What have I learned? 1. Vintage, modern, brass, stainless, zinc - they all shave very well. I get as good a shave from a modern Merkur as I do my 1940s Super Speed. (As always, there are exceptions. A few razors are just not for everyone. I hate the Red Tip Super Speed) 2. It saves money ONLY if you are satisfied with 1 or 2 razors and don't get into the collecting craze like the rest of us. 3. Safety razors DO give me as good a shave as multi blade cartridges, though I have to shave 3 times in one sitting - which I don't mind (bringing me to point 4). 4. I LOVE shaving now. Whether it is time traveling to how they did it in the old days, or just the cool factor of a brush and mug - shaving is now something I look forward to. 5. If you ARE a collector, this is a pretty fun hobby. From the hunt, to the cleaning and reconditioning, to watching your display grow- and actually using the tools you took from drab to fab. So, find the razor that suits you, your personality, and know you are getting as good a shave as those of us who rotate 4 or 15 razors. Or enjoy getting out there and finding your next white whale. And welcome to the club!
Damn things are like tribbles in my cabinet though. I get rid of one, 2 show back up in its place. I started 1 pass, against the grain about 2 years ago as blasphemous as that sounds, and it works as well and is as comfortable now as 3 passes was. Like anything else, it takes a break in period but once you figure out the kinks, its smooth sailing
Give the red tip a few years. I didn't like the first one I owned either. Sold it. Picked up another in a lot buy five years later, and decided to give it another try. I liked it. It's a one pass shaver for me. I switch to another razor for the second pass (if I need a second pass). Otherwise it will give me irritation.
I agree! When I first started I tried one and kind of mulched my face. Years later, I get a fine shave (no blood), but slightly wind burned exfoliation.
Ahh, the trouble with Tribbles. I can so relate. It's been more than five years for me, and as stated by the op, still going strong, and in the immortal words of Maxwell Smart-"and loving it"!!!
I agree with everything from 1 to 5. But, there's always a but I like my red tip. Sent from my QTAQZ3 using Tapatalk
I've been accumulating safety razors for well over a half century now but the ones I've bought over the last five years or so have really screwed the "savings" concept. When did a high quality razor jump from under two bucks to several orders of magnitude greater? What I have found is that the new razors work as well as the old ones and a few are even better.
Agreed with all points, except that a safety razors give me a far superior shave, not just as good as. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk
Well written! I never thought I would become a collector of safety razors, brushes and soaps. Oh I can't forget my obsession with aftershaves. I could do away with most of my razors and be very happy, what to do...
Did you move towards smaller brushes as you only need lather for one pass? Most days I would be good with one pass, but I normally do two as my brush is loaded with lather.
Nope. I still have a variety of sizes and even went with a 30mm for the last brush I made. I have just accepted there will be waste. I'd have to make lather one way or another so whether I'm using it to shave or rinsing it down the sink is just a matter of perspective. I've also accepted that using the larger brush I waste more. I only have a few SCs and usually use hard soaps so it is hardly even noticed AND it helps deplete the inventory I'd say that shaving one pass ATG has revolutionized my shaving. I'll do a two pass shave every once in a while but its just for kicks. I may do one tomorrow since it has been a while and we're talking about it now. In reverse order though, my shave breakthroughs have been: 1 pass ATG cold water shaving synthetic bristles Lucky Tiger vanishing cream no pressure DE shaving/soap, brush I know you didn't ask for all the extra info Dale, but it is all part of the path. Each of the above have provided "ah ha!" moments and are vividly tied to upping my shaves.
As a follow up: I did a two pass N to S and S to N shave this morning and it was amazing. Not sure if it had to do with the second pass or not but it was nearly perfect. I'm going back to my S to N routine though. Maggards HD clone head, stainless steel handle TOBS Sandalwood SC (had a buddy pick me up a pot from TOBS last month when he went to England) 30mm Maggards synthetic on custom cocobolo handle Lucky Tiger vanishing cream Barbasol Skin Bracer clone 'Twas nice
I gave the one pass ATG shave a go this morning and the results aren't too far off from my normal quick 2 pass shave. If I dialed in my routine and added a little touch up, I would be good. Most likely I am going back to my normal routine tomorrow. Thanks. It was nice to change things up a little bit if only for a day.
I never would have thought it would be as comfortable as it is if I hadn't tried it. Cold water shaving too, figured it would have been horrible until I gave it a whirl.
