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Howdy from Downunder (on a particularly bad shave morning!)

Welcome, sir! Lots of good advice I won't rehash. Patience . . . yes. No pressure . . . yes. Consider mapping your beard grain. I had a heck of a time when I started, couldn't seem to get it right. Then I took a really close look at which way my stubble was growing. Once I had that knowledge my shaves improved a lot. I still have a couple nuisance areas, but I have learned that when I take it slow, don't use fast strokes just to get through the shave, my results are most always close to, if not outright BBS.

You will get to your goal.
 
Welcome aboard!

First, congratulations on your progress!

Second, still early days with the Future. It is likely that with a bit more experience your results will improve. Although it has many fans, I am not among them. I never found the Future comfortable. So give it a bit more time. If things do not work out you might consider moving on.

Stick with this and you will get the results you want!
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
Hi there! I hope you're making progress and not feeling discouraged. That lower part of the neck, where hair can start to grow in whorls rather than in a particular direction, can give most of us fits.

Couple of ideas that might help (maybe not). Shave with it on whatever setting gives you a reasonably close, comfortable shave elsewhere on your face. Then dial it down to near its mildest setting and s-l-o-w-l-y and g-e-n-t-l-y work on those areas of your neck. No pressure, keep lather on your fingertips and keep checking those areas.

You might find that you get a good, comfortable result that way. You don't have to keep an adjustable on the same setting for every part of your face, that's the beauty of adjustables. Good luck!
 
Thanks all. Have been persevering, and I'd say I get a decent shave 4 out of 5 times. This morning was average yet again and I do wonder sometimes why I keep at it, when I can get perfectly good results with modern shaving techniques. Anyway, will give it another month or two, and if it's still hit and miss I'll ditch the Futur I think.
 
what could help is to get s heavier handle, I recently got a custom heavy one from etsy and thats a heavy boy, it does all the work with zero pressure i noticed with lighter handles I tend to put slight pressure without even noticing and my lower neck would look like jack the ripper paid me a visit midshave o_O
 
Finally nailed it! Concentrated on literally holding the razor in fingertips and applying no pressure whatsoever. Took 3 passes on the lower neck, but got everything cleanly and no cuts. Very encouraged by this, hopefully can keep it going now that I’ve got an idea of how to best get the pesky neck hairs!
 
@DD22 great news on your last shave. Now just try to continually duplicate that to gain muscle memory and lock in your technique.

No pressure and/or extremely light pressure is critical to a close comfortable shave. Whisker reduction vice whisker removal will get you what you want with multiple passes.

Don’t lose hope. Every challenge and frustration your feeling are normal and common.

Good luck and enjoy.
 

Hannah's Dad

I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
Finally nailed it! Concentrated on literally holding the razor in fingertips and applying no pressure whatsoever. Took 3 passes on the lower neck, but got everything cleanly and no cuts. Very encouraged by this, hopefully can keep it going now that I’ve got an idea of how to best get the pesky neck hairs!
Congrats!
 
G'day and welcome. The Futur is a very aggressive razor. Even on one, the blade gap is bigger than a Gillette on Nine. I'd put that razor aside for a while and look at something else.
 
So I’ve decided I’m not a huge fan of the Futur’s aggression and blade chatter. Could be just me or the design of the head. Ordered a Parker Variant, seems to have a much milder range of blade gap settings. Hopefully get it next week. Might come back to the Futur in the future, or bin it.
 
So I’ve decided I’m not a huge fan of the Futur’s aggression and blade chatter. Could be just me or the design of the head. Ordered a Parker Variant, seems to have a much milder range of blade gap settings. Hopefully get it next week. Might come back to the Futur in the future, or bin it.
Many of us find that using a steep angle to shave really helps with the larger blade gap razors. Steep meaning that the razor handle is almost parallel to your face/neck. The reason is that the safety bar on the razor will press more firmly on your skin, stretching it before the edge of the blade passes over it. This prevents your skin from bunching up in front of the blade. You will want to start fairly steep then raise the handle outward a little bit until you find the best angle for you. Good Luck!
 
Hi All,

New here, but decided to take up the hobby of DE shaving about 6 months ago, in the sleepiness of a Melbourne lock down.

This morning was particularly terrible, but my story so far:

I've always enjoyed wet shaving. I already had a horse hair brush I liked, and always got a good result using cartridges. As I travel a lot, my skin was also used to my Braun S5 foil electric.....so I'm not particularly sensitive.

I started with an Edwin Jagger DE89 and a range of blades to start with. It got off to a rocky start with me ignorantly trying a feather first, but eventually after many a YT video and nicks, I settled on the Personna Red as my favourite, followed by the Astra SS and thirdly the German Wilkinson Sword. All was going well, I got good shaves, sometime great shaves, although the bottom of my neck is particularly difficult, and I regularly need to clean up with a cartridge as the hair grows every which way down there......I'd love to be good enough to get it but just can't quite work it out yet.

Then last week I thought I'd step it up. Purchased a Merkur Futur and a Simpson Trafalgar T3 brush. The brush is a dream. Like seriously amazing. The Futur.......hmmm

Used only 5 times so far, yes I know, not many shaves yet! It just seems like the blade gap is too large even on 1 and the blade itself flexes and drags. The Personna on 2-3 has given me the best shave so far, the Wilkinson Sword today a horrow show, even at 1. It barely gave me a respectable shave. My prep was the same as always, and I generally use cold water as I find it more comfortable.

I'll persist......but I just don't know where to go with it. Maybe back to the DE89......happy shaving!
I'd say get rid of the Future now, not later. And welcome!
 
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