Using a straight razor...

[stfoley]

Originally Posted by kayaker

This is a Canadian site for SRs and DERs.

There is not a lot of selection, but they seem to carry some good products and have free shipping in Canada.

BTW How do you disposed of used DE blades?

I use an empto propel water bottle...the twist top variety. Cut the twisty off, then make a slot in the lid.

This lid will fit regular bottles of propel as well, so when it's full, drink another bottle, wash it out, and swap lids.

Another bonus to this is the extremely thick plastic in the propel bottles, which makes this a very safe disposal unit.

[pmwz]

I just switched from a mach 3 with shaving gel to a mekur 34c and shaving soap. its a bigger change than i thought.

[Langod]

Looks like there's several Badger & Blade members here on Club Stogie. (I'm on there as well with the same name.)

For people wanting to investigate straight razors or traditional "wet shaving", I agree the best place to start is with a double edge razor. I converted over from Mach 3's about a year ago. I mostly use a 1962 vintage Gillette Adjustable and also have a couple of 50's vintage Gilette Superspeeds. Excellent razors are very cheap ($10) at antique shops and even on Ebay.
I prefer Feather blades from Japan, although Derbys and Swedish Gillettes are good also.
Crabtree & Evelyn's Best Badger Brush is about $35 and very good quality. While you're there also pick up some of their shaving cream or soap. Excellent quality for the price.

If you don't get too caught up in "acquisition disorder", it can be much cheaper than a Mach 3 type of shave. A typical Mach 3 or similar cartridge costs about $5 -- I can shave for months with my set up for that. It's also very satisfying as a masculine ritual. Much like smoking a cigar.

Go to www.badgerandblade.com and read, read, read! Just like cigars, there's a lot to learn for a beginner -- especially those of us raised on multi-bladed techno-monstrosities. But it's well worth the time investment.

[kayaker]

Got my new Merkur safety razor in the mail yesterday. I ordered it from Momentum Grooming in Vancouver. Also got a nice badger brush, soap, and extra blades.

All in, including taxes (shipping was free) it cost just under $100 CDN.

Oh, and they gave me a better brush than I had ordered because the were out of stock on the one I choose. Nice service.

My first shave with a wild blade went well. Took my time got a nice shave with only 2 minor nicks. I'm a convert now.

[Commander Quan]

Which razor did you end up going with? I'd look into picking up a couple sampler packs of blades. In my experience the Merkur blades are a little rough lots of pulling and weepers.

[kayaker]

Originally Posted by Commander Quan

Which razor did you end up going with? I'd look into picking up a couple sampler packs of blades. In my experience the Merkur blades are a little rough lots of pulling and weepers.

It was the Merkur Classic. I haven't tried any other blades yet, so I'll be on the lookout for what I can get locally and online.

Do you have any suggestions?

[Ricmcam]

I have been using a straight for a couple months now. Definitely a learning curve but I love it. I still use the M3 when I don't have time for the prep. Lots of great shaving boards out there with very helpful advice for the newb.

[stfoley]

I second the Badger & Blade forums (my name was mustang_steve).

Only reason I stopped going there was I was blowing too much cash on it...they were too good at shoving me down the slope

I prefer this slope a bit more