Thread: looking for some advice

well im new around here and so far im loving my straight shave on my face but the neck not so much. im also a head shaver and still using cartridges since the first attempt with my straight dulled it up so fast i realized i need one just for my head and another for the face and neck. at any rate i think its gonna be a while before im comfortable shaving areas i cant see with a straight and my skills are good enough to sustain a prolonged shave. to the point i want a DE for times when i need to shave but dont have time for the straight and for using on my head till i have a spare and am good enough with the straight razor to do it. dont want to spend a lot but dont want to end up buying crap either. since i dont know much about them i thought id ask some advice from you guys first. ive been digging around on SRD and vintage blades but wanted to wait till i got some advice before making a purchase. thanks in advance

Would you like to buy new or used?

meh doesnt really matter i had been window shopping on SRD and vintage blades for some reason i didnt even think of Ebay so ill start looking in those windows as well. started digging through this section of the forums as well to find reviews as it were. not sure if the razor and or blade will matter much between face and head so any advice in that regard is welcome as well

Vintage Gillette's won't disappoint. May I suggest a nice Tech, Super speed, Red Tip, or 1930's New. All are a great entry point to d/e shaving and can be had at a very modest cost. Single rings, old style, and new standards are IMHO a little too aggressive for a new d/e user. Also if you would consider a single edge there are not many finer than the GEM 1912. To me Gem sets the standard in close shaves and there are not many razors New or vintage that can deliver like a GEM. As a fellow head shaver I get the smoothest BBS no irritation noggin from a GEM. When using a d/e on the dome I've found that heavy razors such as Merkur HD's, EJ's, and Fat boys have a tendency to dig in and cause lots of irritation. Of coarse YMMV. But totally trust me on the GEM.

out of curiosity on the single edge where do you look for or find blades i havent heard much or looked into single much and a google search produced a lot of putty knives and such lol my google-fu may just be weak tonight. any way thanks for the input gonna go look into those

My local independentantly owned grocery store actually carries the Gem blades (and schick injector blades, too).

I just started wet shaving and bought some DEs to shave my head with. Right now I am two head shaves in using a Gillette Tech and it is VERY easy. Much less work than a cartridge to get it perfectly smooth and irritation free. It will be no problem for you to switch since you've been cart shaving your head and know the best ways around your dome.

couldnt find many tech on ebay but found and snagged a super speed for about 6 bucks. ive been looking at the single blade liek the gem but havent come across im willing to pay yet. i dunno if its jsut me or what but the single blade razor blades look like the blades u get from the hardware store for scraping paint and such lol. anyway thanks for the starting point guys im sure ill be back after some experimentation

great place to find DE can be antique shops, you might just get lucky at one, i just recently found a fatboy (i think it is at least) for $10 at my local antique shop in pretty good condition with no plating coming off and mechanically working great

thanks for all the input guys i looked at the one antique store in my area and all the junk stores (flea markets some call them...) didnt find anything i even hit up my grandma to see if grandpa had anything stuck back some where but all she found was an old straight of her fathers that is starting to rot so i have a preservation project now =). anyway i grabbed a couple of gem single edge off ebay, a micromatic and a push button both seem to be in good shape besides a little brassing. and i found a Gillette super speed for cheap so i grabbed it. i used the gillette tonight with some wilkinson sword blades on my face and it went REALLY well so this weekend ill try my head. i found some CVS pharmacy brand blades for the single edges they are made by american safety razor company so i figured it was worth a try. the CVS brand DE blades are way more than the wilkinson sword blades so i dunno if ill try them or not. at any rate i think im good for now and for a lot cheaper than buying a new DE.