Anyone regularly shave with your "shaving sharp" knife?

D

ducksoup

Joined
Mar 29, 2007
Messages
160
Have you ever lathered up and used your pocket knife (or camping knife etc) as a straight razor? Does anyone even do this on a regular basis? I've been thinking about trying it with my Camillus slippie, but I'm not usually that adventurous early in the morning. :D
 
heck no, razors and knives are very different. I can get my knives with good steel to measure close to the same force as a razor on cutting light thread, but a funny thing happened when I tested the razor on mercerized cotton (still thread, not string or anything "heavy") The edge was wrecked; wrecked by cutting thread. If something that delicate still can irritate my face, I am not trying a knife that is about as sharp, but thick enough to whittle woods and such.
 
I tried it once. One short swipe later, I realized my face would be a mass of ingrown hairs in about 1 second if I didn't stop.

It still shaves arm and leg hair though.
 
No Way. I shave like I'm chopping wood. My ex GF refused to watch me shave- she was convinced I'd lop off an ear one day. If I'm camping, etc & don't have a razor, I'm growing a beard until I get back to Razorville. I'm not going to get near my face w/ a knife that sharp. I'm ugly enough already.
 
I've thought about it but decided is wasn't worth taking a chance hacking up my face, or worse.
Maybe if I'd grown up using a straight razor I'd feel more comfortable using a knife as a razor. I'll stick
to testing my knives on my arm hair.
 
For actually shaving facial hair, a knife is a very poor tool even if it is "razor sharp." Even an actual straight razor with a very thin grind, no secondary bevel and stropped edge is a challenge to shave with for most people, which is why more modern methods are so popular. This would not be a good idea at all. Shaving a little arm hair is a different thing.

It reminds me of the scene in Crocodile Dundee where he pretended to shave with the Bowie. That was pretty funny.
 
If I did want to shave with a knife I'd pick my Chris Reeve Mnandi. I like the curve of the blade and it is small enough to be easy to control.
 
Lurker said:
The gag was that he was shaving with a disposable bic razor until the tourist walked up behind him. Then he quickly hid the bic and started scraping his face with his 14" bowie.
Click to expand...

I was being sarcastic.......I guess I need to spread it on a little thicker next time. Thank you for explaining it though.....very kind. :p
 
Another point is, facial hair is a hell of a lot tougher,denser and coarser than what's on the arm or leg! I wouldn't risk shaving my face with ANY knife...one slip and it's off with your lip! I feel grateful to Mr Gillette and other for introducing the safety razor about a century ago..beards are not my thing.
 
Lurker said:
For actually shaving facial hair, a knife is a very poor tool even if it is "razor sharp." Even an actual straight razor with a very thin grind, no secondary bevel and stropped edge is a challenge to shave with for most people, which is why more modern methods are so popular. This would not be a good idea at all. Shaving a little arm hair is a different thing.

It reminds me of the scene in Crocodile Dundee where he pretended to shave with the Bowie. That was pretty funny.
Click to expand...

who said anything about not having a stropped edge? My halo has a <20 deg bevel and it's been stopped with red compound and then jewlers rouge. If you're extremely anal about your blade it's entirely possible to get one that will shave nearly as well as a straight razor. Not to mention, if someone calls my knife razor sharp, that's practically an insult. It's a much more refined edge than any out of the box razor.

edit: PS I surely don't condone or reccomend shaving with a normal knife. I did did it for the hell of it.
 
I have shaved my cheeks with a very thinly ground pocket knife and it went ok. But like others I have used a strait razor, my chin and what nots a different story and would touch it with a knife....its just not the same even with my acutley ground carbon steel blade. The razor is just meant for it, while my knife(though does kind of work) is not.
 
No I have not shaved with my knives that shave hair but I do shave with a straight razor every day. Even though a knife can shave arm hair does not mean that it is even in the same ballpark of sharpness as a properly honed straight razor. "Razor sharp" really is a very relative term. A knife can easily be made to shave hair with a 1000 grit stone (and even lower), but for a razor to shave close and comfortably the edge must be taken to a minimum of 8000 grit (I usually go up to a yellow coticule, chinese 12K, German Escher, or Spyderco UF). A good razor edge will also only be about 17 degrees inclusive, so while you could give yourself a decent shave with a properly honed knife I would absolutely not recommend it. If you want to learn more about the art of straight razor shaving I would recommend that you check out straightrazorplace.com or the straight razor section at badgerandblade.com
 
Ouch - no thanks. I'm guessing years and years of design that developed the razor was not wasted. Not that i haven't thought about it - but I think about a lot of things I shouldn't do. :D
 
No thanks, once you see a 1:1 full hollow ground straight razor, you realize why not :). But I wouldn't open a clamshell pack with my straight razor either. :D.
 
SplittinHairs said:
Ouch - no thanks. I'm guessing years and years of design that developed the razor was not wasted. Not that i haven't thought about it - but I think about a lot of things I shouldn't do. :D
Click to expand...


Modern technology has definately given people a more convenient shave but it has absolutely not improved the shave quality (it has achieved the opposite). A properly honed (and stropped) straight razor will provide that absolute closest and most comfortable shave in the hands of a skilled user. A relatively big investment in both time and equiptment is necessary to learn the skills to properly maintain and use the edge though.

David
 
Plug to CMD (a regular here and a maker and a buddy of mine).

I had my CMD skinning knife in S30V hair whittling sharp. My brother was in town and didn't have his straight razor. He used my skinning knife without problem. He went a little slower than usual and the shave wasn't perfect, but it worked.

I took a pict:

shaving.jpg

http://nathan.broadtime.com/shaving.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top