[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NightOwl /img/forum/go_quote.gif Razors are even more personal than audio equipment. I preferred my Slim to my Fat Boy and sold the Fat Boy since I'm not a collector.

True!
Like how we all have different set of ears we also have different skin and facial hair. So a certain razor that works for one person may not work for another. Same for blade, soap/cream, ...

Hence I recommend each person to try different brands/models to find the "perfect" setup.

 

[NightOwl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IceClass /img/forum/go_quote.gif I guess what I really meant was are the Gillette Fat Boys favourably comparable to a current adjustable offering like for instance, the Merkurs? I'm seeing FBs often going for $100 easy these days on Ebay.

Fat Boys and Red Tip SuperSpeeds are the current FOM's and the reason prices have soared. There is one model of Fat Boy that is a collector's item. Other than that Gillette produced millions of these and there's no reason to pay more than $30. for one in good shape. You just may have to be patient or wait until the hype dies down.

As far as being comparable to a Merkur, it depends. Gillette has always been the best at designing and engineering razors. I personally prefer vintage Gillettes to current Merkurs and Muhles. They just feel right to me. That being said, all Gillette razors were designed to be mass market items and the mechanical tolerances are those of a mass produced item. The aggressiveness of Gillettes is also generally mild to medium to appeal to the majority (unless you crank your adjustable to 9).
Current Merkurs and Muhles are built to tighter tolerances than vintage Gillettes and are capable of being much more aggressive and lots of people prefer them.

 

[MD1032]

I'm surprised so many of you guys use straight razors to shave. I gave up on foam and blades years ago and switched to electric... it's so much easier, and there's no mess. I'll be the first to admit that the shave isn't nearly as close, however, it's worth it for me.

When I do have to wet shave (which I used to do on occasional for a fancy event), I use a regular Mach 3 from Gilette. I tried the Mach 3 Turbo and it yielded horrible results but the Mach 3 is pretty consistent. The only problem with it is that the blades wear out really really fast.

 

[IceClass]

Electric shavers are the spawn of satan and besides they bring me out in a rash.

Thanks for the informative post NightOwl.

 

[NightOwl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IceClass /img/forum/go_quote.gif Electric shavers are the spawn of satan and besides they bring me out in a rash. Thanks for the informative post NightOwl.

X2. I hate electric shavers and could never feel that I got a close shave. Going over and over the same spot to get closer turned my face into hamburger.

You're welcome IceClass. I hate to tell you this, but you may have to try both a Merkur and a Gillette to see which you prefer. With DE's and especially blades YMMV. I tried at least 15 different razors before I settled on 3 that I like. The good news is that DE's are an item of interest now and you can resell whatever you don't like for at least what you paid for it.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MD1032 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm surprised so many of you guys use straight razors to shave. I gave up on foam and blades years ago and switched to electric... it's so much easier, and there's no mess. I'll be the first to admit that the shave isn't nearly as close, however, it's worth it for me.

There aren't too many here who shave with a straight razor - most of the talk is about double-edged (DE) safety razors. I learned how to use a straight razor about 15 years ago, but rarely use them now. You can get an excellent shave, but the stropping and slower shave took me 30-40 minutes. I can't devote that much time to shaving.

Lathering up the shave bowl only takes a minute and a DE shave goes about as fast as a modern razor.

If you get the itch to try wet shaving again, go hunt down an old DE at a junk store (you might find cheap vinyl and CDs, as well

) and get a sampler pack of blades. It takes a little longer than electric, but using a brush to put hot lather on your face is something I look forward to.

 

[catachresis]

@NightOwl, & etc. . .: When you fellers (and ladies, for all I know) expound upon the 'aggressiveness' of Merkurs and Muhles, I am curious as to whether you shave against the grain after you haved shaved down with the hair growth. I've got my Gillette thin-boy on 7, and that's about as 'aggressive' as I want to chance when my beard is thick through laziness, and I'll shave up at the end.

 

[NightOwl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catachresis /img/forum/go_quote.gif @NightOwl, & etc. . .: When you fellers (and ladies, for all I know) expound upon the 'aggressiveness' of Merkurs and Muhles, I am curious as to whether you shave against the grain after you haved shaved down with the hair growth. I've got my Gillette thin-boy on 7, and that's about as 'aggressive' as I want to chance when my beard is thick through laziness, and I'll shave up at the end.

It really depends on your face and beard. The goal is beard reduction through multiple passes without irritation. You don't have to get it all in one pass. I do a 3 pass shave. First with the grain, re-lather and across the grain, and re-lather and a final pass against the grain. If I haven't shaved for a few days I could probably use 4 passes, but then my skin gets irritated. The trick is to learn the grain pattern of your beard. Mine grows in different directions on different parts of my face (like pick up sticks). Shaving upwards and towards the right on the right side of my neck is actually with the grain, and shaving down towards the adam's apple is against the grain. The left side of my neck is different.

Aggressive is a term for how much blade is exposed from the razor's safety feature and at what angle to the skin. I have a tough beard, but the skin on my neck is very sensitive. When I use my Slim adjustable I can zip through shaving my cheeks with it set on 8. I have to dial it down to 5 (that's equivalent to a Merkur Futur on 2 or 3) and take my time for my neck or I end up looking like a raspberry. I've been shaving with a DE for over 40 years and figured it out through trial and error (blood is a good indicator

).

 

[SactoMan101]

Given the relatively small amount of facial hair I have, I'm NOT into the standard safety razor because it takes a LOT of practice to get a decent shave.

That's why I use a Schick Xtreme3 shaver--I can get an extremely clean shave in only a few minutes.

