Thread: Best part of shaving with a straight razor

I cant pick any one element!

Its a mix of the history behind it, the whole shaving experience from stropping to lathering to the shave itself, its shaving with a razor that you honed yourself, its the fact that I'm not paying Gillette a Kings ransom to get a sub par shave, its the fact that these shaves are the best I've ever had and the fact that I'm shaving with a work of art not a plastic piece of junk.

And thats just off the top of my head..!

For me its a little bit of all that, but a focus on history. Im a traditinal American Barber. I work at an old school shop with 2 other traditinal barbers. Straight shaving has been staple for me from the beginning of Barber school. I'm an old soul in a young body.

Learning.

Meditative aspects - focus / attention.

Sense of achievement to start the day - before you even get out of the bathroom.

I'm with Stubear on the nice feeling you get of shaving with something you've honed yourself - so I'd also say the level of control / responsibility you bring to the shave. Also that sense of being somewhat independent - you have a single razor that you maintain yourself with no need to involve others or buy replacement parts.

Did I mention learning? I like the developing awareness, solving little problems, improving... which links into all the above comments.

Cool factor? Hmm, not sure - probably is some, but I generally treat this as a personal experience - it is for me, not for anyone else. I've toyed with the idea of doing a shaving demo at the school I teach at for 'Shave for a cure' - but I like keeping this mainly for me. (Plus the kids probably think I'm weird enough as it is... not that I'm trying to be! Of course most adults are weird to teenagers) Maybe I will anyway - do them good to be exposed to another way of doing things! ...sorry about that sidetrack!

All the best,
Michael

Best part?

Great shaves. I wouldn’t do this if it didn’t work.

Pride in ownership. I’m not a collector but I have some nice razors and I enjoy owning them and seeing them put to good use. (See above.) In short, I like shiny sharp things.

Sense of accomplishment. In this era when it seems that everything is reduced to a Power Point presentation, a book for dummies, or 140 characters displayed on a pocket LCD screen; there is a pleasure in successfully demonstrating a skill to oneself. In this case a somewhat arcane and little practiced skill that can’t be downloaded but must be learned. Every morning I do something that most people cannot even comprehend. Most times I do it well. (Today, not so much.) There’s no bragging here. Apart from my wife, no one I meet in the day knows how I shave- or even cares.

Humility. Ten thousand shaves; still a beginner.

Semper circa,
LG Roy

I kinda like sharing all of this, with all you guys (and Gals) here on SRP !!!!

Originally Posted by LawsonStone

This is going to sound a bit abstract, but here goes.

Some of my very earliest memories of my grandfathers, on both sides of my family, memories that are almost at the fade point, so early that they are hardly there, are of them shaving with straight razors. Growing up in the small town south, where every little town had a barber shop, and every barber routinely gave straight shaves, and men were split about 50/50 between the straight and the DE razor, I recall being awestruck that my grand-pas both could wield the straight razor. My dad started me on it, just mowing down peach fuzz, rather than risk buying me a "real" razor. But that was only a short time, then I got a DE and then cartridge and then disposable…

So shaving with the straight somehow connects my life today with some of my oldest, and most moving memories of men that I admired and enjoyed.

We have, in my small town right here, an old fashioned Barbershop. I don't know if he gives straight shaves or not, but I plan to ask about it.

I have a very similar memory as yourself, LawsonStone.

I'd watch my two grandfathers shave with their cutthroat. Mirror hanging on the window in the kitchen (no bathrooms in the houses at that time), with a small towel draped over their shoulder, and shaving away, not even giving it a thought that someday that type of shaving was on its way out for the DE's.

Originally Posted by Stubear

I cant pick any one element!

Its a mix of the history behind it, the whole shaving experience from stropping to lathering to the shave itself, its shaving with a razor that you honed yourself, its the fact that I'm not paying Gillette a Kings ransom to get a sub par shave, its the fact that these shaves are the best I've ever had and the fact that I'm shaving with a work of art not a plastic piece of junk.

And thats just off the top of my head..!

I agree with you 100% there Stubear on that.

Can you imagine a row of Gillette fusions (or similar cartridge types) hanging on the bathroom wall, and people gloating over them in awe, as they do with the old straight razor with the fancy scales? I think not!

I also like them for these things are pieces of art.

I can't pick one thing that's the best. However, I can pick out something specific that I enjoy about the whole process (learning to shave and maintain a straight) that I haven't seen mentioned.

I've learned about cutting edge angles and how to maintain a sharp edge. This has helped me in many occasions from cooking to woodworking where sharp edges are necessary and useful. It's interesting that shaving has enhanced my knowledge across multiple hobbies.