Daily Driver Razors

It is a great hobby!!

 

I venture that this wouldn't be true if you committed long term to open blades. However, rushing through an SR is a risky proposition with heavy penalties for mistakes.

 

Enjoy! It's more like 34 and humid here today.

 

All razors are the same at skin-meets-bevel level. Just handles and varying degrees of blade safety. Results are almost entirely technique driven. Some razors are easier to master than others, but they all work just fine.

 

Ha. I knew you were a slightly stuffy enabler AND amasser.

 

If I push my tech into my face (read - add pressure) it will cut me maybe a millimetre deep.

If I did that with an R41 maybe that's 2mm.

If I do it with my straight, I need staples/skin grafts on my cheek.

If I use no pressure, can each of them cut the hair flat to skin level? Yep. BBS. I can't go less - any closer than skin level would involve removing skin.

Maybe I can do, in one pass with a straight, what I can do in one and touch ups with a Tech. But with good technique, it is likely to be a closer race than that.

 

Let’s allow our friend, Mr. John 5 to demonstrate technique, on a cheap piece of equipment. I couldn’t do any of this on a custom Les Paul (mostly because I can’t play guitar at all).

 

It all depends on your examples. You can't win the formula one in a honda civic now matter how good you are. But hat's off to Mr. John.

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

 

Well, that actually depends on the skill level of those you're racing against.

 

Your not interested in really learning... That is fine. My last thoughts on the subject. You keep bringing up examples that have nothing to do with shaving. A civic is a huge difference from a race car....a expensive golf club is often different from cheap... Head design and such. A good golfer will take cheap clubs and play great gold. Safety razors have pretty much been the same for a long time. Using a 1890 kampfe Star wedge is basically like using a new model today. There is very little difference. And before it is asked yes I do have the razors to prove it.

What makes the difference is often not the tool but the technique. Learn the technique and any raxor is your daily driver without have to worry about blood.

Done here.

 

Just keeping the mood light. John 5 is a killer guitarist though!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

As already mentioned above, I am not a huge fan of the term aggressive. For the most part you can make any razor more or less aggressive by adjusting the angle, just like in straights. It seems to me that most people call razors aggressive when they have more potential to bite. There are definitely razors that fall into this category. This does not make a razor any more capable of giving a close shave. Just think of what you are doing at the basic level: scrapping a blade with a bevel across the skin. If done at the right angle, this will cut the hair off at skin level and not irritate the skin too much. There really is no way for a razor to improve on this. The trick is finding the right angle to get the bevel in relation to the skin. Some razors are more intuitive than others for various people, but with a little practice and technique, anyone should be able to get a BBS shave from any razor. Some razors may have a wider range of angles that give an acceptable shave than others, but all will have a sweet spot for this. At their basics, though razors are the same.

 

Yes, I can also get the same results from my Feather ASD2 as I do from my Fatip Grande (early mk1 version). This is after switching to DE in 2013, and it did take awhile to acquire the knowledge of my personal direction of beard growth and the WTG, XTG and ATG techniques combined with subtle skin stretching like barbers use to get great shaves without irritation. For me personally, the Fatip Grande has never felt smooth during the shaving stoke (as so many report that it does) regardless of steep or shallow angles on my part or choice of blade. I think it's far too easy to cut oneself with it and other than the fact that it's made of brass it's a poorly constructed razor with lousy tolerances (I've had three of them). My Gillette Old Types are almost as aggressive but safer. You can begin a downward stroke right under the middle of your nostrils and can sense the blade edge whereas milder razors such as my Techs and Super Speeds have a narrower window and I don't really feel that blade at the commencement of the stroke. I can only get that area with the inverted ATG pass. But now that I have solid technique and am familiar with these different razors, I can get the same results. I must also agree wholeheartedly with FaceScraper. There has been a propagation of "truisms" on the various shaving forums that imho are nonsense. The "nothing will ever shave as close as a straight" routine. Unless it shaves below the level of the epidermis it isn't any closer than a DE blade touching the skin. It just sounds manly and cool to keep repeating it over and over. Straight shaves can result in closeness because the barber (or person shaving themselves) is employing skin-stretching and careful application of directional pressure. And more often than not they're being a little more thorough and prudent as they shave, not just whipping the razor around like they would a DE. If the same focus is applied to DE shaving you'll get the same results. And I've had my Boker Straight razor made shave ready by one of the best in the business and even he will tell you that DE blades are actually a sharper edge. Another good one is this talk of blade "chatter" and the all-important rigid razor. Never had a blade "chatter" in any razor, because it's held against the top cap during the stroke (unless you're shaving backwards). It's a micro thin wafer sliding along a lubricated surface not a playing card held with a clothspin flapping against bicycle spokes.

 

One of the best actually. He's a true virtuoso.

 

When it comes to shaving, yes - each and every razor can give you the same end result - a very smooth face.

Blade gaps and geometry differ slightly. The materials and weight vary. But, in the end, none of those attributes make or break the ability to cut hair at skin level.

And no, you don’t have to be a complete wombat to buy an ATT razor. I plan on getting one at some point - just because. I would, however, be a complete wombat if I expected it to perform any better than one of my vintage Gillettes.

As a hobby, there are tons of choices - based on preferences. That’s part of the fun. For those who aren’t hobby shavers, they have it made. They won’t be tempted by the beauty of a Timeless razor. They won’t buy expensive brushes and soaps. They’ll use what they have, get smooth shaves, and be quite happy with it.

 

Yes sir! Even with a Hello Kitty guitar.

 

I use my straight razors 3 times per week and have been at it for 3 years now. I will venture to call that a long term commitment.

 

57% of your experience is NOT on SR over that time period. Would that perhaps explain inability to use as efficiently? You have only committed to rotating them into usage, and they only see the minority of usage time. Huge difference in perspective and experience versus daily open blades over the same time period. My point was, and still is, if you actually commit to them they'd become just as an efficient process as safety razors are currently.

 

I think @wchnu secretly uses an ATT razor, a Simpson Chubby 3 in Manchurian, MdC Vetiver, Feather blades hand stropped on his skinny jeans, and Creed EDT.

...and, of course, he shaves wearing a Hello Kitty T-shirt.

 

The pics are a stuntman. Fuzzy has dreads and a beard, and often wears loud colors.