Thread: My thoughts on Feather style shavettes vs traditional straights.. noobs perspective

I wanted to throw out there my experience using my CJB Kamasori VS. my Vintage straight.
Right off the bat I will say the shorter feather blade is way easier for getting in the tough spots. The rigidity of the CJB gives better feedback but that same rigidity also makes it easier to cut yourself. Feather blades are frick'n sharp! I can't imagine that you could ever hone and strop a straight and get it as sharp as a Feather blade or even a good DE blade.
Mine being the Japanese style, has better visibility while shaving and also better comfort in the hand.
I know a lot of people talk about cost of the Feather blades but really when you consider what a reasonably priced strop, set of hones ( or paying for a hone) and pastes, buying the Feather blades is still way cheaper. I paid $15 for 20 Feather pro blades, so even if I change it out once a week, thats only $39 a year for blades. My first blade has six shaves on it and it still feels new. To me, Shavettes have zero sex appeal. It looks like something you would find sitting on the counter at Supercuts.Even the expensive wood handled models still will never have the zing of even the cheapest Dovo or Boker straight.
Off subject for someone looking to get into SR shaving, availablility is another thing to consider when considering what type of straight razor to get. Right now the chances of finding a new traditional straight razor is next to nil. Maybe the holiday season has rendered the manufactures in a hole that they can't get out of. About the only traditional straight razor I could find were the Hart Steel's @ $280 each and used Vintage which, IMO can be real sketchy unless you know or have good references of who its coming from. I gambled on buying my used SR of Ebay and got lucky (and a deal).
So, until the supply chain on SR's catches up and if you want new, I would have to say go with a good shavette.
From a noob's perspective, I would advise starting with a Shavette until you find out if SR's are your thing. My guess is there are thousands of beautiful, expensive traditional SR's lying in bathroom drawers rusting away.
Personally I think everyone who is (or wants to be) a shaving enthusiast should have both. Well actually I would kick in a good DE also because I personally like my DE the best. Its faster, cheaper, I can travel with it and gives me the best shave of the three.

So wrapping this up, I give the cost and perfomance win to the Shavette. If your looking for sex appeal, like honing, stropping and maintaining a razor, the traditional SR is for you.

Haven't used a shavette myself, but I do use a straight and occasionally a edwin jagger DE. For me anyway, I always get a better, closer, more comfortable shave with my straights than I do with the DE. I agree that the DE is easier to learn and faster, but the quality of the shave is not up to the same standard. Also, maybe it's my technique with the DE, but I always end up with more irritation with it than I do with my straights. JMHO.

Ok I'll play.

I don't know what you mean dash when you say there there are no straights to be found. There are tons. If you need help finding them, ask a mentor here to help you. But a good start is looking to those who sponsor this site if your willing to look yourself.

As for using a Feather rather than an authentic straight, you are probably right with respect to cost. Of course for many here, half the fun is mastering that which our forefathers mastered, and that includes all the toys... Uh, equipment needed to do so lol. I mean if this was only about ease and cost, a cheap DE in the shower with face soap is all you need.

You seem to have many of the different blade nuances down... but (and this is not a slight so...) I am not 100% sure you have enough time using each. Two years ago I vowed I would shave with nothing but a straight for an entire year to force myself to learn. I learned a ton. Things I didn't even see coming.

For example, i know that my de gives me a close shave but (and Ill never understand this) my straight gives me shaves that last longer. My 5 o'clock shadow comes at 7 with my straight. 3 with my de.

You wrap up is bang on, but how you got there is odd to me. Of course, its all about the individual and what makes them happy. What have you decided? What are you going to use most shaves?

Plenty of used high quality used SR's. I looked for a brand new Straight razor at SRd, Royalshave, westcoast shave etc. DOVO best quality 5/8 was the only one I found somewhat available. Kinda explains some of the highprices some of the gently used SR's on ebay.
My traditional straight is without a doubt the most fun of the three. The DE is fastest and the CJB is kinda an in between. Well for what its worth my short time with a SR is not by any means a solid indicator of how well any shaver performs. My shaves with an SR improve everday and will no doubt one day beat out my DE.

