Why only 1-5 razors?

[Costabro]

So, I'm looking at the home page here and notice one of the questionnares asks how many razors do you have. 1-5?5-10?10-20?20-50? and so on. I was amazed that the 1-5 was the largest group at a website such as this!! Naturally, as I started into this wet-shaving thing with the straight-razor as my main focus, I eventually stumbled into the world of DEs as well. What I've found is an endless supply of choices of fit, finish, history, collectibilty,aesthetic appeal, comfort and the list goes on.

My question is this: How do the majority of you maintain a collection of less than 5? Do none of you catch the antiquing bug? Have many of you never experienced the awe of shaving with a razor a hundred years old? Or, is it that you've gone through that phase already and have pruned your collection down to only the very basics?

No judging here, just wondering.

[Alucard73]

I have much more and use a variety of razors. DE's on my head, SE on my face, and Injectors on my neck. It is in fact the perfect system.

[Jclifton]

I own 4 razors and one I. The ail makes five, I have a straight, bui need to sharpen it etc, no hurry there. I am surei will buy a couple more and either sell or give away a couple I own now, just don't have a big need to have more razors tani can shave with in a week. I have some new razors, but mostly of vintage ones. Course my attitude may change in the future, I might pare down to just a couple, who knows. I just have decided to find what works best for me and stick with it.

[Costabro]

It is in fact the perfect system.

That's funny. For some reason, I've never wanted to try the injector....also, I'm assuming by SE, you mean single, not straight, edge...correct? I find, depending on who you're talking to, you two could be talking about two different things altogether.

[Arcadies]

Personally I have been in the process of thinning out my gear, I don't have a ton of extra room to keep a lot of stuff I don't often use. I've been traditional shaving now for over a year and while I haven't tried every soap and cream out there, I have tried a lot of them and have settled on 4-5 of my favorites and got rid of the rest. I will try new ones from time to time but I plan on sticking to 5-6 or less. I am doing similar with razors and brushes..at one point I had about 30 razors but I realized that most of them didn't give me a shave I was happy with and almost never used them...Fatboys, Techs, flare-tips, 40's style, micromatics, etc. none could give me a perfect shave, they came close but it required too much buffing and unnecessary irritation. Then I discovered the R41 and Fatip and fell in love..everything just clicked and I found my perfect razors.

I got rid of everything and only kept two R41's and two Fatips, all with custom handles. I also kept a 37c and a cased British #58 that rarely see any use but I couldn't bring myself to get rid of them. Now I have my brush collection down to 6 brushes and plan on staying around that mark as well. I dunno, I just like keeping it streamlined and eliminate the clutter. I still have enough for variety and it doesn't use up several closets full of space. Stuff I do love and can't do without though I stock up on (greedily eyeballs his 1500g of Tabac) because in this hobby you never know when something will be discontinued.

[cb91710]

Had I not moved on to straights, I'd probably have 20+

Right now, I have 5 DE and 7 straights.

[fcdiscus]

Dam I have more than 5 of just Damaskeenes!

[chongo gordo]

I have five, and there's a lot of variety in my collection: Old Type, Single Ring (yes, I do like shaving with a hundred-year old razor), Fatip, Fatboy and now a Red Tip. I have mixed feelings about amassing vast collections, but I don't own a lot of stuff in general.

That's more razors for you

[Face&Head]

Having grown up using what are now considered "vintage" razors, they don't hold the same allure for me. Think of it this way; say 30 years from now some young guy wanted to show you his collection of Fusion handles, probably wouldn't get the juices running. It didn't help any that my grandfather was a forth generation machine tool maker and never uttered the word Gillette without "junk" added to turn it into a compound noun. Anyway, while I have a "New" in the rotation, I'm more likely to be holding a Pils, Joris, Futur, Feather or Mergress.

[Cap'n CutThroat]

When you limit yourself to accumulating only stainless steel razors, the choices available automatically place you in the 1-5 category!!!

