Advice pls: Considering a Feather AC - how critical is it to shave with both hands?

Every now and then, I start thinking about buying a Feather AC SS Kamisori. I'm not sure why... it just seems to call to me.

A little background. I've been shaving with a DE for around 5 years. Having just hit 60, my skin is starting the inevitable slackening stage. My neck is quite sensitive, especially the lower third (and my beard is pretty wiry... how many times have we read that combination on this forum?). I have settled into a mild razor/sharp blade routine that works well for me. My daily driver is a Feather AS-D2 with any of a Feather, Polsilver, Permasharp Super, or Nacet blades (with a heavier handle and a shim to increase the efficiency a little). Weepers are pretty much a thing of the past. I have a Wolfman SB on order.

Having read a lot and viewed a lot of video, it seems that most people use both hands for straight and shavette shaving. I am extremely right handed, and wouldn't trust my left hand with anything remotely sharp (maybe a butter knife). I realize that many people have trained their "weak" hand, but I'm really not willing to go through the facial damage and blood letting that would be needed (I've tried with my DE, and it wasn't pretty... the local blood bank was the only happy one in that experience), so I would prefer that you focus your advice on this question. Is it possible (or how difficult would it be) to shave with only my right hand with a Feather AC SS Kamisori? I can imagine that going XTG on the left side of my face might be a challenge.

Thanks in advance for your help.

I shave with my right hand regardless of razor, including folding straights, kamisori and all Feather AC razors (both folding and non folding). The only difficulty (if you'd call it that) is some reduced vision when crossing over to the other side of the face.

I think you would be just fine using one hand. For some its natural to use both and others shave entirely from the same hand. I would ease into it with a Feather Pro Guard and enjoy the process.

As stated above, you should be fine. When I ventured in to straights I would only use my right hand. No worries.

Although it would be useful to learn with both hands it's not necessary, I predominantly use my right hand and have never had any problems it just requires a little adjustment in your technique and a little bit of dexterity for certain passes and you should be fine.

Whatever is comfortable for you is all that matters.

I always just do it with me left hand only.


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Thanks all. I just bought one (along with some Proguards and other blades) from another member, and will let you all know how the initial bloodletting goes.

FWIW - I felt the same way. But I gave it a try with my non-dominant hand (left in my case). I was surprised how quickly I developed sufficient dexterity to shave with my left hand. I think its worth a quick try - starting with a simple area like sideburn.

I shaved with the AC on Saturday morning, using only my right hand. I used CRSW V1 Sandalwood with plenty of water, and tried a Feather Pro Guard, which felt a little strange and a bit rough to me. Not sure if it was the wires or the new blade (do these blades smooth out a bit after the first shave?) or a combination of both. As I expected, it was a little challenging, especially after building up 5 years of muscle memory for DE shaving. I felt a little like a contortionist at times, and had to figure out how to look around my hand to see where I was shaving a couple of times. When that happened, I took a deep breath, backed off and restarted.

I went WTG and XTG above my jawline, and did a single WTG pass on my neck. Since I could feel some irritation there, I decided to do my XTG pass with my Feather AS-D2 loaded with a Feather blade (just to keep it an all-Feather shave). I need to get the angle right and do a better job of stretching my skin, especially on the lower third of my neck, which is my sensitive area.

I nicked myself once (I can't remember the last time I got one of those) and got a couple of weepers (those are rare as well these days), but all in all not a bad first attempt. I think I'll wait a couple of days before my next attempt - I realize that I shouldn't wait too long if I'm going to develop my technique.

Well done. Starting is the hard part. It's all downhill from here. 

As the others have mentioned, you'll have fine shaves just with your right hand, but if you can take the time to learn with your left too you will be thankful in the end. 

I know just how daunting it is trying with the left, but I reckon I actually get better shaves with my left hand now than I do with my right.

Something you might consider is removing the blade and just practicing with the empty razor. Like any shaving it is all about the muscle memory. Just practising the action without the threat of a blade will help you pick it up quickly.

My approach - when trying xtg passes try using your right hand to shave the left side of your face. And drag the razor in the direction of your ear toward your nose. It took me a while to work this out for myself, because everyone on the web videos seem to have a different approach to xtg. For me, pulling the razor delivers a much more comfortable result than trying to push it against the skin, if you get what I mean.

For wtg, right hand does right cheek and right neck. Left hand for the other side.
For atg, right hand does left cheek and left neck. Again, left hand for the other side.