When I started off with this double edge shaving a decade or so back I would frequently discuss it with family. They would joke I am starting a barber shop because I had five of everything.
Nearly everyone, young and old had settled on some kind of Gillette vector plus twin parallel blade solution. They saw no need to change let alone learn anything new. The older members saw that twin blade as an improvement over double edge blades which always surprised me. Nobody cared about close shaves. Just shaves that made them presentable and that is typically a quick one. A close shave is asking for trouble. Don't do that they said. Of course, a close or multiple pass shave with a twin blade is running twice as many blades across your face. That is much more skin abuse than a single blade.
Yeah, mantic definitely filled a void for me. I could tell I was boring them to death. Shaving is like riding a bike, you cannot unlearn it. So what is the big deal? Why change?
That's why I started the discussion here
The one person that would have been interested was my dad but he passed on by the time I got on this thing. He left me a stash of blades and years later that was what prompted me to experiment. At one point I was thinking of donating them to the local barber. In hindsight, that would have been a bad move.
Once you master the process you can do it fast and even apply more force as per your need.
Never apply more force, if you need to do that it means the blade is blunt or prep is inadequate. And as we know a blunt blade even on a knife is more likely to lead to cuts.
Fast and blunt is compounding the problem further. This is why cheap double-edge blades mean you can always get a closer than barber shave in your home.
The barbers rarely go against the grain. A standard two-pass with a shavette is all you will get. I'd run the alum when I got home and was surprised a number of times it did sting. When it did not I knew which barber to choose.
Which is why multiple people here are saying that plain old safety razor is the best, because there's no space for follicles to get stuck when there's only one blade.
That would be the best thing about them. I frequently was surprised how blocked up even a twin blade can get.
This is also the reason why people who shave daily/every alternate day cut themselves less often, because the beard is too small to get stuck between blades and cause cuts.
A lot of people shave only once a week. Most just get it done at the barbers. A regular shave means more practice and once you know your contours you will always be the best at the job.
reparing for Dispatch"
