What's new

ASP - ATG SINGLE PASS

Thank you so much, JoWolf!

Exactly, I have to try it out to know which method is right for me.
I'm beginning to realize that shaving is much more profound than I originally thought.
For me, a hot shower is the best pre-shave so far.

I'm jealous that you have such a full life that your heart needs surgery!!
When you get out of the hospital, please tell us what kind of games overworked your heart with😁
 
Last edited:
To tell you the truth, my throat has never succeeded in pure BBS.
I got great inspiration from your “shave binky”
It made my skin stretch much easier😊

I'm enjoying finding a method that works for me🍻
 

Eben Stone

Staff member
I can't believe it's been almost two years since I participated in this thread. The last time I tried ASP was with the Ikon Tek. I got distracted with straights and the Blackland Dart. I really enjoy the shaves with the Dart, so much that I now have two of them, machined and polished. But the Dart isn't the best candidate for ASP. It looks like it has a rigid design, but doesn't.

Over the last two years I've been able to get my passes per shave down from 3 to 2. I know I have room for improvement, because I typically ignore my growth pattern and go mostly N-S then S-N.

Now I have a Yaqi Knight Helmet and Wolfman Guerrilla Aluminum .99 that I want to experiment with. I think both these razors are good candidates for ASP. I plan to use a Suneko blade with the Helmet and Feather with the Guerrilla.
 

Eben Stone

Staff member
Trying to Keep Up

My Original Post & Thread Starter - July 22 2020

I am completing my first year DE. My journey has led me to an open comb one pass ATG face and head shaver. I am pleased and fortunate to have found a shave that works for me. I get consistent, comfortable DFS+ shaves. I hope there are other One Pass shavers who would like to trade notes. Discussing, technique, products, and single pass shaving.

ASP ATG Single Pass
As they say; was all Greek to me before stumbling into the B&B Community.

In the next quarter I will be completing my third year. I started deconstructing my journey trying to figure out how I got here. Luxury Creams, Hard Milled Shave Soaps and a Plisson Silvertip were used for three decades so lathering was not a mystery. Sadly the only useful knowledge and skills from fifty plus years of shaving wrong. Better than a kick.

First Open Comb shave I had was devastating. In the impact it made with my shave. It felt like going from dark to light. The force was with me. I sold all my closed combs. The Game Changer .068OC was going to be my razor for life. Just to keep it honest and make sure that I had found the One. I bought two more open combs. To see if there were subtle differences and started a Journal with the three. Establishing a great traditional three pass shave while testing product and equipment started. There is no doubt about it, a lot of fun. Sorting out razors was the easiest task. The Grande outperformed both the Yaqi Mellon and GC .068OC across the board with little effort. They are both excellent razors. I wanted the One. Grande was now the foundation of my shave. Comfort was my target and goal. Taking my three pass shave to consistent comfortable BBS shaves was accomplished quicker than thought or anticipated.

It was at this point I started to try to keep up to the Grande. Completing comfortable three pass shaves lost excitement and challenge. The razor felt like it was at half speed on the autobahn. The two pass shave was a short lived acceleration into the one pass. The ATG Single Pass was basically me trying to keep up to the razor’s performance. I thought it would stop there. It didn’t. Campaigning Voskhods was the first to go. Than the blade. Three or four blades later. Single use Feather was the only blade that could stay with the Grande’s performance. The shave foundation was complete.

I did not wake up one morning thinking a one pass would be nice. A single pass did not occur to me or was thought of until I did a few two pass shaves. It was a natural steady progression of eliminating strokes from my shave. To me it was more a solution to a problem and condition. At the time my thought was fewer strokes would aid in my uncomfortable skin. Less razor to skin contact.

My second year was blessed with new equipment and skills. Western Straights, Kamisori, a set of honing stones, and a Japanese kitchen knife. My focus was splintered. Rabbit Holes can do that to you. My ATG Single Pass while improving. My skin was holding the shave back. Sensitive and dry skin were the issues. I failed to accept and deal with skin issues through most of my shaving life.

The shave gods must have been smiling. Long story short. With an improved pre shave routine the shaves started to feel held back. Or slow again. Switching my shave products to vegetable based products solved and cured skin issues. Saponificio Varesino’s product line has me covered and satisfied. Simplicity contributing to the shave. I always wanted and considered a fixed four. Wanting and being able to go the distance the four components would need to be high performers. Since two components were already bagged the last two. One being very easy, SV soaps. The brush was the heartbreaker. I needed a brush that could compromise between face and head and keep me thrilled.

