Thread: Why use a slant?

As a longtime user of DEs and a newbie to straights, I'll add an opinion regarding sensitive skin. I have the unfortunate combination of sensitive skin and very stout beard, and I tried pretty much every vintage DE known to man. The one that gave my skin the least trouble was the Slant. I was scared of the thing after reading so many reviews about its aggressiveness, but the truth is that if you go very lightly and let the razor do the work, it's a beautiful razor for sensitive skin.

I did, however, eventually graduate from that to the Merkur Futur, which, despite the lack of a slanted blade, is even nicer to my skin, as long as its dialed down to a reasonable setting (i.e.--nothing over about 2.5).

Now I need to figure out which straight will do the best trick for that skin/beard combo...

I have sort of the same problem, sensitive skin and tough beard. I have a few straights but find the larger blades 6/8 heavy grind is the easiest on my skin. Maybe just me..

I use a straight daily. When pressed for time, however, I reach for my slant. It shaves very close and very fast. As stated above, the blade must be centered to avoid problems.