2021ers?

[spacemonkey42]

Hey Spacemonkey!! I had to do the same with my WR2 1.15 OC. I switched from the 3 pass shave to a 2 pass shave. My first pass is N-S ( WTG cheeks and under the chin, XTG upper neck, ATG lower neck ). The second pass is a combo pass. E-W on the cheeks and jawline ( XTG cheeks and ATG jawline) S-N under the chin ( ATG ) and another N-S on my lower neck ( ATG/XTG ).

I am finding it makes for a close less irritating shave!

Hey @Balin! Thank you for sharing and I am glad that is working for you too. Good move to tweak/adjust to a different razor. Wow, a Wolfman, I haven't treated myself that much. I felt the Lambda was a bit extravagant. Also that kind of a gap scares me a bit.

I am glad I am still learning new things. I thought I had my pass-pattern down and I would keep that for all razors, but the Lambda disrupted that. That's a good thing. Also the fact that I start with an XTG shows how much I also trust the Lambda, there are very few razors I would do that with.

On a different topic, what is your avatar? Am I seeing others use it? Is there something going on at B&B?

 

[Balin]

Hey @Balin! Thank you for sharing and I am glad that is working for you too. Good move to tweak/adjust to a different razor. Wow, a Wolfman, I haven't treated myself that much. I felt the Lambda was a bit extravagant. Also that kind of a gap scares me a bit.

I am glad I am still learning new things. I thought I had my pass-pattern down and I would keep that for all razors, but the Lambda disrupted that. That's a good thing. Also the fact that I start with an XTG shows how much I also trust the Lambda, there are very few razors I would do that with.

On a different topic, what is your avatar? Am I seeing others use it? Is there something going on at B&B?

I joined the 2023 Purchasing Sabbatical. It is based on the 1967 TV show The Prisoner. The avatar is a copy of the name tags they wear on the show. The Lambda is a gorgeous razor, I would love to get one but not in 2023!! lol, wish me luck!

 

[spacemonkey42]

I know I said I wasn't going to fall into the rabbit hole of soaps and brushes. I have failed you all.

I have now learned that there is quite a difference in soaps. After I realized I was using far too little soap:water ratio, I also used some Stirling soap, and wow, it is really nice. I'm trying some of my other soaps with a higher ratio of soap and I think the Stirling might still be better. Plus the Arkadia scent is sooooo good.

Also on the lather front, I've been doing more face-lathering, or at least partially so. While trying to figure this out I thought my 24mm boar brush just couldn't hold enough soap for a 3-pass shave, so I threw a 28mm Razorock beehive synthetic brush into a shave supply order. On one hand, that is a massive brush, so big that I barely know what to do with it. On the other hand it easily holds three passes worth of lather in it.

Wow, there is a lot to this little hobby/obsession of ours, isn't there?

 

[T Bone]

I have now learned that there is quite a difference in soaps. After I realized I was using far too little soap:water ratio, I also used some Stirling soap, and wow, it is really nice. I'm trying some of my other soaps with a higher ratio of soap and I think the Stirling might still be better.

Great, now I'm starting to wonder if I'm doing it wrong. I think I load plenty of soap though, and enough water so it's thin but not runny, which seems to be the common wisdom around here. If it's too thick, the razor doesn't glide as well.

Also on the lather front, I've been doing more face-lathering, or at least partially so. While trying to figure this out I thought my 24mm boar brush just couldn't hold enough soap for a 3-pass shave, so I threw a 28mm Razorock beehive synthetic brush into a shave supply order. On one hand, that is a massive brush, so big that I barely know what to do with it. On the other hand it easily holds three passes worth of lather in it.

I've never had a problem getting 3 passes from a 24mm, usually with plenty left over for another pass or 2. Even my 19mm travel brush holds enough for at least 3 passes. But I've never used a boar, only synthetics, could that be the difference? Or, again, maybe I'm doing it wrong...

 

[T Bone]

Quick soap-related question for this group. I won some soap samples in a recent PIF from Animal Catcher and tried them all out. All perform well for me, but it turns out he and I have very different tastes in soap scents. (Seems that he likes tobacco and fruity scents; I hate tobacco, and fruity scents I find mostly just ok.) So I was going to offer most of them back up for another PIF since most have enough left for a few more shaves, but a couple of them only have 1-2 left in them. So my question is, is it worth including samples with only 1-2 shaves left? Is that amount enough for a normal person to get an idea if they like the soap? Neither of the samples that are low does much for me, but I don't want to send them out if the remaining quantity isn't useful. It's easy for me to tell if I like a soap after just 1-2 shaves since I'm mostly interested in scent, but I know a lot of folks evaluate the base more closely than I do. What say you?

 

[spacemonkey42]

I'm sure you're not doing it wrong at all. It is likely me. I have been focusing on slickness and not worrying about thickness. My current, limited experience has me thinking that Stirling tallow soaps can take much more water and they stay slick. My razorock soap uses a lot less water and a glycerine soap I had even less. I couldn't get the slickness I wanted with that glycerine soap, so I am using the rest of it up as body soap in the shower. However this does end up with a thicker lather than I had been using before, which works well with the heavier razors I have been using, but might not with the Henson. But the glide is much, much better.