I use shavettes on my face. Sometimes feather blades; sometimes long persona or dovo blades. I love it & don't feel like I'm missing out on anything in the actual shaving department (obviously I'm not getting the stropping, oiling etc experience - but that means less time in the bathroom - gotta look for positives).
I've got a few DE shavers which I use (with feather blades) on my head. Also love it.

After finding single edge razors, i stopped using DEs.
My SR technique is approaching my SE and my face feels better.
I have a bunch of SRs, a CJB and a sanguine shavette.

The only nasty cut i got was last year with a CJB powered by a Dorco blade. Enough to make me keep away from open blades for months.
My advice regarding the Feather Artist Club is to start with the ProGuard blades. They are not a gimmick, and they make a big difference.

I tried the sanguine shavette. The edge feel is interesting but i hate the ergonomics of the thing. Having bought the r5 with wooden scales, i swapped them with the CJB scales. Looks pretty nice.

As mentioned, you can get a Dovo Best Quality for not much, crappy scales though. On the budget, there are plenty of shave ready vintage SR on bst here and on b&b and TSN.

Originally Posted by dash8guru

. Feather blades are frick'n sharp! I can't imagine that you could ever hone and strop a straight and get it as sharp as a Feather blade or even a good DE blade.


So wrapping this up, I give the cost and perfomance win to the Shavette. If your looking for sex appeal, like honing, stropping and maintaining a razor, the traditional SR is for you.

ok I know many people here (myself included) that very quickly honed a blade to match and exceed a good DE blade such as a shark, persona, ect. And many who have matched a feather. Of course, how do you quantify sharpness/smoothness once you reach a certain level? I mean, if it is gliding along as smooth as glass and snipping the hairs off BBS without you even knowing it then is that as sharp as or sharper then a feather? Some would say sharp as and some would say sharper and I'm sure there are some who would say it's not as sharp since a feather you don't even have to use, you just show it to your face and the hairs jump off. It is all subjective. All I can tell you is that when I recently pulled out my Parker shavette with a brand new feather blade it seemed to pull and irritate more than my straight and it took some clean up to get a BBS whereas my straight it's 2 with and 2 against the grain to a BBS. Is it sharper, smoother, or both? I don't know but I know I would never say that my straight is duller or rougher than my feather blade. IMO it both sharper and smoother. Is that possible? Technically probably not but tell my face that. Lol.

I will say this, that I do agree with most of what you said here and that a shavette can give an excellent and consistent BBS shave and I find that the techniques transferred over quite well (although others haven't found this to be true). I also seemed to have an idea of what sharp should be (by comparing to my shavette) and I'm glad I went the route of shavette first and then straight. I just wished I would have switched to straights much sooner. I love the sharpening/honing/stropping part along with the satisfaction of putting that edge to the test in a shave.

$$$$ wise you are absolutely correct in that a shavette/DE is cheaper when you factor in all the things you buy when using a straight-hones you probably don't need, razors you could get by without, pastes and boards you just have to try (but not really) but it's not that you HAVE to have a lot if these things but for me it's fun and a hobby.

We are yet again reminded - YMMV…

IMHO they all (Straight, Feather Type, Cobra and DE) get a spot in the Den.

Since I travel, often to the same place, I had been looking for a Straight that I could leave at the off site locations. Started with a collection of "user grade" straight razors (aka - excuse to have RAD) but for a host of reasons this did not seem to work out. I would have to leave 2-3 on site, then have some way to maintain them (this when I was new to this and trying to keep to earcutter's example of straights only for a year)

Had this fear of the Feather system but decided to try the CJB and after a week I got the hang of it, and had a new travel system.
Next thing you know its the RAD cycle and I've tried CJB Fixed & Folding, Feather SS Fixed and Folding, RJ Fixed and DX Folding and Kai Fixed. Blades? Dorco, Kai, Feather Pro & Pro Guard, Super.

Net - there is a lot of YMMV going on once you get in to the Feather-type system.
And once you have a combo that works for you the results can be excellent - though for me never as "good" as a well tuned conventional straight.

Smooth shaving...

