Shaving with a regular knife

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Guy McVer

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Mar 22, 2022
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Would you be comfortable doing this if you had to?

We've all shaved arm hairs to check the sharpness of our knives before. It's a common test. But I want to hear from people who've actually shaved their face, or their legs, or their... *ahem* ...with a regular knife. How was it? Any tips?

If there were no other shaving implements and this was the only shaving option you had for the foreseeable future, would you do it? Or would you just say "screw it", and let it all grow wild?
 
It can be done, it's not pleasant, and if your edge is good enough for a comfortable shave, it's a useless EDC. The "Dundee" method is preferred, get caught shaving with your knife, then when no one is looking get the actual job done with a real razor.

There's an old copypasta about a guy who was a wilderness leader out on a trip, guiding a bunch of teens. He was shaving in the creek, lost his footing, and slashed his own throat, leaving the teens to fend for themselves until rescue arrived. How long that was and how the details go depend on who is telling the story.

I got an opinel #7 sharp enough to do a little shaving with, and even with full prep it was basically plucking hairs with a side of cheese grater, but it would catch arm hair about half way up and cut them off.
 
There was a video on YouTube years ago. I forgot the title. A relatively well know YouTube reviewer used a Survive GSO 4.7 in Cruforge V to shave his entire face. I believe the same guy shaved his face with a Busse KillaZilla test team model (12 inch kukri blade .26 thick ). Worth watching if it can be found. I’ll try to source a link.

I tried to shave my face with a Zero Convex Swamp rat RMD once. I’ll NEVER try that again for the rest of my days. Period.
 
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Shaving with a BIG knife. It can be done. Not sure why you’d want to though.
 
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I admit that if I miss a spot and I realize it when I'm at work, I typically excuse myself to the restroom and dry shave the spot I missed with whatever knife is in my pocket.
I think I would get a dedicated straight razor if that's what I wanted to do full time, but it can be done.
My edges seem to be just fine for "EDC", in spite other information above.
 
There is a huge range in how much edge refinement one person’s skin prefers over another. My skin is fairly sensitive and needs at least an 8k polish to shave comfortably. I used to shave daily with a straight razor and still do occasionally, and a knife with the right edge will work in a pinch. With that said, if I was in a position where my shaving stuff was not accessible and the only option was my pocket knife I believe there would be far more pressing concerns over shaving!!
 
I have shaved with a few different knives. No problem at all. It is not at all like shaving with a cheese grater as mentioned above - if the edge is correctly prepped. If there is any wire edge/burr left it will shave great for a few strokes, then start to feel like that cheese grater once it breaks off. If the edge isn't taken to a high enough grit, it will be pretty rough too. Absolute minimum threshold for a comfortable shave for me is 8k, preferably higher. I don't shave dry, a simple bit of bar soap lather is enough though.

The question - as posed above - is why would you want to, though. That kind of edge is very easily damaged and is not suitable for much of anything else. If you only used it for that task it might be fine, but that seems like a waste of a knife - just bring a straight razor. I generally keep my EDC up around 8k with a quick CBN strop for deburring but I only use it for cutting packaging tape and opening envelopes, etc. It works fine for that. It would shave in a pinch just fine but I wouldn't want to shave my face with it unless it had just been sharpened.
 
That actually brings up another big difference in faces, bar soap versus shave soap. Sure many shave soaps have a bunch of froo-froo added, but they are formulated for a purpose and specifically, the bentonite clay soaps are different. Enough so that not all soaps will work for all people, which again leads to the "horses for courses" aspect of shaving. I'll never say that something won't work, but most of us in the fat part of the bell curve will do best with tried and true methods, but there are guys at the skinny ends as well.
 
gadgetgeek said:
That actually brings up another big difference in faces, bar soap versus shave soap. Sure many shave soaps have a bunch of froo-froo added, but they are formulated for a purpose and specifically, the bentonite clay soaps are different. Enough so that not all soaps will work for all people, which again leads to the "horses for courses" aspect of shaving. I'll never say that something won't work, but most of us in the fat part of the bell curve will do best with tried and true methods, but there are guys at the skinny ends as well.
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Yup! Ive found aloe vera dishsoap works the best for me even.
 
Well, I can’t remember the last time I shaved. Even when I cut the hair off my face I went away from shaving and used the clippers to leave stubble and a mustache so I looked gruff. Been what ten years I’d guess since I cut my beard.

Sometimes when kissing my wife I’ll jerk my head back and say “ouch, pricked myself on a mustache hair”. She isn’t amused.

Also, the wife and I have been in a store and someone asked the boy if he was going to have a beard like dad when he got big. I interjected and said “he wants a mustache like moms”. Also, she wasn’t amused.
 
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I've done it with a pair of Schrade Fire and Ice trappers ( a 73 and 23 pattern GEC made knives).

Not as smooth as a razor....especially because I was on vacation with no sharpening stones, no shaving cream and no strop but it worked.
 
Guy McVer said:
Would you be comfortable doing this if you had to?

We've all shaved arm hairs to check the sharpness of our knives before. It's a common test. But I want to hear from people who've actually shaved their face, or their legs, or their... *ahem* ...with a regular knife. How was it? Any tips?

If there were no other shaving implements and this was the only shaving option you had for the foreseeable future, would you do it? Or would you just say "screw it", and let it all grow wild?
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I am making some blades that will support a low enough angle to actually shave. I tried it with my working edge and it will do it but it's not comfortable. It takes a crazy hard edge to do it with a real edge vs the wire edge like on a straight razor. If it's something that you are really interested in we can talk. I have kinda gone down the rabbit hole on edges and am chasing that holy grail blade. Most people don't really understand how edges work.
 
Storm W said:
I am making some blades that will support a low enough angle to actually shave. I tried it with my working edge and it will do it but it's not comfortable. It takes a crazy hard edge to do it with a real edge vs the wire edge like on a straight razor.
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Who uses a wire edge on a straight razor?
 
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