Thread: straight vs feather or shavette

Question for anyone who used both. So I started with shavette and has been getting really good shaves and a few months ago decided to go with a real straight. Somehow I was under impression that straight blade would give me an even better shave ( smoother, closer...whatever better means) after getting my straights ( a few) some honed and some I decided to hone myself I still haven't been able to get a shave comparable in comfort to that of feather or shavette. Is it a relatively common experience? Are my razors just not sharp enough? I can shave but to get a close shave my face hurts with the straight significantly more than disposable. will I ever be able to get a shave from my straight parallel to that of the shavette or the feather?

I'm in the exact same boat as you are, so it would be great to read the comments that come up on this thread.

yeah... so it seemed strange to spend so much money : razor, strop, hone and spend so much time honing stroping just to get a shave inferior to what you would get from a $30 shavette. So what is the secret?

The secret is that when you use a feather or disposable type you are getting a manufactured blade which should be at its best possible state. With a straight YOU have to do that. A straight shave should never hurt. if it does there is an unresolved issue with stropping, honing or your shaving technique. Thats why guys use these things. Its easy. No muss no fuss.

Even if your straight is at its best though I'm not sure I would be willing to say you will ever get a better shave than with a disposable.This issue has been debated here many times and each devotee has their opinions. With either instrument you should be able to get a super shave when properly used.

although my razor hasn't been honed by Lynn, I paid to get it honed and when it arrived it failed HHT...is it normal?

Originally Posted by logorus

although my razor hasn't been honed by Lynn, I paid to get it honed and when it arrived it failed HHT...is it normal?

HHT is both a blessing and a curse to straight razor shaving. Blessing because it can often be used as a sharpness test, a curse because too much emphasis is placed on the HHT. I use it all the time, but it's dependent on too many variables but be a litmus test which can be applied to all razors, hair type, sharpness, etc.

I've never used a Feather blade, but I've certainly bought my share of various DE blades through the years. MParker, a longtime member recently said using his own hair, Feather blades DO NOT pass the HHT. After I heard that, I threw the HHT relating to ultimate sharpness out the window.

Stropping can make or break you when you start more than anything can. Someone really needs to make a DETAILED instructional video on nothing other than stropping. Keep asking questions, keep reading the forum and keep practicing a light touch, skin stretching and keep at it.

Chris L

Yes it's normal. A Feather can fail an HHT if you aren't doing it properly. Similarly, you don't automatically (or even necessarily quickly) develop shaving technique.

In 7 out of 10 hypothetical post-apocalyptic scenarios, shaving will be a luxury afforded only those who have tools that survived, and disposable blades will not be available.

It seems a little illogical to expect that just because a traditional straight costs more money than a cheap shavette that it must result in better shaves. Price and performance are not always directly related.

I spent 100usd on a Feather and 20usd on a Sanguine disposable. The Sanguine can give me as good a shave as the Feather can, but I prefer the Feather because it is better made and has more class. Some people, particularly traditionalists, find that classic razors have more elegance and character than any disposable, including the Feathers. The sad part is that because we spend money, we want to justify spending money. They all have blades sharp enough to cut hair. You can somewhat control the edge of the traditional straight, whereas you get what you get with disposable blades. Other than that, there's little reason to assume a straight would somehow get magically better results than a Feather or a shavette.

although my razor hasn't been honed by Lynn, I paid to get it honed and when it arrived it failed HHT...is it normal?

That would depend on who's hair we're talking about... The hanging hair test is only useful to the honer who *might* use it as an indication of where he's at with the edge. The problem with this test is that it all depends on the hair being used and ultimately does not tell you if the razor is sharp or not. The shave test is the only test that matters. Razors coming off hones such as the yellow coticule many times won't pass an HHT but shave wonderfully. On the other hand, many razors that pass the HHT with flying colors won't shave worth sh*t because they are overhoned with a wire edge. The wire edge would clip that single hair without issues but the minute it hits your beard, the edge folds over and well.... crappy shave! I got my Joe Chandler custom razor last week.... Customs officials had opened the box and wrapping..... I have no idea if they played with it but I wouldn't be surprised if a bored agent didn't play around cutting paper with it for a while to see how sharp it was. End result was that the razor did NOT meet *MY* calibrated HHT out of the package. So, I headed for my strops and gave it a good stropping on my Illinois 827 and finished on my TM Latigo... it now passed my HHT but not as well as some razors. On the other hand, I've had some of the best shaves ever from this very razor with no further attention to the edge, other than daily stropping.

