2021ers?

[Balin]

I hit my 1 year anniversary wet shaving at the end of July! Its been a fun ride, and it looks like we are in great company!

To keep my acquisition disorders in check I have been GRUMEing along and may even attempt next years sabbatical. There are pics in the August GRUME thread that show my current shave den. GRUME

I did get a Wolfman Razor this year and wish I got it sooner because I would have saved a ton of money on my other razors. Well live and learn and hopefully I can either BST or PIF some of my gear that needs more attention than I give it.

 

[T Bone]

I hit my 1 year anniversary wet shaving at the end of July! Its been a fun ride, and it looks like we are in great company!

Congratulations!

To keep my acquisition disorders in check I have been GRUMEing along and may even attempt next years sabbatical. There are pics in the August GRUME thread that show my current shave den. GRUME

That's quite a collection!
https://www.badgerandblade.com/foru...nt-until-month-end-grume.627510/post-11882142

I did get a Wolfman Razor this year and wish I got it sooner because I would have saved a ton of money on my other razors. Well live and learn and hopefully I can either BST or PIF some of my gear that needs more attention than I give it.

Maybe, but without having tried some of the others, you wouldn't know how good the Wolfman is in comparison.

So Wolfman and Tabac are favorites. What about a favorite brush, and top blades?

 

[Balin]

Congratulations!


That's quite a collection!
August 2022 Gentlemanly Restraint Until Month End (GRUME) - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/august-2022-gentlemanly-restraint-until-month-end-grume.627510/post-11882142

Maybe, but without having tried some of the others, you wouldn't know how good the Wolfman is in comparison.

So Wolfman and Tabac are favorites. What about a favorite brush, and top blades?

I do like my 2 band badgers. Simpsons Duke 3 2 band is my favourite, but it could be a bit bigger. A close runner up would be my Thater 4670/4. I think Thater brushes deserve more love than they get here. For blades, my top 2 right now are Wizamet Super Iridium and the Gillette Rubie. Blades to me are like wine, I cannot tell the subtle differences! I am more a beer guy so I can say most Gillettes work fine! lol

 

[Curly Straight]

LOL T Bone. I decided to dip my toe into Vintage Gillette DE razors.

Don't worry... I'm still a fan of my Claymore Evo. I'm taking it with me to Bali in a couple weeks. We'll be there for a month... dental work with some vacation too, if I'm feeling well enough.

The only thing I don't like about DE shaving at this point is blade selection. I'm a complete novice and have been relying on a few others here.

Phoenixkh,

Don’t let go of your Evo! It’s keeping you from falling down the DE razor rabbit hole!!!!! Ask me how I know….

Curly Out of Money

 

[Phoenixkh]

Phoenixkh,

Don’t let go of your Evo! It’s keeping you from falling down the DE razor rabbit hole!!!!! Ask me how I know….

Curly Out of Money

Curly,

Thanks for the warning.

 

[spacemonkey42]

I'm late to the party, but wanted to join in! I seem to hang out in the same threads as @T Bone and many of you, good to see you again. Here is a bit of my story, following @T Bone's format.

Searching my purchase history I realized I first dipped my toe into DE shaving a decade ago. That didn't last too long, then I did another dip 6 years ago. This time I jumped in whole hog, committed to only DE/SE shaving, and getting RAD big time.

I'm making up for decades of time and now trying all kinds of razors. My technique has gotten better, plenty of room for improvement, but I can pick up a different razor and usually come out OK. I've experimented with more razors than blades, knowing that is the opposite of what some advise, but it is what I wanted to do. I still have razors I haven't even tried yet! That is a little frustrating, but I also realized that shaving for a couple/few weeks with a given razor lets you tune it in and gives you a much better sense of it than just a couple days.

 

[T Bone]

Welcome to the club, @spacemonkey42! It seems like you and I have similar goals, looking for a high-quality shave without being too challenging, and making up for lost time trying to find what will get us there. Maybe going about it a bit different if you're doing a lot of experimenting with razors. I'm pretty much down to the Henson medium or aggressive, but still looking for my ideal blade. I guess I figure blades are somewhat cheaper than razors.

 

[T Bone]

14 months in and I finally had my first 3-peat: 3 shaves in a row (DFS or better) with no blood. Henson AL13 medium + Treet Black Beauty .

That is all.

