A variety of questions from a newbie

[TheYoshi]

First let me say I am thrilled to be joining these ranks again. After a brief stint away from wet shaving (although I will admit I never used a DE razor in the past) I am glad to be returning. I had pretty much resigned myself to the concept that shaving, well.. sucked. I had tried using brushes in the past (even decent badger brushes with good creams/soaps) with a variety of "cartridge" razors and disposables... as you can imagine, pretty much awful. My time with electrics was even worse. Now using a nice brush and a DE razor I can say I am truly pleased for the first time with my shave and even look forward to my morning ritual. Enough of the rambling and on to the questions!

1. Do any of you travel frequently (by air) and if so do you bring a DE razor with you? Clearly checking a bag this isn't an issue but I like to avoid that for 1-3 day business travel whenever humanly possible. It seems like a DE razor (and more importantly the blades) are just the type of thing an airport security person would want to take from you.

2. My current setup includes:

Merkur Classic Long handle
Rooney "Super Silvertip" shaving brush (#3 small)
Taylor's Lavendar
Feather blades (wow I love these)

I would like to add a decent stand and potentially a bowl or other mixing vessel and am seeking recommendations (all purchased from classicshaving.com)

3. I am noticing that on this forum it seems pretty commonplace to see reviews of products or other commentary on things with no mention of the source where the item was obtained. Is this a rule of the forum? I only ask because it makes it extremely difficult to source an item for yourself that you thought sounded good from a review or other writeup. If it's not a policy so to speak please consider this a plea from a new participant to include source information when discussing specific products.

4. Given that you now know my setup where would you gents suggest I go from here? I have a severe issue with collecting (wine, corkscrews, books, etc.) and see this becoming another thing I collect and enjoy sampling.

5. Ok just to make it to 5 questions what would you say was the single biggest contributor in terms of equipment in the quality of your shave?


There.. how's that for an absurdly long first post!?

[TheYoshi]

Ok one more question, or more of a comment.. Why is it that all wet shaving shopping sites seem to be the worst websites ever on the earth?

in all fairness their are some exceptions (shavemac.com for example) but classicshaving.com and qed seem to be particularly horrible, several of the others I have checked out also suffer from a similar blight.

[jmhUT]

Hi Yoshi, welcome.
I travel fairly regularly. If I am staying for only one night I make due with a cartridge. Anything longer than that I will check my bag or mail a blade to my destination.

Stands are not necessary but are nice. You can get some really nice ones but I use a cheap plastic one available from classicshaving.com. As for bowls, I use a moss scuttle. I also have an oversized latte mug that works quite well, as will any small cereal or soup bowl. All are available at Target.

That is an interesting observation regarding our failure to list our source of products. I never noticed before but I think you are probably right. It is not considered bad form to disclose where one purchases one's goods. If you are curious just ask or PM the member that posted the review you are interested in.

For me it was the quality brush/cream combo that made the biggest difference. Not only are the products superior but they help to tranform the chore into an ennoyable event. Also, I am quite fond of the styptic pencil.

Cheers,
Jeff

[jmhUT]

Ok one more question, or more of a comment.. Why is it that all wet shaving shopping sites seem to be the worst websites ever on the earth?

in all fairness their are some exceptions (shavemac.com for example) but classicshaving.com and qed seem to be particularly horrible, several of the others I have checked out also suffer from a similar blight.

Please keep in mind that the vendors you speak of are small business people. They put more of their effort into supplying these hard to find items and ensuring that their customer service is top notch. I've ordered multiple times from classicshaving and from QED. Both vendors are superb in my view. I have walked away from these experiences quite satisfied. I cannot say the same for my experiences with larger companies with better marketing and sales engines. Also, the handful of vendors we patron tend to be active members of the forums .
Cheers,
Jeff

[Kyle]

Yoshi,
Welcome to B&B. It looks like you've started yourself out with a pretty nice kit. To answer a couple of your questions...

I believe that there are three reasons that store names are not usually listed in reviews. Many of the products that we rave about are sold by only one source (DaVinci water by QED, for example). On the other end of the spectrum, many of the products that we rave about are sold by hundreds of different retailers/etailers and should be easily found. For the products sold by multiple vendors, the review should be a review of those products and not the vendors. Obviously, if the product is made by a specific vendor, then it is a review of both to some degree.

Having said all of this, there is certainly nothing wrong with posting or PMing the question, "Where did you get...?"

Now for question #5 - without a doubt, for me it was a quality brush.

[htownmmm]

2. My current setup includes:

Merkur Classic Long handle
Rooney "Super Silvertip" shaving brush (#3 small)
Taylor's Lavendar
Feather blades (wow I love these)

I would like to add a decent stand and potentially a bowl or other mixing vessel and am seeking recommendations (all purchased from classicshaving.com)


4. Given that you now know my setup where would you gents suggest I go from here? I have a severe issue with collecting (wine, corkscrews, books, etc.) and see this becoming another thing I collect and enjoy sampling.

5. Ok just to make it to 5 questions what would you say was the single biggest contributor in terms of equipment in the quality of your shave?


There.. how's that for an absurdly long first post!?

TheYoshi( real name?)

2. Great setup!

4. Resistance is futile- you will be assimilated!

5. Razor + blades(cannot use one w/o the other!)

6. Welcome to Badger and Blade.


Marty

[JMT]

I think most f your questions have already been answered, but I'll agree with the others who said a brush made the biggest difference.

