Thread: Deciding between Shaver and Shavette

Originally Posted by kobefan

1) What would you do if you were on a budget and weren't sure if this was your thing?

You buy the best edge you can afford and trade off cosmetic imperfections including pitting and tarnish for better quality steel. And just as important you make sure that the edge is as good as it can be, i.e. it has to be honed, tested, and vetted by somebody with the experience to do so.
Basically if the money is an issue you cannot afford to make bad decisions, so any corner you cut should be of no significance to function, and you should put as much money as possible to ensure the stuff that matters, i.e. the edge is as good as you can get.

Originally Posted by kobefan

2) What brand would you recommend of either a replaceable or permanent blade?

A vintage brand that nobody has heard about, so that you don't have to pay for 'brand'. Pay for the expertise of the honemeister and you may even get a razor that shaves as good as the best brands while still in your budget.

Originally Posted by kobefan

3) What else would I need and where would be the best place to get the stuff? I prefer buying online because I doubt I can find anything good around me. I'm in Southern California, if that helps.

The classifieds on this site and the websites of the vendors who don't use the classifieds are your best bet. After that it depends only on how good you are at figuring out who's really good, who's pretty good, and who's fine.


As far as your TI razor goes, if somebody gave up after using it 3-4 times, chances are that you will give up after 3-4 times as well. To be on the safe side you should budget on having the razor honed again before attempting to use it. Of course, resell value may be high, but if you're getting into this with the expectations that it may not work for you, the chances that it wouldn't are increasing as well. May be it will be helpful to accept that if you give up you will take a $50-$100 loss reselling the equipment and don't worry about it anymore. If you cannot afford to loose $50-$100 may be it's not a good idea to try it.