It’s been a few years since I last posted about my excursions into shaving with a safety razor (double-edged blades). In my last post on the subject, dated almost exactly six years ago, I had just purchased a Wilkinson twist-to-open (TTO) or butterfly head razor. Well, quite a few years have passed without new purchases until this past weekend, when two new razors arrived. Photo on the right: Bambaw (left) and Charman. More on these two, below. Both are inexpensive models, bought on Amazon (I know, I know: I try to avoid using Amazon and always buy locally where I can, but in a small town, there are few if any, sources for some items like safety razors). *

In the interim, I’ve been looking at what seems to be an explosion of models and brands online. Some are very inexpensive, too, but in my experience these devices lack the quality control of more expensive models. That doesn’t mean you have to spend a fortune, either. There are a lot of good razors in the $25-$50 range, a lot more now than when I first started using a safety razor, back in 2018. There are also some excellent razors in the $50-$85 range, and several that top $100. However, with less disposable income these days, I resist spending that much.

I published four posts about razors and wet shaving after my first, until 2020. I have, however, kept reading reviews about models and brands, and sometimes participating in social media groups and forums about shaving.**

However, despite a growing collection of such devices, one razor stands out and remains on my wishlist: the Henson. At $100, it’s outside my budget right now, but I’ve been keen to get one for a few years. It’s also Canadian. Most of my other razors are made in China. Most are good or at least reasonable quality, but I would like a Canadian product in my collection. From reviews I’ve read of its closeness and smoothness, it may become my favoured razor. And, of course, I will review it here when that day comes (maybe I’ll get it as a birthday gift one day!). But I digress…

Since my last post, I have been using only a couple of razors in my collection most of the time: the adjustable, TTO Weishi (black handle, rightmost in top picture) and a Rockwell 6C (leftmost in top picture). I have also sometimes used a Merkur 23C handle with a slant head purchased separately (middle razor, top picture). The picture to the right is my shaving gear prior to the new purchases. The small, golden razor  in the middle is actually a plastic TTO razor I bought on Amazon. Never used it, since I don’t trust plastic to secure the blade properly.

I used to prefer aggressive settings or head design, but in the past year or so, I’ve dialed down the aggressiveness quite a bit. In part, it’s because as I age, my hands are not as steady as before, so I am somewhat more prone to making little nicks and cuts. I now prefer a milder razor than I used in the past and my skins has thanked me for my consideration. I changed the Rockwell head (it comes with three reversible plates for six different settings) from the most aggressive (6) to a 2; much lower. And I changed the slant-head for the open-comb Merkur (fourth from left, top picture), although that, too, is a trifle aggressive. I turned the Weishi down from its most aggressive setting (7) to 3 or 4. I feel like a wuss after using higher settings, but the shaving feels better.

I have also been wondering about how the handle length and weight affect my shaving. I recently weighed my razors and found they ranged from 99g (Rockwell 6C) to 58g (Merkur open comb). The Weishi weighs 91g; the Wilkinson 86g; the Futura  (fourth from right) 87g; the Rockwell TTO 71g; the Merkur slant 60g. The new Bambaw with the wooden handle is 85g, but the short Charman is a hefty 139g! That’s significantly heavier than my others. Still, I liked the way that weight felt in my hand; it felt less likely to be moved by involuntary tremors. Not that I suffer from anything more than the occasional sloppiness and inattention. But at my age, one has to be more careful.

Before I bought these new razors, I tested some of the others in my collection as well, to see how I felt about them now, some years of experience later. First, I tried the Wilkinson Sword TTO (second from right at top), tied with the Weishi for the longest handle. I found I didn’t like the shave. First of all, it’s noisy: I can hear the blade scraping more loudly than when using most other razors. Loud razors suggest to me the blade is either more open (more aggressive, with more blade showing) or not tightly held in the head. I found it a bit too aggressive for my new preference. I keep thinking about the Henson…

I briefly went back to the adjustable Merkur Futura (I also have an almost identical Chinese copy of it, which performs the same), but didn’t like the balance (it feels top-heavy compared to most others), and really don’t like the snap-close head (not what you want if you need to change blades with soapy hands…). The adjustable setting allowed me to set it to a pleasing shave, however, so it has that going for it. I do like its modernistic look, too, but would prefer a knurled handle or something to help hold it better with wet, soapy hands.

I tried the Bambaw and Charman this morning. Bambaw offers several styles and colours, but I wanted this one for its fat handle, hoping it would provide a good grip. The Charman is much shorter and heavier, but the handle is also thicker than my other razors.

First impressions: I liked the head of the Charman and the handle of the Bambaw. So I switched them. The Charman feels good, despite the weight, but the short handle feels like it needs more length to sit comfortably in my large hands. Which would, of course, make it even heavier. The fat Bambaw handle fit my hand well, but the head didn’t feel as smooth. Fortunately, these heads and handles on all of my three-piece razors, are interchangeable. I’m not sure how well the wooden (bamboo? I suspect…) will do with water and use, but it’s now set up as my second razor beside the Rockwell.

I’ll do an update after a few weeks of use.

Notes

* I have checked every pharmacy and box store in town for safety razors. Most don’t even sell blades, let alone a selection of razors. Every one of them sells those non-recyclable, multi-blade razors, however. One local outlet sells a 10-blade pack of Wilkinson Sword blades for $15 when the competition sells the same pack for $5!

** For example, there is a “wet shavers” section in the Canadian social media platform Hey.cafe. If you want a cozy, friendly platform to engage with others without the usual social media rage, bots, trolls, and rightwingers or algorithms scraping your data for sale to advertisers, I highly recommend you look into joining. It’s free, with an inexpensive “pro” version that provides extra perks. And it is Canadian.

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