I think the very edge is about the same thickness on both a DE blade and a well sharpened str8 but the geometry of the DE blade makes you screw up the angle more easily
As to the question of forgiveness of blades, wheat I can say is then I switched from my disposable straight to my full hollow John Williams, my shaves immediately went from easy to get nicks and irritation to very comfortable and only getting irritation when I was obviously asking for it. The feel of the blade against my skin is tremendously different, night and day. The Full Hollow blade is much thinner over a greater percentage of the blade than the effect of a disposable blade pinched a couple millimeters off the edge by the triangular shape of the holder. It basically changes the somewhat flexible disposable blade into a rigid wedge blade. I had a barber I was chatting with tell me the same thing too, that the real straights are more forgiving. I think the expression refers to a tendancy to cause irritation, not necessarily cuts. Even a literal butterknife can cut a person (I know, I've done it before).
A straight razor is more forgiving to user error. A mistake that would go unnoticed in a straight razor can mean serious blood with a shavette. But it is very easy to mess up the edge on a straight razor, and carbon steel razors are sensitive to water, especially in the pivot area. I have a bunch of straight razors in all kind of grinds and sizes. I also have a Sanguine shavette, a Folding CJB and a Feather Artist Club SS. The FAC blades are thicker and sharper than the paper thin and very flexible DE blades. I would say that the Feather with ProGuard blades is a very good start, probably the most user friendly if maintaining a true straight razor is not your thing. Today I actually shaved with the Sanguine. What can I say, it is nice, but the feather is just plain better on all accounts. The BST forums have a lot of excellent vintage straight razors for not much money, not to mention a few good folks that offer the cheap gold dollar straight razors honed and shave ready for even less, so why not try both?
I started with a shavette before moving to a real straight, and I would recommend it. My reasoning was that I wanted to see if I liked the style of shaving with a single blade, and the freedom to choose angles, etc. I did, so after a year with a shavette I switched to the real straight. In my experience neither blade is more "forgiving" than the other. I'm with swarden43; I don't think there is any such thing as a forgiving blade. That said, I haven't cut myself with either one, so perhaps if I was less careful I'd have a different opinion. As far as the shave is concerned, the only real issue I've come up against as far as adjustments is that the shavette blade is much shorter (around 1 inch or whatever) compared with a 3 inch straight razor. This means that I've had to change my technique, especially around the curves of the throat area. It's not a problem, just an adjustment. Like others have said, I find the straight to be more fun to shave with. The quality of the shave is basically the same. Shavette blades are very sharp. Of course the big difference is that you can sharpen a straight yourself. New shavette blades are always sharp, and there's no question that that is much more convenient. To sharpen your own straight takes a lot of practice (I'm still a beginner) and it takes a lot more time and effort. But as others have noted it's also a lot more rewarding. To me that's one of the big advantages of shaving with a straight: it's fun to use and to maintain. If you don't find all that maintenance to be fun, you might actually prefer the shavette over the straight.
Yep, I'm beginning to lean towards just getting the gear (probably Whipped Dog to start) and try a straight. But I may still pick up a Parker Shavette to try...
@nsomnac I would recommend you try some hair shaper razor to get a picture of real straight. After that you decide.
