BradWorld's Shave Journal

[BradWorld]

For Tuesday 3/14 I used my original Wolf, the 1.15 SB in stainless with a WRH3 100mm handle. I really got it right the first time! It took me 5 Wolfmans to figure that out though! But really, this one is perfect. I still really love all the other ones. Even the ones that I moved on to new homes. But this original 1.15 is the shiz. Not the most efficient. But it is the best all-around shaver in my den. By a wide margin. So slick and smooth. It rides like a Cadillac.

Regarding my choice of soap and aftershave, I cant say it any better than I did in today's SOTD thread, so I will just quote that here.

Go participate in the Sticks and Samples SOTD thread! I am hosting this week! And of course... stay smooth!

Sticks and Samples Week!​

As I was looking through my shave sticks for something to use for today's SOTD, I pulled something out from the dark depths of my soap storage. A PAA ClubGuy shave stick. Man, I forgot about this one! I purchased this many years ago from one of the online retailers to fill up the free shipping threshold. It was my first exposure to a PAA Crown King soap base. What a revelation that was! This one measly $5 purchase led to years of diving deep into PAA soaps and hardware. The performance on this stuff is super good! Now, mind you, this is not some random shave stick container that I stuffed some tub soap into! It came from PAA this way! Back in the day, PAA used to sell their CK soaps in shave sticks for travel. The bonus is that when you are done with your PAA soap, you can shove a stick of Arko right in there! Recycle and Reuse! Like all the CK base soaps, this one is super slick, and has a great post shave feel. This is from way before CK-6, but the original CK formula still stands up today. And that is why Douglas still offers the original CK formula and the CK-6 formula. I wish B&M would still offer some of their older bases to compliment Omnibus. And that smell of Clubman powder is just what you would think it is. A great all around soap with a fabulous scent!

Of course I needed to finish this shave with a self-made personal sample of actual Clubman aftershave! I often will syphon off a little aftershave sample for my frequent travels. I use these little hot sauce dasher bottles from amazon, and they work really well.

For the hardware, I used my venerable Wolfman WR2 in 1.15 with a light blue box Platinum (4). And a Paladin Cleo in Briar.

This shave was top notch!

 

[BradWorld]

Here is my Sticks and Samples SOTD. Quoted from my SOTD thread.

When faced with the decision between doing a St Pats shave, or a Sticks and Samples shave, I had to pick the latter because, well, this is my thread. And of course I had to use some Arko before the week was done!

Furthermore, I started with my WR2 and a vintage gold box Polsilver Stainless on its 5th shave. I got too much tugging on the first pass. So instead of changing blades, I just grabbed my trusty Ti Bird with a Platinum to finish the job. The shave turned out super smooth and close. No negativity towards the first razor or the blade. But it was time to retire that Polsilver, and I was too lazy to change the blade.

Of course, Arko. Lathered with the venerable Rudy Contribs 22 STF. Finished it off with a little left over sample from one of Captain’s Choice’s aftershave test batches. Overall an A+ shave!

 

[BradWorld]

Top notch shave today! Grabbed my Charcoal Goods Gen 1 Level 2 Stinger. Man, what a magnificent razor! It has been one of my top tier for many years, and I dont see it ever falling out of favor. The CG stuff, especially the Gen 1 stuff, has a certain raw beastly power that makes the shave so enjoyable. These are not as precision or smooth as a Wolfman. But the the Gen 1 shave has a wonderful feel all its own. This is why we have so many razors! They are all great! And they are all different!

Also top notch was the vintage NOS Polsilver "Gold Tuck" Stainless blade. This is not an "Iridium" or "Super Iridium" blade. Just a plain old Polsilver Stainless made by Wizamet in Poland. I just love these things. So sharp and smooth. There is a new Challenge PIF from @Grundi and @Space_Cadet that will pit these blades against whatever is your favorite blade in your den. If you have not tried these blades, get over to the blades forum and sign up. You will thank me later.

Again, top of the heap.... B&M Passiflora. Just the best of the best. Its almost as good as 42. Maybe. But that is a super high bar.

