Thread: Review of the Fine SS New LC Homage DE Safety Razor

I have shaved with a de for 50 years, I can get as close as anyone, but the straight still comes out ahead, and a barber shave will never be that good, they ain’t shaving themselves only you for money, and that disposable blade. Even barbers who shaved guys years ago were just ok, it was just a job to earn, not excel.

As I’ve said to previous posters, I’ll believe it if and when I experience it.

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

I have shaved with a de for 50 years, I can get as close as anyone, but the straight still comes out ahead, and a barber shave will never be that good, they ain’t shaving themselves only you for money, and that disposable blade. Even barbers who shaved guys years ago were just ok, it was just a job to earn, not excel.

I have to partially disagree with you. Back in the day meaning 1940s and before customers would have not tolerated an ok shave. Barbers used a straight not some disposable and a crappy latherking machine. Additionally, barbers were actually trained how to do a straight shave. it was their bread and butter. If they could do it better with a DE or straight at home why go to a barber in the first place?

These days a barber shave is a novelty and barbers, if they were trained for it at all have lip service training only and rarely do it. The few left who had actual training are probably pretty old these days and their skill is challenged by their physical abilities. Of course I'm talking about the U.S. In some countries barbers are still highly trained and do it all the time.

I believe that technique trumps tools! Physics is physics! A single sharp edge cuts hair at the skin line. Feather Super AC blades are every bit as sharp as any straight. A BBS is a BBS! If it passes the cotton ball test then that’s that! I just don’t buy into the ideology of straight razor perfection which seems to prevail here. I’m a retired data scientist, and believe in facts as opposed to affirmations. Shaving my head and face with my Blackland Vector AC safety razor loaded with a Feather Super delivers a BBS that is so close that I could easily get away with shaving every other day if I chose to. I’m learning to use a straight just so I can develop the skill, but harbor no illusion that it will ever deliver a closer shave. Physics is physics!

Well there ain’t many of us who were getting barber shaves in the forties Nelson. But since then barbers really just haven’t practice it much.

Oh and bull crap is bull crap

Originally Posted by Jgreenepa

I believe that technique trumps tools! Physics is physics! A single sharp edge cuts hair at the skin line. Feather Super AC blades are every bit as sharp as any straight. A BBS is a BBS! If it passes the cotton ball test then that’s that! I just don’t buy into the ideology of straight razor perfection which seems to prevail here. I’m a retired data scientist, and believe in facts as opposed to affirmations. Shaving my head and face with my Blackland Vector AC safety razor loaded with a Feather Super delivers a BBS that is so close that I could easily get away with shaving every other day if I chose to. I’m learning to use a straight just so I can develop the skill, but harbor no illusion that it will ever deliver a closer shave. Physics is physics!

It's kind of like comparing human flight to a bird. We design airplanes with control surfaces to mimic those of birds but birds have feathers and they have infinite adjustments the can make as they fly. Airplanes are very limited by comparison. With a DE you have limited ability to adjust angle and pressure and stroke as you shave while with a straight you are constantly making adjustments to address all the areas of the face. With a DE you have the apparatus and blade housing getting in the way no matter what you do or how sharp the blade is. It may seem like you can adjust things equally between the two but you can't.

Yes they keep trying to tweek it and improve and as I have said my Janus is a milestone for closeness.

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

Well there ain’t many of us who were getting barber shaves in the forties Nelson. But since then barbers really just haven’t practice it much.

Oh and bull crap is bull crap

No, probably no one around here was getting a barber shave in the 40s however I was getting haircuts in the 50s and shaves were still bread and butter for barbers and if someone got a bad shave even then he would have laid the barber out on the floor.

I have a Janus, and quite frankly it is nowhere near as efficient as my AC safety razors. I would respectfully disagree with your poetic allusion to flight mechanics. I have no need to continually make adjustments when shaving my head and face, because the narrow head geometry of my Blackland Vector allows me easy access to all parts of my face and head!. Physics is physics and a BBS is a BBS. I am able to achieve the same level of closeness with the Janus, but it requires an additional pass. The bulky head geometry of the Janus doesn’t compare to the narrower head design of the Vector with its concomitant wider cutting blade that allows ready and easy access to all parts of the shave surfaces of both head, face, and neck. Affirmations don’t cut it with me. I’m 73 yrs old and retired from a 50 yr measurement career as a data scientist. I don’t doubt you believe what you’re saying, but until you have shaved with a Blackland Vector fitted with a Feather Super blade we’re talking about something which you haven’t experienced. If you still don’t agree, that’s fine. As a trained empiricist, I would direct you to the Ruds Shaves review of the Blackland Vector on YouTube.

There are a million and one DE's out there and they all have their devotees. I need another DE like a hole in the head especially with MY experience with the Janus.

My comparison wasn't meant to be poetic. When you use a straight that is what you do whether you realize it or not. Ask any experienced straight user and they will tell you this. That is why a straight gives the result it does though I know you don't believe this.

Also, like I said previously BBS is no arbiter of a superior shave. I can use an electric and get BBS but a few hours later there's stubble.

By the way I'm 72 and I've been around too.

I was getting haircuts in the 50,s also, and shaves were not their bread and butter. And I never seen anyone lay out a barber because the shave wasn’t BBS. I’ve had barber shaves from around the world, they are ok for the treat, but as good as I give myself never. I’ve used a DE as long as most, and I can get a very great shave. So my experience says I’ve been straight shaving longer than you so my knowledge would be more scientific. The straight edges out my DE not much, but the pure Physics of the matter is a straight is more maneuverable where as a DE IS limited. Sometimes science don’t add up. I can cut my hair at skin level with one of my chisels, so try to shave with one and tell me how that works out for you.

By the way this is a straight forum, try the clowns over at B&B if your so set on DE,s.