Dirk-Lerxst-Pratt's straight shave journal

[Dirk-Lerxst-Pratt]

Today is benchmark #1 and it was a raging success. My major concern was the horrific damage that I would do to myself and it was completely unfounded. I had the styptic pencil locked and loaded but it stayed in it's container.

Based on what I've read here I went with a slightly watery lather of MWF on the Rooney 3/1. I rarely use pre-shave stuff but decided to break out the bottle of Castle Forbes pre-shave for the heck of it. The hard part was the dexterity of holding my straight. I soon realized that if I wanted to shave my sideburns that the point had to be towards my ear. Kept the angle low at first but that didn't seem very efficient. Had a hard time remembering to stretch my skin. Did the whole face, one pass WTG, and not one cut with good beard reduction. Finished with the DE and an Astra SP. All in all a very cool experience. I really think that the 6 months of DE shaving under my belt made a big difference in understanding where I could push the straight in terms of angle without any butchery. I would be very hesitant to go from cartridges to straights.

I'll be back on Sunday. Thanks for all the good info fellas. Couldn't have done it without you.

 

[Gissy]

Sounds like you're off to a great start! Have fun with it!

 

[Dirk-Lerxst-Pratt]

Shave #2. Before I showered I broke out the strop and oiled it up. Practiced with a dull cheese knife that I use for dishing out creams. Managed to strop the straight without dinging it or myself. Tried to stay very cogniscent of pressure and technique. Passed the HHT. Thank God my wife has hair because I'm staying bald until I hit the grave. Lathered up with Mike's Natural Soap and did two WTG passes. Felt a bit more comfortable with using my offhand to provide traction on my skin. Tried very hard to keep the spine tight to my face and open up my angle when I needed too. No cuts with nice reduction. Second pass was much smoother than first. Didn't strop when done. Covered it in petroleum jelly when dry.

Things I'm discovering.
1) You definitely need to be deliberate in your stroke. You can't pussyfoot it like you can a DE razor and expect to cut anything.
2) There's a fine line between good control and the razor wanting to roll out from under my thumb. Need to refine my technique on that one. Almost bit me.
3) Angles on my neck are a challenge. I'm kind of skinny and angular. I really need to keep an eye on the point as it wants to bury itself in my external jugular when I'm halfway between the trachea and sternocleidomastoid muscle.

Finished up with the SS and Astra SP. No razor burn. I declare it a success.

 

[Dirk-Lerxst-Pratt]

Shave 3. Today it bit back a bit. Stropped it up and it was a questionable HHT. Decided to run with it anyway. Probably a victim of my noob stropping. Two passes WTG and no problems. Feeling saucy I went ATG up my neck. That was an error. No cuts to speak of but I now feel real warm below the jawline. Tried to go ATG on my chin and I couldn't move the razor for fear of hemorrhage. Dropped back and punted with the DE. Witch Hazel and Nivea SS ASB.

 

[Dirk-Lerxst-Pratt]

Shave #4, blood on the floor.

Well my whipped dog would not pass the HHT. I just purchased a coticule (I can stop anytime I want) so I decided to touch it up with a bunch of water only passes, then stropped. Have to say it really didn't do a whole lot of anything for my HHT, however it shaved much smoother than last time. Had no issues until I got under my nose. Got too steep and gave myself a small gash under the bridge of my nose. Being anticoagulated has it's downside and this is it. Looked like I lost the fight. Managed two full WTG passes and one ATG up my neck. No razor burn. Very happy about that. I'm going to continue to lurk in the honing forum and watch all the pertinent videos. Honing is definitely a skill I'd like to acquire. I also have some lapping film and a second old razor, so I may have a go and trying to put an edge on that Saturday. Have to say this is a whole lot of fun. The results leave a lot to be desired so far but I definitely feel like I'm moving forward in my technique, even for just beginning.

 

[Dirk-Lerxst-Pratt]

Shave #5 in my diary to myself

Did a whole face shave with no DE involvement. DFS. Did manage to give myself a few small nicks on my chin WTG, which was suprising to me considering past results thus far. ATG was more than acceptable. Gave myself a decent razor burn on the left side of my trachea. Seems to be fading with ASB. Did this all with a razor that I snagged at the antique shop and managed to sharpen to HHT 3 on lapping film. Tried a feeble attempt at dilucot with my coticule before going to the films. Dilucot left me with squadoosh for an edge, however my mojo is zero.

Can't get over how smooth my upper face and sideburns are. DE quality shave there. I'll keep monkeying with the stone and films in search of "it". Don't care if it takes weeks or months to get it. This is very cool.

 

[Dirk-Lerxst-Pratt]

#6

Two really smooth WTG passes and one semi-sketchy ATG. Then I quit while I was ahead. Cleaned up with DE. The flow of it all is starting to feel a little more natural. Shaving with my dominant hand is intuitive. I'm able to use the rounded point to get in to some of those more angular places of my neck that had been bothering me. Shaving the off side of my face with my dominant hand over my head to provide traction is still very much a work in progress.

What amazed me most about today was how I'm able to fly around with my DE. It's almost cartridge like. I would have never thought that possible back 6 months ago when I made the big switch. Hope to come closer to that feeling with the straight eventually.

 

[Raithskar]

It keeps getting better. Sounds like you are off to a great start! A lot of us use coticules here, myself included, feel free to PM or ask any questions.

 

[Dirk-Lerxst-Pratt]

Thanks Jon, it definitely is.

#7 was relatively uneventful. Spent some time at the pistol range this morning and I really think that focus carried over to my technique. Was again able to go two WTG, 1 ATG with little problem. Nicked a couple of moles I have and managed to stick my SOC full of MWF in my ear. Post shave with witch hazel and Nivea ASB. Aside from the wet Willie I gave myself I made it through with my dignity intact.

 

[Dirk-Lerxst-Pratt]

#7a) DE while at a hotel this weekend.

#8) Done with my whipped dog straight that I touched up on my coticule. Even with my ham fisted honing ability I was able to get through unscathed. Not my best effort or edge, but it was relatively clean. Touched up a few missed hairs with the DE but really felt no need to go over my face after the third pass.

Showered first, then whipped up the Mike's with my sheddy Rooney 3/1. Covered my face in the yogurt lather then stropped about 40 laps and then re-lathered. As usual I went WTG x2, ATG x1, and XTG on my jawline. No razor burn at all and one teeny tiny weeper that dried up with witch hazel. Face feels nice and warm down my jaw. Getting much better at keeping my skin taught. Finished with Nivea ASB.

Probably going to shut this journal down as I feel I'm making good progress and I see no need to bore you folks with every little detail. Time for me to focus more on the sharpening side of things.