@T Bone, someone would likely want them. Hey, I have an idea, would you want to do a PIF-exchange? I've got about a hundred of both RK and Voskhod blades, which I think you like a lot and they don't work for me. I'd be happy to send you either/both of them. I was going to offer them to you and if you didn't want them, then the blade exchange.

 

[Major Overkill]

I'm absolutely in. I qualify as a semi-newbie.

-Z

 

[T Bone]

Welcome, @azion1995! What's your current rabbit hole?

 

[Major Overkill]

Welcome, @azion1995! What's your current rabbit hole?

My major interest has always been the old stuff- primarily old Gillettes, for obvious reasons. I love the quality + thoughtfulness of the industrial design.

-Z

 

[Phoenixkh]

I still have a couple England Vintage Gillette razors: the England Flat Bottom Tech (Fat handle) and the England Rocket HD 500 (TTO with integrated handle). I don't care for the "Fat" handles all that much. I got a couple Stirling Stainless Steel handles recently. They are lighter weight than the normal SS handles I have around and a bit lighter than the Timeless Ti Crown handles, surprisingly enough. They aren't that expensive and I plan to try them on the EFBT eventually. I think they'll make a difference.

 

[spacemonkey42]

@Phoenixkh, it was your love of the Timeless crown handles that pushed me over the edge to buying. I didn't like the looks of them, but I now realize that functionally they are amazing. Every curve they have fits just right in the hand. I'm a form follows function kind of guy, so now that I know how well they function, I've grown to like the looks.

Another option for light stainless handles is the Razorock vintage thin handle.

 

[Phoenixkh]

I do thank this group for adopting me, since I joined in 2022 on March 1st. I seem to be out of the rabbit holes at the moment. It's a nice place to be. It did take me a while. As the group knows, scents just aren't my thing. I used unscented Canada Shaving Soap with almost all my shaves now, but I do have a few others that work well.. not quite as well, but I think that's me. Getting the lather right is so easy with the Canada Shaving Soap, I seem to gravitate to it instead of learning how to dial in the others.

Brushes and Razors.... I seem to have found a group of both that work for me. I'll be selling a few brushes on BST in a few days, when my 15 day waiting period is up. I don't have that many to sell. One or two synth brushes as my wife has started using some of those. A few boar brushes: SOC Taj and Butterscotch and maybe a couple others. I was going to sell my Elite Razor Bloody Basin Jasper badger but my wife encouraged me to give it another try and either I changed or it did... it was quite pleasurable to use the other day. It looks like I'll hang on to it for a while... maybe forever. I have 4 SV 2.0 brushes and I might let one of those go.... Probably a "used' one I got from @SgtCrppls : the Bog Oak handle with the silver pewter crown. It's a lovely brush but I don't really need 4 of them. Decisions, decisions......... ?????

 

[Major Overkill]

The thing that really pulled me into the collecting hobby is the fact that, in old safety razors, you have an example of antiques... that are both affordable and that you're supposed to use!

As has been said to me, the construction of the WWI-era Gillette Old Type razor is so good that, not only do I not need to worry about using it, but it's likely to literally outlive me. Ditto my New Type from the '30s, my pre-war and post-war Techs from the '40s, + my super speeds from the '40s-'70s. I mean, that's some damned impressive design work. And all made in the USA.

-Z

 

[spacemonkey42]

No only is this a hobby, it is a distraction for me. I find I use shaving to take my mind off of worse things, whatever they are. Do you do the same?

Here is a topic to distract... I appreciate light razors more and more. From the start I liked the feel of heavier razors in my hand. They felt so much higher quality. I have some heavy razors that I immediately liked shaving with - the Winning and the Supply SE are real porkers. They are also very safe and relatively efficient. Light razors, like the Henson, felt flimsy in comparison. But Hensons are so easy to use and so effective. Once I got my technique down, I could whip the +++ around my face with the lightest of touch and get an amazing shave. With heavier razors that are also aggressive, I have to focus on even offsetting the weight of the razor itself. Or is there another way to do that?

 

[Guido75]

I have been shaving with a standard pattern this past week, so N-S for WTG and W-E for XTG and S-N for ATG.

I have also limited my passes to 2.5 doing a full WTG and XTG, and then only ATG on the cheeks. For some reason (which I believe is technique related) this works pretty well for my beard map. I get smooth shaves, feel smooth (DFS+ to light BBS) and without any irritation or cuts and nicks (which usually occurs ATG on chin and moustache areas).

I got the idea from a Geofatboy series on daily shaves, and I have tried this in the past too but I think my technique was not yet up to par to get it as smooth as I do now.

Take me about 15 minutes from start to finish.

Guido

 

[Phoenixkh]

No only is this a hobby, it is a distraction for me. I find I use shaving to take my mind off of worse things, whatever they are. Do you do the same?