[alex2363]

If i was a collector i probably have more than 2 thousand at this time. Bit I have sold them all and kept like less than 20

[jason192783]

I see a razor mostly a tool, it's that simple, it's just to shave your face
I don't collect and I don't need 100 razors, a couple will suffice to get my face cleanly shaven, actually only one will do that just fine
I don't feel I have to look further and spend more money on shaving gear or more razors, 'cause really, why do you?
I know how my razors behave and how I can get the best results with them
even-though variety is great, familiarity is very important
that said, I rotate between only two razors and don't feel the need to try anything else
Though, I am fortunate to have my great-grandfather's straights, hones,strop, DE razors, etc., I think this was enough for me to not go out there and get anything else, all I would ever want, I already possess
razors are great, but razors with a personal attachment are the best, hence pretty much all my razors belonged to an ancestor or were given to me by great people and I just don't care about what else might be out there

[Samjax]

Well...I'm guilty of having a few. :)

I just enjoy trying them out...it's a hobby I guess. Eventually, I will probably sell most of them and settle down with a few. For now, I'm enjoying the journey; it presents no financial hardship and it's cheaper than golf or bass fishing; and a lot less money than my gun collecting phase...so why not?

[Joe_Karp]

I maintain five razors; a new Progress, two 40's style SS, one 60's Flare tip and my favorite a '65 Slim. I've been wet shaving all my life and started with DE's. I went through the injector stage, then over these many years one thing or another to the sensor XL system...until about a month ago on another Forum a friend gifted me (via a PIF post) the '60 SS. I had been complaining about the expense of the cartridge(s) and was used to getting decent but face burning shaves. Once I started in with AOS cream and a Feather blade in the razor I realized this was a different experience. The main difference was the smoothness without burning afterwards.

Now on owning only five; I am an avid collector of pocket knives, in particular Benchmades (own 40+)...I definitely have KAD, but it's also my main hobby, which my wife supports. Shaving is now a pleasure, esp with the Slim in the works. RAD is therefore humbly dimished...I am definitely interested, but without a simple place to store hundreds of these things choose to stay small, yet well shaven.

[Agravic]

Well...I'm guilty of having a few. :)

I just enjoy trying them out...it's a hobby I guess. Eventually, I will probably sell most of them and settle down with a few. For now, I'm enjoying the journey; it presents no financial hardship and it's cheaper than golf or bass fishing; and a lot less money than my gun collecting phase...so why not?

+1. SWMBO casts glances every time another shaving related package arrives...but agrees that despite the plethora of gear and such I have been collecting, it's still less expensive and relatively less dangerous compared to other hobbies

[TonyJ]

I have 20 straights and 16 de's and 36 different blades. This far. That bunch give me a great way to enjoy variety. I have been rotating them all and will do that maybe rest of my life. That's my way to enjoy, every day a different blade/razor combo. But that's just my way. I understand perfectly if people want to stick with 1-5. Sometimes I have been thinking that my life would be much more simple and easier for me if I can stand only narrow things. Anyway, age have been helping to accept that I am more complicated person and need different kind of things.

[celestino]

Good question, but i am guilty of having over 25 DEs, so i can not help out.

[Mark1966]

Hmm, my acquisitions sheet (razors only) is 420 lines long. many have been sold as I 'traded up' my collection but most remain - I have 185 lines in my stored list without counting Techs and those needing cleaning. Some lines also cover multiples :)

1-5 razors? Not me...

(Brushes etc etc NOT included!)

[Costabro]

Although I'm not one prone to political correctness nor keen to blowing sunshine up people's keister, I have to say that I truly can appreciate the different sentiments expressed so far. I'd love to try one of the $100+ stainless razors, but have had a hard time laying that much down on a DE. I have to admit that the hunt for the rare treasures has been most appealing to me.

As far as minimalism is concerned, I get it and see the appeal. Minimalism doesn't usually set in with me until another hobby, er, aquisition disorder, raises its ugly head.

[htownmmm]

At last count 14, err, no 17, oops, forgot, only 1 straight, errr, what was the question again?