The question is pretty much right there in the title.
Where does one go to buy such a thing? What are the procedures for stropping, shaving, and whatever else is involved? Do you get a closer shave than you would with, say, the latest Gillette 10-blade cartridge?
I knew a fifty-something fellow at my old place who shaved with one at one time. He said you didn’t get a better result, you just had to be more careful.
My grandfather used one - my father recalled he grew up thinking blood and blasphemy were an integral part of shaving (probably because the old man would leave his pipe in his mouth all the while, shifting it from one side to the other).
You have to strop it with a leather strop, and from time to time you have to get it reground and/or reset.
Nope, just a throwaway for me. I’d like to try a straight razor though. I think I can get one on ebay. Someday when I’m courageous. 
Himself shaves with a straight razor, with a brush and bowl. I don’t know where he got the razor - probably online. He takes good care of it, strops it, etc. He’s been doing it for years and he’s just as fast with it as with a safety razor, and feels it gives him a better shave (he has to shave around a goatee and a mustache, FWIW.)
Now what’s badass is that when I met him, his roomate shaved his head around his mohawk with a straight razor. I saw him do it once. Scared the crap out of me.
i don’t shave with a straight razor but I could not resist sharing that I switched to using shaving soap and a shaving brush to apply the lather. And I love the resulting shave. The brush must raise the stubble or something. I highly recommend it.
I’ve never used a straight razor, but I do use a double edge razor. I think I get just as good of a shave as I do with the three blade razors and they only cost 50 cents. They are a bit hard to find though. You can find new straight razors on amazon, but they are costly, I think a good one runs around $100.
And of course there are forums for everything. Shave My Face
Gotta second the soap and brush, although my initial reason for the switch was environmental – didn’t want to do the whole aerosol and then landfill the can thing.
I’ve been using a safety razor along with a brush and soap for the last few months… I absolutely love it - have never even cut myself once… Which is funny, because I watched about 10 different shaving videos on YouTube about shaving with safety razors and they terrified me… (Who knew they’d have shaving lessons online?)
I was sure I’d be covered in blood after the first stroke…
Cost a bit of money to buy the razor, badger brush and soap, but it’s hard to complain when you can buy 100 blades for about $14…
Another forum that seems popular is The Shave Den.
Straight razors are simply stunt shaving and I have no respect for it. The other end of the spectrum is 5+ blade razors. This isn’t rocket surgery. I have thick hair and need to shave every day. I am sure that I could learn to use a straight razor but why? I could probably use porcupine quills to make a toothbrush as well. All it takes is disposable razors or maybe an electric razor to make clean shaves. There is no need to bring hairy balls into the equation. I could go out into my property and split some rocks that could do a clean shave but that seems a bit much. The crowd that gets into this stuff is the same ones that argue the best way to scratch your ass with a rifle. It is all pointless posing.
It also seems like a very dangerous thing to do. One misstroke and you’ve cut your carotid and/or jugular and now have a minute to live.
Oh, trust me, my boyfriend is a big pussy and does not pretend otherwise. He’s just a fop who fetishizes the past, is all.
Plus, the brush and soap and bowl at least do make a better shave; he says the razor does but it’s probably just because he’s more careful because they don’t call it a cutthroat razor for nothing.
Does the spittle on your monitor make it hard to read the words?
Before I decided to let my beard grow naturally, I used a straight razor. For me at least, it did give me a closer shave that lasted longer than either safety razors or the latest 10 blade monster. I have several razors and two brushes. It was nice taking the time to make warm lather as well.
I have never used one, nor had one used on me. I suppose I might have one shave with one by an expert, just for the heck of it, but I would not be bothered trying to learn to use one.
I used to, but I went back to using a safety razor. The quality of the shave lies in the beard prep and use of a quality shaving soap. A Bic disposable will give a top quality shave if you do those things right.
WRT cutting your own throat by accident with a straight razor: it doesn’t happen. You do nick yourself more often til you learn the technique, but what you get are long, shallow cuts, not deep ones. Picture something like getting paper cuts on your face and you’ll get the idea.
Certainly not in this thread. Although shaving the sack with a straight-razor… :eek:
Double edge here to trim around the beard so, no, I’ve never personally used one. However, where I used to get my hair cut, at the end the little old man would put hot lather onto the back of my next and shave that off with a just stropped straight razor. Holy S*%@ but that was one awesome, kickbutt, super smooth, amazing feeling shave!
I thought about it, but why complicate a process? It is a nicer shave IMHO, so when I want one I go to the barber shop and let them do it when I stop in for a haircut. It’s considerably more than two bits however.
The reason I ask is not to show off my balls (which, BTW, get the old double-bladed disposable), but because I’ve had straight razor shaves at a barber a couple of times. Very very smooth, and it actually felt really good. This may have been largley due to the skill of the barber, though.
Most likely it’s the skill of the barber, the layers of skin that come off your face, and the odd sensation of someone else doing the mundane for you. I never enjoy washing my own hair, but if one of the girls at the haircut place does it, it’s nice.