What is a highly regarded/recommended straight razor brand/model?

Smoothshave · May 13, 2011

Hi

In the safety razor division there are some safety razors which are highy recommended/preferred: Fatboy, Mergress, etc.

What straight razor is highly regarded?

Price · May 13, 2011

Ahhhh...there you're going to run into opinions. Some prefer wedges, some hollow grounds, all depends on your face. I would say that most vintage European or US manufactured straights are excellent razors. The ones that have a lot of "buzz" lately (Filarmonica, etc), shave no better or worse than most of what you'd find on the BST, IMHO.

rearviewmirror · May 13, 2011

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php?title=Good_and_Bad_Straight_Razor_Brands

Legion · May 13, 2011

It is a lot more complicated with straight razors than DE's. There are literally hundreds of manufacturers over the years, all with different models. That is half the fun of it all.

My advice, for what it is worth, ignore all the hype about brands, get a vintage razor in good shape and professionally honed, and practice shaving with it. The brand is less important than the honer and user. That is the other fun part.

Balcmeg · May 13, 2011

Easy answer - Swedish steel is superior! :thumbup:

And... well some say that ymmv (not capitalised on purpose)

rearviewmirror · May 13, 2011

Legion is correct. whippeddog.com, get a sight unseen straight and a poor mans strop. You're out $50 if you don't like it, and you know you're getting a quality blade that has been professionally honed.

After that, if you like it, Dovo and TI are the biggest producers of new razors and if you want vintage...well you better have a lot of free time to research them and restore them.

Luc · May 13, 2011

rearviewmirror said:
http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php?title=Good_and_Bad_Straight_Razor_Brands

This would be correct! :thumbup1:

honed · May 13, 2011

Balcmeg said:
Easy answer - Swedish steel is superior!

And... well some say that ymmv (not capitalised on purpose)

Listen to our man in Hong Kong!

Obviously a very wise fella :yesnod:

If you go vintage, each & every razor you see are gonna be a good to great shaver. There were no duds back then.

azmark · May 13, 2011

The highly regarded.......

Filarmonica's, Dorko's, Wacker (old grinds IMO), Palmera (Spanish). These are great collectors items. Are these the best shavers, nope.

jss4fish · Jun 30, 2011

rearviewmirror said:
Legion is correct. whippeddog.com, get a sight unseen straight and a poor mans strop. You're out $50 if you don't like it, and you know you're getting a quality blade that has been professionally honed.

After that, if you like it, Dovo and TI are the biggest producers of new razors and if you want vintage...well you better have a lot of free time to research them and restore them.

+1 to whipped dog. I did it a little over a week ago and couldn't be happier. The razor might not be much to look at, but it shaves well. And the poor man's strop, well I have stropped knives and thought about buying a nice strop (I won't cut it, surely!) My poor man's strop looks like rats have chewed on the edges...I haven't nicked it in two days though so things are getting better! Meanwhile, I didn't destroy an $80+ strop...

Larry at whipped dog is also a great guy from what I can tell, very responsive to email, PMs, etc and he will help you with any problems you might have!

Kentos · Jul 1, 2011

I just honed up an American razor on my beloved coti and 7 laps on some CBN spray- the manufacturer that will remain anonymous until I corner the eBay market on them, and got an A1 BBS shave...just pure bliss....as long as the razor metallurgy is hard enough to hold an edge, the shave quality largely lies in the hand of the honer and shaver, so unlike DEs and SEs, the model is less important.

taffy · Jul 1, 2011

As one poster says, any vintage razor will shave well, i have started now to go for "brands", but in all honesty, they dont shave better, may look nicer, or hone a bit easier, but no great leap in shaving ability, 2 of my best shavers are unknown german/uk razors, picked up for peanuts and shave like a dream!

otto76 · Jul 1, 2011

jss4fish said:
+1 to whipped dog. I did it a little over a week ago and couldn't be happier. The razor might not be much to look at, but it shaves well. And the poor man's strop, well I have stropped knives and thought about buying a nice strop (I won't cut it, surely!) My poor man's strop looks like rats have chewed on the edges...I haven't nicked it in two days though so things are getting better! Meanwhile, I didn't destroy an $80+ strop...

Larry at whipped dog is also a great guy from what I can tell, very responsive to email, PMs, etc and he will help you with any problems you might have!

+1 to all of above. He just honed my first straight and sold me a strop all for just over $30 and only about a two-three day turnaround. He sent a lot of very helpful info with everything, I am very impressed with his service.

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What is a highly regarded/recommended straight razor brand/model?

Smoothshave

Price

rearviewmirror

Legion

Balcmeg

rearviewmirror

Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".

honed

azmark

jss4fish

Kentos

B&B's Dr. Doolittle.

taffy

otto76

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