Damn Comfortable Shave

[never-stop-learning]

Thank you, David.


View attachment 1351467


I'm sure you've seen this post as the ATT fellow was responding to your inquiry.



He doesn't totally answer the question, but his answer lets me know it's going to be trial and error. Unlike you, I don't have every available (at one time but not now) component, so I'll just do the best I can do.

There are other glowing reviews of the CM1 but which cap they used isn't always clear.

This gentleman says the Windsor Pro aluminum (which I suppose means the aluminum SB90) has a cap which is 1.7 mm whereas the SS SB90 is 1.5 mm. (I think that's what he's saying.)

To my way of thinking Above the Tie does a lousy job of marketing their products in that it's very hard with all their offerings to figure things out. Whether that hurts sales with other customers is beyond my pay grade, but it hurts sales with me.

Generally though they have very good gear in my limited experience.

From what I've read, they plan to greatly expand their Windsor Pro line to include OC, slants, etc.

Like some others I'm not wild about their made-in-China policy but I understand it.

Happy shaves,

Jim

At one point I saw, somewhere on the ATT site, the Windsor Pro cap listed as 1.5mm of "blade exposure" (according to @Cal that should be "blade reveal") - which tracks with the posts referenced above and also with what I feel in use.

The Aluminum is still a bit of a mystery to me. I'm taking today for my Vector (still my favorite razor) but then plan to spend more time with the Aluminum Windsor Pro plus CH1, CR1 and CM1 plates.

 

[Cal]

I was going by what ATT states on their website:

Introducing the Windsor Pro

The Windsor Pro is Above the Tie’s third line of razors. It is the culmination of everything we have learned from the creation of the Windsor and the Classic. We have listened to your recommendations and comments, and put that feedback directly into the Windsor Pro. In our opinion, the Windsor...

www.abovethetie.com

If they got it wrong and blade reveal is the correct term, so be it.

Shucks.

I give B&B's Wiki the honor of being the Webster's Dictionary of shaving. But descriptive terms in shaving tend to be a bit of a minefield (think badger hair descriptions for example). Then of course there's doublespeak and all the latest forms of Newspeak to contend with.

Perhaps you could make them an offer to proofread and correct their sales material?

Nah. People just love to stick their own labels on things. Standardizing would appear to be a thing of the past, in our new dystopian world. Winston Smith and his colleagues get busier by the minute.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Sunday's shave was good.

Because of Doug @Rosseforp's excellent advice I decided to try for the first time my Gamechanger 84 OC.

Good advice, Doug. I enjoyed using the razor. My shave was easy enough and fast enough and both smooth enough and efficient enough. Enough with enough. It was all good.

I wouldn't say it's as smooth as I remember the 68 being but it's certainly acceptably smooth and my memory is not of a real recent shave so who knows.

Flipped Wizamet SI blade, going strong. Cube & Tube.

The photo on the left is the vendor's. I'd take a better photo were I the vendor. Maybe his is better than mine, but I think not.

In any case, I like the splash a lot.

The rest of today's kit, too. Thanks, Doug.

Today's shave was better than yesterday's shave with the Windsor Pro SS SB90, and yesterday's shave wasn't bad at all. Today's was definitely closer, and perhaps with less work. Not that today's was WR2 1.35 close you understand.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

In my view, Cal@Cal and David @never-stop-learning are right.

It should be blade reveal on the ATT website. Image 2 mm of blade exposure!

Perhaps you, Cal, could make them an offer to proofread and correct their sales material?

God knows they could use the help, David. Their website and marketing material are a mess. Extremely confusing. Cal would get them sorted.

If he couldn't Winston @WinstonSmith is available.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Cal]

The photo on the left is the vendor's. I'd take a better photo were I the vendor. Maybe his is better than mine, but I think not.

There's more in his though.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

There's more in his though.

I have another one at the office so not to worry.

PAA makes some really nice splashes. Of course, they make about 673 splashes and I've tried only a few, but I like the ones I've tried.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I haven't subjected myself to their sales blurb, as I understand their offerings are of a complexity and cost beyond my tastes and needs. As such my next questions may be naive, or even idiotic.

Is it that their website is confusing for everybody, or just that people on this forum use different terminology? Can someone free of the "conditioning" from Badger and Blade, make sense of what is being offered? If so, is (as I have suspected before) attempting to unify nomenclature here, just creating our own barriers to those who phrase things differently?

I say this, as I've never been entirely comfortable with the intermittent trends here to get folks to adopt "approved" terminology. I like the freedom to describe things as I see fit, rather than being tied to prescribed terminology, and personally prefer others to do the same. It's all too easy to blame others of using the "wrong" terms, in we become too acclimatised to our own groupspeak, and cannot see beyond that, to understand others who phrase things dufferently.

If their sales blurb is confusing no matter who reads It, that's one thing. It's altogether a different issue, if we are only confused because we have become so confined to our own self-imposed limitations of vocabulary.