Finally the Paladin Briar brush. If you know, you know. If you dont, head over to the Paladin website and find out. I have been a firm believer for many years that you dont need to spend over a C-note to get a really great brush. Well, I still believe that! Once you pass that $100 threshold with brushes, the laws of diminishing returns applies. And it applies hard! But its these little incremental enhancements and improvements that make a lot of us hobbyists, and not just utilitarian shavers. It is why we are here!

It doesnt get much better than today's shave. Seriously. The lather. The shave. The aftershave products. Terrific! Stay smooth!

 

[BradWorld]

Ridiculously amazing shave today! As some of you know, I had been looking for a great blade for my newest Wolf... the WR2 OC 1.15 in Bronze with the Scalloped cap. That in itself has become a journey. I had found some "good" blades for that razor. But nothing great. I knew I could do better!

A couple of weeks ago, I started diving into my collection of vintage Polsilver and Wizamet blades for that Bronze OC. After a couple of no-go blades, I tried one of these Polsilver Stainless blades in the Gold tuck. I believe these blades are from the 1980's. So these blades are 40 some odd years old now.

These are one of two Polsilver blades that do not say Iridium or Super Iridium that I have found. The other is the dark brown box Polsilver Stainless blades from the early 90's just before the Gillette buy-out, which are hugely smooth blades, but lack sharpness. Great for super aggressive razors like the CG Level 3 (gen 1 or 2), R41, etc. But it was also a no-go on the Bronze OC WR2.

Now these Gold tuck Polsilver Stainless blades are nothing short of excellent in that Bronze OC. And as such, I have been trying them out in a bunch of other high end razors, with equally impressive results. I thought I had tried this blade in my original Stainless WR2 1.15 SB. But a quick perusal of the ole journal here proved otherwise. So today I popped one in my old trusty 1.15 SB. I used this very blade in my Charcoal Goods Level 2 (gen 1) stinger the other day, and it was excellent. So i popped it out of the stinger and into the Wolf.

This shave was amazing! It was as good as it gets for me. Full bore BBS. Zero red stuff leaking. Zero irritation. 100% smooth and pleasurable shaving! Was it the blade? Was it the razor? Was it the Omnibus Gothique Fougere, which I consider an A+ soap, even when compared to some other Omnibus varieties? I think it was all of that stuff working together. But the blade certainly had a huge part in this. Its a winner. Good thing I have accumulated almost two hundred of these blades!

Another thing I deliberately put to the test today was the Paladin Butterscotch Beehive Badger. It has been said by most serious Omnibus users that lathering Omnibus with a badger is problematic to some degree, and using a synth was far superior. I have witnessed this myself. Thin lather. Not enough to complete 3 passes. Etc. But this one badge brush is the anomaly. It lathers Omnibus like a synth. It has since day one. So in the last few weeks, i have been cycling through my other badger brushes and using them with Omnibus. Then I went back to the Beehive today. Results have varied widely. But one thing is clear. This is the only badger brush I have that lathers Omnibus like a synth. Gobs and gobs of gooey thick lather. Its wonderful. I get the huge lathers of Omnibus, with the supreme luxury of a Paladin badger. The best!

Also the best is the aftershave today. The Holy Black's Vampire Hunter set is just awesome. I usually use this aftershave and edt with their matching soap. But this is also a perfect match for the Gothique soap. Leviathan too! Anything that needs a hit of dusty, earthy, smokey aftershave... this is the ticket. And the post-shave feel of this splash it amazing too. It feels like moist clay on the skin. I dont know how they do it. I love THB.

Anyways, as I mentioned, ridiculously great shave today! Stay smooth!

 

[mark tidwell]

My first shave for this Journal was a beauty! Super smooth and super close. This one put a real smile on my face.

Razor: Wolfman WR2 1.55
Blade: Gillette Light Blue Platinum (3)
Brush: Simpson Duke 3
Soap & Splash: B&M Nordost

The Wolfman 1.55 is a beast of a razor. It has about as much blade feel as I can tolerate. But yet it is super smooth. It does the best job on the swirling flat-growing challenging spots on my neck and jaw line. But that comes with a small price. I tend to get a small weeper or two. Not much drama. No lasting irritation or skin damage. But some day I will get past that as well. Its a great razor with A+ results for me.

