Thread: do you prefer a heavy handle.. or heavy head?

having exactly two safety razors in my rotation.. i've noticed the main difference in where the weight of the razor is.. my merkur 34c has a heavy handle.. which i hold near the end and let the weight work for me..

my other shaver is a gillette slim adjustable.. the weight of the razor is in the head.. i seem to prefer it this way and get a nicer shave.. which really makes me want to try the pils next..

anyway.. does anyone else have any input on how the "balance" of their de effects their shave?

Out of all my DE's the Slim Adjustable is my favorite. I prefer a good balance between head and handle myself with a bit more emphasis towards the head. Just like with a straight razor I need to feel the correct balance between scales and blade. For me personally it has to do with my mind concentrating on the shave and not have to struggle or wander off trying to keep a razor in balance. It's one negative variable less to think off while shaving.

Balance has never been an issue with DE's for me, but I'm not saying it's not an issue for others though. If your Slim is shaving you better maybe you are more comfortable with it, or could be it's just a better razor. I have six DE's I use right now from a 30's New Style, open comb Gillette to a 67 Black Handle, Silver Tip Super Speed. I was leery of the open comb at first just because of the way it looked, now it's my main to go to razor. I even have a Schick Pre Krona that shaves great. The secret for me in DE or any type face shaving is the streaching of your skin on passes, That's where it all came together for me, as I don't even think about the balance of my razors, But maybe I should I don't know, I can get a great shave with any of my razors when I go through the right process YMMV

yea with a DE the balance isn't important to me as far as performance. It's more a matter of the thing feeling good in the hand which is more a luxury thing to me. It's unlike a straight where bad balance really changes how you use a razor and can have profound affects on the shave you get as well as making honing and stropping more difficult.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

yea with a DE the balance isn't important to me as far as performance. It's more a matter of the thing feeling good in the hand which is more a luxury thing to me. It's unlike a straight where bad balance really changes how you use a razor and can have profound affects on the shave you get as well as making honing and stropping more difficult.

yes sir, I have two, new to me straights that I'm taking to Larry Andreassen in Arlington later this week, probably gonna have to learn about balance when I convert from DE to Straight, also learn how to hone n strop, that's alright though, we live to learn.

I prefer a DE with a heavy head, like a Fatboy, where the weight of the razor (+ gravity) does all the work for you, and you're not as tempted to use additional pressure. I just don't feel I get the same smooth & effortless shaves with a lighter razor like a Tech.

Victor,

I hold my safety razors (SE & DE) just under the head, with the end of the handle on my little finger, so balance is not too important for me.

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

Is the phrase "balanced razor" an indication of an equal balance between the handle and the head? I always understood it as being heavier on one side of the head than the other. I guess it makes sense for the head to be equal to the handle so that way, depending on how you hold the razor you can really use it's leverage to your advantage.

I know everyone talks about skin stretching and I find that it works when you shave with the grain, however when going against the grain, I found that I have a better shave with no irritation without stretching the skin.

I'm finding my iKon, being stainless steel, weighs a ton but that works to your advantage. Balancing the razor, letting gravity and mass do the magic helps me do better. Its also aggressive enough to go wtg and not get dodgy results.

I have a Gillette Aristocrat DE that I pull out from time to time that I found at an antique shop. I love the feel of it, as the handle is particularly thick & heavy. I seem to like this better than a heavy head, which I have on an Eveready Army razor. This razor is extremely hard to shave with, if I'm gonna use a DE, I use the Gillette.