Using an entry level barbershop shave soap for a year will elevate your lathering prowess. Brush comparisons and use are easier to select and sort out. I do not consider any of my brushes as under performers. I like a different brush and lather for face and head. The fixed brush must be able to bridge those compromises. So that’s what takes a long time silvertip user. To an extra large knot, medium-low loft, high density boar bristle brush. The most difficult selection of the four. I will miss my brushes. My new goal is to go at least one year with the fixed four. Comfort with efficiency was the order in every change to improve my shave.

In my experience all shave changes with comfort preceding efficiency had an increase in speed. All shave changes with efficiency ahead of comfort were mostly fail’s.

My last half dozen shaves have been at a higher comfort level. They have also increased in speed. The high performing soap with a high performing brush makes for a considerable shorter time in lathering. Changing two components to improve comfort has added speed to the shave. I honestly do not know if the last two speed enhancements will satisfy the lust for speed demanded by the Grande.

Chasing comfort and skin improvement led to minimizing shave strokes. An ATG Single Pass was the most efficient route. The shave continues to morph into more comfort, improved efficiency, and it gets quicker.

As the thread starter I wanted to bring the thread up to date with my progress. I know there are many gentlemen out there using Straights as well as Single Edge in there ATG Single Pass Shaves. I wanted to post the journey of how it came to be my shave. It started as a chase for comfort. It continues to be a chase for improvement in comfort.

If I had normal skin and never tried the Grande. A single pass shave may not have happened for me. My comment. There are shaves based on circumstances, product and equipment. I never had a plan. I do now. Staying the course. My new challenge. Increase skin comfort. It has only been in the last six months that I have enjoyed improvement in skin comfort between shaves. Most of that improvement due to pre and post shave routines. Technique refinement and comfort improvement continue to be sought out.
Re-reading through some of the old posts by @JoWolf is still enlightening. John, I'm amazed at the information density of your posts. You sir, are a gold mine of shaving wisdom.
 
Does that apply to SR or DE or both? If DE, I'm very curious to know what you do for maintenance.
My apologies @Eben Stone for not responding to a question. I had abandoned this thread because I stopped ATG Single Pass shaves as well as being overwhelmed with a journey into straight razor shaves. To answer your question I only used a loupe on straight razor edges. My maintenance was all over the place because being new to straights, I was exploring. Along the way I realized I would never be able to replicate BBS closeness with straights. I also found the maintenance to be overwhelming as well. The learning curve to be an excellent honer was also beyond my grasp. I enjoyed the experience and glad I purchased stones which I use for knives.

Fast forward to now. I have re-Cycled back into an ATG Single Pass face and head shaver again. Since I started this thread I am reviewing and revisiting it to bring it up to speed.
 
Thank you so much, JoWolf!

Exactly, I have to try it out to know which method is right for me.
I'm beginning to realize that shaving is much more profound than I originally thought.
For me, a hot shower is the best pre-shave so far.

I'm jealous that you have such a full life that your heart needs surgery!!
When you get out of the hospital, please tell us what kind of games overworked your heart with😁
Hereditary heart disease is in my family. For the most part I had always stayed active and exercised. Old age and poorer diet choices had inevitably caught up to me. My surgery had its complications and a longer than usual hospital stay was required. I am home now and working on my rehab recovery. I’ve been advised it is an eight month journey. I have excellent support and a rehab program to guide my along a new path.
 
Whew! I guess I’ve caught up on this thread that I had started and then abandoned for various changes and circumstances. I intend to keep it updated… My ongoing shave journey has recycled me back into ATG Single Pass shaves. I will begin this entry with my most recent shave and post from this year’s FFFMM.

FFFMM Sunday March 10/2024

Blade - Single Use Feather
Razor - Lupo OC95 driven with a Chiseled Face Pineapple Twist Titanium Handle
Brush - Zenith Boar B35-31x57mm
Soap - SV-Franken - Three combined soaps Felce Aromatica, Tundra Artica, Cosmo

IMG_0494.jpeg



My second weekly face and head shave for the month. It’s always fun and rewarding dialling in new equipment. Learned and perceived outcomes not always predictable. The Lupo’s efficiency has exceeded my expectations improving skin comfort and eliminating shave passes.

My weekly face and head whiskers are definitely different. They are shorter attesting to the improvement in efficiency and closeness. As I dial in the Lupo the main changes from my extended Grande use has turned out to be in gripping the handle. My head shave grips are different than the grips I use on the face shave. I choke down on the handle closer to the razors head. I’ve also increased my thumb and forefinger gentle skin stretch’s on the head skin. This in combination with the Lupo’s improved efficiency has eliminated a second head pass. I do miss the extra lathering. The closer shaves with higher efficiency a satisfactory trade off has improved skin comfort.

