Just matter of preference really. When I first started out I had 4. 2 pre-owned and 2 new as benchmark for honing. Now that I've accumulated more I'm trying to rid myself of couple.
Yes, I have been eyeing one or two you have over there. Perhaps in March when I have a bit more cash to devote to my shaving.
If you are new to straights, it will be about what feels most comfortable in your hands. I use both hands, therefore I needed a razor that I felt really comfortable with in my less dominate hand. Then I like jibs top and bottom, then I liked thumb notch's, then I liked 6/8 size razors, then it was about the steel when honing, then I began to specialize in brands, filarmonica, Heljestrand, Engstrom... That giant run on sentence is what happens once you start getting very comfortable with what your doing. at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it. ask my wife the answer 20 at least. the last time I looked, there could be more...yah there's more shhhhhh. kind regards,
Well I guess the wife will have to adjust, I am just afraid she might decide to use one on me in the middle of the night if I had twenty or more. But perhaps I can sneak them in one at a time over time and she might not notice until it is too late. Yeah that is what I will do. Now if you don't hear from me after a few months just assume she did me in with one.
I've thinned out my stock and I have now around 40 to 50 straight razors. To start, you only need one, naturally. Then, RAD starts kicking in, so let yourself go
You buy one then .... 30- 60. Once that's over you start thinking of things to do to be different or creative, one morning you wake up and boom. You start creating new ways to bring life to old razors. example below. It's a guy thing! I asked my friend Toxik to make these carbon fiber scales :ashamed001 for this Engstrom I have. It shaves better now too
What is? Waking up? No, trust me, girls do that. In fact I just woke up this morning myself! Awesome looking scales!
Cat bite my tongue:ashamed001, I fell asleep at the keyboard on the one. You don't sleep:think002 Kind regards,
When I wanted to start using the straights, I didn't know what to do. Then one day a guy on one of the boards wanted me to sell him a tube of some shaving cream I was selling as samples (Irisch Moos SC), and I had read some of his posts about using straight razors, so I offered to trade him for one. He had a very nice one suitable for a first razor. Then I did buy a Double Arrow on ebay for $9.99. Then I started looking for them at antique stores and flea markets. I've bought two or three off ebay. I've obvously sent my first antique store razor to Ken at Ruprazor and it is a beautiful Torrey that shaves like a dream. I've got 3 or 4 really nice shavers at flea markets now, I got the special Norton honing kit from Peachtree so I could learn that part of it and hone my own. I eventually worked my way up to a Shapton, and am hopefully learning the value of proper stropping. My ultimate $20 razor is a 200 year old R. Wade (1810 to 1818) that is butt ugly but I put a killer of an edge on it and have been using it in rotation with a Merkur Futur for about a month and a half. I think I have about a dozen and that's too many. I only use about 5 regularly because I have realized it's too much time and effort to try to maintain edges on all of them at the same time and to shave with all of them. All of this is complicated because I have 5 vintage and custom DE razors that I love to use also. I actually own a couple dozen DEs, but as you can see, there are only about half a dozen that I love to use and will continue to do so. The only new DEs I have ever bought in my life are the 1965 Slim and the 1969 Schick Krona. Bought them each for about a dollar apiece when you could walk into the drug store on the corner and buy it new. I love my razors and I love shaving with them.
