How come in SR shaving videos.

[Strop Dragging My Heart]

It seems like every SR video I see, guys are pretty much doing north-south passes and either a diagonal XTG and or a straight up ATG... People on here talk about "beard mapping", and maybe I'm just missing those vids, but no one on YouTube seems to be going in different directions for different sections.
As a consequence, when I actually get in front of the mirror, blade in hand, I find myself trying to do that - even though I do have places where my beard grows in different directions...
i guess my question is...do you just get skilled enough st some point that mapping doesn't matter, or have I just happened to have seen people whose stubble is uniform?

 

[Shavehappie]

I haven't really seen any guys with videos going different directions with a DE either. I have been able to go straight N/S with a straight though. My neck has never looked or felt better either.

 

[global_dev]

not sure, i tend to not watch a lot of vids, but i routinely have the blade perpendicular to floor on my cheek, but on the neck that is a no go so i make the same direction but with the blade at a 45°

i tend not to for all or nothing, i do 2 easy passes and usually good enough for me.

 

[rockviper]

I, too, have pondered that as well. As far as I can figure:
a) straights are too large a blade to deftly maneuver along hair growth patterns,
b) straights are so manly they don't need no steenking beerd mappeen
c) straight users like myself are just happy to not end up in hospital and down+up strokes are about as complicated as we can get.

 

[Brianskeet]

I don't break out the beard mapping strokes unless I am doing what I call my anniversary level shave. North south, then east west, then south north, then against the grain per my beard growth pattern, then a final Hollywood north south pass. That will result in a BBS face for more than 12 hours.

 

[Eamrein]

I, too, have pondered that as well. As far as I can figure:
a) straights are too large a blade to deftly maneuver along hair growth patterns,
b) straights are so manly they don't need no steenking beerd mappeen
c) straight users like myself are just happy to not end up in hospital and down+up strokes are about as complicated as we can get.

+1

 

[TheVez2]

I have beard mapped, and know where my hair grows out in weird angles, but that has never affected the way I shaved. I always do straight up or down and side to side strokes. I've found that a combination of those strokes mows down all the hair regardless of which way it grows.

I don't like to use the terms with/against/across-the-grain for that reason. A single with the grain pass might need to go 4 different directions. Eek!

I prefer to just call my strokes by what they are:
North-to-South (N-S), or a head to chin direction.
S-N being what most would call against the grain, or an upward stroke.

And the typical across the grain strokes are called Nose-to-Ear (N-E), or E-N, depending on the direction.

Those directional shave patterns simplify things greatly for me.

 

[KW Driver]

It depends. I do a two pass, WTG/XTG, then XTG/ATG, and tend to be satisfied with that.

If my whiskers are 3 or more days old they're generally long enough to be most comfortably done WTH on the first pass. With my Gem SE, I can do a single ATG pass if I need to, regardless or beard length.

Figure out what works for you and go with that. Most can get by socially with a single pass, we just choose not to.

 

[California Cajun]

It seems like every SR video I see, guys are pretty much doing north-south passes and either a diagonal XTG and or a straight up ATG... People on here talk about "beard mapping", and maybe I'm just missing those vids, but no one on YouTube seems to be going in different directions for different sections.
As a consequence, when I actually get in front of the mirror, blade in hand, I find myself trying to do that - even though I do have places where my beard grows in different directions...
i guess my question is...do you just get skilled enough st some point that mapping doesn't matter, or have I just happened to have seen people whose stubble is uniform?

I shave in three passes: Down, Across, and Up. There are some diagonal strokes I've integrated into the shave over time, but for me following the beard diagram is too complicated to follow.

I got a barber shave in hopes of getting some pointers on how to do it myself, and he told me straight out that the way you shave someone else and the way you shave yourself are two different things. The barber probably follows the diagram more closely.

The benefit of mapping your hair growth is knowing that it doesn't grow uniformly on your face. I didn't know that at first. I kept going over and over and over places in one direction without shaving off the whiskers and would irritate my face.

 

[Slash McCoy]

It is basically impossible to go absolutely WTG over the entire face and neck with a straight. A reasonable approximation is the best you can expect. On the cheeks, N/S is usually pretty close, anyway. Closer to WTG than to XTG. On the neck it is common to go S/N on the lower neck, up until it feels like it is getting closer to ATG, and do the upper neck N/S, both with a bias as much as possible in the actual WTG direction.