The Light Blue Platinum is new for me. This is my first one ever. I have three shaves on it now, and initial impressions are that it is as good as any blade I have ever used. Looking forward to getting a lot more shaving in with this blade. I bought 100 of them!

The Duke 3 is a rare player in my SOTD. Ever since buying my first Paladin, I have not been happy using any other badger brush. But everyone needs a classic Simpson brush, so i kept this one. I have not used it in a couple of years. But since this is Simpson week on the SOTD thread, I took it out for Monday's shave. I was really surprised at how well it performed! So I gave it another cameo appearance today. Excellent brush.

And to top it off, the Nordost Omnibus is as good as it gets. I love the Omnibus base. Its a real game changer. And I love everything ORANGE. So its a win-win for me! I will be rubbing and smelling my face all day!

Happy holidays to those that celebrate! And stay smooth!

View attachment 1481834

Thanks, Brad. Enjoyed the read.

 

[mark tidwell]

For the past week or so, I have been traveling with two razors that typically don't leave the den. The Wolfman WR2 1.15, and the Ti Bird. Why? Because I wanted to force myself to use these two razors exclusively for a few shaves, and determine if the Ti Bird was really a razor worthy of hanging with the biggest of the big dogs.

I was very resistant to buying a Ti Bird. I already had owned two non-Ti Birds. I could not believe for one second that the same razor in a different metal was that much better than its siblings.

There is a lot of jaw flapping about how the Ti Bird is so much better than Blackbirds of other metals. And there are a lot of shavers that consider the Ti Bird the pinnical of performance for a DE razor. I was determined to find out if this rang true for me as well.

The WR2 1.15 is the king of my den. It is not even remotely the most efficient razor i have. But it is comfortable, ridiculously smooth, and provides an effortless and excellent shave. I have razors that provide better results. I have other Wolfman Razors that provide better results. But for pure shaving enjoyment, the 1.15 is the king. And of course it is a thing of beauty to behold. Just look at the photo below. Gorgeous.

I had a great shave on Sunday with the Ti Bird. Top tier. BBS. Super long lasting too. My face was still mostly smooth well into Monday. That shave was comfortable and fun. I really enjoyed it. The shave results were clearly far better than my Wolf shave this morning. They really were.

I've had the Ti Bird for a month now. And I've given It a lot of the action. I really wanted to give it a fair shake. And these are the results. My personal opinions. Take them with as much salt as you require.

1) The Ti Bird is better than the Stainless and Brass Birds. It is. No doubt about it.

2) The Ti Bird shave better than the Wolfman WR2 1.15. There... I said it.

3) The Ti Bird shaves as good or better than my two most effective razors. The Tradere OC and the WR2 1.55. Refer to @never-stop-learning 's definition of effective.

4) The Ti Bird shaves as good or better than any Charcoal Goods razor I've tried. And I've tried 90% of them. There. I said that too. It does.

5) Most importantly... it doesn't matter... because the Ti Bird fails to check a lot of my boxes.

6) The Ti Bird is much too light weight. I love a big clunky razor. I love a heavy razor. I receive so much enjoyment from that ridiculous looking Tradere OC. It's the biggest, most clunky razor I own. It is a pure joy to shave with it. Same with Brass Charcoal Goods, stainless Wolf's, Timeless, and more. Big and heavy. It's what I like. The Ti Bird needs to eat more carbs. Bulk up. Obviously just kidding. It's the nimble factor that makes the Ti Bird perform.

7) The Ti Bird handle is way too short for me. I like long and heavy handles. As far as I know, there is no long handle in Ti. I might be mistaken. But I've not seen one.

8) The Ti Bird is not a pretty razor. It's not a work of art. It is very utilitarian in its design. I like razors with a much more artistic visual design. Wolfman, Charcoal Goods, Timeless. And especially the Ti Bird's sibling, the magnificent Blackland Tradere OC. Next to those razors the Ti Bird looks meh. And its small and dinky in comparison as well.

