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End of a journey

*Long post warning*

So, i’ve been a member here for some time but a long time stalker/lurker of general shaving awesomeness. I have been wetshaving for many years now and thanks to the knowledge and collective experience from this forum, most of the shaves have been nothing short of bliss. MOST of the shaves.

I work as an army officer in the swedish army so shaving for me is a balance between necessity and joy. I need to shave daily because of army standards but my skin lends itself badly for daily shaving. At least one part of my neck. More on that later. Still, it has to be done. We are allowed to arm ourselves with glorious beards as long as it is kept groomed and un-santa-like. Great. Now if I try to grow a beard, it will end up looking like a homeless beard wearing a fake beard. So, I shave.

This was my gateway to wetshaving. I had/have two main issues. Shaving in the field and neck-growth akin to Beelzebubs ballsack. My beard has no intimacy issues with my neck. Closer than close (Thank you BeeGees). I also have a bermuda-event horizon-spiral next to my Adams apple. That…thing has been the bane of my shaving.

No matter what I did, how I shaved, gear, prep, passes, prayers, virgin offerings, I would get some sort of irritation on THAT spot. Also I can’t shave ATG on the neck. Ingrowns.

That spot kind of ruined the whole experience. Don’t get me wrong, I love this strange hobby but my enjoyment was always subdued…because of stupid growth patterns.

For a time, RAD and every other disorder totally consumed me. Trying to find shaving ”fu” and that special piece of metal that would save me from my horrid inconvenience. Alas, no magic razor to be found. So I just accepted my dark reality and tried to enjoy all the other aspects of wetshaving. An itch, slight burn, redness still always reminded me that things could be better, like that scottish warrior in ”Braveheart” who kills the english lord whilst disguised as a british soldier, ”rrrrremember meee?!”.

RAD took me (as darkness took Gandald) but instead of me weaking up as the white wizard I woke up as that disfigured orc general. And so it went on for a good couple of years. Razors I’ve tried and owned over the years:

Merkur 34C
EJ DE89
R41
SLOC
GC .68/.84
Timeless.95(TI and SS)
Karve CB (all of the plates basically)
Karve Overlander
AS-D2
Rex Ambassador
Charcoal Goods Everyday
Alpha Outlaw
Fatboy
Slim adj
Tatara Masamune/Muramasa

…and so on. I am not trying ”show off”…with my…razor collection, just trying to make a point.

None of them ”worked”. No matter how good the shave was…”rrrremember mee?!”.

I probably did not give most razors a fair shot because of that.

That 10% of discomfort was still there. Until the white wizard awoke in the form of the humble Merkur 37C.

Before you ask. Prep and after care is on point. At least I believe so. My wife is a dermatologist so a good skinnare routine has been nagged to daily completion. Tried cold water, and every other tip and trick known to BB at least for a week before deciding to continue doing it or reject it. I have no ”general” issue. Just that spot. I think I have good technique (always learning tho) and I could lather Williams using hard water.

So after trying just about everything except selling my soul at the crossroads the 37C comes along and slayes the balrog. For ME and my skin, needs and technique that thing just works.

Yes I tried slants before and no, not THAT slant. Stupid right? It is after all ”THE” slant. I dont want to debate the logic and ins and outs of slants but all I know is that I now can shave daily with zero issues. That thing just works for me. Now, I’m a degenerate. I Wanted something ”cooler” to be my ”journey-razor”. But at this point, I dont care. I still use my other razors which right now are the Rex Ambassador, AS-D2, Muramasa and the Vector. But the 37C is my safe word.

So, why the long writeup and rant? I think I want to say that RAD can be fun, and not so fun. Know what you need not what you want or try to combine. This is ofcourse if you see the razor as a tool and dont want/need a collection or a rotation. Give everything a fair shot. Dont buy the hype. Enjoy your shaves and Journey.

Thank you for reading and thank you 37C.
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
Impressive razor collection. Glad you hit on something that works. Personally I found some success after leaving a razor out of the rotation and going back to it later on after a healthy break. I think that allows me to forget whatever expectations I had. Thanks for posting. Stay healthy.
 