In regards to the websites, yes some of them are terrible to navigate which in turn makes it difficult to find what you are looking for, but do not let the site be an indication of the kind of service you will receive. For example, www.qedusa.com is a tough place to locate what you are looking for but the service is absolutely top notch. The same can be said for other retailers whose sites are not very user friendly. Give them a try, you will likely be pleasantly surprised.

[TheYoshi]

I think most f your questions have already been answered, but I'll agree with the others who said a brush made the biggest difference.

In regards to the websites, yes some of them are terrible to navigate which in turn makes it difficult to find what you are looking for, but do not let the site be an indication of the kind of service you will receive. For example, www.qedusa.com is a tough place to locate what you are looking for but the service is absolutely top notch. The same can be said for other retailers whose sites are not very user friendly. Give them a try, you will likely be pleasantly surprised.

Thanks for the feedback Jim, I was very pleased with my classicshaving experience. I actually didn't go with qed because it seemed like they had many products that they listed on their website but I couldn't buy on the website. Are they primarily in the mode of doing a phone business and using the website as a catalog? http://www.qedusa.com/cat_OtherProducts.htm
is a good example of this. It just felt a bit odd to me, I will definitely give them a try as they have been vouched for by several members on the forum. I'm probably a bit picky on website design/layout/accessibility so maybe I need to just chill out a bit ;)

[moses]

Howdy, and good luck. Btw, for me, best purchase to date was a razor that I am really happy with. The Merkur was great, but just not quite right for me (not a criticism of the razor, at all), the 40s SS gave a great shave but was aesthetically lacking, the injector was super easy to use but I found it a little harsh, but the #66 shaves like a 40s SS with the looks and feel to make me want to pick it up every day. Of course, the right razor certainly seems to be a very personal selection, and a lot of people keep a regular rotation (I just don't feel me technique is up to a different razor every day).

As for websites. Yes, they are a little rough. I don't criticize these vendors for that, really, because they are small, and their focus is elsewhere. I do keep hoping that someone from one of the forums who has the skills with trade with Charles of QED to do a new website in exchange for some QED soap. It would be a good deal on both sides.... In the meantime, I highly recommend doing business with Charles anyway - his service is amazing. If you can't figure out how to order something on the website, just drop an email and he will take care of you. He is very helpful, will give you very honest advice, and ships very quickly. Plus, his soaps are amazing, especially the sandlewood.

[Leisureguy]

Welcome. My thoughts on your questions:

1. If you're not going to check your bag, go with a cartridge razor for the trip.

2. For the lathering bowl, the only choice is the Moss Scuttle (http://leisureguy.wordpress.com/2006/07/08/interesting-shaving-idea/), IMHO. A stand is nice, but if you contract Razor Acquisition Disorder, you'll soon have more razors than will fit in a stand.

3. Mentioning your source is not a problem, but do use the little gadgets to embed in the URL in the search terms...

4. You may want to try a vintage razor from eBay---e.g., the 1940s Gillette Super Speed, which a lot of people like. And you might want to try other blades---you can get Derby Extras and Israeli Personnas on eBay in lots of 100 for around $15 (don't pay more).

5. The safety razor is the key variable, IMHO. I love the Merkur Vision, for example. YMMV

Regarding the vendor Web sites, I have no problem with the one at Classic Shaving except for their ISP, whose server is slow. I can quickly navigate and find what I want, and I can get the URL of a specific product.

The QED Web site is another story---it's frames based, to start with: no URLs of specifc products. But Charles is well aware of its deficiencies, he just doesn't have the time and resources to get it fixed now. But he responds quickly to email and is very helpful. Go that way.

[boboakalfb]

Thanks for the feedback Jim, I was very pleased with my classicshaving experience. I actually didn't go with qed because it seemed like they had many products that they listed on their website but I couldn't buy on the website. Are they primarily in the mode of doing a phone business and using the website as a catalog? http://www.qedusa.com/cat_OtherProducts.htm
is a good example of this. It just felt a bit odd to me, I will definitely give them a try as they have been vouched for by several members on the forum. I'm probably a bit picky on website design/layout/accessibility so maybe I need to just chill out a bit ;)

I think Charles website would be updated and much more functional if he didn't enjoy interacting with customers so much. Give him a call...drop him an email...you won't be disappointed...and while you are at it, order yourself some QED soaps to try...Limes would be an excellent choice for the summer time...

The brush and creams/soaps made the biggest improvement for me...

[Scotto]

Glad you found us. It looks like you are set up well. When traveling, I generally use a Schick Injector. As for the websites, others have given you good answers. You have to put in a bit more work, but it is worth it. With Charles' (QED) website, you can just put what you want in the comment section and you'll get it fine. You'll also find him amazingly responsive via e-mail.

[trewornan]

I travel by air a fair bit and usually just take razor blades through in my hand luggage. They ask if you've got anything sharp but rarely check and the xray machine has never flagged it up. The only time I've ever had a problem they were checking everybody's wash kits for liquids (not blades) and found my blades in the process. Just said "ooh, sorry, forgot about those" and they let me go back and dump them in one of those special containers they have where people queue. It wasn't a problem.

So you might lose a couple of blades but they're cheap and easily replaced, I've bought DE blades all over the world without the slightest trouble. Worst case: you might have to put up with a brand you're not fond of for a week or two.

Mind you, I don't look like a typical muslim so YMMV.