Comments on: Switching to a straight razor

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 02:37:00 +0000

And continue circling the wagons and shoring up the bulwarks.

By: EH

EH — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 02:12:00 +0000

That was actually the hardest thing to get used to with my safety razor, because I also had always shaved against the grain. If the blade is sharp, with-the-grain works just fine!

By: fstwrtr

fstwrtr — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 01:36:00 +0000

well then by all means… continue with your neutering..

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 01:24:00 +0000

I can get in touch with my manhood by reaching into my shorts.

And all of those skills could also be used by women.

By: fstwrtr

fstwrtr — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 00:59:00 +0000

In a world where the goal is to remove the testicles from men, I believe that there are a few things a man should learn on this earth before he dies. A sort of bucket list if you will. To remind men worldwide, that yes.. regardless of what we have been reduced too, you are still a Man.. learn these lost skills if for no other reason then to keep in touch with your Manhood

how to sharpen a knife.
how to build a fire.
how to shoot a gun.
and how to shave with a straight edge

By: PreppingToSurvive

PreppingToSurvive — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 19:41:00 +0000

I’m really impressed. I’ve been considering going to a safety razor for quite some time to save money but I know that learning to use it properly takes time. I did however change to a cheaper version of razor blades with good results.

Here’s my experiences - http://preppingtosurvive.com/2012/06/19/saving-money-by-challenging-the-status-quo/

Thanks for the post!

Joe

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 18:37:00 +0000

I loved your last line.

By: Halloween_Jack

Halloween_Jack — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 18:23:00 +0000

Hey, I’m a totally whatever-works-best-for-you kind of guy, whether it’s a straight razor or an old-fashioned safety blade or something involving lasers or whatever. But I don’t go in for pseudo-scientific “analyses” like the one above.

By: jansob

jansob — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 13:41:00 +0000

in response to your last post, which I can’t seem to reply to…
Well, yes, I have to admit, artsy (particularly B/W artsy) does sometimes just ask for a sneer. But you know, you should be using custom artisinal sneers, made by an artist in Hawaii, who handcrafts them from from the anger of Native Hawaiians. Much better than the usual mass-produced sneers you find on common websites. A little pricey, but if being authentic matters…..

By: ron17571

ron17571 — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 05:38:00 +0000

I bought an safety razor and some blades and put them away.If Really bad times come i can still shave or at least trim a beard.Straight razors used to be popular than there was some kind of health warning with AIDS transmission in barbershops.So barbershops stopped using them.Where and how many i dont know,i had a barber explain this to me years back.
I go back and foth with double edge disposable razors and an electric one i use to do a touch up to extend my times between shaving.I did appretiate the tip on looking at youtube for videos.
I can grow a preety full beard in two weeks but dont like beards.I kind of like the gotee thing though.I just have a mustach that i shave off every month.

By: Young Old Man

Young Old Man — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 23:58:00 +0000

You should try a Feather or Kai razor. They work like straights but use super sharp disposable blades. These blades are the sharpest things you will find. They’re more like scalpels. No need for strops, hones etc. Check out Feather Artist club razors online, or Kai Captain or Excelia.

I’m interested in how you shave now, if straights were unable to cut your beard?

By: Ty Myrick

Ty Myrick — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 22:30:00 +0000

I used to shave in the shower and used aloe vera instead of soap or shaving cream. Works just as well as cream, if you cut yourself, you’ve already applied the medicine; and if you keep a mustache or goatee, you can see through it to tell exactly where to cut.

By: Jeff Ritzmann

Jeff Ritzmann — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 18:54:00 +0000

I tried a straight razor some years ago, spent a few hundred getting the right one after a lot of research. Bought the strop, and even got a wood strop triple sided made by a local craftsman.

In the end, I had it professionally sharpened. The man who did it had been doing razors for decades, and told me this was one of the sharpest he’d ever seen.

It wouldn’t cut my whiskers. It literally felt as if it was pulling them out by the root. I gave the razor away to a friend who uses it every day and loves it.

I did everything right, and even had a barber experienced with such razors give me a shave with it. It wouldn’t cut. Nor would his own blade. In the end, some guys cant use them.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 16:30:00 +0000

Come on now, you love to sneer and you know it. You’re right, though—there is a difference between artful and artsy, and artsy makes me cantankerous every time.

By: jacobcrim

jacobcrim — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 16:04:00 +0000

I’ve been using a 1950s safety razor for about two years, thinking about getting a straigt to see how I like it. It sure is manly!

By: Stefan Hagen

Stefan Hagen — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 13:43:00 +0000

I’ve uses a straight razor for almost 8 years, when I got my first one from my father. Since then, I don’t use anything else. I did however switch from a straight blade to a curved blade a year ago, which works way better as nothing on your face is straight like a razor (pun totally intended). It is especially nice for the initially terrifying spot around the adams apple. You need a bit more skill to hone it the right way though. Also, it’s four centimeters longer, so the “I’m going to kill myself” factor is greater, which makes it safer as Mr. Bonner correctly pointed out ;)

By: Basil_Johnson

Basil_Johnson — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 02:52:00 +0000

you’re like my son, who now knows how to tie shoelaces (no more velcro) and ride a bike without training wheels. I can’t wait to teach him about shaving, bow ties, bbq’ing,…

By: jansob

jansob — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 02:39:00 +0000

You knew exactly what you thought of the article when you saw it. An artsy pic of a blade and the word “Switching” in the title doesn’t give much hope that the writer decided that the modern “shaving systems” were best after all. You just had to come in and sneer, out of…..well, cantankerousness.

