What motivated you to start shaving with a Straight Razor?

keith4064 said:

Welcome to the ward (I mean group . . . )

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No doubt its a ward!!! Bwaaaaa Haaaaaa Haaaaaaa!!!! And I assure you I belong....

Don't really know why i have been fascinated with straight razors for years now. To be honest, i get pretty good results with modern shaving systems but they just don't feel like anything special. After using straights i know now that pretty good is far from the shaves you can get. I like to try new things and this has some novelty factor too. After just over a week i can say that saving money is going to be hard, but that was not the reason why i got into this. I think of it as a investment on me. Now i've noticed a lot of positive side effects that i wasn't expecting. So maybe it was just curiosity to try this mostly forgotten tradition and i'm so glad i did.

Keimo Lantio said:

Don't really know why i have been fascinated with straight razors for years now. To be honest, i get pretty good results with modern shaving systems but they just don't feel like anything special. After using straights i know now that pretty good is far from the shaves you can get. I like to try new things and this has some novelty factor too. After just over a week i can say that saving money is going to be hard, but that was not the reason why i got into this. I think of it as a investment on me. Now i've noticed a lot of positive side effects that i wasn't expecting. So maybe it was just curiosity to try this mostly forgotten tradition and i'm so glad i did.

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Keimo, Welcome to B&B and SR shaving! I'm a relative newcomer to straight razor shaving myself. Yup, saving money is not a likely scenario in this group of shaving-addicted enablers In my own experience, I've not found a method that yields better results than my straights on a good day. I'm working on making more of my shaving days better. Even on a "bad" day, I would argue that I get a better shave than I did with either electric or disposables.

keith4064 said:

Keimo, Welcome to B&B and SR shaving! I'm a relative newcomer to straight razor shaving myself. Yup, saving money is not a likely scenario in this group of shaving-addicted enablers [emoji38] In my own experience, I've not found a method that yields better results than my straights on a good day. I'm working on making more of my shaving days better. Even on a "bad" day, I would argue that I get a better shave than I did with either electric or disposables.

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Excited to be here[emoji41] I'm trying to pace myself with this new hobby and not go overboard but that's proving to be difficult. It's funny how i now am waiting for the shaves, when that used to be something you just do.

Perfect... and a quick photo of our group



and..... "I am a straight Razor shave addict..."

Uhhh...

I never intended to start with straights, but there are so many cools straights on ebay, and they're so dang cheap. Thought I'd give it a go, just to see if I could do it.

Next thing I know, I started selling my DEs on eBay.

I've always had a thing for sharps. Knives, swords, and razors just seemed to fit the bill. I also enjoy the simplistic relaxation of a shave gone right (many still go wrong while I learn). I started with DE and am interested in the challenge and rewards of having a new skill, albeit one that only we few seem to enjoy this much. I also like antiques, so its just a perfect combination of all my hobbies. I am looking into kamisoris just to have that extra nostalgic approach with a little but of unique....all of that said, its also a libido boost to walk into my shave den and see such manliess sitting about.

skypsyd said:

Perfect... and a quick photo of our group

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and..... "I am a straight Razor shave addict..."

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Dave, you found that photo of us - awesome!!!!!

These guys in the SR forum talking about how great the shaves were with a SR is what did it!

I have been having a hard time going back to DE shaving now, not that is a bad thing donchaknow.

Mudruck said:

These guys in the SR forum talking about how great the shaves were with a SR is what did it!

I have been having a hard time going back to DE shaving now, not that is a bad thing donchaknow.

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I'm finding the same is true of my shaving. The DE is gathering dust as I can't help but grab an SR to face the challenge of getting a better shave each time. I will still use my DE, but with less frequency lately.

For me it's a combination of various things.

I've always been an nut for any kind of cutting tool. When a couple of years ago I was fed up with the plastic fantastic cartridge junk. I first looked into starting with a safety razor. The attraction to get started with a straight razor was not far behind. now I'm in the stage of a serious case of razor acquisition disorder.

