Yes, we did. It is a safety razor or straight razor that is best. What else would you expect on a traditional shaving forum?

If someone asks "Which razor is best?", the correct answer is "Either a Merkur 34C or an Edwin Jagger DE89". The reasons why?

- These two safety razors are the most widely available and readily accessible models.
- They are of reasonable cost and high quality, and thus represent good value for the money.
- They might not be the very best razor of all for the person asking, but at the very least will be quite good and very suitable for learning to wetshave. In short, they are a good starting point.
- If the person asking decides to go with only one razor from then on, both of these models would do nicely.
- This stock answer has long been given, and long proven suitable for getting newbies started on the right path.

Because as someone qualified to give such an answer, you realize that you often cannot answer this question for a given individual, regardless of the product:

"Which ______ is best?"

so you give a good answer instead. If the person asking the question winds up being all the better for taking your advice, that really is the best answer you can give. They can take it from there.

Edit:

Going back to the OP, which was a point well taken:

Then don't try to give them the right answer. Give them a good answer instead, which is really what they were looking for. I know that repetitive questions can get a little tedious, but isn't information sharing one of the reasons forums were created in the first place? When viewed as a golden opportunity, newbie questions become less tedious, even if they are often repeated. Sure, someone can learn very well by lurking for a time, but other folks are impatient and want to jump into traditional wetshaving right away. Given all the praise we heap on it, who can blame them?

Yes, such stories always surprise me. True, my dad did teach me the basics (and I still stick to them) but I cannot remember him or my granddad talking about bad shaves. Maybe because they never fell for canned foams and stuck to proper lather?

Shaving wasn't really talked about among friends, and in the Netherlands electric razors caught on early (Philips!). OTOH, canned foam arrived late, in my memory.

I had good shaves when I started, about 35 years ago now. And I still have good shaves. Only much more luxurious because all we had were drugstore soaps, brushes, and aftershaves. And "Made in Israel" blades which I still use!

With the Razorock DE1 selling for $4.99 , and the stainless steel Gamechangers for $54.99 I view the EJ89/34C value for money recommendation as long been given but seriously out of date. While there may be other good reasons to recommend them (I wouldn't), I no longer see the value proposition as one of them, certainly not for North American customers .

Available from one source OEMing it for who knows how long going forward. Besides, a person asking which razor is best will not necessarily be located in North America.

The DE89 has been around for years, and it or its Muhle equivalent, is sold by every Tom, Dick and Harry in creation. The Merkur 34C is at least as widespread, if not more so. Both are likely to be around many years in the future and are readily available worldwide.

Thank you!!! It is so frustrating getting recommendations or ideas for products which are available in the USA only.

Agreed. Only depends on the region where you live whether the Edwin Jagger or the Mühle is the cheaper offering. One of the three (DE89, R89 or 34C) should be easy to find in most parts of the world.

The DE1/Teck2 is available worldwide through AliExpress in its Baili incarnation. I'm talking about a recommendation now not years from now. Just passing on what I personally would recommend today to someone.

I think being guided by what's available at brick and mortar stores in 2019 is ridiculous (E-J lists only online stockists by the way). But that's just me. Yes, I ordered my Baili , my Q-Shave, my Yaqi head, and three sets of blades from Aliexpress. All six orders, from five different vendors arrived in 2-3 weeks without issue . Tracking looks like this. i don't make blind recommendations. You are obviously welcome to recommend whatever you like. Both our opinions have been made pretty clear.

Why are brick and mortar stores ridiculous? I have purchased a lot of things from a local cutlery store over the years. For newbies especially, being able to see things in real life is quite educational and helpful. Nearly all the cutlery stores in my area carry at least some Merkurs and accessories. Besides zero wait time is always nice!

No wonder all the newbies are going to Reddit/wicked_edge nowadays. They are what we once were.

I WISH there was a brick and mortar store in my "vicinity" that carried shave gear. We had one Art of Shaving and that went belly-up. I would mos def patronize such an establishment.

Never been to a brick and mortar store to shop for shaving equipment, and although I live in the second largest city in the US I don't frequent a "local cutlery" if there is one. There is one shave shop about an hour away (West Coast Shave maybe 1.5) but the internet is a thing. The only reason I would drive an hour and back plus parking to go to one to buy what I could online would be for a meet-up.

So much about shaving is personal preference that it is nearly impossible to predict what someone will like. Another issue is that with time preferences change. A good example recently for me is the Lord Premium Safety Razor/L6. I bought one of these a couple years ago and did not really care for it so it sat and collected dust. I put a fresh blade in it last week and got 3 fantastic shaves with it so far. No idea why things are different now. Maybe my technique has gotten better? Maybe the blade I picked works wonders in it? Who knows.
Maybe if something isn’t working for you set it aside and come back to it later.


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Likely your technique has gotten better, the razor hasn't changed

i would love to have a local shaving shop around here. there is one but it sells muhle razors only..something like a wcs or british tobs shop would be awesome..a mens shop, cigars , you name it..

My stones arrived today. I made a box for the big one (Crown). Now I can ruin some straights another way. HA. Hopefully not.

Now you can tell everyone "I got big stones".

The same applies to the best shaving cream or best brush or best straight razor or best after shave. You ask a dozen people and you're gonna get a dozen different answers. Unless you have tried it yourself, you're never gonna know.

Some folks opinions help me to save money. There are a few guys who's clues are mobetta. Jist causing trouble heya.

"best" being the word, best car, best truck , best restaurant etc.other opinions do give some help and direction for many..

True.