Originally Posted by dash8guru

I wanted to throw out there my experience using my CJB Kamasori VS. my Vintage straight.
Right off the bat I will say the shorter feather blade is way easier for getting in the tough spots. The rigidity of the CJB gives better feedback but that same rigidity also makes it easier to cut yourself. Feather blades are frick'n sharp! I can't imagine that you could ever hone and strop a straight and get it as sharp as a Feather blade or even a good DE blade.
Mine being the Japanese style, has better visibility while shaving and also better comfort in the hand.
I know a lot of people talk about cost of the Feather blades but really when you consider what a reasonably priced strop, set of hones ( or paying for a hone) and pastes, buying the Feather blades is still way cheaper. I paid $15 for 20 Feather pro blades, so even if I change it out once a week, thats only $39 a year for blades. My first blade has six shaves on it and it still feels new. To me, Shavettes have zero sex appeal. It looks like something you would find sitting on the counter at Supercuts.Even the expensive wood handled models still will never have the zing of even the cheapest Dovo or Boker straight.
Off subject for someone looking to get into SR shaving, availablility is another thing to consider when considering what type of straight razor to get. Right now the chances of finding a new traditional straight razor is next to nil. Maybe the holiday season has rendered the manufactures in a hole that they can't get out of. About the only traditional straight razor I could find were the Hart Steel's @ $280 each and used Vintage which, IMO can be real sketchy unless you know or have good references of who its coming from. I gambled on buying my used SR of Ebay and got lucky (and a deal).
So, until the supply chain on SR's catches up and if you want new, I would have to say go with a good shavette.
From a noob's perspective, I would advise starting with a Shavette until you find out if SR's are your thing. My guess is there are thousands of beautiful, expensive traditional SR's lying in bathroom drawers rusting away.
Personally I think everyone who is (or wants to be) a shaving enthusiast should have both. Well actually I would kick in a good DE also because I personally like my DE the best. Its faster, cheaper, I can travel with it and gives me the best shave of the three.

So wrapping this up, I give the cost and perfomance win to the Shavette. If your looking for sex appeal, like honing, stropping and maintaining a razor, the traditional SR is for you.

Great summary and excellent diverse to shaving toys. I have an old Hoffritz Straight Razor which has not been used since the 80s and in a sore need for sharpening, so I am following SRP discussions and videos as I want to develop honing skills. Until I get the hones I have moved from the current crop of multi blades (still lathering using my supply of badger brushes) to several Merkur DE to really get back into WET Shaving. Since my last shave with the straight indicated a need for a more skillful approach I began to watch the videos from our SRP brethren. Very informative and I did pick up a Feather Straight to start developing the correct technique. Currently I am beginning the shave with the Feather and there are still some spots I need to work further on I conclude with the DE. All the main contributors on this site conclude you should have fun shaving so have several toys to fit the situation and lather ahead.

I would chime in on this on one point.

I don't know if you could say I was lucky, but when I started out, you could buy pretty much any new straight you wanted. I bought several new Thiers-Issard and Dovo from the Classic Edge, they arrived shave ready and in pristine condition, they were brand new!

Now, this is my opinion only, if I had to start again, I wouldn't bother buying anything that's new production. I find the new production razors I have, "meh", at best compared to the vintage blades. If you factor in the cost of the new production blades, you could buy several beautiful vintage blades and have them restored for pretty much the cost of one nice new production Thiers Issard or high end Dovo. Let alone if you learn how to do some basic restores yourself, there's tons of info on how to do exactly that here at SRP.

Let alone the availability of custom razor makers whose quality, IMO, is far superior to anything production for about the same price.

I hate to say it, but all that pretty gold wash and fancy spines may look nice, but there simply is no comparison, again in my opinion, in the quality of the shave compared to a vintage W&B, Joseph Rogers, Wosty's, and the list goes on and on.

I have a vintage Thiers Issard #69 Frameback, that I purchased for $40.00 off E-Bay, simply sent it out to get honed, and it absolutely blows away the new production TI's in my opinion. Again, if you learn how to hone your own razors, there's money saved again, and there's lots of instruction on how to do exactly that here at SRP.

I've purchased some beautiful vintage blades off E-Bay, they looked dirty and rusty, sent them out, and ended up with a far superior blade, for less dollars, than anything you could buy new.

I picked this up on E-Bay the other day for $70.00, a gorgeous W&B 7/8 Wedge, they are all out there, some are more expensive than others, but the quality, IMO, is leaps and bounds above most production razors today: