Safety Razors

Solid 316L stainless, which is the grade used where things sit in salt water, so the one thing that kills a plated razor cannot happen to it. Three flippable base plates give six blade exposures, so it adapts to a face rather than asking the face to adapt, and the plates are the only moving parts. It is the dearest on this page and the one that will look identical in thirty years.

• Solid 316L stainless, not plated
• Six blade exposures from three base plates
• Standard double edge blades
• Nothing plated, so nothing to wear through
• Dishwasher safe

The head is twisted, which sets the blade at an angle so it slices through stubble rather than scraping at it. A slant is more razor than a beginner needs and the usual complaint behind the 3 per cent at one star is exactly that, but for a coarse beard nothing else is as efficient. Solingen brass, two pieces, nothing to wear out.

• Slant head, slices rather than scrapes
• Two-piece solid brass
• Takes any double edge blade
• Made in Solingen, Germany
• No cartridges, ever

Machined from solid brass, triple plated and hand polished in Sheffield, with a closed comb head that is the gentlest of the common geometries and the one to start on. Brass under the plating is the durability argument: a plated brass razor that is dropped dents rather than shatters, and there is nothing in it to wear but the blade, which costs pennies.

• Solid brass, triple plated
• Closed comb head, mild and forgiving
• Knurled grip for wet hands
• Made in Sheffield, England

Three pieces of solid stainless, made in Japan by the company that makes the blades most of these razors are loaded with. Nothing is plated, so nothing can wear through to a different metal underneath, and there is no adjustment mechanism to go out of true. It is the mildest head here and the most expensive object on the page by a distance.

• Solid stainless, three pieces, nothing plated
• Made in Japan
• Standard double edge blades
• No adjustment mechanism to fail
• Weighted handle

Two pieces of chrome-plated brass and a threaded post, made in Solingen and sold in this form since the 1960s. There is no cartridge to be discontinued and no pivot to seize: the blade is the standard double edge that every maker still produces, so the razor outlasts the company that sold it to you. The short heavy handle is the reason this one rather than the long version, since the weight does the work.

• Chrome plated brass, two pieces, nothing to seize
• Standard double edge blades, made by everyone
• Made in Solingen
• Sold in this form since the 1960s
• Short heavy handle, weight does the work

A heavy one-piece safety razor in chrome-plated brass with a long handle and a fixed, closed comb. There is no adjustment mechanism, no spring and no plastic, so the only part that ever wears is the blade, and blades are standard double-edge ones sold by many makers.

• Chrome-plated brass, no plastic or springs
• Takes any standard double-edge blade
• Long, heavy handle for a steady shave

A closed comb head with a mild blade angle, which is the one to start with: it is the hardest of these to cut yourself on and the easiest to learn an angle with. Made in Germany in chrome-plated metal, three pieces, and the head geometry has not changed in decades.

• Closed comb, the mildest head here
• Three pieces, nothing to seize
• Standard double edge blades
• Made in Germany
• Head geometry unchanged for decades