DE dilemma

After some disappointing bouts of RAD I thought that nothing would ever match or exceed my HD...but:

I've been shaving with very battered and cheap Old Type for a week or so, which I bought out of curiousity more than anything else. It's great for a couple of passes or even a single pass shave, but after that starts to flay my face a bit, so it's not becoming my "go to" razor.

But moving back to my beloved HD, even with a precious new Swede inside I found myself a bit disappointed with its lack of aggression. Now I feel like I'm being punished for my "fling".

What do I do now? Do I have to buy a slant? Or will the NEW in the post solve everything? What about a Muhle or Jagger open comb? I thought I was done with RAD but it just kicked off again.

Well, have you given a New Improved or other brands of blades a try? What types of blades have you used, aside from the Swedes, and which other types of DE's have you used besides the two mentioned in your post?

I've got a US Aristocrat Adjustable which I didn't get on with on any setting, and a British Aristocrat Junior which was my first razor and milder than the HD

Then there's a flare tip Superspeed which again I just didn't get, plus a very aggressive old open-combed British TTO Gillette. I've also got an aluminium Tech which I've never used since it's so light. Plus an Ever Ready SE and a Schick.

We'll see what happens with the New...

I find that whiskers get used to one way of being cut so you have to change up your rotation every once and a while and then go back to the beloved. "Longing makes the whiskers grow stronger"

I don't know how much science is behind that logic, but it seems to be true. I have a 3 razor rotation, and it works wonders.

Hey LondonCalling what sort of Aristocrat Jr have you got? I'm interested in trying one of those. Want a straight swap for a Rocket HD?

JimBow, do you use a different razor every day, or do you do something else to rotate, like use each one for a week at a time?

Thanks for all the advice (and the offers to relieve me of my spare kit). The NEW arrived this morning...

I had settled on using only Swedes and the HD, but now that they're gone I realise I need to try different blades and revisit some of my other razors. I think the thing to do is to put everything back into a proper rotation and maybe buy a Slant and some more blades. It's a bit like the saxophone player's endless quest for the right mouthpiece/reed/ligature combination

I do feel guilty about owning razors I don't use, but haven't so far managed to bring myself to get rid of a single one--anyone else have this problem?

I do feel guilty about owning more than a few razors. However, that doesn't stop me from wanting more. The collector in me fights with my practical side.

Hemlock said:

JimBow, do you use a different razor every day, or do you do something else to rotate, like use each one for a week at a time?

Click to expand...

I have 3 that I use regularly. I'll use one on, say, Monday, then the next on Tuesday, the next on Wednesday, and then I start it over on Thursday and keep going. Soon I'll have 3 more to add to the mix, and maybe even a 4th, so I'll have one for every day of the week!!