Since 2014 for me. It went from looking for a remedy for bad razor burn and cost savings to finding a new, enjoyable hobby.

August of 2015 I bought a shavette, brush and puck of Marvy. By October that year I had a WD SR, a FatBoy, Omega boar brush and couple soaps.

I jumped in the deep end of the pool, ended up near the floaty rope. Schick Injector type SE are as close to open blade as I go recently.

That effect right there. Five O'clock shadow the next day.

I might could get a good reduction from the hard mounted disposable carts. Single blade, with no lube strips, please. Nah, I like my other blade holders for their variety!

I can shave with any razor, any blade, etc. But that doesn't mean that all razors are the same. Are all cars the same, guns, girls, lawn mowers? No, the differences are infinite, and I for one am able to fully appreciate those differences. You are missing the best part of shaving if you truly believe they are the same.

I think 2010 is when I started with DE's and said bye bye to cartridges. Since then I've gotten injectors, SE's and straights. Loving the adventure.

Received my first DE set of razors long ago for a collection of old razors, 25-04-2016 I cleaned them (Gillette Slim Twist and Matador De Luxe) to start shaving the next day. Been using the Twist until last Friday as daily, shipped the Matador out to exchange for a butterfly razor with a long handle. (terrible, those handles shorter then 70 mm) I'm now getting the hang of a Qshave Parthenon.

Won't go back to cartridge, even with the Twist with to much play and terrible technique I got a better shave then with cartridges.

I had been using cheap disposables for many years, mostly because I had a short beard and just needed a quick trim every morning. About 5 years ago my wife - who claims I’m impossible to buy gifts for because if there’s anything I want I just go out and get it myself - asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I suggested a DE razor. So, I ended up with a nice EJ with matching stand and badger brush and used that exclusively. About 2 years back my mother in England passed away and while clearing out her old house I searched, unsuccessfully, for my dad’s old Gillette Rocket. Anyway, that sparked my interest in vintage razors.

It’s been pretty much downhill ever since!

February, 2014.

There is nothing wrong with liking carts, but technique and prep can’t fix bad design. The design of a cart is to lift the hair and cut it below the skin. If you’re prone to getting ingrown hairs, technique cannot fix that. I’ve tried using a cart with the same prep and technique that I use with my DEs and I still get ingrown hairs.

Then maybe I'm fortunate that I'm not prone to that, because I've yet to meet a cart that I couldn't get at least a decent if not BBS shave with, without irritation. I have never disputed that other guys aren't as fortunate. The only thing I have a problem with is sweeping, absolutists statements condemning (or approving) every single example of a class of any item, when those examples are not identical but vary slightly. Case by case basis in all things.

Except for Fords. They all suck.

Not a good comparison. There is not that much difference in razors and blades. Razors all do the same thing in about the same way. People that claim a big difference usually need more practice. The small differences iron out to about the same at a certain point. I have favorites mostly because of looks or how they feel in my hand. Razor is a razor is a razor.

I used them off and on until about 2006. None since that I remember.

I can get good shaves with one if I need to. Just can not think of a reason I would need too.

Exactly.

Best cart I ever shaved with is the old Wilkinson Bonded, which for me is more along the lines of a lasting injector-type shave. Wish I had a case of those.

Please take this with a large dose of humor, but this thread is getting me thinking to go back to Bic disposables and sell my razor collection while the getting is good.

No. An Auto Strop and a Tech do not perform equally. We can shave with both, but the experience is different. The end result is the same, but if that's all you're after just get some Bic disposables and stop wasting your time and mine with this internet forum crap. Or just hang with the sheeple on facebook and twitter if you need that indirect contact with people who may or may not be real.

It's just a razor, they are all the same, what's the problem?

Why do they not perform equally. Other then one is two sided junk and one is a real razor. People hollaring one blade works for themin one razor but not in another and such. Silly. To answer your question I am here because I like to help others get to a high level in this hobby. Spread the love as it were.

I am old school. Prefer old ways. Not plastic garbage.