What is the Current Starter Razor and Blade Choice for Newbies?

[ShavingPrimate]

A Merkur 34c for an authentic DE razor experience. A tad bit milder and more forgiving than the '89 head types. Not much, but just enough.

The Derby remains an excellent blade for someone just starting out with DE shaving, and has average facial hair.

There are other forgiving blades like the Shark, White Star, GSB, Voskhod and the Treet King.

These are all reasonably priced blades.

If a TTO option is preferred, than the Wilkinson Sword is only $17.99 on Amazon. This is a well built razor and will be initially easier than a three piece design. The price is almost 1/3 the price of the 34c. The 33c is a few dollars less.

It can be intimidating to breech into the DE realm from traditional cartridge shaving. So many options and it can quickly become costly. Canned shaving gel works fine with DE razors too. Many cartridge shavers are already familiar with it or currently using it.

With the Wilkinson Sword TTO, gel and a ten dollar bulk pack of blades, the initial investment can be less than $30.

 

[DE Steve]

Muhle R89 or Merkur 34C.

 

[Obetron Rex]

I started back to DE with a 23c about 15+ years ago and used it for about 10 years until I bought a 38hd then an R89. All good starters. Although I started with a new 1984 super adjustable in HS until I quickly lost it in a haze somewhere and went back to cartridges. 23c is also a good starter imo.

 

[Alex Jr]

Modern - Rockwell 6C.

Vintage - tech.

 

[tm3]

When I started here the Merkur 34 seemed to be the most commonly recommended for beginners, and at some point consensus seemed to switch to the DE89. I've always like the concept of an adjustable, so I started with the Merkur Progress. Those are all still great options.

Couple months in to my affair with the Henson, I would say that it might be the best "starter" DE of all, except for the price. I think a razor approaching the $100 point is probably too steep for a "starter."

The Baili and Parker clear the cheap hurdle, and get pretty good feedback so maybe they are the current best of breed.

 

[Salty_Shaver]

For a newbi. I started with my dads Gillette adjustable that he bought in 1950 when he entered The Marines Corps. And the choice I had was the Gillette DE blade that came in a white metal box. I still use it to this day. He inherited his dad’s Gillette executive razor that year when his father died. That Razor went through both theaters of WW-2. So for me that fat boy was my newbi razor. Not a lot of choices 40 years ago. My opinion would be find a inexpensive adjustable razor and buy a few sample packs of different blades. Then you can find what works best for you.

 

[Juanmosey]

I would buy this and $5 are you kidding me!!https://www.amazon.com/Premium-Safe...81414efc18f55b52db29dce&qid=1707238836&sr=8-2

 

[Bobovata]

Pretty hard to go wrong with a GameChanger 0.76 as a first DE razor. Choice of handle might be a bit trickier, as that depends on your hand, etc.

There are plenty of good blades on the market these days. Buy a large sample pack and get into it.

 

[zifnab]

Gillette Super Speed + Perma-Sharp Super.

 

[cyberdog]

As an inexpensive starter, the Razor Meister Prime on Amazon is a great way to begin for around $15. It's basically a slightly more aggressive clone of the EJ/Muhle closed comb head with a really nice handle, comes with 50 Lord Platinum Blades, and a faux leather case. - Gives a fantastic shave, fairly gentle to use, but aggressive enough for my 60+ stiff gray growth to give BBS in 2 passes most mornings.

If I could go back several years and grab one of these to start with, I would. I have the plain stainless ergonomic handle, it also comes in black, or with a couple of other handles, but the same head.

Update: Appears they now only include 20 blades, as opposed to the package of 50 which came when I ordered.

 

[Goblin]

I think it's really hard to make blanket recommendations these days.

When I started, it seemed like most folks getting into DE were older guys who had a problem with the shave from cartridges and were looking for an alternative in order to save their skin. There was therefore a reasonable degree of uniformity in terms of most folks having adult beards and wanting to shave every day or two, so you could recommend something like a Merkur or a De89 and make a resonable assumption that it would work for anyone's individual use case.

Nowadays, the person asking online for advice can be anyone from a spotty teenager with patchy, fuzzy growth that they only need to shave once a fortnight, to a twenty-something with moderate growth who probably could shave every day or two but prefers to shave once a week, to a grizzly old-timer with whiskers like barbed wire who wants to shave daily. What is great for one might not work at all for the other. Recommendations nowadays need more background information I think.

 

[mmaggi]

Don't go cheap when starting out. I learned the hard way.

Merkur 33c or 34c. I recently purchased the 33c and currently using Gillette Nacet blades. The razor is very mild so much so that I think even using sharp blades will produce a nice BBS shave without pressing too much and with no weepers.

 

[ErkRusselReserve]

Can’t vet this, but the argument is convincing. OC is pretty cool too

RazoRock OLD Type Razor - Sharpologist

The RazoRock OLD type is one of my go-to recommendations for the person new to safety razors. It’s both very efficient and very comfortable, and $15 US.

sharpologist.com

 

[ErkRusselReserve]

Alternatively, The Parker Soloedge seems really great for a SE and the Romulus is great for AC (start em with Kai Captain Milds and they can move up to Supers).

 

[Vitoscotti]

I have been double edging it since last fall. I started with a Plow 2.0, because it was given to me. I thought that was a good starter. I found a Viking “The Chieftan” for cheap and have been using that the last couple of months.

 

[House Boy]

I started with the adjustable Qshave. It had a nice weight that I liked and it educated me on gap, aggressive/nonaggresive, smooth/not smooth etc. It was a good starter to help me decide on what nonadjustable high end razor to purchase.

 

[Texchappy]

Feather popular with a feather blade would be a good choice as well m

 

[Lockback]

Hard to beat an Edwin Jagger DE89 and a Gillette Perma-Sharp or Astra SP or Gillette Nacet.

 

[Hugh]

Lots of good starter razors available these days and good suggestions posted in this thread. It is pretty hard to do the wrong thing with any of the suggestions already mentioned. My choice for suggesting a starter razor for someone would be the Merkur Progress adjustable. A good solid and not too costly razor. Not only as a starter but one that can go on to serve the user for a long, long time. I have 8 razors and the Progress is the one I seem to go back to over and over even though all of my razors are pretty good.

The Merkur Progress was my very first razor and continues to hold first place. Meanwhile, I like to stray and try other razors and end up like most of us with a collection.

 

[buyandhold2018]

Razorock game changer 76
Razorock bbs standard
Henson standard
Merkur 34c

All sensible choices