I have a question about rotating razors. Is there a reason other than preference? Do you actually need several razors or can you get away with one?
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I have a question about rotating razors. Is there a reason other than preference? Do you actually need several razors or can you get away with one?
No you don't have too. There is really no reason to be resting the razor.
I'd say just a matter of preference and YES you definitely need several razors.
I don't need so many razors. I can stop at any time.
NO I CAN'T!
Well I started out with one. Then I read that 2 would be preferred, since I would then be able to check sharpness. Well RAD has struck!!:needcoffee:
There are some non RAD related reasons why one might NEED more than one razor. Off the top of my head:
1) If you don't hone you may want to have one razor around when the other is out to a honemeister.
2) If you do hone you can extend the period of time between going to the stones.
3) If you are learning to hone a razor honed by a honemeister can serve as a reference point.
(this might all be a bit of a stretch of "need" but you get the point)
For me at least, as a new guy it is important to experience the different feel that razors have to determine preference. Could I do this by owning one razor at a time and keeping very careful notes (which I do anyway because of my nerdiness and OCD)? Sure I could! But having multiple blades available for comparison when the last day's shave is fresh in my mind seems like a valuable thing to me.
Hope that helps. :gl:
Oh heavens no, you don't need more than one razor (at a time)!
:rofl2:
Hello, blademen:
You need only one razor.
Yet, once the sweet obsession strikes you, it's time to buy another one. Your reason would be: "Oh, I need to rest my razor."
When you buy the third razor, you can vary your excuse to: "Oh, I need to rests my two razors."
And so soars the adventure.
Then it's a good time to rotate your razors to your heart's desire, by which time you probably will have added the fourth razor.
Regards,
Obie
As in earlier days, you only need 1 razor.( Providing you use it carefully and with care.)
BUT , what could be more fun for yourself,..... are looking for your closet and think Hmm .... with which razor, I will shave today.
Not because you have to choose, but you can choose.
So score as many razors, soap and Brushes as you can, and ENJOY.
But beware. Before you know it you have to say "I'm addicted":D
"I had to fill up the display case, it was unbalanced and creeping me out".
Worked for me :)
Well...here's another reason why you NEED more than one razor.
How in the world are you ever going to do a Presidential Shave with only one razor?
One pass, one razor. OR, one cheek, one razor. That's just silly amounts of fun.
Seriously, you could probably get away with one razor for all of eternity, but I prefer to rotate everything. Razors, brushes, soaps, strops, aftershaves and colognes.
It also allows me to be completely truthful when I say to SWMBO "I can't get rid of anything, because I use ALL of it".
Have fun.
Personally, I think one is insufficient only because if you only have one and then there is a mishap or it ain't shave ready for you just think how silly you will feel rummaging through drawers and boxes trying to find your retired shave equipment and just on the day you need to be at work early for that important meeting.
I think you need two at the minimum and probably three. After that it's just the addiction.
Well I guess I just have to buy more.
Hope I don’t become addicted like I did with the DE Razors.
I agree with big spender, I think one is sufficient for the beginning but you should have two. I have been shaving since November and have one but I have been looking for a second one for the time when this one will need to be maintenced. I am planning on sticking with two and a hone, we will see how that goes.
I have to agree with the above. You need one when you start. YOu need two when you decided you are going to be a full time straight shaver. More than 2 and your getting them for a hobby.
You CAN get by with just one razor, but as already stated a second (or more) is nice to have while one is sent to be honed, or to develop your honing skills to use the professionally honed razor for comparison to your second. Just don't hone the professionally done razor until your honing matches the feel of the pro job.
I travelled with 2 razors just in case of a problem...
Therefore I think that 2 is a safe minimum number for someone that on shave with a straight.
The multiple numbers (the resting factor in know), goes to the pure joy of diverse experiences. And they are quite diverse indeed...
I rotate between two (which you can see in the scale suggestions thread). I used to rotate between about twenty, and I liked them all, but found it too extravagant and time consuming. Not to mention expensive and a little wasteful. I preferred some to others so a few never seemed to get used and the thought of razors sitting around being neglected made me feel guilty, especially when someone else could be enjoying them. So over time I've narrowed it down, and am very happy.