 

[thombrogan]

Al, I take their website‘s to mean:

M = mild. For daily shavers with average whiskers or people with finer whiskers that might shave in a more intermittent manner.
R = regular. For daily shavers with coarse or people with average whiskers that might shave in a more intermittent manner.
H = Barbed-wire whisker werewolves or people that shave rarely

They have an aluminum Windsor Pro SB90 in their “ugly” inventory for $16.20 plus shipping, handling, and Cal-proofing. Supplies are actually more limited than your interest in a safety razor you don’t already own.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

I haven't subjected myself to their sales blurb, as I understand their offerings are of a complexity and cost beyond my tastes and needs. As such my next questions may be naive, or even idiotic.

Is it that their website is confusing for everybody, or just that people on this forum use different terminology? Can someone free of the "conditioning" from Badger and Blade, make sense of what is being offered? If so, is (as I have suspected before) attempting to unify nomenclature here, just creating our own barriers to those who phrase things differently?

I say this, as I've never been entirely comfortable with the intermittent trends here to get folks to adopt "approved" terminology. I like the freedom to describe things as I see fit, rather than being tied to prescribed terminology, and personally prefer others to do the same. It's all too easy to blame others of using the "wrong" terms, in we become too acclimatised to our own groupspeak, and cannot see beyond that, to understand others who phrase things dufferently.

If their sales blurb is confusing no matter who reads It, that's one thing. It's altogether a different issue, if we are only confused because we have become so confined to our own self-imposed limitations of vocabulary.

Okay.

I like the freedom to describe things as I see fit, rather than being tied to prescribed terminology, and personally prefer others to do the same.

Me, too, Al, as long as the writer make sense and the reader is given clues as to meaning.

I'd say their website is confusing (and I'm not talking about terminology), but maybe it's just me. I'm frequently confused.

Who is Winston Smith?

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[never-stop-learning]

I say this, as I've never been entirely comfortable with the intermittent trends here to get folks to adopt "approved" terminology. I like the freedom to describe things as I see fit, rather than being tied to prescribed terminology, and personally prefer others to do the same. It's all too easy to blame others of using the "wrong" terms, in we become too acclimatised to our own groupspeak, and cannot see beyond that, to understand

We are of the same mind on this point.

I'm gravitating toward the "Anti-Pedantic" philosophy.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Al, I take their website‘s to mean:

M = mild. For daily shavers with average whiskers or people with finer whiskers that might shave in a more intermittent manner.
R = regular. For daily shavers with coarse or people with average whiskers that might shave in a more intermittent manner.
H = Barbed-wire whisker werewolves or people that shave rarely

They have an aluminum Windsor Pro SB90 in their “ugly” inventory for $16.20 plus shipping, handling, and Cal-proofing. Supplies are actually more limited than your interest in a safety razor you don’t already own.

I've not read their website, Thom. Hence my questions. I genuinely have no idea how they describe stuff, and whether it's just very different to here, or only makes sense if you work for the company.

I was somewhat confused by the last two sentences.

I'd say their website is confusing (and I'm not talking about terminology), but maybe it's just me. I'm frequently confused.

Who is Winston Smith?

Yeah, I sometimes (too often) find myself having missed some understanding, that most others seem to have grasped. I think you've answered the question though, but I don't think I can answer yours...

 

[thombrogan]

Who is Winston Smith?

Protagonist of a book report that disappeared down the memory hole?

I was somewhat confused by the last two sentences.

They had a factory second of one of the razors being discussed for $16.20usd, but I assume shipping to Sheffield would be prohibitive and that the low price wouldn’t entice you to make a purchase.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Happened upon a nice looking and said to be in excellent condition Blackland Dart on the BST.

I don't know if I'll like the handle of course. It might be too skinny or too long. As far as I can tell, and I'm not remotely sure about it, the Dart does not require a handle with a narrow 8 mm neck (as does the Blackbird).

I'll figure it out when the gear arrives of course.

I usually blame everything on Cal @Cal, but today I'm blaming everything on David @never-stop-learning. Including but not limited to this.

RAD is a terrible disorder. Fortunately I have no active brush and soap acquisition issues.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[never-stop-learning]

Happened upon a nice looking and said to be in excellent condition Blackland Dart on the BST.

I don't know if I'll like the handle of course. It might be too skinny or too long. As far as I can tell, and I'm not remotely sure about it, the Dart does not require a handle with a narrow 8 mm neck (as does the Blackbird).

I'll figure it out when the gear arrives of course.

I usually blame everything on Cal @Cal, but today I'm blaming everything on David @never-stop-learning. Including but not limited to this.

RAD is a terrible disorder. Fortunately I have no active brush and soap acquisition issues.

Happy shaves,

Jim

Always happy to enable a fellow RAD Traveller.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

They had a factory second of one of the razors being discussed for $16.20usd, but I assume shipping to Sheffield would be prohibitive and that the low price wouldn’t entice you to make a purchase.

Ahhh... OK.

Yeah, trying new razors seems to just result in varying degrees of disappointment for me I've pretty much given up on that.

 

[Rosseforp]

Sunday's shave was good.


