Thread: Why don't more guys shave with a straight?

I recently told a friend of mine that I was going to start using a str8. He laughed and said "we have something called technology today".

......Did anyone mention that it takes a lot of time ?

Originally Posted by mslovacek

This is one of the biggest reasons I like my straights. Life is very hecktic, there are days in the week where I am busy from 6:30 am until 1:00 am. The time that I spend shaving is down time, time that allows me to relax.

While shaving, I am concentrating on what I am doing; as a result, I am able to forget the stressfull things in my life, even if it is only 15-20 minutes.

This is exactly why I like DE shaving, and why I can't wait to start str8 shaving. The "ritual" of it all is relaxing for me.

I told my best friend the other day that I was into wet shaving, and he thought I was nuts until I started telling him my reasons for getting into it. Now he's interested himself. His wife will kill me if he gets into str8s though.

I think one of the reasons I shave with a straight razor is that a big part of me longs for the days when the world was a much less complicated place, for all that we have gained from technology (like the ability to talk to people around the world about our daily shaving rituals) we have lost so much and I miss the much simpler times, and straight razor shaving is a way of stepping back in time. It's interesting how many of us also seem to have an interest (which I'm developing) in fountain pens, I think there's a common thread here. I think all of us to some extent probably miss the simpler times and straight razor shaving is a connection to a lost world, plus it makes your face feel better. unless of course your holding the razor at 60 degree angle, but we will assume your not. One final note, I have to say that I'm amazed at the number of men I see at the gym shaving with colgate foam and a disposable razor, I literally cringe when I see it, I think you need to bring a certain level of passion to all aspects of your life, and far to many men view shaving as a chore that they want to get over with as soon as possible and their missing out on all the possible pleasure that straight or wet shaving can bring them.

a few things that I can think of that keeps the average joe from attempting to shave with a straight:

1 lack of knowledge-they simply don't know how or where to start
2 lack of intestinal fortitude-they look at that big ol' blade with no guard and decide to go right back to what they know how to use and what they think is safe.
3 cost to get started-although one straight is more cost efficient than a mach3 in the long run

I think that's true. People are not sure anyone does it anymore and then they are too afraid to do it themselves.

A big part of it is that most people aren't even aware it was an option. I didn't even know they were still made until I was trying to buy a comb for my then-gf and stumbled across classicshaving. I saw the razors, saw the shavette, ordered one. Well, first I used canned gel, and it still went better than anything else I did. Someone first bought me an electric - ugh. I hated it. It just pulled and ripped the hairs out of my face, very painful. And I had some cartridge razors, those would cut me at every opportunity. But this was something amazing. So after a little while I saved up and bought a razor (beautiful carbon steel DOVO pearlex), a strop, a bristle brush. Except for the razor, all the lowest-grade stuff. At first, it was probably one of the worst shaves I ever had, and stayed that way for months. I couldn't get any of it right. I even cut up my strop (fortunately, just at the ends, so it's still usable.) trying to strop without learning how first. The turning point was learning how to strop. And a just about a week ago, I figured out how to work up a decent lather. Now it's a beautiful shave, and my razor unfortunately is finally dull (I can't really explain why it was sharp enough to shave with in the first place) and I don't have anything to sharpen it with, so it's back to the shavette until I have money to buy another strop and some paste.

The thing to see in this story is that it took me months before I started getting a decent shave. My friends at school (I'm 17) would have given up on the first try, if they even tried it at all. No-one wants to put in the time to learn that. My friends all said I was going to slit my throat with it (this is the least painful and least cutty shave I've ever had.) A few expressed interest, but it was more in that someone they knew was doing it, they have no interest in it themselves. They just say "I have an electric razor, it's easier to use and it gives a better shave than any razor could" I asked them why they said that, they said because "It's designed by professional engineers with the most modern technology." I explained I had used it all, electric, cartridge (I didn't find out about DE safeties 'til about a month ago. I'd been wondering for 17 years what those razor blades were actually for.) and nothing worked better. They just look at me funny and turn away.

If I have to point to anything in my experience that would explain why people don't use them more, the biggest things I've seen are a) ignorance about the danger of straights b) a belief that consumer technology gets better as time goes on and c) an unwillingness to do anything but the option that presents the least amount of work.

Still, I've gotten a few people interested. I'm writing an article for the school paper now, detailing my experience with a straight as part of my broader experiments in seeing what sorts of things we've lost in the march of time. I think that converting people to straight use isn't impossible. It's not that people are't willing to be converted. I think it's more that they don't know about them, and there's no-one to try to convert them.

Most friends think I'm nuts just using a brush and soap rather than canned goo. Using and maintaining a straight is just too large a leap from their reality for them to process.
Even the very few I know that are wet shavers tend toward a cartridge razor rather than even a DE. If someone mentions a straight razor, I ask if they use it. Most turn out to collect them and look at me like I'm some kind of lunatic for shaving with one. I've only met two others that regularly use straight razors face to face, and the three of us got together one Saturday afternoon and talked shaving, showed each other some of our razors, and just generally had a nice time.
To a degree I understand the majority. I switched from a DE to a cartridge when they first came out. I was always chasing the new thing in shaving. I even tried electric razors. It was only when I went back to my great grandfather's shave tools and techniques that I found what I had been looking for.

1. it's esoteric for many - it's not widespread
2. a naked blade (or anything remotely dangerous - like say, a gun) has a certain fear value due to media hype.
3. it takes skill so there's a barrier to entry - no it isn't that hard, but it means learning new skills.
4. getting the things to keep a straight razor going isn't as easy as walking into a supermarket and buying them.

Biggest factor that I'm aware of is exposure to this form of wet shaving. If manufactures advertised on Spike T.V or during a Pay Per View MMA Championship fight for 6 months it would be the latest buzz. Probably see an IPO's or two on new manufactures showing the 17-35 demographic as an untapped market Blah..Blah..Blah. Not saying that 36-80 isn't.

I also look at the individuals initial point of inertia, meaning that first bungee jump, or that first para sailing ride or sky dive. Once exposed to holding steel to your face and nothing ends up in the sink other than what's supposed to, your good.

Kind regards,