my current safety razor shaving rig

Yes, I'm still DE shaving, but my rig has changed.

DE means shaving using a safety razor with a double-edged blade. At first, I was using a King C. Gillette safety razor and Astra blades ("Superior Stainless" variant and not Platinum, although those are fine too).

Then I went through a few different blade brands which included Derby (3 different types there) and Shark. I even tried a blade sampler at one point.

After all that, I bought a different safety razor, the Parker 78R. And just because I hadn't tried them before, Gillette Perma-Sharp blades (although I may try Gillette 7 O'clock blades next).

For my face, the combination of Parker 78R safety razor and Gillette Perma-Sharp works. And while this will make safety razor snobs go "Ew!", Gillette Foamy shaving cream works for me. Barbasol also works. I can use either.

I went from Gillette razor and non-Gillette blade to Gillette blade and non-Gillette razor. Funny how that worked out.

The Parker razor is lighter in weight than the King C, but slightly more aggressive when the correct blade is used, which as I said is a Perma-Sharp for my face. With the Parker, I can "let the blade do the work" more easily than with the Gillette razor. The King C isn't bad, but I have to press more when using it... which is not how you're supposed to be using a safety razor. The razor should glide with minimal effort required, and the 78R is decent for that...

...although I could understand if other men would find the 78R annoying since it is a 3-piece. For those that prefer TTO (twist-to-open) "butterfly" style, see the Parker 99R.

I prefer the 3-piece just because it feels more solid, but at some point I may buy a proper TTO. A lot of reviews state the razors from Viking's Blade are good, but I won't know if that's true or not until I actually buy one. VB does offer a few TTO types where you can adjust the blade angle. That's a reason to get one. I like that.

For now, a Parker razor, Perma-Sharp blade and a can of Foamy are getting the job done in fine style.

Published 2025 Apr 29