The brush performance and soap loads have been excellent. I will endeavour to replicate this performance once I finish my SV Franken mixture. Using the same blade and a different razor requires additional adjustments which are ongoing. Participating in the FFFMM always creates a different mindset in lmproving your shave outcomes.

Back in the saddle again. Both face and head shaves are ATG Single Pass shaves. Without getting into a debate as to what designates a pass. My definition of a pass is a complete skin rinse off and a re-lather. Albeit I do reach for the brush and double back on touch-ups in difficult or stubborn whorl areas. Some may like to describe this as a pass and a half or quarter. That’s okay with me but I will stick with my definition. No rinse no re-lather no pass.

The shaves were both up to my ultra close BBS standard. Next Sunday’s whiskers should confirm. If I may I’ve shaved some time off the shaves. Although this was not my goal or intent. Less strokes is less skin removal and increased skin comfort. I would like to comment on pre shave prep. My opinion. I don’t think there are any barbers out there who would consider doing your shave without pre shave skin prep. I believe if you scrimp or eliminate this important part of your shave you miss an opportunity for an optimal shave result.

Each use of the Lupo strengthens muscle memory and allows the many minute adjustments to be refined. I am enjoying my shaves more with improving results. New equipment is always exciting.

Happy Shaves
 
FFFMM Sunday March 17/2024

Blade - Single Use Feather
Razor - Lupo OC95 driven with a Chiseled Face Pineapple Twist Titanium Handle
Brush - Zenith Boar B35-31x57mm
Soap - SV-Franken - Three combined soaps Felce Aromatica, Tundra Artica, Cosmo

IMG_0494.jpeg



Third weekly face and head shave FFFMM. Last week’s ATG Single Pass face and head shave was successful with shorter regrowth in length. Confirmation of Lupo’s efficiency, the improvement I sought. Skin comfort improving with less shave strokes. Some shavers reach a plateau in comfort and efficiency with satisfaction happily maintaining that shave. I’m not in that camp. My mind always spinning assessing, re-evaluating shaves. Trying to tweak improvements, exploring limits of my shave kit. A fixed four eliminates extra complications. Months end will continue my minimalism embracing my Fixed Four Kit. Expanding comfort and efficiency.

I read on one of the posted threads here. “Use your shave soaps without restraint.” Advice I espouse. The well soaked boar hair brush squeezed to damp. Pouring bloom water over the dampened bristles and re-squeezing the bloom water into a dish for dipping. Loading the brush to capacity results in a thick yogurt consistency. The face lathering application is heaven. Dipping the bristle tips working the lather to my desired slickness my favourite part of the shave. Uncomplicated sublime comfort.

Today’s face and head shave ultra close and ultra comfortable. My skin has never felt better. The Lupo is a pleasure to use. Each shave continues to delight.

Happy Shaves
 
FFFMM Sunday March 24/2024

Blade - Single Use Feather
Razor - Lupo OC95 driven with a Chiseled Face Pineapple Twist Titanium Handle
Brush - Zenith Boar B35-31x57mm
Soap - SV-Franken - Three combined soaps Felce Aromatica, Tundra Artica, Cosmo

IMG_0494.jpeg



The fourth FFFMM. The four “F’s” definitely a charm. The fixed four is all about eliminating variables in your shave process. The tighter you lock in on variables. The easier it is to explore the individual limits of the assembled kit. The Lupo’s efficiency has increased each week. The second and third week I had reestablished an ASP (ATG Single Pass shave) for face and head. Last week’s concentration also focused on follow up buffing after the shave stroke. This week’s face and head whiskers are noticeably shorter. My weekly shaves have always been designed to incorporate fewer shave strokes with elevated skin comfort. Closing off my fifth year of DE I’m delighted that comfort improvements continue. A happy hobby with great dividends.

The Gentle Wolf
Every razor and blade combination requires repeated practice with muscle memory to achieve an ultra soft touch. Three years with the Grande had achieved that touch albeit, it took about two and half years to get there. The Lupo’s dozen or so shaves have brought me to the same threshold. The razors balance is better as is the maneuverability, from what the Grande could deliver. Something I had’nt done before. Incorporating buffing within my short shave strokes. I was not able to accomplish this stroke with the Grande. My ATG Single Pass Shave improved once again in closeness and skin comfort. An unexpected win-win. I believe the weekly shorter whisker growth is a major factor in using this combination stroke. Continued use with this locked four my only shave kit. Practice and refinement of the shave stroke will improve. The shaves are the closest I’ve achieved in over a half century of shaving. You might almost think the Wolf has no teeth, that would be a mistake though. Large blade gap and extension result in a very high efficiency. The Gentle Wolf with big teeth.

Happy Shaves
 
Top Bottom