By: Sean Bonner

Sean Bonner — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 00:09:00 +0000

I still think that’s a pretty romanticised perspective. You might own one handle and one cartridge, but you still have to worry about the “replaceable” part – blades get dull, you need to have backups on hand, and no matter how popular something has been for 16 years it won’t be forever, so you are gambling that it’ll continue to be made as long as you need it. Argue that all you want but there is no shortage of examples of things everyone agreed were awesome that eventually stopped being made/supported by the company who produced them. And while 16 years is certainly a damn good run for a razor design, I think straight razors the popular choice for a few years more than that. The entire shaving/razor industry could cease to exist tomorrow and the set up I have would still last me the rest of my life, which was my goal. Any disposable / replaceable part wouldn’t.

By: intheshadowofleaves

intheshadowofleaves — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000

You shouldn’t be so dismissive of DE razors based on the anecdotes of inexperienced dimwits cutting themselves; pretty much every review of a DE razor I’ve ever read has at least one person complaining about cutting themselves, mainly because they don’t know what they’re doing and fail to understand that using one requires a significantly different technique than the (x)-bladed, dayglo plastic Gillettes they’re used to.

Whenever someone argues that their crappy disposable contraption is somehow better than hundreds of years of tradition, I offer them a chef’s analogy; consider a heavily serrated bread knife, and a well sharpened chef’s knife. Both can cut through a steak easily enough, but which one will give a clean cut, and which will just tear through it indiscriminately? 3+ inferior blades in close formation will just hack up your face, whereas 1 very sharp blade will glide through hairs like a katana through a low level goon squad.

God I sound like an old man right now. Damn kids, get off my lawn!

By: Sean Bonner

Sean Bonner — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 23:02:00 +0000

Doc_S – No they don’t. There’s a difference between something that is allowed and something that is overlooked. TSA written policy specifically forbids safety razors with blades. Some might slip by but they aren’t “allowed”

By: thatbob

thatbob — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 22:13:00 +0000

I guess what I meant to suggest is that your desire to own fewer things may be in conflict with your desire not to own disposable things.

I own one razor handle, which is smaller than my index finger, and has lasted for 16 years; it takes one replaceable part, which is smaller than my pinkie, and represents the pinnacle of design in its class – or certainly did at the time of its release. And the only other thing I need is hot running water. That’s all.

Now I’m off to cash my checks from Gillette and Amazon.com!

By: intheshadowofleaves

intheshadowofleaves — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 22:08:00 +0000

Feather and Merkur blades are a good buy. A little pricier than other varieties, but even the most expensive DE blade is still effectively cheaper than the least expensive 14-blade disposable.

By: thatbob

thatbob — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 21:56:00 +0000

Interesting. I thought I remembered receiving my starter handle in the welcome package they give to incoming freshmen, which placed it to Sept. 1992 in my continuity. Confronted with your research, I have to admit my memory is fallible, and assume that was some other model or brand in that kit? So when did I switch to the M3? Presumably upon its release? Probably (knowing my cheapskate ways at the time) after a free product sample, associated with its launch? I know there was a New Yorker article about it at the time, and I did have a subscription to that rag circa ’98. That’s also around the time my bestie shaved his head, so sounds about right. I stand corrected.

I also remain standing by my endoresement of the Mach 3 - or an off-brand equivalent, if you can find one that works as I describe. Six blades sounds gratuitous to me, akin to the models that shot fluid on your face or had a vibrating handle. But if they last twice as long, and cost half as much, have at ‘em! Having read another comment on here, I was going to check them out myself.

(The high pricepoint of Mach 3 blades was my only real complaint against them over *16* years of use – but like I said, they’re cheap on Amazon.)

By: Derisory Apodaca

Derisory Apodaca — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 21:53:00 +0000

Big smile.. A Straight Edge is nothing to fear.. Although, as a female the first time I used one I was scared to death. Never attempted to shave my own face with one, but I’m pretty good at shaving my legs with one. Of course I had had a LOT of practice on male faces before I advanced to my own legs. There isn’t a better shave to be had, unless you are reclined in a barber’s chair and getting the FULL Barber Shop Shave from someone who enjoys shaving. You will NEVER get a smoother shave with anything other than a straight edge. Happy shaving guys..

By: Ito Kagehisa

Ito Kagehisa — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 21:12:00 +0000

The razor bumps would have me looking like a pineapple.

By: Ito Kagehisa

Ito Kagehisa — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 21:07:00 +0000

Electrics are without question the cheapest and fastest way to shave. They are also best for the environment.

If by “best for the environment” you meant “optimal at destroying the environment” then I think you’re overstating the case a little bit. But if you think I’m harming the environment by using my paternal granddad’s safety razor or my maternal grandfather’s straight razor,and the same handmade soap I use for the rest of my body, well, I have to laugh. There aren’t any nuclear power plants or coal burners powering my razor.

I actually have two different double-edged saftey razor blade sharpeners; I bought ‘em at the local farmer’s market for a couple bucks each. But my Dad showed me how to sharpen the blades on a hotel glass when I was a kid anyway.

By: Ito Kagehisa

Ito Kagehisa — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 21:00:00 +0000

They give me horrible razor bumps. And I have no African features at all, I’m totally straight-haired.

By: Dlo Burns

Dlo Burns — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 20:59:00 +0000

Add dog training and installing wallpaper to that list.

By: Ito Kagehisa

Ito Kagehisa — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 20:58:00 +0000

Naw, sorry, it’s not a shared experience. I’ve never been afraid of my straight razor. (Not bragging – it’s just not one of my personal heebie jeebies and no, I’m not telling you what I am skeert of!)