Thread: If you transitioned from a double edge

I originally did it just because it seemed like something fun. After having successfully done it a while now, I stick with it because I like the skills and, most importantly, it gives a better shave than does a DE.

Shaving my head and face with a 1 ton merkur and a assortment of blades ranging from Merkur Super , Gillette Platinum, Derby and my favorite Feather to name a few. You tend want to try something new. Having had straight razor shaves from barbers with feather disposables, it's a great change of pace. Now it's time to do it myself. That's all really.

I wrote a longer version of this in another thread, but the short of it is that I've got very thick facial hair and a DE just didn't cut it (pun intended). I figured going straight might mean I don't look stubbly right after I shave. So far, it's worked pretty well.

There is a certain degree of skill involved in shaving with a safety razor. There is a much larger degree of skill involved in shaving with a straight razor. There is an even larger degree of skill involved in creating and keeping an edge worth shaving with. It's the natural progression. We all have acquisition disorders, learning new skills is just one of them.

As a newb who hasn't made the full transition yet(I have the blade, I just need the honing and a strop) I did it because of the allure of shaving with a blade that won't be in my trash can in a week. I like the idea that this piece of metal wasn't simply stamped from a sheet but hand worked into a fine instrument. I don't know if it's a newbie thing but I find myself just staring at the blade sometimes.

Double Edge took the expense out of shaving, but I wanted to have a blade I'd never have to replace.
Which is pointless, because I just bought a bunch.
Turned into a hobby and all that.
DE's are great, but there's just an allure to using a permanent blade I maintain myself.

Everyone else has pretty much nailed it. I've always been fascinated with straights, but was too scared of them to actually give it a shot. DEs are great, and I don't think I'll completely stop using them, but there's something about the ritual of a straight shave that's even more alluring.

I think everybody else summed it up perfectly...plus, I like a challenge.


And, not to be heretical, but I still use a DE on occasion

When I decided to move away from disposables my original intent was to use a straight, but at the time my college budget didn't allowed me to do so, thats why I decided to start with a DE, so for me using a DE was only a temporarily stage, I knew that eventually I would move to straights.

Well I changed over to DEs because of a MAJOR sensitivity issue that developed. In my search for a way to shave that wouldn't cause my face to freak I found DEs and "wet shaving". I had had a interest in it some time ago but never took it up. So given the excuse that normal shaving was ruining my face I jumped at DEs. After I mastered(?) DE shaving I found that conversations about straights kept pulling me more and more. Finally I just decided to go for it and after a couple of months researching I started. I have now honed a Antique store find and gotten 1 16 hour BBS shave. I figure thats good enough for my first month....I find that now that I have experienced shaving with a straight what drew me is much what others have said. The desire to master something that is more of an art form than a necessity. I had figured out DEs and straights were just ...oh I hate saying it but...cooler, more masculine. Straight shaving is primal more basic, grounded "Zen"....While DE shaving I thought I was concentrating....lol . I find that shaving now is more like when I am setting a large stone. The concentration levels are intense. ....

I used to be one of those skiers that you see going over the cliffs way out of bounds, climbing the mountain to get fresh tracks. Now I get my thrills in a more sedate setting....lol