 

[spacemonkey42]

Congrats on the 3-peat, @T Bone!

I have a question for y'all that I don't know how to ask in a different forum... How do I know when I should be shaving more steeply? Normally I tend to ride the cap a bit, as it seems a bit more cautious and safe. But if one takes that to a theoretical extreme it wouldn't matter if the razor had a 0.4mm blade gap or a 1.0mm blade gap if you were completely riding the cap. So when should I go steeper?

I'm not that interested in aggressive razors, I prefer drama-free shaves, hence liking the Henson and others. I assume that everyone starts like we did, with frequent nicks. But then some find their way to very aggressive razors and also stop nicking themselves. It isn't like their skin gets tougher, it is surely technique, but what about technique lets someone shave steeply with a hyper-aggressive razor?

Anyone have thoughts on this, or should I ask in a general forum?

 

[Phoenixkh]

I didn't know what I generally do was "shaving steep". I've always started with the razor handle parallel to my face... lifted the handle until I can feel the blade engage and go from there.

It turns out, many do what you do, I think. I'm assuming you start with the handle basically straight up in the air, 90 degrees from your face.. and lower the razor until you feel it engage.

I think I get the best shaves for me the way I do it. But I'm using razors on the mild to medium efficiency range.

 

[spacemonkey42]

I can answer my question in one case - the Razorock BBS. Because it bends the blade so far, one is supposed to shave more steeply with it. Razorock even says to shave at 35 degrees instead of 45. I was riding the cap and that is too shallow for that particular razor. I still got decent shaves, but it wasn't as comfortable and I got more of a tingle with alcohol than I do with most of my other razors. I have to try another round with the BBS and use it at a steeper angle.

For most of my favorite razors - Henson, Winning, Supply SE, Era level 2 & 3, there is really only one angle at which they cut. I just haven't experimented enough yet with razors that do have a range of angles and if I did, I kept them shallow.

 

[T Bone]

Congrats on the 3-peat, @T Bone!

Thanks!

I have a question for y'all that I don't know how to ask in a different forum... How do I know when I should be shaving more steeply? Normally I tend to ride the cap a bit, as it seems a bit more cautious and safe. But if one takes that to a theoretical extreme it wouldn't matter if the razor had a 0.4mm blade gap or a 1.0mm blade gap if you were completely riding the cap. So when should I go steeper?

I'm not that interested in aggressive razors, I prefer drama-free shaves, hence liking the Henson and others. I assume that everyone starts like we did, with frequent nicks. But then some find their way to very aggressive razors and also stop nicking themselves. It isn't like their skin gets tougher, it is surely technique, but what about technique lets someone shave steeply with a hyper-aggressive razor?

Anyone have thoughts on this, or should I ask in a general forum?

That’s a good question… I’ll need to Google a diagram tomorrow, but if I’m picturing the geometry right in my head (admittedly a big “if”), shaving shallow should be most efficient, coming closest to cutting right along the skin. But I know there are many who swear by steep angles, so there must be something to that.

Might be a good question for the general forum.

 

[spacemonkey42]

Exactly, that is why I have to this point focused on going shallow, riding the cap, to have the blade cut near the skin and not scrape along the top of the skin. Somewhat like an injector, in theory.

But in the extreme, that would mean the blade gap would not matter, as it is just the blade edge gliding along the surface of one's skin. Others say that certain razors need shallow or steep. I just want to understand.

 

[Phoenixkh]

Exactly, that is why I have to this point focused on going shallow, riding the cap, to have the blade cut near the skin and not scrape along the top of the skin. Somewhat like an injector, in theory.

But in the extreme, that would mean the blade gap would not matter, as it is just the blade edge gliding along the surface of one's skin. Others say that certain razors need shallow or steep. I just want to understand.

My two cents, for what it's worth. I try to let the razor tell me what angle it likes. I do start with the handle parallel with my face, as I stated earlier. As I lift the handle, I can feel the blade engage. I then adjust the angle up from there. I know a razor is an inanimate object, but if you listen to the blade cut the whiskers, the sound changes as you raise and lower the handle. Add to that, you can feel it on your face.

Some people start with the cap sitting on their face and lower the handle from there. And has been mentioned, that strategy is sometimes referred to as riding the cap. There are some razors that work much better at a shallow angle or I should say, the razor designer suggests a shallower angle for the best results. Shane at Blackland says his Blackbird is intended to be used at those shallower angles.

