like the blade wiggling and such. you might as well just hold the DE blade in your hand (i've done it before). There, i just saved you $30 and no need to worry about losing something.

I have a Feather AC - that I like very much, but wouldn't want to lose while travelling.

I have a Dovo Shavette (stainless model) that I bought just 'cause (got it used for $18 shipped) and because I'm hoping that this will be a good travel razor (its still in shipping, so I can't comment on how the thing shaves - I'll let you know after I've tried it). I've also heard the stainless model is better balanced than the one with the plastic handle.

Another brand that's been reviewed are the Sanguine shavette-style razors - there's a couple of reviews over on B&B. Also, Joel at B&B did a short comparison between the Dovo stainless shavette and the Feather AC - and he said good things about the Dovo.

As for the comments about loose blades, I've used cheape shavettse-style razors (as does my barber) without any blade looseness, so would be surprized if the Dovo versions had this type of problem - again, professional barbers use these all the time and wouldn't if they didn't stand up.

I'm going to try mine with the red holder and 1/2 DE blade, as these are the only blades you can reliably get just about anywhere.

So, while YMMV and all the other disclaimers, you could do worse than a Shavette or similar style razor - there's lots of guys out there who've received fantastic shaves from professoinal barbers using one of these things.

Here's a related thread: LINK I don't remember much trouble with the blade moving around or anything like that, but I think that's because I took a pair of needle-nose pliers and very gently squeezed (squoze?) the sides of the blade holder together, so that the plastic blade caddy was held very firmly.

Oh, and as I recall, it was member mparker who pointed out that one of the Schick injector-cartridge blades fits the Feather DX quite well, but I don't remember which one.

-denis