Does anyone know any department stores in Northeast Tennessee that sell double edge razors. My dad is dying to start shaving with one again. He lost his last one in a house fire.
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Does anyone know any department stores in Northeast Tennessee that sell double edge razors. My dad is dying to start shaving with one again. He lost his last one in a house fire.
I live in Western North Carolina and have not been able to find any anywhere.
However I happen to have a DE or two (O.K. about 70) laying around. If you want to PM me with your address, I'll send one your way. It won't be brand new but it will be cleaned and ready to go.
probably the best place to get them is from that guy over a B&B who sells them in bulk and he has quite a choice too.
I too have been looking for a good DE to try out on days that I just need a quick shave. But there seems to be a lacking on review of various brands and styles. Any help would be awesome.
I'm in the Knoxville area and I see them all the time in antique stores usually starting about 8 bucks. Those are usually good useable razors but nothing special. There are nicer ones but you will pay for them. I haven't seen any new in stores only online. Good luck.
Could someone tell me who B&B is?
Hi there,Quote:
Originally Posted by jmiller87
I can offer a very general type overview of the more popular DE types, but there's a fair bit to learn about em. Think of this post as just a very quick answer to maybe help point some members in the right direction. I'd recommend the other shaving forums such as The Shave Den, Shave My Face, and Badger and Blade as excellent sources to learn more about DE shaving.
If you're looking for a new razor, the Merkur 34c(HD) is the most popular type to start with. Many members use this as their daily shaver, and it seems to be a good starting point for the DE journey. Although I've never used one, most reviews I've read mention it may be slightly on the aggressive side compared to some other razors. Now that's not to say it's a bad thing, but only that it may not be quite right for some faces or technique. For example, I use a Gillette adjustable, with the aggressive level set on #3. I've heard a bunch of DE shavers who use both razors say that model Merkur feels like about a #5 setting to them.
Vintage wise, the various Gillette models are about the only way to go. Luckily, that company made some amazing razors in it's day, and there's lots of models to choose from.
The Tech is one of the milder fixed head razors, and is extremely popular with many DE shavers. There's lots of different styles, and they come in both gold and silver. What seems to work well in this razor is a blade on the sharper side, to sorta compensate for the razor's mild nature. Personally, they work great for me, since they aren't very aggressive(feels like about a #3 setting). A person with a heavy coarse beard may have a problem getting BBS shaves with this razor, but maybe not.
Heh, these razors are also THE cheapest of any DE razor. Yeah, you can find many nice deals, and it's rare to see one being sold for more than $20 or so. That's one in excellent shape, and maybe plan on spending another $5-10 more if it has a nice case.
Next would be the non open comb razors.......one long safety bar. That would be the bulk of the Gillette available, and can take a while to explain. Since this is a quick post, I'll just say the more popular ones include the various superspeed versions, the assorted Aristocrat/President types, and the adjustable models(which I'll save for last).
The superspeeds are used a lot, and not all of em shave the same. Heh, you'll have to take my word for that until you do more reading. The Aristocrats/ Presidents are the elegant top line models, normally found in gold plate or sometimes even rhodium. Beautiful razors, nice weight and knurling, and most feel like about a #5 setting to me.
Oh, I should quickly mention the various beautiful open comb types. Of the 7-8 different ones I've used, all have been a bit on the aggressive side........some more than others. I think most members who use one will say those types would tend much more toward that side rather the milder side of things. There, that was vague enough.....heh.
Adjustable Gillettes consist of about six different types, but only three are used on a regular basis. Those would be the Slim, the Super adjustable, and the Fatboy. Each of those has their fans, with the slim and fatboy being about equally most popular with DE users. Yeah, the fatboy may get more good press, but it's split which one shaves the best. Yeah, it's a sorta personal thing.......heh.
The slim and super adjustable give a similar shave, although the super has a handle 3/4 inch longer. I believe the head design is similar on these two, but the weight distribution is obviously a bit different. There's also a short handle version of the super.......same black handle, but same length as the slim.
The fatboy has a very slightly shorter handle than the slim, and has different knurling. It weighs the most of the three, but there's one thing that really makes a difference between this razor and most other Gillette adjustables. That would be the more rounded head that the fatboy has. It causes the blade to be presented to the face differently, which can make things interesting. In my case about these three types, the fatboy is all I've used now for a looong time. It just fits a little better than those others somehow.
So there's a very brief couple things to think about when looking for a DE to try out. Now keep in mind this is only my opinion plus what I've read, and nothing's written in stone when it comes to DE shaving. I'm sure some DE users wouldn't quite agree with some things I posted, and maybe they could offer up other thoughts. I also know there's a LOT I'm leaving out.
Let me just mention something most people have already heard about starting off with a DE. Make things easy on yourself and get some blades that are known to be good ones. Although it's hard to believe at first, a poor blade will totally mess up a great shave. Yeah, even if the prep, lather, and technique is excellent, a bad blade equals a bad shave.
Heh, that's another looong story which I'll skip.
Hope this helps someone a bit,
Martin
Quote:
Originally Posted by bulldog
Sorry for his loss. I live in Kingsport and recently did some searching myself. I went with the 34C (ordered online) because the selection was scarce around this area. Had I been more experienced, I would know what I was looking for but I didn't want to just pick a random razor and go with it. As for where I found these razors...Kingsport is an old town and we have 4 antique stores on Broad Street alone. I checked all those and a few others.
Side note: I had my heart set on a straight but ended up settling on a DE for now as I was a little intimidated by such a big leap. I'm going to keep searching the antique stores for a decent starter for not a lot of money. I'll of course send it off to be professionally honed and I certainly won't buy without doing my homework (that's why I'm here, right? :) )
Best of luck on your search...I haven't given up on my search for the perfect straight :)