In summary, we all like what we like. The Ti Bird provides amazing shaves. If that's all I were after, then it would immediately knock every other big dog razor from my den. But for me, that's not all it's about. It's about the art, the enjoyment, the nostalgia, and that morning moment of Zen.

The Ti Bird has earned a place in my top rotation. It will assume the role of the whisker killer. The utility player. When I want a quick and super close shave, the Ti Bird will be called into action. When I want a super enjoyable morning experience, the Ti Bird will warm the bench.

Here is today's Wolfman SOTD...

View attachment 1564121

Wonderful writing. Thoroughly enjoyed reading. Thank you, Sir.

 

[BradWorld]

Wonderful writing. Thoroughly enjoyed reading. Thank you, Sir.

I’m just happy someone is reading my posts! Glad you are enjoying it. Happy shaving!

 

[flask28]

I really enjoy your posts - and your travel posts have been a mobile wetshaving master class!!

 

[BradWorld]

Today was my first shot at The Hammer. Pearl's latest razor. This thing is a bit of a beast. Nice heavy weight. Positive blade exposure. Great feedback. Very efficient. Yet it is quite smooth and pleasant to use. The first shave was quite good.

Since day one with the Flexi, I have stated that I love the razor, but wish it went to setting 8 or 9, instead of stopping at 6. Well this razor is there. Yet it was still super smooth. Has the general shaving feel of the Flexi too. Pearl did a good job on this razor.

I don't really care for the handle. I don't like the looks of it. Also, the shape doesn't feel great in the hand. Not much grip either. But it is nicely weighted and balanced. The finish of the razor overall is excellent.

I used the SB plate by the way. This thing comes with an OC plate too. Also it's packed in a very nice box that puts the Wolfman packaging to shame. Really. Includes a pack of blades and a polishing cloth. For $44 this is a well made cnc brass razor, with a high tech finish and a great shave.

Another first today was Valley of Ashes by Southern Witchcrafts. SW is one of only 3 soaps that can hang with the B&M stuff for me. And this one is no exception. Nice thick and gooey lather. Awesome scent. Great post shave feel.

Today I picked up the Wolf Whiskers synth. Haven't used this one in a while. Figured I better get it up to the plate before my new Wald A1 gets here. This is a custom one-off brush. It's a pleasure to use.

I wasn't going to use The Holy Black Vampire Hunter splash and EDT again. But after shaving with the Valley of Ashes soap, this was the perfect match.

Awesome shave overall. I can see the Hammer taking over as my main travel razor. We will see how it goes.

 

[luv2shave]

Can you comment on the shave angle ? I find it works better leaning more towards ridingt the guard rather than the cap.

 

[BradWorld]

Can you comment on the shave angle ? I find it works better leaning more towards ridingt the guard rather than the cap.

Sure. I always go steep. I ride the guard big time. If a razor won’t shave great steep, it’s usually not a razor for me. So the Hammer is good to go!

 

[luv2shave]

Sure. I always go steep. I ride the guard big time. If a razor won’t shave great steep, it’s usually not a razor for me. So the Hammer is good to go!

But ofcourse. i should have framed my question better for a steep angle shaver !

 

[BradWorld]

Had a nice shave with the new Pearl Hammer. I will quote my thoughts from the Hammer thread.

The software today was the B&M Four Horsemen "Death" and "War". Death soap and balm. War aftershave. This is a great combination. The death is a little plain. And the war is a bit pungent. But when you add the war splash to the death soap and balm, it becomes a really nice combo. Well, this is only if you like the smell of diesel oil and burning bodies. Which I kind of do.

The Gold tuck vintage Polsilver Stainless felt like it was starting to lose its edge a bit today. Not a bad thing. This one has a few shaves on it already. And it has been tossed around between a few razors, which doesnt do the blade any favors. But the shave results were excellent. i will probably bin this one and start a fresh one next week to officially start the Blade Challenge that is happening with these blades. Overall, this blade is a contender for the top rotation. But I dont think this variety will last nearly as long as the Pre-1982 Wizamet Super Iridium. Those can go as many as 20 shaves. Anyways, I will be pitting these two vintage Wizzies against each other in that Blade Challenge.... as well as against the modern light blue 'new box' Platinum.

