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April 2021 Gentlemanly Restraint Until Month End (GRUME)

A warning, gentlemen. I think there is a very dangerous thread in this forum, the one called "what did you unpack today". This is to be avoided. I have been reading or consulting the forum for years and i have had various urges and did purchases just by reading. But, i had done no purchases in the last 2 years. Since i registered to this forum, i have spent about €90 in new acquisitions, of things, that i didn't need. And one big culprit is the daily visit on the "what did you unpack today" thread. Because you think "hmm, maybe i should unpack something too!". :001_tongu But, i trust the latest acquisitions will be the last for a long, long time.
 
I think I want a Game Changer .68. That razor might put me out of the current GRUME and the Yearly. I have check their website and they do not have any. I am not sure I would pull the trigger and so far I am resisting, but that razor with that handle would likely put me out.
It really is a fantastic, well built razor at a very affordable price IMO. I am learning that I can get by with any number of my razors, the Game Changer, didn’t change my life or anything like that, it is a great well built razor however. I would recommend, attempting to trade for one before going out though. (Sorry I can’t help with a trade, as mine was a gift from my parents). On the other hand addressing the out of stock, maybe they won’t have them back with the handle you want till 2022! Lol I know I was on the email list for a while before I was notified for back in stock! Good luck with whatever you choose, hopefully that was somewhat helpful, and not too much of an enabling! 😬😬
 
It really is a fantastic, well built razor at a very affordable price IMO. I am learning that I can get by with any number of my razors, the Game Changer, didn’t change my life or anything like that, it is a great well built razor however. I would recommend, attempting to trade for one before going out though. (Sorry I can’t help with a trade, as mine was a gift from my parents). On the other hand addressing the out of stock, maybe they won’t have them back with the handle you want till 2022! Lol I know I was on the email list for a while before I was notified for back in stock! Good luck with whatever you choose, hopefully that was somewhat helpful, and not too much of an enabling! 😬😬
The GC .68 SB and Jaws are both excellent IMO. The .84 Jaws is very aggressive but I like it for a few days growth.

I like that the plates aren’t insanely expensive and their SS handles are well made, look great and are cheap. The 2 scratch and dent handles I bought a while back are excellent. And they were only $7 each!
 
A warning, gentlemen. I think there is a very dangerous thread in this forum, the one called "what did you unpack today". This is to be avoided. I have been reading or consulting the forum for years and i have had various urges and did purchases just by reading. But, i had done no purchases in the last 2 years. Since i registered to this forum, i have spent about €90 in new acquisitions, of things, that i didn't need. And one big culprit is the daily visit on the "what did you unpack today" thread. Because you think "hmm, maybe i should unpack something too!". :001_tongu But, i trust the latest acquisitions will be the last for a long, long time.
LOL been avoiding that thread like the plague!

Granted, this thread has had its moments for me as well. In a few prior pages there has been a lot of love for the Fatip razors. They have been on my list for quite a while. Brass, open comb, VERY good looking, great performers, Italian, and a good bang for the buck.

But ya know, how many more brass open comb razors do I need.
 

Owen Bawn

Garden party cupcake scented
The GC .68 SB and Jaws are both excellent IMO. The .84 Jaws is very aggressive but I like it for a few days growth.

I like that the plates aren’t insanely expensive and their SS handles are well made, look great and are cheap. The 2 scratch and dent handles I bought a while back are excellent. And they were only $7 each!
Now that he's washed out of the GRUME, Sharpie apparently wants to see how many of us he can take with him. My mother warned me about kids like him.
 
LOL been avoiding that thread like the plague!

Granted, this thread has had its moments for me as well. In a few prior pages there has been a lot of love for the Fatip razors. They have been on my list for quite a while. Brass, open comb, VERY good looking, great performers, Italian, and a good bang for the buck.

But ya know, how many more brass open comb razors do I need.

When it comes to FaTip, the easiest way to convince yourself not to buy one is to think "knowing my luck, I'll get one of the one's that has poor plating and poor blade alignment but manage to get through their Quality Control" :lol:
 
Hey lads...

I just put my name on the Wolfman waiting list. I didn’t actually buy anything, commit to actually buying anything or pay a cent deposit and the wait time is 7-8 months.

I would be shocked if this kicks me out of this GRUME but I should check.

I don’t want to be called a liar liar pants on fire in 8 months when I brag about my shiny new razor and one of you guys that is a good rememberer ask for documentation for GRUME auditing purposes.

My fate is in your hands. God help me...
Well, your post created a fair bit of hyperbolic discussion and debate.

After much consideration of this post in particular (and others as well)...
It is a tricky case, I agree. In a way, it is only SharpieB who should be litigating this, given the self-policing nature of the commitment here.

My own parsing of the ground rules says that a disqualification must consist of a commitment to purchase. Arranging services is a commitment to purchase. Getting on a waiting list for a possible future commitment to purchase is not. It is the decision to actually purchase that is the key go/no-go moment in my view.
...I agree that you're in. Except that...
I’m out then. 👍

I just bought a Canada Shaving Soap to actually really be out by actually really buying something.
...now you're out.

Also...
Burundian Hawk

View attachment 1252872


Dear sirs, they got me! Unfortunately, the Burundian Hawk was caught in crossfire in a vile ambush! :001_07: I succumbed to... a beautiful horse brush with a beautiful handle that seems like a Chubby made of horse, but much prettier handle ("eat your heart out, Chubby!" prettier)and i also got the last 3 Mogno soaps they had and 1 Lea puck and it is probable i will grab one last thing from Amazon... After all, if a man can't trust the Italian ambassador to the forum about a portoguese soap, who can you trust! And because like the Americans say "go big or go home". Correct? Well, for a Burundian, this is very big!

But! The Igi-siga will be back in May's grume! With my new beautiful horse brush and my Yaqis who are in the customs right now and should arrive before May!

But this was my last purchase (famous last words, i know)! But it will! I will do May-December GRUME and then GRUYERE!

I say, stay strong, to the gentlemen that continue the good fight! I will continue to watch this thread, as i consider this my club anyway and the partecipants as fellow team members! Bayete!
Thanks to the community for helping to work through a tricky moral and ethical question.

And when two brothers fall, it's time for...

Roll Call!

1) @FoolishMortal
2) @‘Bout Time
3) @B_R_A_D
4) @henrickd - GRUYERE
5) SharpieB - out (4/18: CSS soap)
6) @Doti B
7) @Stuart Ganis
8) @Chef455
9) Roedeer - out (4/12: Silver lather bowl)
10) @Cino
11) @Herrenberg
12) @CzechCzar
13) @Timeclo
14) @La Malice
15) @Contact_vs_Feedback - GRUYERE
16) @pdieten - GRUYERE
17) @hopper_64
18) Schnitzel52 - out (4/5: Zenith/IB brush)
19) Trollky - out (4/9: Merkur 34G)
20) Bravoure - out (4/9: Declaration Grooming soaps)
21) @Owen Bawn
22) @Abz88
23) @cryhavoc - GRUYERE
24) @Tomo
25) @Kyle89
26) @wmadoty - GRUYERE - AFFCC
27) @Heavy_Metal_Hound
28) @Jmp63 - GRUYERE
29) @Mike M
30) @sarir97
31) @nelsonic21
32) @bluesman 7
33) @4and20blackbirds
34) @FL shaver
35) Burundian Hawk - out (4/17: Brush and soaps)
 
When it comes to FaTip, the easiest way to convince yourself not to buy one is to think "knowing my luck, I'll get one of the one's that has poor plating and poor blade alignment but manage to get through their Quality Control" :lol:
Haha honestly the things I read about the blade alignment has prevented me from buying one in the past. I can't stand messing with blade alignment.
 

Mike M

...but this one IS cracked.
Still in
IMG_20210419_212306.jpg

Tonight's shave is a chance to use the soap I would most like to 3017, lathered with the Omega professional boar PIF'd to me by @Multum in parvo as it is a total monster when it comes to eating lather and the more of this soap I use in a single shave the better. For the shave I used the Parker 26C/Personna platinum combo, one of my favourite razors and my favourite blade.
OK the blade and razor performed really well, the soap on the other hand performed like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Batman and Robin, except at least you could laugh at Arnold. Every time I use it I wonder why, surely the water would be slicker on its own? Despite the abysmal soap, the razor and blade managed a DFS- with irritation which required an application of Nivea shave Balm. The sooner I 3017 this soap the better, although at current usage rates It will probably end up being passed down through several generations as a family heirloom.
 
Still in.

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I hesitate to tell the story of the Iwasaki kamisori in the picture, out of fear that I will not be believed, but here goes: it was a freebie. I know, I know, impossible, but it happened. I found an Iwasaki tamahagane kamisori on an auction site, quite used, but definitely with some life left, for a truly excellent price. When the box arrived, it also contained this Iwasaki swedish steel razor, also quite used but very usable, which the seller threw in as a bonus. I was stunned and grateful.

I had somewhat different feelings, though, about today's shave. Oh, it was plenty close, just short of a DFS, and the alum block gave it a clean bill of health, but the edge did not feel as comfortable and keen as it should have. So I went to the microscope, where I found that I had not started my honing with a low enough grit to get out some preexisting scratches that were producing a slightly ragged edge. So it's back to the stones for this one.

If you are not put off by the name, or the infernal Doom 3 style graphics, DG's Massacre of the Innocents is a fine, slick soap that can produce a nice thin lather for straight razor shaving if you get enough water into it. It has a fine scent, too, mild and full of nice low notes, very much not like the extreme thing you might expect from the name.
 
@Herrenberg , I'm really curious about that hunk-o-rock brush!

I might not be in the GRUME, had I not bought this brush. The expenditure gave me a twinge that has been absent from, say, purchases of razors. I mean, it's awfully nice. I like it a lot. But it sure was expensive. And it is just a brush.

It's actually a hunk-o-briar. That's the big reason I got it. I'm a sometime pipe smoker, and it just seemed like a natural, plus I love the look of briar. It feels great in the hand.

It's part of an offering of a whole bunch of one-off briar brushes, with a lot of variation of look and shape. If you want to escape this temptation, do not go to Fendrihan and search on the word "Marfin."

There is one caveat. The dye seems to be pretty much the same as what is used in pipes, which means that a new brush will dribble dye on your counter for a while. Mine has pretty much stopped doing that, and the dye did scrub off of my bathroom counter. It does underline, though that pipe briar was not exactly designed to be used wet.
 
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