As is usual, there is no one correct angle for that works for every razor. Personal preference also plays a large part. Either way... if you start shallow or steep, I think the razor will communicate with us if we listen to the "feedback--(the sounds the razor makes as it cuts) and pay attention to face feel as well.

 

[T Bone]

Dangnabbit! I broke the streak!

I put an Astra SP (possibly my least favorite blade in the Henson) into my Lupo 58 (only used 10-15 times and not recently) and got about ∞ weepers.

No, I wasn't getting cocky, this was preplanned. I was already going to give my Lupo a few shaves over the next week or so, trying to decide if I want to keep it or not. And I often read how sometimes revisiting blades you didn't like awhile later and/or in different razors can end up with much different results, so this seemed a logical time to retry ASP. Nope! ASP is just a truly wretched blade, anyone who says otherwise is wrong!

 

[Phoenixkh]

Dangnabbit! I broke the streak!

I put an Astra SP (possibly my least favorite blade in the Henson) into my Lupo 58 (only used 10-15 times and not recently) and got about ∞ weepers.

No, I wasn't getting cocky, this was preplanned. I was already going to give my Lupo a few shaves over the next week or so, trying to decide if I want to keep it or not. And I often read how sometimes revisiting blades you didn't like awhile later and/or in different razors can end up with much different results, so this seemed a logical time to retry ASP. Nope! ASP is just a truly wretched blade, anyone who says otherwise is wrong!

My very first shave when I started this journey was with a Lupo DE Aluminum with a Astra SP green... both gifted by our youngest son. It was the worst shave I've had since I borrowed my mom's Schick Injector when I was a teen... I borrowed her Gillette TTO after that, no idea which model, and liked it treated me much better.

I still have 99 Astra SP greens since he bought me 100 of them. LOL. I haven't tried them since. I've learned a bit since then and might give them another chance in one of my newly acquired DE razors... or perhaps not.

 

[T Bone]

I still have 99 Astra SP greens since he bought me 100 of them. LOL. I haven't tried them since. I've learned a bit since then and might give them another chance in one of my newly acquired DE razors... or perhaps not.

Can’t hurt to try. Owwwwww!!! I mean, yes it can!!!

I’m still going to try another shave or 2, pay special attention to absolute zero pressure - the Lupo is a lot heavier than the Henson, that probably didn’t help here. And I still have 5 more ASPs, even if it’s still a bloodbath, I’m sure one will find its way back into my razor again. It just might be a few more months. Or years.

 

[spacemonkey42]

I too am not a fan of the Astra SP blades, they are too dull for me and end up causing nicks/weepers by tugging at hairs. I think I'll be throwing my SPs in a PIF or sale when I make one. Many like them, but not me, and I guess not you either. Finally, a blade we agree on, @T Bone! I have some Astra Stainless Steel, but haven't given them a try yet.

 

[Balin]

Congrats on the 3-peat, @T Bone!

I have a question for y'all that I don't know how to ask in a different forum... How do I know when I should be shaving more steeply? Normally I tend to ride the cap a bit, as it seems a bit more cautious and safe. But if one takes that to a theoretical extreme it wouldn't matter if the razor had a 0.4mm blade gap or a 1.0mm blade gap if you were completely riding the cap. So when should I go steeper?

This is a good question. I have thought about it for my last 2 shaves. My steepness changes depending on the part I am shaving.
I have been shaving with 2 passes lately and I find my first pass, N-S I am shallow on my cheeks and jawline and steep on my neck. My second pass is XTG on my cheek jawline, which I also shave riding the cap. My second pass on my neck is NNW to SSE and I am steeper. Second pass under my chin is ATG and shallow, riding the cap.

This seems to get me a DFS+ with little or no Alum/Aftershave feedback.

 

[T Bone]

Same combo today, @spacemonkey42 (Lupo 58 + Astra SP), slightly better shave. The main thing I did different: I rode the cap. I didn't pay much attention to shave angle last time, so it's not like I was riding the bar, I was just probably somewhere in the range. Today I pretty much just rode the cap the whole time as best I could.

I still got a good dozen weepers between my mustache and my neck, so I'm not going to apologize to ASPs, but that's better than on Tuesday.