What razor gives you the closest shave?

Damon Stathatos said:

I realize that this may sound stupid, but I get the impression that my beard has some sort of memory and begins to 'defend' itself against my shaving it in some way.

I'm not one to vary my razors/brushes/soaps all that often (not as yet, anyway) but I do notice when I do change something up, I get an incredibly close shave. When that happens, I 'jump on that bandwagon' and shortly thereafter, maybe within a couple of weeks, my beard figures me out and then I begin to revert back to my 'normal' shaves.

There may be a lot more to 'daily rotations' as I have read about here, more than merely justifying the AD's. And speaking of the AD's, which since my recent discovery of this forum have begun to set in a bit with me, the above is my story to SWMBO...and I'm sticking to it.

Click to expand...

Yeh that it...http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...ur-favorite-lame-excuse?p=3769637#post3769637

EJ89 for me

Muhle R41 (2011) and ATT Titan H1 seem to give "longer lasting" shaves than most. The ATT Titan M1 and iKon SB 2013 are very close, while gentler.
I do believe mild razors can be just as close, I think it takes more precision and I cannot be relied upon to deliver that precision consistently.

There are many razors I have not experienced (yet), including any of the Merkur adjustables, and including Joris. I have not gotten the hang of a slant or of GEM SE razors in my very brief acquaintance with them. My early experiences with them were neither productive (they left stubble) nor comfortable (they left irritation).

All of which leads me to believe... as others have said.... it's very largely in the hands, rather than the razor.

Fatip Grande Chrome with a 7 0'Clock Black works for me.

My closest shavers in decreasing order are:

Gillette New Open Comb
Gillette Super Speed Silver Flare Tip
Schick Krona

I have a single edge Micromatic Flying Wing Bullet Tip that can't shave worth a darn. I use it for a 3 pass shave, and then I have to shave.

R102 without a doubt! (R41 with different handle)

It's a toss up between my G4 Aristocrat Adjustable and my Feather DS-A2. (both with Feather blades) If forced to make a choice between the two the Feather DS-A2 would win.

Gillette New

My top three razors, in order of seniority:
Long Comb NEW, common bar handle
Merkur 37C Slant
Gillette Fatboy.

All of them will give me a BBS 3-pass with touch up shave. Surprisingly, especially when it's compared with the aggresiveness of these 3 razors (FB on 7 to 9), my Tech can come really, really close on a good day.

I think Merkur 41C has given me the closest but also the most comfortable shaves.

for me the muhle r41 with feather blades. it's really a good trainer for proper technique.

The razor does not determine the closeness of the shave at all for me.

I rotate a Fatboy, Slim, Flair Tip, EJ89, Merkur 34, and an old Hoffritz Slant. I can get great, close shaves from all in 3 passes, and on the adjustables the setting doesn't matter.

For me, it's a reasonable sharp blade, the prep, blade angle and technique that gives a close shave.

But the key words above are FOR ME. People have different skin, beards, and techniques--and we're using different soaps etc. So asking about razors leaves so many key variables out of the equation as to render the responses useless.

For me Merkur 37C Slant and Muhle R41

1. Gillette NEW short tooth OC
2. Gillette Red Tip Super Speed
*Feather or Personna Lab blades
**Everyones MMV

i've been using a muhle r41 for quite a while now combined with feather blades. About as agressive a shave as you can get but quick to nick you if not careful. However i have been getting back to my parker and even yesterday a clone of a gilette single ring with more than agreeable results. the thing that I'm discovering is that there is a downside to these agressive razors. you are usually trying to be careful which in turn makes that you can't 'work' the problem areas as ideal as you would with a milder razor which has it's effect on the overall end result. Technique and blade choice play as equal q role in the end result

I would recommend trying a SE. Using standard SE blades, an OCMM gives me a closer shave than my Slim on 9. If you want an even for efficient razor, you could try a Valet Auto-Strop. Mine seems to shave a little closer than the OCMM and I prefer the feel of it. It also has some slight adjustment that allows me to back of a bit for the ATG pass to really dial in the amount of closeness I want. The downside is that it requires a special blade that only Feather makes, so the blades cost more.

When people say that they can get just as close of a shave with any razor, what they mean is that they can eventually get just as close of a shave with any razor. A very mild razor is capable of shaving just as close as a very aggressive razor, it just will take more passes to do so. I prefer to only make three passes. I use a mild razor when I don't want as close of a shave and a more aggressive razor when I want closer.

from my R41 for sure. I got used to it by now, intimidation is gone after a few days. No irritation. I only even have to with the grain in 2 passes. Incredible. Reason for my irritations may have been endless passes with and against grain, scraping 5-6 times in all directions.. That's all over with this thing. I could even go with one single pass and be done. Happy about it.

I've been using the Merkur 37C HD and that seems to be the closest, most comfortable shave for me these days. I have a 2011 R41 on loan and tried that over the weekend. I didn't get through one pass, though, because that beast still needs some technique taming on my part. I'm going to keep at it and see what fruits it will bear!

For me, nothing cuts better than a Slant loaded with a Feather. The Progress is a sweet razor, my favorite as far as the straight bar and adjustable DEs. Loaded with the same blade, a Progress (at a given setting) will remove the same amount of stubble as a Slant. I favor the slant more because the shave is much smoother to me. Almost no drag in other words. The Slant also gets my trouble areas better than the straight bars. I usually get BBS in 3 passes with the Slant/Feather combo.

My 1930's Gillette 3 piece fat handle tech with the triangle openings seems to give me the best (closest) shave - all other things being equal.