I have been known on occasion to go at or nearly ATG under the chin and jaw on first pass, but with a very tight shave angle.

 

[Seraphim]

Don't get too caught up in the details. WTG & ATG are like "wax on wax off" with a straight.

 

[Strop Dragging My Heart]

Don't get too caught up in the details. WTG & ATG are like "wax on wax off" with a straight.

What do you mean by that, Seraphim? The details of which way your beard grows?

 

[tlweinbe]

I, too, have pondered that as well. As far as I can figure:
a) straights are too large a blade to deftly maneuver along hair growth patterns,
b) straights are so manly they don't need no steenking beerd mappeen
c) straight users like myself are just happy to not end up in hospital and down+up strokes are about as complicated as we can get.

I have been straight razor shavin' for just over a month.
All I can say is "Amen Brother"
+1

 

[Chaddy187]

I've shave a lot with a straight razor and I can't for the life of me get my neck hair. It grows east to west west to east. I don't believe 90% of them YouTube shavers most keep a goat tee.

 

[Lmarkow]

I think beard mapping is bunk. What's more important, im(notso)ho, is figuring out how to get the flattest stretched surfaces on a basically oval, bumpy, obstacle course.

 

[SFGiants101214]

I think beard mapping is bunk. What's more important, im(notso)ho, is figuring out how to get the flattest stretched surfaces on a basically oval, bumpy, obstacle course.

I am still really new to straight razor shaving with probably under 10 shaves under my belt with a straight. This has become my hypothesis however. I use to go in toward my adams apple with a DE to get the hallows of my neck and hair on my adams apple. I have a really pronounced adams apple which makes it a great feat to get a bbs around the AA. The parts I have been able to stretch and get flat are the parts I have been able to get my desired bbs. I am still learning on how to get all these parts, which has become quite the obstacle to stretch the skin far enough on my AA to a flat surface.

 

[Lmarkow]

I am still really new to straight razor shaving with probably under 10 shaves under my belt with a straight. This has become my hypothesis however. I use to go in toward my adams apple with a DE to get the hallows of my neck and hair on my adams apple. I have a really pronounced adams apple which makes it a great feat to get a bbs around the AA. The parts I have been able to stretch and get flat are the parts I have been able to get my desired bbs. I am still learning on how to get all these parts, which has become quite the obstacle to stretch the skin far enough on my AA to a flat surface.

I had a problem around my AA too, until I realized most of my razors had curved/hollowed heels. So if I stretch to the side and down, shaving with the heel, I'm good to go around my AA.

 

[SFGiants101214]

I had a problem around my AA too, until I realized most of my razors had curved/hollowed heels. So if I stretch to the side and down, shaving with the heel, I'm good to go around my AA.

I am going to have to try that. I read somewhere on here that swallowing and holding it makes the AA go almost completely away. Do you do that? It seems to help, but its hard for me to hold it.

 

[Lmarkow]

I am going to have to try that. I read somewhere on here that swallowing and holding it makes the AA go almost completely away. Do you do that? It seems to help, but its hard for me to hold it.

No. It leaves too much loose skin (e.g., edge toe-holds . . . . ).

 

[Tea-bott5000]

This is a great discussion. And, echoing what a few people have said, I imagine you get good enough at shaving (consistently excellent lather, angle, and pressure), that doing a three pass shave (N-S, E-W, S-N), will get all the hair by the end of it. I personally have believed in beard mapping...it helped A TON when I was learning how to have with a DE. However, the part that was most important for me to figure out, my neck (and specifically, the hollow on the lower right side), are impossible with a straight. The hair grows completely E-W, and the SW-NE in the real trouble spot...no matter how long I've tried to stand in front of the mirror and figure it out, there's no way for me to hold the razor to do a true WTG pass there.

Further, if I really follow the grains on my face it's just slow. I have to keep changing what I'm doing all over my face, which requires more switching of grips, cleaning lather off the blade, etc. I've kept at it like this mostly because I'm new to straight shaving (maybe 10-15 shaves?) and I accept being slow. However, I know if I want to get it done in a reasonable amount of time before heading to work, it would behoove me to just be comfortable going N-S then E-W or S-N and calling it a day. So, on my personal end, I watch those guys in the video and think it's almost unfair, they must have easy beard growth. Or they just say screw it and learned how to get comfortable shaves quickly, which I may aspire to. As with everything, YMMV, and all we can do is what's comfortable.