I bought my first straight off the BST from a member here, and was assured that it was shave-ready, and had passed the hanging hair test. I tested it once it got here, and I'm a little worried; it will only cut hairs if they are rapidly pulled down over the blade, and then only around a third or half of the time (still only holding one end of the hair, so it's not like I'm pulling both ends down). Is this sufficiently sharp to shave with? I'd be disappointed if I had to send it off...
First Straight-- was assured it was shave ready, now not so sure
- Thread starter justinp
- Start date
From what I have read, there are plenty of razors that will not pass the HHT that are, in fact, perfectly shave ready.
I would give it a go and see how it shaves. Don't be afraid to stop halfway through your shave if it is not going well.
Then, if it doesn't shave well, send it out to a pro.
I would give it a go and see how it shaves. Don't be afraid to stop halfway through your shave if it is not going well.
Then, if it doesn't shave well, send it out to a pro.
The only way to tell if a straight is shave ready is to shave with it. I've shaved with plenty of straights that have given very smooth and comfortable shaves that haven't passed the HHT. I've also had some average shaves from straights that have passed the HHT.
try to shave moistened arm hair at mid length or the thumbpad test if you don't want to shave with it...
HHT means absolutely squat. Each persons hair is different and in my case most of my razors don't pass the HHT, but are perfectly fine for shaving. The only test that matters is the shave test.
Same here.
If you need to send it out, here's a list: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Honemeister
Lather on up and give it a test shave.
Agree with everyone here, try shaving with it and see how it does.
HHT involves too many variables to rely on, at least till you figure out what all those variables are.
Also did you strop it before using?
You list three different locales, where are you currently?
If you are in Austin, I know someone that would probably show you how to hone your razor(if it needs if) if you brought a 6 pack along with you.
HHT involves too many variables to rely on, at least till you figure out what all those variables are.
Also did you strop it before using?
You list three different locales, where are you currently?
If you are in Austin, I know someone that would probably show you how to hone your razor(if it needs if) if you brought a 6 pack along with you.
One of the challenges of learning to shave with a straight is figuring out what shaving sharp is. The razor may be shave ready and your technique to blame. Of course the razor may not, in fact, be shave ready.
FWIIW - any assertion that a razor is shave ready because it passed the hanging hair test should be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism.
FWIIW - any assertion that a razor is shave ready because it passed the hanging hair test should be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism.
Summarizing from above and adding, the HHT can be extremely valuable and even diagnostic. But, only after extensive experience. To you, someone just starting to use straight razors, the HHT will have no value due to the lack of needed experience.
A lot of tests to be done but only one is 100% correct every time,
The shave test
The shave test
- Thread starter
- #12
Well, I shaved with it and it looks like my worries were unfounded. I did a two-and-a-half pass shave, which is my standard with a DE, and got results that are on par with a worse-than-average-but-not-awful DE shave. Went lefty on the right side of my face and righty on the left, which seemed to work really well.
I'm happy with the experience so far!
I'm happy with the experience so far!
Wow, cross-handing on the first try! Took me a month to dare to do that. That's pretty impressive dexterity.
Let me chime in that, after many hundreds of evaluations with the same old spousal hairs, I find the HHT an extremely reliable barometer of shaving quality - impeccably accurate in its predictive capacity. It is far beyond some parlor trick, but it took me a long, long time of doing that test to get to the current point of trust.
Let me chime in that, after many hundreds of evaluations with the same old spousal hairs, I find the HHT an extremely reliable barometer of shaving quality - impeccably accurate in its predictive capacity. It is far beyond some parlor trick, but it took me a long, long time of doing that test to get to the current point of trust.
The HHT is the most difficult part of straight shaving. I acquired a shank of lovely long, straight hair from the woman who cuts my kid's hair. It is perfect for the HHT and is enough to last me a lifetime. Before that I was using hairs shed from a bad silvertip brush, but badger is stiff and a little too easy to cut. So my new ISO standard hair should help me normalize my technique. I have found, after months of trying, that it can be a real help, and also a real PITA.
To this day I have never been able to get a razor to consistently pass a HHT. I have super-fine hair, and no matter what it simply will not cooperate. It's nice when you feel frustrated by the "lack of progress" and then have it melt through your beard like a hot knife through butter. 
Make sure you set up control charts once you have gone through your standard normality tests and finalized your CTQ tree. Of course once you've got your baseline capabililty and sigma figured out you can Pareto your Hair results and develop a C/E Matrix along with the standard FMEA before putting together your control plan.
I'll print up a report table to 4 decimal places of course, do you think a test result per each mm of edge would be adequate? I'm thinking a waterfall plot with edge position and time since honing (or # of shaves) versus HHT result might be the way to go.
But seriously, I think the HHT causes more consternation than the actual shaving or honing when it comes to that. The shave test it the best test.
FWIW, none of my razors pass the HHT with hair from my head, but they all shave well. I have found that they all pass the HHT with my eyebrow hair. 
I have found that for me, a more accurate test for shave readiness (besides shaving) is hovering the blade through arm hair right above the skin and making sure they pop off.
I have found that for me, a more accurate test for shave readiness (besides shaving) is hovering the blade through arm hair right above the skin and making sure they pop off.
I'm not going to fall into the trap of debating the merits of the HHT. We can all refer back to countless other threads on the topic.
However, once learned, there is one undeniable possible advantage to the HHT over the shave test...
With the HHT, I test the sharpness of a blade at about 1/4 inch increments. You can't do that with the shave test. In fact, with most of us, because of our shave patterns, we can get great shaves with blades that have major portions of the blade that are dull.
(Hey! You like that "undeniable possible" qualifying proviso I used above?)
However, once learned, there is one undeniable possible advantage to the HHT over the shave test...
With the HHT, I test the sharpness of a blade at about 1/4 inch increments. You can't do that with the shave test. In fact, with most of us, because of our shave patterns, we can get great shaves with blades that have major portions of the blade that are dull.
(Hey! You like that "undeniable possible" qualifying proviso I used above?)