Here are my razor thoughts from the Hammer thread:

Another Hammer shave this morning. Used a vintage Polsilver Stainless in the gold tuck. This blade had a lot of shaves on it. But it still shaved a lot closer than the new Platinum I used on the last shave.

I also changed out the handle to this one in the photo that matches the razor perfectly. It is the exact same length as the original handle. It is either very close to the same weight, or maybe a smidge heavier, which is a good thing in my book. Probably stainless instead of brass. But the finish is an exact match to the Hammer razor head! I do not remember where I got this handle. It has been sitting in my spare handle pile for a few years. This may be the handle from the original Kickstarter Rockwell S6 razor that sliced up everyone that tried it. It was so bad, Rockwell had to send everyone new razors for free. Anyways, I am not really sure where this handle came from. But, it has improved my enjoyment of this razor tremendously. It looks better, and it feels better in the hand. So I am going to keep it with this one. Not going back to the Taj Mahal handle. LOL.

Shave results were super close. Strong DFS+. No issues at all. We will see in 24 hours how much stubbles grow back, and compare to the Platinum shave from the other day.

So far this razor is a great one. It is not sending that Flexi to the BST just yet. We will have to see how things shake out. Some more Hammer shaves will be coming up in a week or two.

Overall a great shave. Stay smooth!

 

[BradWorld]

Travel shave today. Down in FL at my moms. I flew with carry-on only, as this is a short trip. So my shaving options are limited…

Or are they? I stash a bunch of non-TSA friendly items here! Yeah I know. Razors, blades, aftershaves, cigar cutters, cigar torches, guitars, etc. This way, whenever I travel down to FL, I know I always have a nice stash of goodies here.

Todays shave features a pretty little pre-war Tech in nickel, with a thin common bar handle. A really nice example of an original finish, 80 plus year old razor. It shaves as a Tech should. With three full days of growth, there was a bit of tug-tug on pass one WTG. But it is what it is. A Tech. The blade was a SuperMax Diamond Edge. Not the best blade either, but adequate.

The shave stick came from my travel kit. King of Shaves out of the UK. Muhle STF 23 mm from my travel kit as well. Aftershave is Aqua Velva I stash in a guitar case.

Todays shave was a solid CCS. Not bad. Not great. But fun and enjoyable.

 

[BradWorld]

Awesome shave today. 1967 M-4 Slim on 9. If you have a Slim, you have to try it on 9. It's sublime. And wickedly efficient. If you have any question whether or not your perception of "no pressure" is correct, this will show you the truth. If you run the Slim super steep on 9, and apply no pressure, you will be greatly rewarded.

B&M Passiflora is as good as it gets for me. I don't care if a soap smells great, and makes a beautiful looking lather. If it does not provide an amazing and protective shave, none of that other stuff matters. Omnibus is really the best of the best for me. And several varieties of Omnibus stand out as better performers for some reason. This is one of them!

This brush is super special too. I commissioned a matching pair of brushes from master brush maker Leo Frilot to honor my son's eagle scout 3 years ago. Red, white, blue with a vintage BSA coin in the base. Timberwolf 26mm knots. Awesome. Tons of backbone. Leo is amazing. Up there with Rudy for sure!

 

[BradWorld]

Todays shave was written up in detail in the Vintage Polsilver challenge thread. Here it is:

This shave is for all you #9 naysayers. . Cranking the SLIM up to 9 again today.

Today’s shave was for the challenger. The new light blue box Platinum (1). When this blade first came into my life, it quickly took over the top modern blade spot from the Perma Sharp. Still love the Perma Sharp, and it works better in some razors. But the Plats are better for me overall, and last much longer.

Everything else is the same, except I subbed out the Passiflora soap for Gothique. Even though I experienced performance differences between lots of Omnibus soaps, these two perform exactly the same for me. They are top performers.

This was a super surprising shave. My last shave was with the Vintage Polsilver Stainless (1). And there were no issues, no red stuff, and great results.

This shave features the Platinum.

