Slants v. Regular safety bars

For the past month or so I've been shaving strictly with my slant head razor. I recently went back to my baby smooth just for some variety but when it was all said and done, I finished the shave off with my slant. I'm finding irritating and rough when I use a regular DE. I have an extremely course beard and the slant is just so efficient.

I'd like to hear any other thoughts on this and if anyone else has felt this way. Of course ymmv and I may just need to get used to my regular DE's again.


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Blade flex, pure & simple. DE blades are flimsy ribbons of steel. The slant head give a torque on the blade which increases stiffness of the blade.

To be honest, if you notice a great improvement moving to the slant, then I highly suggest giving a real stuff SE blade a try in a vintage GEM 1912, EverReady 1914, or a GEM Clog Pruf MicroMatic.

I think gents with coarser beards can benefit from at least trying a slant and an SE razor. like SharpSpine mentioned, the SE blades are stiffer and the slant adds more torque on the DE blade, resulting in increased stiffness. I have a very coarse beard as well and my best shaves, iirc, always would come from an SE razor.

this Thursday I have to do some stuff in the morning that'll require me to clean up around my beard. I have a GEM featherweight in my medicine cabinet that is ready to go.

I used a slant for a week when there was one in a pass around event. I fount it to actually perform on par with my Slim. I did not feel the need to get a slant because it just did not wow me.

I have a couple GEM's that I am going to try out. I have a Schick Injector and I get great shaves from that razor. I don't think the way the blade is held it allows for to much flex which could be why it shaves so well.

I recently picked up an Ikon Slant and really I don't see where it shaves any better than some of my other regular DE's. I've only used it 3-4 times so maybe I just need more use to get used to it.

Still have ATT S1 on the list of things I'd like.

I started with a Parker 22R Long Handle, which is a normal safety bar. It did the job, but eventually I picked an iKon Slant, the 1st gen, and, ya, with my course beard that things eats through it lol Even using the same Shark SC blades that I used in the Parker, I have tried Feathers in the iKon as well but I find that to be way too aggressive for my skin :/

The only SE razor I have tried is the Feather Artisan razor, and I couldn't get the hang of how to hold it so I set it aside. I'm now looking to get a Mongoose, or a similar SE razor and see how that goes

I started with a Parker 22R Long Handle, which is a normal safety bar.  It did the job, but eventually I picked an iKon Slant, the 1st gen, and, ya, with my course beard that things eats through it lol  Even using the same Shark SC blades that I used in the Parker, I have tried Feathers in the iKon as well but I find that to be way too aggressive for my skin :/  

The only SE razor I have tried is the Feather Artisan razor, and I couldn't get the hang of how to hold it so I set it aside.  I'm now looking to get a Mongoose, or a similar SE razor and see how that goes

you can get a vast array of SE's on ebay for next to nothing.

Stiffnes seems like it could contribute to the issue. I'll try sticking with my Slim and baby smooth to see if it is just my technique.

The baby smooth does not sing at all which I associate with blade flex. That being said, a single edge sounds intriguing.


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I started with a Parker 22R Long Handle, which is a normal safety bar.  It did the job, but eventually I picked an iKon Slant, the 1st gen, and, ya, with my course beard that things eats through it lol  Even using the same Shark SC blades that I used in the Parker, I have tried Feathers in the iKon as well but I find that to be way too aggressive for my skin :/  

The only SE razor I have tried is the Feather Artisan razor, and I couldn't get the hang of how to hold it so I set it aside.  I'm now looking to get a Mongoose, or a similar SE razor and see how that goes

Stiffnes seems like it could contribute to the issue. I'll try sticking with my Slim and baby smooth to see if it is just my technique.

The baby smooth does not sing at all which I associate with blade flex.  That being said, a single edge sounds intriguing.


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I would recommend picking up an SE.  They can be had very cheaply on the B/S/T's and they are great razors.  I'd give a Schick Injector or a Gem a go before dropping the coin for a Mongoose.  Sure the Mongoose is nice (and was my first SE) because of the material and finish etc. but honestly I get as good or better shaves from a Schick Injector I picked up for $5 at a local flea market.  Not to say I don't love my Mongoose but after jumping straight to the Mongoose I wish I had started with a good ol vintage SE.

I started with a Parker 22R Long Handle, which is a normal safety bar.  It did the job, but eventually I picked an iKon Slant, the 1st gen, and, ya, with my course beard that things eats through it lol  Even using the same Shark SC blades that I used in the Parker, I have tried Feathers in the iKon as well but I find that to be way too aggressive for my skin :/  

The only SE razor I have tried is the Feather Artisan razor, and I couldn't get the hang of how to hold it so I set it aside.  I'm now looking to get a Mongoose, or a similar SE razor and see how that goes

you can get a vast array of SE's on ebay for next to nothing.

I started with a Parker 22R Long Handle, which is a normal safety bar.  It did the job, but eventually I picked an iKon Slant, the 1st gen, and, ya, with my course beard that things eats through it lol  Even using the same Shark SC blades that I used in the Parker, I have tried Feathers in the iKon as well but I find that to be way too aggressive for my skin :/  

The only SE razor I have tried is the Feather Artisan razor, and I couldn't get the hang of how to hold it so I set it aside.  I'm now looking to get a Mongoose, or a similar SE razor and see how that goes

Stiffnes seems like it could contribute to the issue. I'll try sticking with my Slim and baby smooth to see if it is just my technique.

The baby smooth does not sing at all which I associate with blade flex.  That being said, a single edge sounds intriguing.


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I would recommend picking up an SE.  They can be had very cheaply on the B/S/T's and they are great razors.  I'd give a Schick Injector or a Gem a go before dropping the coin for a Mongoose.  Sure the Mongoose is nice (and was my first SE) because of the material and finish etc. but honestly I get as good or better shaves from a Schick Injector I picked up for $5 at a local flea market.  Not to say I don't love my Mongoose but after jumping straight to the Mongoose I wish I had started with a good ol vintage SE.

Good advice, thanks, guys : I managed to find a good looking Gem on Ebay at cheap and the bid ends in less than 2 days, so hopefully that works out.  If it does I'll get some blades for it as well from Tryablade, since I need some DE blades anyway to try