Excellent report as always @PersistentlyBlunt !PIF party day 2.
Today was about continued experimentation and using, as best I could, the contents of the PIF from @Chef455.
I wanted to try the open comb today and while I had some stubble, after yesterday's BBS shave, I was not overly well endowed in face fur. Even so, I could not let this PIF weekend end without trying it.
I loaded the open comb Gillette Tech with my existing KCG blade. The blade had about 1 full shave already on it.
The other thing I have never tried is direct application of soap to face, so today I applied the ARKO! directly to my face and with the damp badger brush started to work.
The lather came easy and began to build. One thing I noticed was the badger brush was very soft while working the lather and felt like it was bottoming out (reaching the handle) if I pushed hard. Where a well lathered duckling may have resisted and given out a little quack, the badger brush yielded to pillowey softness all the way to the handle. This was not an issue for me as I don't work my face lather too hard generally but I guess this is what I read about with the backbone of the brush. I am guessing this brush has little backbone, just soft badger all the way down. The brush had more than enough brush to make a nice lather and with the small addition of water from the tips was back to a slick shaving surface again.
The open comb felt nice on the face, a little harder to feel initially where the blade was compared to my safety bar Gillette Tech, but once I had the alignment it was smooth shaving. The blade went well with a bit of blade noise but all smooth cutting.
I was not sure how aggressive the open comb razor would be but it was smooth and after the first pass, no nicks, so I decided I would do a three pass shave today, first two with the open comb and a final with the Rockwell, just because it is a nice razor and I wanted to use it again before the weekend ended. The brush already had enough lather in it for the three passes and possibly a fourth so we were good to go.
Second pass was XTG across the whole face and third pass was all ATG all over with the Rockwell on plate 2. Rockwell against the grain on plate 2 is a lovely experience, smooth and safe, I even went ATG on top lip (couldn't get right under nose) which is something I have rarely done until yesterday and today with the mild plated Rockwell.
Final wash up was smooth and Alum feedback was considerable across the face but with no nicks, weepers or burn.
Final result was mostly BBS with a couple of DFS+ spots. Another lovely shave.
Most of the places I have read about open comb has been where people are looking to shave through multiple days of growth or beard, allowing the comb to do its thing in the longer hair. So I am not sure that I used the open comb to its maximum advantage but it was a lovely shave none the less.
The more I use the Gillette Techs, my own and now the open comb, the more I am impressed at how this mass produced razor is so simple and effective. Although I am now also loving the bigger heavier and far more substantial Rockwell and the adjustment it gives.
The final question is what will I carry forward and what will I go back to. I am not leaving the badger brush, that is continuing with me now. I now have a new level of slickness that I will try to get my Tabac soap up to. If not I may have to switch to Arko! but the Tabac has been good to me and I will give another few chances. For a fair blade test I will go back to the KCG razor as well, I find it perfectly acceptable however, I am looking forward to the end of the balde test when I can start testing blades in different razors now more than ever. I also know that for special events I can fire up the Rockwell and get a safe smooth BBS using the range of adjustment it provides.
Thank you @Chef455, without you none of this would have been possible. I am truly thankful for your generosity and you have elevated my shaving experience and knowledge no end in this short time. Thanks.
Happy shaving all.
Just a small clarification. There is technically no open combed Tech. They were the first mass produced Gillette 3 piece solid bar razor
I think what you have there as your first OC example is a late version Gillette Old. It looks to be an example of
this.
These are often found in the wild detached from their original sets, and are still pleasantly available if you are lucky enough to be in the US.
If I have the wrong model ID, please chime in.
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