Pass 1 WTG was amazingly smooth. It was shaving effortlessly and there was no blade feel or tugging. And the face felt relatively well shaved after this first pass too. This was surprise number one. It was looking like this was going to be an awesome shave!

Pass 2 XTG started to introduce some roughness. I could feel the minor irritation starting to materialize. And at the end of this pass, I has one small weeper on my neck. Surprise number two.

Pass 3 ATG was more of the same. Minor irritation. And at the end I had a total of four small weeper on my neck.

The end results were good. On par with the results from the Polsilver Stainless with the same kit. But with the exception of the first pass, the Polsilver shave was way more enjoyable.

The Platinum has proven to not fit well with every razor. And that may be the case here. Maybe it’s just not a great match for the cranked up SLIM.

These two blades will be moved into a Tradere OC for the next set of shaves.

View attachment 1631776

 

[thombrogan]

Please heal soon

 

[BradWorld]

Once again my shave has been guided by the Vintage Polsiver Stainless Blade Challenge. This is an event where the participants pit the 80's Polsilver Stainess against their favorite top tier blade. Since I have many favorite blades, which vary from razor to razor, I chose two. First, the light blue box Platinum as the modern challenger. And second, the pre-1982 Wizamet Iridium Super as the vintage challenger. Right now I am working on the Polsilver vs the Platinum.

Keep in mind that this vintage Polsilver is the mid-tier Stainless model in the gold tuck, not the Polsilver Iridium Super. So it is not the sharpest blade. But for me it is sharp enough. Sharper than the next generation's Brown Box Polsilver Stainless from the early 90s. But this one is ridiculously smooth, and shaves very well in the right razor. For me, the right razor is an aggressive and highly efficient razor. It doesn't shave well in the wrong razor.

For full disclosure, I have been hording vintage Polsilver and Wizamet blades for years. I got a batch of these same blades a while back, and have been using them sporadically since. So I declined the generous offer of the PIF blades and supplied my own. Better to leave the PIF blades for someone else.

The first set of shaves were with a Slim cranked to 9. The vintage Polsilver excelled. Super smooth and close shave. The Platinum was rough and caused weepers. For me the Slim on 9 is quite aggressive.

So for this shave, I went with a razor that I do not consider aggressive at all. But it is one of the most efficient and effective razors I have ever used. The Tradere OC. I am not sure how it does it. It is crazy smooth. And it has blade feel, but there is never any inclination that this razor is rough, or is capable of producing a nick or cut. It just shaves like a hot knife through butter. And the results are typically A+ for me. So I was curious how this razor would do with the mid-sharp Polsilver versus a super sharp Platinum.

The vintage Polsilver Stainess (2) did great! I found it smooth and comfortable in the Tradere OC. This was a rush shave. As I had an early appointment this morning. So no taking my time today. No touch ups. Just three fast passes. The results were great. Close. Zero weepers. Zero irritation. A little bit of sting with the splash. Overall a great shave. If I were able to take my time, I know I could have gotten it closer. But this is the way it goes when we have things to do.

Next shave will be Friday with the Platinum in this same Tradere OC. If I recall correctly, I think the Plat does great in this razor. We will see.

I have decided to keep the soaps for this challenge completely in the B&M Omnibus family. The soaps provide the maximum protection and sickness whenever I use them. And they are all nearly the same level of awesomeness. So to keep things fair, I will use all Omnibus and just change up the flavors. I have plenty.

Today was a good day for 42. My favorite soap for many years. The scent is just the best. And it's Omnibus, so the performance is top notch. Soap, balm and splash.

The brush was my custom Leo Frilot Timberwolf.

Overall a super great shave for a rush job.

I will note that the amount of stubble this morning, two days after my Slim/Platinum shave, was noticeably more than it was two days after my Slim/Polsilver shave. And so far, the vintage Polsilver Stainess is beating the Platinum overall. But that may change as I switch up razors.

 

[Jay21]

I'm new around here, but I've enjoyed reading your journal. Good stuff!

 

[BradWorld]

I'm new around here, but I've enjoyed reading your journal. Good stuff!

Thank you! And welcome to the forum!