Supersets said:

Like some of the previous posts, the high cost of cartridges was starting to bug me. That plus watching Daniel Craig on the big screen using one motivated me to try straight razors. It doesn't hurt that you get real smooth shaves, too. Downside is I stay too long in the bathroom, according to the wife, lol.

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Lol its a fact that sales of straight razors went up after the Daniel Craig scene, now where can I get hold of a miss Moneypenny look alike

Another motivation for me was to shave like I anticipate my great-grandfathers did. I didn't ever get to meet them, but I anticipate a straight razor played a prominent role in at least their early shaving experiences. My avatar picture is circa 1915 of my g-gfather on my dad's side who was a WWI calvary veteran for the losing side in Germany. He emigrated briefly to the US in 1928 and didn't like it, so moved back to his second homeland in Buenos Aires. His son's stayed to work in the Highland Park Ford plant making an historic $5 per day wage. As skilled blacksmiths, they quickly became pattern and die makers - never returning to Germany or Argentina (except to visit). They were legal immigrants and became citizens, so no need for any wall building . . . I know that they shaved with both straights and DE's too. So, there's a connection to a past relationship that is by blood, if not by presence and I can use a straight razor to remind me that the world is smaller and time not so distant than we might think as we keep SR shaving alive.

My Dad!!.. I revived my interest in DE shaving after lots of years with carts as a means of trying to save money. I was showing off my bbs face when he said "I've got three straights belonged to your Grandad if you want them, they're not much use to me as I'm blind ." So I got a Gotta, a Dorko and a crown and Sword, all needed a bit of care and attention but I got them up and running and I'm obsessed. I've since spent a small fortune which will take about 150 years to break even but who cares.

migralda said:

My Dad!!.. I revived my interest in DE shaving after lots of years with carts as a means of trying to save money. I was showing off my bbs face when he said "I've got three straights belonged to your Grandad if you want them, they're not much use to me as I'm blind ." So I got a Gotta, a Dorko and a crown and Sword, all needed a bit of care and attention but I got them up and running and I'm obsessed. I've since spent a small fortune which will take about 150 years to break even but who cares.

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That's fantastic that you have your grandfather's razors and you're carrying on the tradition with them! Yeah, the "saving money" gambit doesn't seem to work with the SR addiction. I think I could make at least a weak argument for saving money with my DE, but once you move to straights, the wheels come off the money cart pretty quickly! That's OK, we're havin' fun right?!

I'd heard that the straight irritates the skin a lot less than anything else so decided to give it a go. It took quite a while before i was getting good results of course, but now that I have got the hang of it, my skin is clearing up and people comment on it. Yes there's loads to learn but the process is very satisfying.

Just tried it out of curiosity to see if you could teach an old dog new tricks. Turns out you can and it is a very enjoyable exercise.

Bob

I was planning on trying a strait in the future but...
I delivered a DE to a older gentleman, Will, that and voiced an interest. In walks my other smoking buddy Jeremy (were at the cigar shop) who sees the exchange and pulls a roll out of his ruck sack containing 10 straits. At that point I started asking questions and he put this in my hand...

Turns out he likes to restore the things (600 at his last count) and hooked me up. So here I am! Time to start reading!

BTW, it is a WH Compton "Reliant" FWIW...

nikonNUT said:

I was planning on trying a strait in the future but...
I delivered a DE to a older gentleman, Will, that and voiced an interest. In walks my other smoking buddy Jeremy (were at the cigar shop) who sees the exchange and pulls a roll out of his ruck sack containing 10 straits. At that point I started asking questions and he put this in my hand...

Turns out he likes to restore the things (600 at his last count) and hooked me up. So here I am! Time to start reading!

BTW, it is a WH Compton "Reliant" FWIW...

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Once you pick up something like that, you are hooked.

For me, a barbershop in Turkey. All I heard was swoosh swoosh and it felt great with such a close and smooth shave! I realized that this was the way to go and I got myself a straight razor thought I would handle it just like the guy in the barbershop. This was NOT the case and learned the hard way that shaving with straight razor takes practice. The more I looked in to it the more I realized how big and beautiful the world of straight razors is! The craftsmanship, the technique, the care for the products. What's not to like