 

[catachresis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NightOwl /img/forum/go_quote.gif IAggressive is a term for how much blade is exposed from the razor's safety feature and at what angle to the skin. I have a tough beard, but the skin on my neck is very sensitive. When I use my Slim adjustable I can zip through shaving my cheeks with it set on 8. I have to dial it down to 5 (that's equivalent to a Merkur Futur on 2 or 3) and take my time for my neck or I end up looking like a raspberry. I've been shaving with a DE for over 40 years and figured it out through trial and error (blood is a good indicator ).

Thanks, NightOwl. I've been shaving with DE razors for 24 years. Frankly, I've had my Slim Boy for over ten years, and I thought of its variable setting as superfluous and possibly dangerous novelty. I'm using it now thanks to this thread's enthusiasms. Hitherto, my favorite razor has been an early-80s Gillette: the same I started with.

I've had many antique razors over the years, and it's the 80s Gillette that I've returned to. I'm trying to find something else that will freshen the experience. With the 80s Gillette, I can shave myself pretty-much by touch, eyes closed (almost).

 

[NightOwl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catachresis /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've had many antique razors over the years, and it's the 80s Gillette that I've returned to. I'm trying to find something else that will freshen the experience. With the 80s Gillette, I can shave myself pretty-much by touch, eyes closed (almost).

You're welcome. I've tried almost every Gillette ever made, a couple of Merkurs, a Muhle r89, a Schick Krona and an Injector. I ended up keeping a 1957 Gillette Red Tip SuperSpeed and a 1931 Gillette short comb New along with my Slim. I'd recommend either of those two if you want to try something different.

 

[Hayduke]

The Fat Boys that have gotten ~$100 on ebay in the last week have either came with their case and/or were mint. I know this because I'm trying to get a hold of a Fat Boy. Someone on B&B has offered to sell me one, so I should have one shortly.

I've been using a Merkur 38c (long handle barber pole). I like it well enough, but I decided I wanted to try an adjustable. The rational was, I wanted to know if the 38c was aggressive enough, so an adjustable will let me experiment.

I got a slim last week and have used it a couple times. I'm rotating it in with the Merkur and an old Gillette Tech, so it will take awhile until I really have a feel for it.

I definitely prefer the Merkur's heft. The Slim is too small and light and the tech is almost laughable compared to the Merkur. Not in shave quality, just in size. I'm looking forward to trying a Fat Boy out, but I suspect it may still be too small for my tastes. I've pretty much resolved myself to buying a Merkur Futur. Actually, I plan to give SWMBO a suggestion if she wants to buy me a present

 

[catachresis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NightOwl /img/forum/go_quote.gif You're welcome. I've tried almost every Gillette ever made, a couple of Merkurs, a Muhle r89, a Schick Krona and an Injector. I ended up keeping a 1957 Gillette Red Tip SuperSpeed and a 1931 Gillette short comb New along with my Slim. I'd recommend either of those two if you want to try something different.

Good Gawd, that's impressive. Somehow, I can imagine that someone who claims to have shaved with "almost every Gillette ever made" likely *has*; it's not a thing to boast casually.

I haven't got a clue what the Gillette Red Tip Superspeed and the '31 Gillette short comb new would entail, but it's all obscure and tweaky enough to sound like another delightfully quixotic project. Durn you.

 

[NightOwl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catachresis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Good Gawd, that's impressive. Somehow, I can imagine that someone who claims to have shaved with "almost every Gillette ever made" likely *has*; it's not a thing to boast casually. I haven't got a clue what the Gillette Red Tip Superspeed and the '31 Gillette short comb new would entail, but it's all obscure and tweaky enough to sound like another delightfully quixotic project. Durn you.

It does sound like boasting doesn't it. I didn't mean it that way. I just get obsessive when I take up hobbies. I've always shaved with a Double Edge razor and never liked electric shavers and multi-blade razors. I did try a straight razor, but I'm not very good at stropping or honing.
My wife and I like going to antique shows and shops on summer weekends and a couple of years ago I started buying boxes of double edge razors for virtually pennies. I surfed the web to find out what I had and came across the Shave My Face and then Badger and Blade web sites and it snowballed from there

. Razors are just the beginning. There's different blades, shaving brushes, soaps and creams, balms, vintage brush and razor restorations, etc.

. I've since sold off or given away most of my razors, but still experiment with blades and soaps and creams.
My wife finds it pretty amusing that people can make a fun hobby and production out of shaving

. She also thinks the same about headphones but understands that more.

 

[dazzer1975]

Been wanting to explore wet shaving (proper wet shaving with a de safety razor not those multi blade things which I always used and never got any satisfying results with) for a while so after getting all excited reading this thread and buying bits here and there I had my first full shaving routine today (previously just lathered up and shaved with the merkur hd).

Merkur future arrived today along with some feather and derby blades and a selection of other lotions and potions.

Washed my face, applied proraso pre shave cream, soaked my brush and warmed my lather mug up, prepared my shave creme and lathered up, then gave the merkur future a try out with a feather blade on the most aggressive setting (short stubble but its real tough hairs), finished up, applied an alum block to a nick, added some trumper extract of limes skin food and its the best darn shave ive ever had.

I love the whole gadgets and accessry thing going on re different cremes, scents, pre and post shave lotions and of course the different razors and blades to try and the whole ritual of it is such a joy. I am 34 and feel not only inclined to shave every morning for the first time, but am actively looking forward to it. Might try the derby blades tomorrow, the merkur's always felt a little blunt/dull but the feather was a beautiful shave today, lets see how the derby's pan out but i think feather has it so far. Am going to try the crystals though krmathis mentions and see how they compare.

Nothing of any real import but im just so excited lol sad I know but this whole de wet shaving thing is fantastic and I love it.