I get The Fear even thinking of allowing a safety razor near any part of my body, but here’s a tip for those of you who will, like me, stick with the Gillette stuff, despite their bastardry:
Strop it good! It can make one of them detachable heads last way longer than it otherwise would. In an emergency, even an old piece of a pair of jeans works, otherwise, I hear a leather strop is nice.
I just use an electric. The Braun 3-head models are very nice. No blades to buy, no shaving cream, no cuts ever. It’s not quite as close a shave, but no way am I ever switching to blades; the time and mess and consumables totally aren’t worth it.
I’ve stuck with blades because I’m just cleaning up around the edges of my beard and I found that blades just give me better control. The one time I tried an electric razor I ended up taking off bits of beard that I wanted to keep.
Once a year, I spend about $25 at Sam’s for a year’s worth of fully disposable Gillette “Good News” razors, basically a cheap handle attached to their twin-blade Atra. I use a razor for a week, toss it, then get a fresh one.
I’ve found anything wider than a twin blade to be a bit unwieldy, harder to clean, and not worth the hassle or money.
I used an electric one in the UK, but when I moved to the US it couldn’t work with weedy 110V mains, and I never got around to buying another one.
Let’s not forget that electric shavers are also a great transportation alternative.
My experience says the closeness. I use electric clippers to keep everything easily shaveable so I’m not wet-shaving more than once or twice every two weeks–it’s 400 grit to 800 or more, so to speak. Although I did drop the clippers not long ago and now they’re out of alignment and a little choppy here and there…
Probably one of the first things I’d do upon becoming wealthy would be to retain an in-house barber. A hot-lather straight razor shave every few days would be delightful.
I only shave my nipples.
I use a Fusion Power three days a week on my face and head, and a Norelco SensoTouch 3D electric on my face on other days.
I bought an 8-pack of cartridges on May 18 2015, and I’ve just this morning started to use the 8th one. So that means I’m averaging 69 days per cartridge. And I have never nicked myself with these things.
I really don’t feel like I’m being ripped off. And besides, I never have to pay for haircuts. 
I find that electric gives me more ingrown hairs, and blades give me more skin irritation. So I generally alternate between the two.
My favorite remains:
Well, I think it depends a lot on your hair thickness/toughness. For me, any disposable razor is good for about one and a half shaves. Mach 3 razors (for example) will start pulling on my beard (causing all kinds of irritation and pimples) somewhere during the second shave (or even during the first one, if I’ve waited too long to shave).
I got sick of either spending that much money per shave, or avoiding shaving very often (even though I find having more than a little stubble annoying), and switched to an (excellent while it was sharp) electric. After a few annoying/painful years of that, I tossed that thing in the garbage and got the same merkur handle mentioned in the post. I get about two good shaves out of each blade, but since they cost maybe 0.10 € per blade, I don’t really care and just switch blades at the slightest hint of dullness.
I’ve just stopped shaving, aside from trimming the neck area, because my fiancee likes a full beard 
But I’ve always used electrics for shaving, not razors.
I don’t completely understand the outrage over razor blades and how much they cost. I use the fusion blades and each one lasts more than a month (shaving every-other-day). They are so easy to use I could be half-asleep without fear of cutting myself ever. They cost about $2.85 a piece, and that’s the trade off… You pay a bit more and never have to worry about cutting yourself or razor burn or in-grown hairs. Also, it looks like you can get the same type of blade from harry’s for $2 each… Even better.
I can’t help but think part of this obsession is about the style of the razors. The marketing and design of gillette products does not match the boing boing set and finally there are alternatives on the market. I also think it is a bit of a lifestyle choice: are you the ‘type of person’ who shaves with a safety razor? You might also be the type of person with and Eames chair and your own espresso machine… I have to admit, those safety razors look very classy.
Any non-toxic oil will work, such as vegetable oil and mineral oil.
Um… You’re paying 2 orders of magnitude more; that’s not even close to an insignificant difference.
I used to maintain a goatee before I too was “given permission” to grow a full face beard. So much easier than shaving daily.
It predates the internet.
Apples, meet oranges. Higher price, better value.
For a very long time I just used Bic disposables and they worked awesome for me. I could get giant pack from Costco and it would last 2 years.
I should try a safety razors but have been doing fine with a basic Norelco.
