Looking for a good DE.

So, its been a while since I have posted on this site. Had a kid about 6 months and a new job and a new house and...and...and... yeah you get the point. Anyways I have pretty much only been shaving once a month just because I didn't have the time. I strictly used straights. I have a couple of DE's but I never used them. I have some old short gillette and then an even shorter gillette that came in like this real tiny package. Thing is seriously hard to hold on to. Both of them are really.

Anyways I ran out to a Sally's to get some blade for them because I wanted to shave but my straights needed to be honed. Anyways I was pretty impressed. I had a full month and halfs worth of growth. Took awhile but it worked pretty well. Anyways, I think I am wanting to get a nice one that is full size. I don't really know anything about DE's but I guess getting an adjustable one would afford the most flexibility. I know merkur is a good brand, any others out there? I do want new by the way.

I have several models of Gillete that are all adjustable. Slim, Aristocrat, and a Fat Boy. Those are not ever all of the ones Gillette made. With the exception of the Fat Boy I do not think they are valuable either.

Well, if you want the best you want a Mongoose. It's really an SE not a DE and it has to be ordered and you have to wait for it. Check out the threads on this forum about it. Otherwise the Feather Stainless is a great razor and of course the vintage Gillettes are all great ones.

Any complaints against the merkur future. Seems more in my price range and I really like the looks of it in satin.

I have a razorock mission that seems to be ok, they're cheap and the quality seems to be better than the price would suggest, that being said my Mongoose just showed up tonight so the razorock may get put up for sale.

I got mine from Edwin Jagger and it worked great. 3 piece, so it was easy to clean.

Just wondering, why not stick with straights?

with an occasional 1 month worth of beard, you should do yourself a favor a try a slant - and if you could find one; a lutz - and congrats with fresh job & dwelling :)

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The Merkur Future is a nice razor, long handle and its got some weight to it. The top pushes off (And clips back in place) rather than butterfly door of most other adjustable razors if you dont mind that then no problem.

As mentioned an Edwin Jagger is a good razor (Granted not adjustable) but its easy on th eyes and a great shaver and cheap enough.

I have vintage Gillettes (Slim adjustable and a Fatboy) The Fatboy is one of my favorite DE razors not always one of the cheapest but its good

Good luck with your choice.

If you are ok with a used, vintage DE, check antique stores. I've picked up a Fatboy, and a Slim for a combined price of $17.00. I know a guy that had half a dozen Gillettes for twelve dollars each. I could drive to his shop and be back home cleaning another fully functional unit in about 90 minutes. At that price and availability, you might shop around and Get Lucky, too!
If you have a hundred dollar budget and don't mind waiting, Check out those guys at Delta Echo Razor Works. They do a non traditional replating of vintage units.

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Originally Posted by cosperryan

Any complaints against the merkur future. Seems more in my price range and I really like the looks of it in satin.

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I bought a Futur for my wife. She liked it fine until she used my Merkur Slant. As I said in a previous post, I now have a Futur and SWMBO has a Slant.

No complaints with merkur. The short one is still my travel razor. Good weight to them.

alright for some reason my computer is being really slow and won't let me quote so:

Moonshae: Im not getting rid of the straights, I will still use them when I have time, but as of now I have had no real time. Even on the days that I am off work, i still have too much to do to spend time on honing and upkeep of the razors.

Tonsorious: The above reason is why I had a 1 month of growth. Once I do get a good DE, I will have a good quick easy method of shaving and will shave more often maybe once a week or shorter.

Btw, that "really short" Gillette that you mention in the OP may be a "travel Tech." Do a web search, and the images should show you some examples.

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Originally Posted by deepweeds

Btw, that "really short" Gillette that you mention in the OP may be a "travel Tech." Do a web search, and the images should show you some examples.

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Yep thats it. Its a neat razor. and I got it for like 5 bucks and its looks like it was barely used. Probably just enough to use up the 5 blades it came with. I tried using it a few times and it was way to short for me. and the other one I have is just maybe an inch longer.

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I have a Merkur adjustable, the modified Progress known as the Mergress. It is a great shaver. The only vendor I know of that sells these modified versions is Lee's Razors.

I'll agree that an adjustable is a good start - allows you to find out what level of aggression works for you. Then it becomes a fixed razor at that level. The problem is that adjustables cost much more than a fixed blade, are more fiddly in loading, (Futur is the worst in this regard, but the Progress sux almost as well). For the price of a new Futur, which is an ungainly large smooth handled monster you could buy 4 different fixed blade vintage Gillettes in nice shape.

Just my 2 cents

There are many, many excellent vintage and new DE razors out there. I like the Futur, and use one frequently, but it can be a bit unwieldy. The Gillette Slim is another nice adjustable.

There are so many good new razors on the market..take your pick. I like the Merkur 23c. As for Gillettes you can't go wrong with the Heavy Tech, Aristocrat, Superspeed, Flare Tip, etc. Most of the time you can pick these up at an antique store for $20 and they were made to last forever.

I have a Merkur 37 Heavy Classic.

Does a wonderfull job for a fair price.

Yes, the Merkur 37C slant is a wonderful shaver for me. It gives very close long lasting shaves and does not feel aggressive to me.

The only thing about Merkur is that they are made by Dovo and have had some QC issues. There is at least one thread on here about that. Mine has no issues though. Not too much of an issue if you have a QC problem and the vendor accepts returns.

Bob

Always been happy with the Gillette "New" open comb.

my silver plated british gillette goodwill is the smoothest of all the new's i have

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