Thread: The Two Razor Shave

I'm someone who has the misfortune of having a tough beard and sensitive skin, and for this reason, I've had a hard time getting more than 5 comfortable three-pass shaves out of a razor before having to head back to the hones.

It occurred to me recently that part of the problem was that on the first pass my (usually 2 days worth of) tough beard was taking a great deal of the smoothness out of the edge, smoothness which my sensitive skin requires on the second and third passes. I know some people out there will strop between passes, but I don't like any interruptions once I've gotten into the shave, so instead, I now use two razors, one for the first pass, the second for the successive passes. As a result my shaves have not only become dramatically more comfortable, but technically much better: closer, with nary a nick or razor burn.

Moreover, I have found that within this system I'm able to get the most out of the various grinds of razors I own. That is, the heavy ground wedges are perfect for the first pass, effortlessly cutting down two days of tough growth where thinner ground blades tend to buckle. On the other hand, for the later passes, a full-hollow gives me the feed back I require to avoid cutting or otherwise irritating my sensitive skin. The ultra fine edge of a hollow really shines when it comes to the more delicate work involved in second and third passes, especially when the edge comes to you silky smooth right off the strop, as opposed to having been degraded fighting tough beard on the first pass.

I would be interested to know if anyone else has delegated their passes to two (or more) razors. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that this was a practice used by barbers in the past.

I think you're pretty sharp to come up with that suggestion. My beard isn't coarse enough to need to do that.

For me, the theory began to take shape after having given much thought to the wedge vs. hollow debate. If straight shaving is indeed an art, then each "brush" should have its particular purpose. I think even if one doesn't share the particular beard/skin issues that I have, one can still benefit from dedicating razors to specific situations. Stropping a second razor just takes an additional minute or two, and if you're like a lot of people here and you buy lots of razors, why not get the most out of your collection?

Sorry to have to tell you this but the issue isn't your beard. Your razors either aren't sharp enough or your technique has issues. A proper razor properly used will sliced through the toughest beards in the world like a hot knife through butter AND give you shave after shave before requiring honing.

As far as barbers go they had a bunch of razors sitting in barbicide and used one then put it back and used from those over and over for days at a time until they needed honing depending on how many razors they had and how many shaves they gave.

As far as specialized razors for different beard types that's another old barbers tale debunked over and over. Folks may prefer one size or grind over another but I can assure you a properly honed 4/8s hollow will shave any beard as well as some huge meat chopper.

I agree wht the big spendur as there must be a problem with your edge and also your beard prep. No beard hair on Earth is so tough that it can ravage a steel blade so quickly.

Hi Spendur, Sharp,

Thanks for your replies. Notwithstanding, I stand by the formula:

1. Big heavy grinds for a first pass on 2 or 3 days of stubble.
2. Hollow grinds on subsequent passes.

As suggested in reply #3 above, and independent of the degree of comfort/precision one may or may not achieve doing all three passes with a single straight, I claim nevertheless that the 2 razor shaved, in the format described above, will only enhance your shaving experience.

Cheers, Gringo

I personally feel that you would be accomplishing the same feat if you stropped a single razor mid-shave. Don't you have to strop 2 razors regardless before shaving anyway?

That being said, if it works for you then have at it....

Sure, but then I don't like stopping to strop mid shave. So it's more efficient for me to have the second razor stropped and ready to go before hand (which is sort of how I got started with this in the first place).

But there's more to it than that, it's about the physics of different blade types. I think everyone will agree that on the final ATG pass you have to go low-angle and employ a lighter touch. So in stands to reason that it will be easier to do that if you have a lighter, thinner blade in hand e.g. a hollow ground. On the other hand, there's no doubt that the momentum you get from a big Sheffield wedge is of great service when it comes to removing heavy growth. But don't take my word for it: try it!

Maybe like a lot of us you need to skip the 3rd pass and just do the WTG and XTG and forget the ATG. I cant argue what you have said in your previous post, but it does make me wonder.

Originally Posted by GringoMexicano

I'm someone who has the misfortune of having a tough beard and sensitive skin, and for this reason, I've had a hard time getting more than 5 comfortable three-pass shaves out of a razor before having to head back to the hones.

It occurred to me recently that part of the problem was that on the first pass my (usually 2 days worth of) tough beard was taking a great deal of the smoothness out of the edge, smoothness which my sensitive skin requires on the second and third passes. I know some people out there will strop between passes, but I don't like any interruptions once I've gotten into the shave, so instead, I now use two razors, one for the first pass, the second for the successive passes. As a result my shaves have not only become dramatically more comfortable, but technically much better: closer, with nary a nick or razor burn.

Moreover, I have found that within this system I'm able to get the most out of the various grinds of razors I own. That is, the heavy ground wedges are perfect for the first pass, effortlessly cutting down two days of tough growth where thinner ground blades tend to buckle. On the other hand, for the later passes, a full-hollow gives me the feed back I require to avoid cutting or otherwise irritating my sensitive skin. The ultra fine edge of a hollow really shines when it comes to the more delicate work involved in second and third passes, especially when the edge comes to you silky smooth right off the strop, as opposed to having been degraded fighting tough beard on the first pass.

I would be interested to know if anyone else has delegated their passes to two (or more) razors. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that this was a practice used by barbers in the past.

No, I have not, but want to give it a try.

My beard is not all that tough, but can take a bit of work after 3 days or so. I usually strop in between (10 laps or so) to ensure a smooth edge on each pass. As it happens, I just today touched up all of my straights with the 8k + coti, so I'll run them in pairs for my next shaves, see how that goes.

In old school barber shops, I have seen them hit the strop in between passes, but I never saw them switch razors...