Welcome to the Brotherhood!

 
There's still an opportunity to develop SRAD (Slant Razor Acquisition Disorder). There must be a lot of slant razors you have yet to try out. Wunderbar, Fatip OC Slant, Fasan, etc. Or you could get the German 37 and experiment with putting different handles on it. Just a thought...

😀
 
Quite a journey. I’ve only owned and shaved with two de razors. A Henson and a Yates. I now only own and shave with the Yates. I like it and shave daily with it but it is always cool to hear of others experiences and uses of different equipment. Glad you landed in a good spot.
 
I was in the same boat as you for many years. I went through 7 razors which were either just ok (Merkur 34c) to downright awful (Merkur Futur). I never found that perfect razor until I purchased my Rockwell 6s. It was just night and day better than any other I had tried. Now it is all I use.
 
Congrats! I used my 37C practically every day for over 6 years. It's a great razor. But after I retired I got RAD and joining B&B was like throwing gasoline on already burning RAD, so now it only gets used once a month or so.
 
Right there with you. For decades my razor was a DE, Merkur 34C. I worked great, but just didn't provide the closest of shaves. Before I discovered this site, I never even heard of ATG or XTG.

I use straights now, and I'm a newcomer, so my shaves are DFSs, but they're rarely BBS. I'll keep trying.

You're not alone. I enjoyed your tale--but must admit I'm not sure if I just read that your issue remains unresolved (that's what I THINK I read), or you solved your woes. ???

In the beginning I used the SR only on my cheeks, and did everything else with my Merkur 34C DE. It did the job, but even after a shave, I looked "unshaven" if I REALLY focused hard on my face. I was happy, though.

My experience with a SR isn't worlds better, but I find this sport is all about evolving. I will get better. I will prevail. It's just going to take time. With shaving, as with life--I'm just going to keep showing up until told otherwise.

Thanks for sharing that entertaining story!
 
There's still an opportunity to develop SRAD (Slant Razor Acquisition Disorder). There must be a lot of slant razors you have yet to try out. Wunderbar, Fatip OC Slant, Fasan, etc. Or you could get the German 37 and experiment with putting different handles on it. Just a thought...

😀
Trust me, I’ve had just about every shaving disorder there is. But there is always more room for more cowbell…so to speak.
 
Impressive razor collection. Glad you hit on something that works. Personally I found some success after leaving a razor out of the rotation and going back to it later on after a healthy break. I think that allows me to forget whatever expectations I had. Thanks for posting. Stay healthy.
Oddly enough I once experienced the opposite. A razor that was truly a token delivered by the gods…until it wasn’t. This was the case for me with the ”Outlaw” by Alpha. Just a marvel of a razor. Effecient like the T-1000 without being harsh. At least for me. But one day the razor just wagged its finger like the T-1000 and started to maul my face. Really strange. Used exactly the same setup, rutine, you name it. Kept trying for about two weeks but just ended up with horrible razor burn. Something that RARELY happens. Its on a timeout right now. I know the Outlaw has some alignment issues but I quadruple checked before every shave.
 
Right there with you. For decades my razor was a DE, Merkur 34C. I worked great, but just didn't provide the closest of shaves. Before I discovered this site, I never even heard of ATG or XTG.

I use straights now, and I'm a newcomer, so my shaves are DFSs, but they're rarely BBS. I'll keep trying.

You're not alone. I enjoyed your tale--but must admit I'm not sure if I just read that your issue remains unresolved (that's what I THINK I read), or you solved your woes. ???

In the beginning I used the SR only on my cheeks, and did everything else with my Merkur 34C DE. It did the job, but even after a shave, I looked "unshaven" if I REALLY focused hard on my face. I was happy, though.

My experience with a SR isn't worlds better, but I find this sport is all about evolving. I will get better. I will prevail. It's just going to take time. With shaving, as with life--I'm just going to keep showing up until told otherwise.

Thanks for sharing that entertaining story!
Thank you for reading and for your response. Problem solved, at least when using that razor. It is the ONLY razor that does not irritate that spot. Im probably at fault here.
 
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