DE Razor for a straight razor shaver...

I hope this is the right forum. I've been shaving with a straight for about 6 months now (dumped my cartridge razor in the bin and never looked back). I get a fairly clean shave and hardly ever any razor burn...

Now this is the strange part, I've never shaved with a DE, I'm about to go on an over seas trip for a month and I'm not comfortable travelling with my straight, for fear of it being stolen or taken off me due to some stupid airport security guy.

I'm looking to buy a DE, but it seems that the DE world is even more confusing than the straight world. Could someone please tell me which razors I should be looking at?

Eben,
The double edge makes for a good travel companion. There is a variety of models, new and vintage. I suggest going with something new. Here are some things you might like:

Merkur 34C HD is a small razor, but sturdy and a good shaver.
Edwin Jagger DE89 "barley" is superb, a silky shaver with exquisite finish.

Rather than give you a long list, I suggest the two above for starters. Either will serve you well. Eventually, if you feel you would like to explore the DE world more, we can examine other brands and models. Right now I would keep it simple.

For blades, I suggest the following. Get a sampler pack from any one of the vendors that sells DE razors. Most offer sampler packs. Quality blades for me in recent years have been: Gillette 7 O'Clock "SharpEdge" in the yellow packets; Derby; Personna; and Astra. Other DE shavers will offer you other brands. That's why the sampler pack will work well. If you need more help, you're more than welcome to drop me a personal message. Good luck.

I agree with Obie. There are lots of choices, and some may suggest other choices. There is no wrong way or choice, as long as it's a respected brand, but what Obie has suggested is two excellent 'starting' razors, that even experienced DE users still go back to when they have a rotation. Start with one, get the blade pack that is similar to what Obie is suggesting and explore from there. The only thing I'd add is that each razor reacts different to each blade, as well as face type, so when you find your perfect blade, you should still get a pack of different brands when you get a new razor.

the razor recommended are great ones. Or you can consider a Feather RG folding, that's like a straight with replaceable blades. Technique is the same as shaving with a straight, no maintenance required and great for travel.

Thanks for the advice, Just one question before I take the plunge. Is it worth looking at the Merkur Vision 2000 or Futur (thinking adjustable might be better, but I don't know anything so I might be wrong).

My current thinking is telling me to just go with the Merkur 34C HD and be done with it, chances are that I wont buy another Safety razor again, so I'd want to get it right the first time round (I bet everybody is going to tell me that I'll inevitably get it wrong).

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Originally Posted by Eben

Thanks for the advice, Just one question before I take the plunge. Is it worth looking at the Merkur Vision 2000 or Futur (thinking adjustable might be better, but I don't know anything so I might be wrong).

My current thinking is telling me to just go with the Merkur 34C HD and be done with it, chances are that I wont buy another Safety razor again, so I'd want to get it right the first time round (I bet everybody is going to tell me that I'll inevitably get it wrong).

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Eben,
If I were doing the selection for myself under your circumstances, I would go either with the Edwin Jagger DE86 "barley" or the Merkur 34C. I always found shaving with the Future 2000 like scrubbing my Hollywood face with a baseball bat. I found it a big and cumbersome razor. Keep it simple. Later, if you want to experience other DE razors, you'll have a good choice of both new and vintage razors.

Thanks, I'll try to get my hands on a Merkur 34C.