Another One of "Those" Articles - DE v Cartridge v Straight

Thoughts and input on anything related to wet shaving or men's grooming.
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Another One of "Those" Articles - DE v Cartridge v Straight

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Re: Another One of "Those" Articles - DE v Cartridge v Strai

Post by brothers »

I appreciated the fact that the author ran the whole gamut to include straight razors. He was objective.
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Re: Another One of "Those" Articles - DE v Cartridge v Strai

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I think he did a fine job, very thorough.
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Re: Another One of "Those" Articles - DE v Cartridge v Strai

Post by CMur12 »

That was far more objective than most articles of its type. The author certainly put enough time and effort into each method to develop some profficiency with it.

He must have an especially heavy, coarse beard, however, as he could only get one shave out of a blade.

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Re: Another One of "Those" Articles - DE v Cartridge v Strai

Post by ShadowsDad »

I think he left out single edge razors; only giving exposure to Gillette (DE razors). IMO, not at all thorough. It wouldn't have taken much research to find SE razors, so IMO the writer was beyond lazy . I assume writing for Wired he can use Google. If it was a paper for high school I would give a "c" at best. But it was exposure for us.
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Re: Another One of "Those" Articles - DE v Cartridge v Strai

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Perceptions Brian, he did cover open razors, perhaps the SE was just too arcane.
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Re: Another One of "Those" Articles - DE v Cartridge v Strai

Post by brothers »

I considered the absence of a mention of SE razors, and it's my opinion SE razors are for the most part 100 years old, and even though they are safety razors, virtually no one except those of us who know and love them takes them seriously if they are going to make a change out of cartridges. In the past three days I've experienced marvelous shaves with the Cobra Classic and the Ever Ready Streamline. He would have reduced the practical effect of the article if he had been trying to relive the history and evolution of razors.
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Re: Another One of "Those" Articles - DE v Cartridge v Strai

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Had he tried I expect that part would've been edited out.
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Re: Another One of "Those" Articles - DE v Cartridge v Strai

Post by Ouchmychin »

I can't imagine what disposable razor he used that only gave one shave. I use several different ones in my rotation and none are that bad. And I use both the Fusion and Hydro5 razors for at least 10 shave before I notice a serious loss of ability to get close. I have found one that doesn't seem to be able to get really close when brand new. That was a BIC steel with only one blade. I used to shave with a straight when I was in college but had to give them up when my kids were small. So, unlike other members that have posted on this thread, I don't find that these tests correspond to my experience at all. I don't believe the author knew how to prep and use a proper lather or brushless product. That is the only explanation I can think of that makes sense.
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Re: Another One of "Those" Articles - DE v Cartridge v Strai

Post by brothers »

To me it proves anyone can make the leap from darkness into the state of enlightenment. This fellow made it. Plain and simple. If you and I made it, so did he, and so can everybody who chooses to do so. We each have our own path to walk. I have no authority to judge, only to encourage and teach by example, and to hope I do at least something right along the way.
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Re: Another One of "Those" Articles - DE v Cartridge v Strai

Post by Squire »

Pete I liked the way the guy presented traditional wet shaving as a viable, interesting alternative to multi blade cartridge razors.
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Re: Another One of "Those" Articles - DE v Cartridge v Strai

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I just went back and reread the article and noticed that I must have stopped reading before the end and it didn't disturb me when I read it all. My experiences with a straight started about the time I graduated from high school and asked my father to show me how to shave with one. He was from the 1890's generation and had a whole collection of them and stones and stops to sharpen them. He gave me one but first took it to a barber supply (we lived in San Francisco) and had the tip of the edge ground off to make it less likely to nick. I learned as a kid and it was an adventure. Something that gave me one up on my friends. I was surprised at the end of the article when the author didn't turn out using one as his go to. I still think he was misleading about disposables though. No information about how one loses fear of nicks because all those blades make it glide flatly on the skin. An no mention of lubricating strips. I find they help immensely. So a partial mea culpa is in order. [-o<
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Re: Another One of "Those" Articles - DE v Cartridge v Strai

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In my estimation, anything about wet shaving isn't necessarily all bad all the time.
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Re: Another One of "Those" Articles - DE v Cartridge v Strai

Post by ichabod »

I agree - anything that has the reader questioning his choice of equipment, and specifically the price he pays, is good in my book.

Needing to use a new DE blade each shave seems extreme to me though. I use a DE blade (Israeli Personna, usually) for a week and then chuck it, even though I could get more shaves. I use a Fusion on my head (I'm thinking of trying the Harry's option) and can use the same cartridge for months at a time (head hair is so much softer than face hair). If he was using the stuff he linked to in the starter kit he should have been able to soften up any beard enough to make a blade last at least 3-4 shaves.
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Re: Another One of "Those" Articles - DE v Cartridge v Strai

Post by fallingwickets »

(I'm thinking of trying the Harry's option)
excellent customer service, excellent price, excellent handle, excellent everything except the shave itself! The good thing is that it isnt costly to find this out :D

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Re: Another One of "Those" Articles - DE v Cartridge v Strai

Post by ichabod »

fallingwickets wrote:
(I'm thinking of trying the Harry's option)
excellent customer service, excellent price, excellent handle, excellent everything except the shave itself! The good thing is that it isnt costly to find this out :D

clive
It was you that pointed me towards the Fusion for head shaving, so if you can't recommend the Harry's shave, I'm out :D
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Re: Another One of "Those" Articles - DE v Cartridge v Strai

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What the heck is "Harry's Option"?
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Re: Another One of "Those" Articles - DE v Cartridge v Strai

Post by harper »

Pete: Harry's is a shave products company that is advertising almost solely on the Internet via the New York Times, other sites. As was noted everything about the company is excellent but the efficacy of their blades. I bought a starter kit because the advertising was exceptional and the product ... a razor handle, shave cream, and an extra cartridge was only $15 plus shipping. You can then order more blades, etc. via mail or subscribe to a regular service and the prices are quite good ($2 for four blades; $1.88 for 8 etc.) and much lower than Gillette multi blade cartridges. I love the handle ... detest the shave cream which reminds me of the old brushless shave creams that some of used at the end of WW2 because they were about the only ones available. The problem with the Harry's blade cartridge is that the angle is wrong for my face and the blades tend to hold the shaving cream and sort of gum up. I have found that I can rinse the blades more often than I do with a Fusion or a DE and it works reasonably well. Could I live with it if I had limited choices? Yes. Do I prefer a Fusion, Oh yes!!

Maybe others will have better luck with it than I did.

I bought one for my son, who uses disposables, and he thought it was great because the razor was firm and he found the blades sharper ... but what does he know ... disposables!!!!!
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