Thread: Suggestions for a second razor

I mostly use EJ89EG But in rotation is my Gillette Slim Adjustable and my Merkur 38 & 34c. Tried a Merkur Slant but never could get used to it but my nephew loves it.. Any of the vintage Gillette Adjustables a great razors, but make sure it's in good working condition before buying checking that the adjustment is also in working order.

Try an ikon slant, it is my smoothest shaver. I sold my muhle r89 and my Merkur futur after using the ikon slant and the ikon slant is less aggressive than the ikon closed comb. Just my suggestion

In the interest of fairness, this forum is populated by very passionate wet shavers, who are accustomed to paying a lot of money for straight razors. To them a hundred dollars for a stainless DE isn't a big deal, and those razors are works of art. But I do hate for beginners to get the idea that you have to spend that kind of money to get a great razor. Vintage Gillettes are great deals (even "cheap" non adjustables). And again, I understand the enjoyment of using a modern stainless razor, but I've got modern cheap chrome plated pot metal Merkurs that are over 30 years old, and still look good and work perfectly.

I agree with Java. I happen to have a Gillette adjustable from the 60s that is a little out of whack (I'm guessing it was dropped), so buyer beware wh en going vintage to use. I also have a stainless Merkur that I got from SRD for around $50 that is a great shaver, and a good one from Maggard that was even less. You don't need to go to Ikons or Above the Ties to get a good shave. Buy a lower end one and you'll be able to see what style and level of aggressiveness you prefer. You can also buy stand alone heads that you can use on handles you like and make your own "mix and match". I've done that with a stainless handle from Maggard and a Muhle head from some other vendor.

I have been using a Parker 96 as my "entry" into wet shaving. It has a long handle because of my ham hock sized hands. It was worked great for me. I recently got my dad's DE razor (unknown make/model) that had sat in a cabinet since he died in '82. A little cleaning off some dust and it has been a great shave and it has a short handle.

I can hear the comments about only using one or two razors, how do I know what is good; or other people have had a bad experience with Parker. My answer is that this is such a personal opinion hobby. What is a beautiful shave for you with a $100 razor may look like a cheese grater on my face. My $30 razor gives me a beautiful shave and my hand me down is a personal heirloom that is worth more than $5,000 to me. The hand me down is probably worth $20 on an open market but this is opinion and personal choice.

Every face is different with curves, dry skin, oily skin, acne scars, etc. all the opinions here are good and based on honest experience. The best opinion I saw was to experiment with what you can afford and just enjoy the shave