Here is a topic to distract... I appreciate light razors more and more. From the start I liked the feel of heavier razors in my hand. They felt so much higher quality. I have some heavy razors that I immediately liked shaving with - the Winning and the Supply SE are real porkers. They are also very safe and relatively efficient. Light razors, like the Henson, felt flimsy in comparison. But Hensons are so easy to use and so effective. Once I got my technique down, I could whip the +++ around my face with the lightest of touch and get an amazing shave. With heavier razors that are also aggressive, I have to focus on even offsetting the weight of the razor itself. Or is there another way to do that?

SpaceM,

The first DE I used in the current journey was the one given to me by our youngest son: the RR Lupo Aluminum. It felt like a toy in my hand, coming from a Gillette Fusion Power. And I got a horrible shave using it.

I immediately started exploring YouTube videos and various websites. As you know, I ended up buying a ESC Claymore Evolution and got great shaves with it from the first go. I did notice it felt quite heavy. After finding B&B and seeing the Timeless Ti Crown handle(s) @never-stop-learning used on so many of his razor heads. I ordered my first one. For me, it made a considerable difference. Taking off almost a US ounce from the handle weight made my shaves easier and for me, quite a bit more enjoyable. I do have several of my top soon to be 7 razors where I use the OEM handle for a few different reasons and they are heavier.

The razors where I switched out the OEM handles for the Ti Crown handles:

1. Blutt BR-1, both the .86 and the 1.20
2. ESC Claymore Evolution
3. ATT X1 AS Slant

The ones where I'm using the OEM handle:
1. Lambda Athena
2. Green Cult 2.0 Level 2
3. Rocnel Elite
4. The soon-to-be acquired Wolfman WR2 in Bronze with either the WRH2 hollow 90mm handle or the Darwin handle, both in basic polish Bronze.

To your first observation and subsequent question: Shaving has become a place of relaxation and solitude for me. I concentrate on the shave itself completely when the razor is at work.. but during the prep time and post prep time, my mind sort of contemplates my life, friends and family. It's become a sort of meditative time for me, for lack of a better term. Shaving has become a very pleasant and rewarding, instead of drudgery. In the end, I get a sense of satisfaction, usually for hours, afterwards. A net positive, that's for sure.

 

[Balin]

No only is this a hobby, it is a distraction for me. I find I use shaving to take my mind off of worse things, whatever they are. Do you do the same?

Lol, same!! I like to think of it as re-grounding myself. My shave is always preceded by a shower, so I get to wash off all of the negativity/stress then smell some nice soaps! Its a quick re-charge! I work from home so often I will shave before a meeting that will test my patience.

I have been shaving with a standard pattern this past week, so N-S for WTG and W-E for XTG and S-N for ATG.

I have also limited my passes to 2.5 doing a full WTG and XTG, and then only ATG on the cheeks. For some reason (which I believe is technique related) this works pretty well for my beard map. I get smooth shaves, feel smooth (DFS+ to light BBS) and without any irritation or cuts and nicks (which usually occurs ATG on chin and moustache areas).

I have been doing something very similar to that since September and love it. I am finding way less irritation and closer shaves!

To your first observation and subsequent question: Shaving has become a place of relaxation and solitude for me. I concentrate on the shave itself completely when the razor is at work.. but during the prep time and post prep time, my mind sort of contemplates my life, friends and family. It's become a sort of meditative time for me, for lack of a better term. Shaving has become a very pleasant and rewarding, instead of drudgery. In the end, I get a sense of satisfaction, usually for hours, afterwards. A net positive, that's for sure.

I find it relaxing and centering also, especially on the weekends. Today I have finished all of my household chores so its going to be 2:30pm shower and shave while listening to some Neil Young!!

 

[T Bone]

Maybe this should be its own thread, but I’m going to ask my classmates here first.

How long do you all trial a new razor for before deciding if it’s your new favorite, heavy rotation, back of the cabinet, or BST material (or whatever categories you might use)? I imagine the correct answer is simply “however long it takes”, but what have you found is typical?

I don’t want to go down the whole Razor Rabbit Hole, but I seem to be starting to poke my head in a little bit.

 

[spacemonkey42]

You're right, however long it takes is the correct answer.

For me, I am a daily shaver and I try to shave for two weeks straight with any new razor before making my full initial impression. It often takes four shaves before I get the hang of it, and sometimes more. It is normal for me to get a couple of weepers with the first few shaves on a new razor. Once they settle in to one to no weepers, then I feel like I can make a fair evaluation of it. That is just the first impression. I haven't BSTed anything yet, I will likely test it more before getting rid of it. For favorite, I'd need a lot more than that.

What are you thinking? Your evaluation of the + vs ++ was quite impressive, @T Bone!

 

[Guido75]

I usually shave with new razors for a week straight to get to know it. After the week it slips into rotation. I only have one cabinet so that’s easy and where my collection is at the moment I don’t BST razors as they are either gifted (and I believe you should keep gifted items unless otherwise stated) or they fit the general theme of my collection (which is DE razors in both OC and SB if available). Besides I only buy razors I have researched extensively first (most of the time too extensively!).

But a week consecutively is the minimum test drive period.

Guido