Moral of the story is that the shave test is king, the other tests are only useful to you once you've learned to use them while honing your blades. They are not useful in evaluating someone elses honing job as you don't know what hones and methods the honer used. Some gents on this board have shaved comfortably for years and rarely ever seem to get one of their razors to pass the so called hanging hair test, others find they can do so at will so in the end they all get great shaves.

As for the traditional vs disposable blade straight issue.... a traditional straight can be honed to something equivalent to a Feather AC sharpness level by a dedicated honemeister but isn't normally done as most gents aren't willing to go to that length and it quite frankly isn't necessary. Most find such razors too sharp to deal with on a daily basis. I came from the Feather AC and the tugging was uncomfortable for the first bit... this tugging was a result of a less than perfect edge but once I shaved with a properly honed straight, the minor tugging I felt was neither uncomfortable nor bothersome to me. It takes a while to get used to the sensation of a trad straight and some like myself find that we prefer to touch up our blades more frequent than others. I generally have to resort to a pasted bench strop maybe once a week or so if I'm using the same razor each day... Others can seemingly go on for weeks and weeks with nothing but a hanging strop and maybe a linen strop. I can't but I also rarely visit my hones, just the CrO2 pasted strop, once every weeks worth of shaves seems to keep my edges where I like them.

Regards

Kaptain "Make mine sharp.... but not TOO sharp!" Zero

I use both a dovo straight razor as well as a feather. I have spent years refining my honing and stropping trying different methods and products as well as different beard preparation and shaving technique. I am not an expert , however due to the fact that I am a mechanical engineer ( specializing in metals) and I have an extremely tough beard I can share what I have learned. Basically it is very difficult to get a straight razor as sharp as a feather for several reasons, but the biggest difference is honing and stropping technique. I have done comparative sharpness tests and found that even if a similar level of sharpness is achieved it turns out to be too sharp and quite a rough shave. Just stick to the basics, use quality products 4000/8000 grit hone (being careful to maintain proper balance of the edge ( Not honing more on one side than the other)) , fine grit stropping paste being sure to not overdue it ( less is more) . For extra polish and sharpness a couple dozen passes on newspaper followed by your leather and you should be as good as you ever need to be. If you want a nerdy Engineers way of comparing the sharpness just buy a package of feather blades and alternate doing hanging hair tests between the feather blade and your straight razor. (did it) Don`t shoot to get it equally sharp. The feather is just a baseline for how sharp a blade could be. Try hanging hair tests on both blades ( with varying lengths of hair) and find the sharpness level which suits your beard and face. Once your blade will cut a hair with equal ease across the entire length of the blade, and it shaves your face comfortably you will then have your routine maintanance figured out.

My basic routine is 3 strokes at #4000 5 strokes #8000 , 3 strokes dovo strop paste (aprox #10,000) , 3 strokes 1 micron diamond paste (#16,000) 20 strokes on newspaper , finally 30 strokes on leather.



That is what I do to achieve near feather sharpness. But it may or may not be right for you.

That all being said , that is only in comparison with a feather, truth be told the preparation you put into your beard makes a bigger difference.

Does that answer any questions?

Originally Posted by logorus

although my razor hasn't been honed by Lynn, I paid to get it honed and when it arrived it failed HHT...is it normal?

I've never had a razor pass the HHT, well not with my hair anyway. I sent an ebite special out to be restored and honed, and when I got it back it wouldn't even cut the hair on my arm, I still decided to strop it and try it out. The best shave I have had from a razor honed on a coticule. Moral of the story? The best way to know if your razor is shave ready, is to shave with it, forget the HHT and TPT and all the othertests unless you are learning to hone yourself. Also keep in mind that its shave ready to the honers standards, which may not be shave ready to your standards, meaning your beard might be coarser than theirs etc.

EDIT: I started with a feather and experienced some difficulties when switching to real straights. IMO a feather is more for when your in a hurry, almost equivalent to picking up a mock3 only you get a much cleaner smoother shave. I now prefer real straights but occasionally still reach for the feather, even though I retired it a month or so ago.