The chopper is very different to the hollow square point, so they give a nice contrast and complement each other. I've always had a preference for the two types. Before the Wosty it was a W&B, and before that another Sheffield monster.
So if you're not sure what your goal is I'd recommend deciding whether you are the type of person who likes lots of the same thing or just a few that you really trust.
If the former, go ahead and start buying; if the latter, go ahead and buy anyway but do it with the intention of finding a couple that really suit you.
That's just my opinion. Good luck and enjoy.
:beer1:
Only one? You already have 4 LOL.
In days of yore when traveling was a LOT slower than it is today a gentleman would travel with a pre-honed set of razors. This would allow grooming with a minimum of extra baggage in the form of strops and hones. A well sharpened 7 day set could get you through a month of travel w/o every reaching for a strop.
Today I travel with 3 razors. They get me through a week of road work w/o the strop.
At home I use the same razor repeatedly. It's an affair:)
If you look it up ,if it still exists,as it might have been rubbed out by this form,a professor in San Diego preformed a long and complicated computation the perfect number is 735,why?? I don't know,but I think most of us are well under the limit,Why,cant say-but nonetheless,that's the proper number.
A beginning daily shaver should consider at least two. An experienced shaver can usually succeed with only one, but, you have to make sure it stays well honed, properly stropped, doesn't ding the faucet, or get touched by errant ex-friends, or get used to cut the tags off your wife's new dresses.
God forbid you drop the thing!
Anyway, second razor as a back up is usually money well spent.
I have purchased 4 already and I am still waiting for them to arrive.
I bought 1 to shave with and then practice honing with.
I bought 2 to shave with.
I bought 1 to have restored and custom scales put on.
I have stepped over into the world of acquisition.:shrug:
Yes, lest something like this happen.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5051/...b5c6d29b_z.jpg
I still have yet to ask what caused this atrocity. Roommate who (I'm assuming) busted it is traveling right now. :whipped:
rotation is good as you get to compare how different razors shave over a series of shaves,when it became time to upgrade my twenty year old 1/4 hollow i found there is now easy access to an unbelievable amount of different razors,so over several months i've bought several razors of different grinds,size and makers,some i paid a bit for but most were cheaper and need a clean up but it as enabled me to find what grind and size suits me best,i've sold of a few and will be selling more and i will most likely see one that appeals to me and need to test it as it's turned out to be someting i'm really enjoying,several of my rotation could do with a spit and polish so having a few will help there but my aim is to find seven razors of different grinds that i really like to make a set a little different
I tend to rotate my razors in two different ways.
First, the standard one. I'll grab whatever feels right on that special occasion. This means I switch razors every day, out of a pool of shave ready razors.
The second type of rotation is when I need to hone a razor, I will usually stay with that razor untill I have dialed in the edge perfectly. This can take just one honing, but usually I will keep working that edge a few days in a row, just to really get it as good as I can possibly do
Via my cell phone
you absolutely need 365 & 1/4 razors one for every day of the year...so far I'm up to 6 & 3/4 good ones and 2 I'm restoreing which means I only have to buy 356 & 1/2 more...if you're wondering how I got a 3/4 razor I had to very very slowly grind off the heel of an ebay razor due to a crack I didn't see. its also very interesting shaving with a razor with a square point on both ends.
I think around the time I acquired 4 razors I thought perhaps a seven day set of various makes/models would be enough. Then that seven day set became a 10 day set, then a 12 day set, then a......
Its really fun to have a variety and have choice.
I had up to 38 razors but I'm down to 12 now not including the one still for sale.
I found that having too much choice detracted from the fun for me so I built sold off everything and am left with a rotation that I'm really happy with.
17 I'm up to and I use whatever's sharp and ready, right now 7 of them, hoping to cut the collection down to 5 eventually.
still purchasing as I haven't tried all makes and types, right now I'm looking for a Braber's notch 7/8 or 8/8 Wade and Butcher maybe.
Damn ebay for being so cheap! I've still to try a Henckels, Dubl Duck, Wade and Butcher, Thiers Issard, and alot of others which I have still to try, them I'll get rid of the razors which I dont bond with or that can't hold an edge.