shavette/feather vs traditional straights

I definitely fall into the "shaver" category. Nice write up Glen

 

I started with an Electric, moved on to a cart, then to a DE, then to a (cheap) Shavette, then to a SR, then to a Feather. Phew! that was a mouthful. Let em explain:

The DE was my standard for 2-3 years. I then came across this forum that opened my world to new ways of giving blood. I received a cheap shavette with a purchase I made. Shaving with it using DE blades was extremely time consuming and not too pleasant. If you're going to try shavette's don't go for a cheap shavette. It's the same as everything else, you get what you pay for. I then bought a a SR from Whippeddog, but was disappointed with the SR shave experience. There is still much to learn, but it felt more like hacking. I'm better with SR now, but still cannot get close to DE shaving. My DE shaving world upped the game when I purchased a Mühle R41 Grande, it is awesome. Smoothest closest shave ever! Last week I managed to snag a Feather Artist Club SS for £47 of eBay. This thing arrived today and was smaller than I thought it would be. With two days growth this thing gave me as good a shave as my R41 in 30 min. A couple of nicks is all. It was no comparison to my first shavette.

I say all this because the tools are determined by the desired result. I'm definitely in the "perfect shave every time" category. If I was looking for the best shaving experience, I'd go for SRs. If I was looking for speed a DE. If I was going for closest smoothest shave it would be the R41 or Feather. However, amongst all this my bottom line is it must be a BBS shave every time. This really means DE or Feather for me, at least until I can master the SR to achieve this. The only thing I'm unsure about is whether mastering a SR will ever give as close a shave as a DE or Feather as these blades are phenomenally sharp. The Club SS is also extremely forgiving. The curved edge is ingenious as it moves the skin out of the way sufficiently for the blade to cut. With a Shavette beard reduction is unnecessary.

 

So are you going for a one pass shave, or are you doing several passes? I have used the Feather AC, DE razors, and Straights, and have found multiple passes needed for them to work well.

I have a shave today that is as good as I can get with a DE or my Artist Club, and I got it with a fairly inexpensive straight razor. I have been getting this fairly consistantly, but that is after 21 shaves with the Artist Club, and 30 with a straight razor. They haven't all been good shaves.

 

By beard reduction I mean a number of passes in the same direction. This is what I have to do with SRs with a number of days growth.

With the Feather (second shave today), not matter what growth I have it's always WTG, XTG, ATG and then some touch up. I must say I'm impressed with this device. It's very very forgiving. I always struggle with my neck, but with the Feather I've had the smoothest skin on my neck I've ever had. Very few nicks second time round. Much faster. I reckon you can get an acceptable work shave in one pass. You could actually go ATG/XTG in your first pass.

 

I always do multiple passes, although I strive for a two pass shave, most times there are touch ups. I do this more for the comfort of my skin than in relation to the sharpness of the razor. I am glad the Feather is working for you. With several blade options, it can be fine tuned for each person's face.