Hypermiling Blades
- Thread starter TFAshaver
- Start date
Since this thread started I managed to do 5 shaves from a BIC Chrome Platinum and today's was a really rough one. My face felt raw for hours because I did 5-6 passes with a dull blade to get barely acceptable closeness.
You are doing it wrong.
I stand on one leg while I shave. Alternating of course. Left on odd days, right on even.
If I do this, especially after I reach double digits, I have been able to get a blade to go past 1000 shaves. Seriously.
He did want to go to klown kollege when he found out I was afraid of klowns. Then I grounded him and he reconsidered it. He then joined the Merchant Marines and got his degree in Marine Biology. Seriously.Barber or clown?
*takes notes*
That's a pretty interesting story!
My manager at work was in the Merchant Marines in the 1970s and 80s, I believe. Based on some of the stories he's told me, he spent much of his time working very hard in a ship's engine room doing maintenance and engineering work. It sounded like a very rewarding experience for him. It sounds like it may have been pretty rewarding for your son as well.
Ha! You obviously don't know me well enough to know when I'm telling a tall take! My wife sez she can ALWAYS tell when I'm lying........
My lips are moving!
Sorry for the confusion. My son is about to graduate, and I am afraid of clowns, but the rest is mostly made up for my own amusement!
Ah, Touché.
But do you forgive me for being an arse?
I’ve yet to try stretching out the life of a DE blade beyond 12 shaves. However, I have tried taking a Schick injector blade as far as I could and got 33 shaves from it. I have heard the twin injector blades have a longer life, but only started one recently. I’m up to shave 16. There’s a member here that routinely gets 80+ shaves out of one. Tricks to get there? Wetter than normal lather is important. I think short strokes seem to help also.
Certainly. No harm, no foul, and no worries.
You are a gentleman, and obviously a scholar.
The harder question is what is the actual wear and tear? My understanding is that as the hair shaft absorbs water it expands and becomes weaker. (Implying that more water absorption results in a softer beard). That a blade doesn't slice the hair as much as it finds a small cleavage in between the layers of keratin on the hair shaft causing it to separate. That as long as the blade edge is thin enough it will continue to find these "open edge" spots in the cuticle and cut. How much wear does the metal blade edge experience when shaving a well prepared beard...?...I think that is what the hyper-bladers are trying to determine, among other factors.
Chandu
I Waxed The Badger.
Cool, I'm not a hypermiler, but still have my CDL. I drove charter busses in a previous life. I learned gentle acceleration and coasting and braking smoothly - it gave passengers the best ride, but I consistently had the best mileage on the units I drove compared to other drivers in the same units.
Like the article says, one of the biggest benefits is you are paying attention to the road, the traffic and what you are doing which is not only going to save you fuel, but keep you safer.
Stainless steel blades are certainly corrosion resistant, but not corrosion proof. On the top of my head, leaving aside the actual stress on the edge from the cutting of the hair, some factors are the chloride in the water, the water itself, salt in our skin, and the gripping and bending which further stresses the blade. Assuming that all good practices are performed, then there is the matter of defining what a shave is. I can get an acceptable shave in under a minute with a couple of dozen of strokes, and honestly, with all good practices performed, I would be confident in betting some good amount of money that I could do that more than 300 times. However, that is a cheat-shave in my book, although it can be a perfectly accurate definition for others. When I think of a shave, I think of 3 passes + touch-up, at least 10 minutes spent, and anything between a DFS and BBS outcome.
And there it is"...then there is the matter of defining what a good shave is". Back when I used modern blades I went 13,15 shaves with one a couple of times but with a noticeable change as I progressed in the comfort and end results, but I still got an acceptable shave. I get that many and more now and each one is an effortless BBS and as comfortable as can be. What you're working with, the variables of your beard and your equipment, and/or what is an acceptable experience and result are key here.
When I think of a shave, I think of an efficient single pass with some touchup and a DFS outcome. No need to make it complicated.
There's several excalibur members that consistently get 100+ shaves.
Some, like @coolcanuc are active and from his post history he recently got 100 shaves from a Shark SS.
They might want to chip in about technique.
Some posts of interest from the Excalibur thread from @bosseb who has written in detail about his technique and experience:
Blade life stages (I believe @naughtilus was looking for something like that):
And a thread detailing his shaves with a single blade:
www.badgerandblade.com
Some, like @coolcanuc are active and from his post history he recently got 100 shaves from a Shark SS.
They might want to chip in about technique.
Some posts of interest from the Excalibur thread from @bosseb who has written in detail about his technique and experience:
Blade life stages (I believe @naughtilus was looking for something like that):
And a thread detailing his shaves with a single blade:
128 shaves on a NOS Wilkinson blade
Today I did the 128th and final shave with the Wilkinson Super Sword-Edge blade. This is a major increase in the number of shaves I usually do, 56 on Polsilver SIs and 28 to 49 on lesser blades. My two metrics in this: the five o'clock shadow (as measured 7 hours after the shave) and the 24 hour...
www.badgerandblade.com
Some posts of interest from the Excalibur thread from @bosseb who has written in detail about his technique and experience:
Blade life stages (I believe @naughtilus was looking for something like that):
And a thread detailing his shaves with a single blade:
128 shaves on a NOS Wilkinson blade
Today I did the 128th and final shave with the Wilkinson Super Sword-Edge blade. This is a major increase in the number of shaves I usually do, 56 on Polsilver SIs and 28 to 49 on lesser blades. My two metrics in this: the five o'clock shadow (as measured 7 hours after the shave) and the 24 hour...
Brilliant, thanks!
