If You Could Only Have One

If you could only have one razor, what razor would that be?

What would be your two runner ups?

What other razors have you tried, what didn't make the cut?

What kind of beard to you have? light, medium, medium-thick, heavy-coarse?

What kind of skin do you have? young, sensitive, medium, thick?

How long have you been shaving with a DE?

I'm new to DE and I'm a one brush, one soap kind of guy and I want this to be a resource for those of us who might like to focus on one razor. (btw, my brush is an Omega Pro boar, my soap is Mikes Natural unscented).

1. 1940's super speed
2. 1911 Single Ring, SC New
3. Gem Featherweight
4. Medium
5. Medium
6. 5 months

1. Pre-war Tech (1938-1945)
2. Edwin Jagger DE89 & DE89L
3. None
4. Medium
5. Medium
6. 7 Months

1. Fatip
2. Sabi, Old Type
3. EJ89, Tech, '67 SS and Slim.
4. Medium
5. Medium
6. 8 months
I still use the Tech, SS and Slim on 7 but only once or twice a month. I pif'd the 89. I prefer an aggressive razor.

Welcome to the forum!

1. Weber DLC + UFO U2V1 Handles
2. Merkur 34C + Merkur Progress
3. Almost every other DE razor there is
4. Heavy and coarse
5. Sensitive
6. 3 years

I'm in the DE forum, so I have to be careful, but ...

1. 1912
2. 1914 & Muhle R41
3. Almost every other DE
4. Thick ... and fast growing
5. Oily
6. Almost a year ... after three decades of cartridges

1. No.16 Aristocrat.
2. Nothing close.
3. Dozens and dozens of DEs.
4. Medium
5. Old man skin.
6. 5 years of DE after 40 years of well the other "current" methods.

TOBS/HJM Black Fibre/GSB blades.....my nirvana.

1. British Gillette #16
2. British Gillette #15, American '34 Aristocrat
3. Anything not vintage.
4. Medium/coarse
5. Sensitive/medium
6. 3 months

1. Weber PH bulldog handle
2. Muhle R41 2013, Gillette OC old style
3. EJ 89, gave it to my son ;-), all modern cartridge razors
4. Medium thick
5. Medium
6. 40 years

1. Fatip with Bulldog handle

2. R41, Fatboy, Krona

3. President and Superspeeds. Too mild

4. Heavy

5. Dunno. Average I guess.

6. 2 years

1. Fat Boy
2. Feather "Tech"
3. Travel Tech

I need to try 20 more first. I have a problem right now 13 DE's and counting. So far my favs are my ED 89 and the SS Red Tip. But I have a Merkur Futur on the way.

1. Fat Boy
2. Toggle
3. Slim

My top 3 razors are ranged like this (R41 my razor of choice if I would need to pick only one):
1. Mühle R41 with iKon handle. This one gives BBS with least irritation.
2. Pearl SS-2 (open comb, same head as RR Jaws). This one is almost as good as R41
3. Merkur 15C. If I really want to give my face a rest, this one is great.

~15 razors tried including some vintage razors. My bottom list of razors looks like this:
1. FaTip - Terrible quality. The blade is very difficult to align.
2. Merkur slants - A razor should not need a debate for how the blade should be align. It should be tight enough.
3. DE89 - It is one of the worst razors I have used. It is very inefficient but still aggressive towards the skin. It is only mild towards the whiskers.

The rest of the razors are mostly OK to shave with but nothing special. My top razors are all open combs.

1. '34 Aristocrat
2. Senator & 1912
3a. Tried and still in the fold or given to friends as starters - Damaskeene, GEM Micromatic, '40s SuperSpeed, SuperSpeed, Red Tip SuperSpeed, Sheraton, NEW LC, NEW SC, Old Type, Fat Boy, Various straights, Pre War Tech, Travel Tech, Merkur 38C, German no name traveler, '40s Aristocrat
3b. Tried, found wanting & sold - Slim, Merkur 46
4. Medium
5. Medium
6. 2 years this time around. (I started shaving with a DE way back when.)

I perish the thought of limiting myself to one of anything. The great appeal of wet-shaving to me is in the variety of choices we have, and I can't see myself sticking to one kit for the rest of my life. Being able to rotate hardware and software to adjust to the different seasons and the state of my beard on any given day is the only way I can justify having such an immense shave-den.

1. Merkur 34G HD with a Derby blade
2. Stahly head + Tradere handle (AstraSP) / Merkur 39C (Feather)
3. Any TTO and most adjustables.
4. Medium
5. Medium
6. 6.5 years

My current top five(best I can do)

1. Futur (matte)
2. Weber w/ UFO Kaiser XL
3. Short comb New - BRW mastiff XL
4. Mergress XL
5. Gillette Super Adjustable (long)

I've tried nearly everything - been at this for 15 years, heavy course beard, average skin.

I used a Fatboy as my first razor, for 20 years, starting (groan) fifty-four years ago. So when I came back to DE shaving this year, it's been another Fatboy, all the way. No desire for another razor, really. Medium beard, old face, so I give myself good prep every time.

If I only could have one razor I most probably would not want a razor at all and grow a beard. Having just one razor is no fun and doesn't make any sense to me.
Same thing with two or three razors.

1. Gillette Old type
2. Gillette New type
3. British Aristocrat Jr.
4. Medium
5. Medium
6. 11 months