View attachment 1351483


Because of Doug @Rosseforp's excellent advice I decided to try for the first time my Gamechanger 84 OC.

Good advice, Doug. I enjoyed using the razor. My shave was easy enough and fast enough and both smooth enough and efficient enough. Enough with enough. It was all good.

I wouldn't say it's as smooth as I remember the 68 being but it's certainly acceptably smooth and my memory is not of a real recent shave so who knows.

Flipped Wizamet SI blade, going strong. Cube & Tube.

View attachment 1351485

View attachment 1351493

The photo on the left is the vendor's. I'd take a better photo were I the vendor. Maybe his is better than mine, but I think not.

In any case, I like the splash a lot.

The rest of today's kit, too. Thanks, Doug.

Today's shave was better than yesterday's shave with the Windsor Pro SS SB90, and yesterday's shave wasn't bad at all. Today's was definitely closer, and perhaps with less work. Not that today's was WR2 1.35 close you understand.

Happy shaves,

Jim

My GC84OC has always given me a nice easy shave too, and I have it all ready for my next shave. I'm not going to say it is my favorite razor, but it is certainly one of my favorite OC razors, and I am a big OC fan.

Man I need a shave

doug

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

My GC84OC has always given me a nice easy shave too, and I have it all ready for my next shave. I'm not going to say it is my favorite razor, but it is certainly one of my favorite OC razors, and I am a big OC fan.

Man I need a shave

doug

I hope you've gotten one by now and it was to your liking.

I've put my G84OC on an especially light weight handle. Going from one extreme to the other, in preparation for its next outing.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Monday's shave was very good indeed.

The razor of choice today was my new Wolfman WR2 1.35. I think this is its third outing.

It was loaded with a now discarded, flipped Wizamet SI blade. I believe it was maybe a tad tuggy, but it still shaved effectively.





So far I'm quite pleased with this razor. It is possible it's a bit too much for every day shaving. It's also possible there's a learning curve and my shaves with it will become lighter in touch and pressure. There is a bit of blade feel, but it's certainly not objectionable other than perhaps ATG under my nose. It's not objectionable at all on my chin or soul patch. (And that is a big deal.)

It's also possible I'm on the initial learning curve as per the above graph.

I don't want to wax eloquent on the 1.35, but I like it so far.


Giving credit where credit is due...

Since I began with the Cube my shaves have improved a great deal. (Dramatically!) It seems obvious to me this is great stuff. I use the Cube in the shower to wash my face and the Tube at the sink as a preshave. (To keep my fingers from being too slick.) Both forms have exactly the same product.​

I plan to revisit some of my better razors - Timeless Slim and such - to see if they've improved since I last used them.

The first time I used the Cube was 22 June 2021. I knew right away I liked it. Now I like it even better. A variety of razors have crossed my skin since June. Some have seemed better to me than others, but has my technique improved?

Sometimes it seems all my shaves are great now. Yes, some are better than others, but none are out of the boundaries of a great shave (loosely defined of course). There are a few razors I'm not going to try any time soon. (The Yuma comes to mind.) Others such as the Timeless 95 and Slim are worth revisiting.

This is a good one!​

Happy shaves to you,

Jim

 

[Raven Koenes]

Monday's shave was very good indeed.


View attachment 1351978


The razor of choice today was my new Wolfman WR2 1.35. I think this is its third outing.

It was loaded with a now discarded, flipped Wizamet SI blade. I believe it was maybe a tad tuggy, but it still shaved effectively.





So far I'm quite pleased with this razor. It is possible it's a bit too much for every day shaving. It's also possible there's a learning curve and my shaves with it will become lighter in touch and pressure. There is a bit of blade feel, but it's certainly not objectionable other than perhaps ATG under my nose. It's not objectionable at all on my chin or soul patch. (And that is a big deal.)

It's also possible I'm on the initial learning curve as per the above graph.

I don't want to wax eloquent on the 1.35, but I like it so far.


Giving credit where credit is due...

Since I began with the Cube my shaves have improved a great deal. (Dramatically!) It seems obvious to me this is great stuff. I use the Cube in the shower to wash my face and the Tube at the sink as a preshave. (To keep my fingers from being too slick.) Both forms have exactly the same product.​

View attachment 1351986

I plan to revisit some of my better razors - Timeless Slim and such - to see if they've improved since I last used them.

The first time I used the Cube was 22 June 2021. I knew right away I liked it. Now I like it even better. A variety of razors have crossed my skin since June. Some have seemed better to me than others, but has my technique improved?

Sometimes it seems all my shaves are great now. Yes, some are better than others, but none are out of the boundaries of a great shave (loosely defined of course). There are a few razors I'm not going to try any time soon. (The Yuma comes to mind.) Others such as the Timeless 95 and Slim are worth revisiting.

View attachment 1352016

This is a good one!​

Happy shaves to you,

Jim

I love the learning curve graph. I always fall victims to "this thing is the best."

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

I love the learning curve graph. I always fall victims to "this thing is the best."

Got my attention, too, Rave. Same thing.