Is your technique still improving?

[seattleshaver]

I read that one should be proficient at straight razor shaving after about 100 shaves. I'm sure I have more than that. Initially I used a straight everyday and then I went back to using a DE most days but have continued to use a straight about once a week just for fun.

I have no interest is having a bunch of DE razors. I like them more than cartridge razors of course but they are just functional for me. I use a Gilette Old style Open Comb.

Straight razors (vintage) are more interesting to me so even though I don't "collect" them, I do have a few and I like the way they look, I enjoy perusing Ebay and doing some minor restoration if necessary.

My technique, while good, is still improving especially around the chin. I get the feeling that, much like my guitar playing, I will always have room for improvement.

How about you? Do you reach a point, as with a DE, where you are "good" and there is really no more room for "improvement" or is there always room for improvement with a straight?

 

[cugel]

I am competent and still improving. Been using a straight since last fall. A lot of it for me is getting to know beard growth and the hard spots. Some spots are just weird and hard to get close. A really well hone blade that shaves well makes life a whole lot easier.

 

[seattleshaver]

I agree regarding a well-honed blade. I do my own honing and have done enough honing with different blades to have a feel for when I can do better.

I still enjoy watching a YouTube shaving video every now and then to see if I notice a little technique that I might want to try. The chin is really the only area where there would be any room for improvement in my case.

 

[Luecke2326]

I believe we are continuously learning and getting better. Just like you, my chin and Jaw line are my difficult spots, but I’m closer now than I ever have been to not needing touch ups in this spots. Since I started honing, I’ve seen some improvement with the keenness of my blades, also with my overall interest in using a straight full time.

Here’s to us all improving one minute amount every day, at everything we do!

Matt


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Polarbeard]

With every year my straight razor shaves improve somewhat. From fantastic to a tad better. Even so I'd say that you after a year of continuously shaving with a straight razor can expect to get fantastic blood and irritation free BBS shaves on a daily basis without much effort.

 

[Doc226]

I would guess I am 6 years into shaving with only a straight razor, I use one 5-6x a week, so that is 1500-1900 shaves. I think I have the technique down, I seldom get any weepers or irritation, takes me about 10 minutes to do a 2.5 pass shave.

There is always room for improvement but only minimally

 

[skyfire1]

I'm new to the whole SR shaving deal about 35 shaves in. I'm improving each time and I now seldom get a nick. Only areas where I need more technique is the chin and to the left and right of my adam's apple. Hopefully with more practice I will improve.

 

[StillShaving]

I hesitate to guess but I have way more than 100 shaves and much less than 500 shaves and still find room for improvement. This is with a combination of traditional straights and Feather AC (mostly AC). I mostly learned on non-folding handles so much of my recent challenge is to become comfortable with the folding handle throughout the whole shave, since I have now became more enamored with the folding style.

For basic strokes I am not sure there is a lot more to learn, only to remain focused and not get lazy about technique during the shave. Getting lazy during a DE shave might lead to a little more sting from the alcohol aftershave. In comparison getting lazy with an AC blade can lead to a small weeper.

Where "lazy" is synonymous with "lack of concentration"

 

[Ricksplace]

Kaizen -the art of continuous improvement. The term pops up in the study of Japanese management styles. It proposes that small incremental improvements can provide larger overall changes. Applies well to shaving.

 

[alpster]

What used to take a half hour and much painstaking concentration is now done in less than half the time without a thought. My shaves are so predictable and repeatable that I'm not sure what I would do to improve on the experience. Extra time is now spent on maintaining the edge and face prep.

 

[bluesman 7]

I'm coming up on five years of daily three pass shaves. I remember thinking that I was still learning things at around 500 shaves. Now not so much, but I enjoy the shaves more when I'm paying a lot of attention to technique. If I ever started shaving my chin I'm sure that I would be back in the learning phase.

 

[Dick peck]

At least a couple of hundreds of shaves and I know I need improvement. I tattooed for twenty years. I found consistency is a way to measure. I can get a near perfect shave once a week. A great shave most times. And one out of ten is lacking. I prefer a shave where my skin doesn't pay the price for chasing bbs. I've honed most of my straights so that's surely caused some of the poor shaves. Good luck

 

[Christian1212]

I am in at a solid year of straight razor shaving and would say I have most of my techniques down with some improvement to go. Just need to get tad better at few strokes and maybe speeding it up a bit. 3 pass shave for me will take 20-25 min including lathering and all that.

Today I was not paying much attention and nicked myself and can't remember last time that happened. At point where aftershave does not really burn that much anymore unless I use razor with extreme lazor. Was reminded how much of a burn there can be with aftershave today haha

 

[Brutus]

I would guess I am 6 years into shaving with only a straight razor, I use one 5-6x a week, so that is 1500-1900 shaves. I think I have the technique down, I seldom get any weepers or irritation, takes me about 10 minutes to do a 2.5 pass shave.

There is always room for improvement but only minimally

I’m in a similar situation.

It could be best described as the Law of Diminishing Returns.
Every year there are some improvements, but they become smaller every year and are so small now that I doubt anyone but me can notice by now.


B.

 

[azwetshaver]

I am a year in, conservatively 250 shaves, and I still improve. I have a couple of trouble spots on my neck that I keep getting better results. I used to settle for decent results in these areas. Now I am chasing DFS. BBS is not in sight....yet.

 

[Royce]

It's all rote now but yes I would say it's still improving. Not significantly though without much thought other than, "did I strop this razor?" all the while using uncanny samurai-zen like precision. Thank you B&B.

 

[Lmarkow]

I thought I had leveled off until last year's heart woes. Nothing like a fist full of blood thinners and anticoagulants to up your shave game. Light touch? You bet, or I bleed.

 

[Bob L.]

My shaves are very consistent now. But, there is always room for improvement.

 

[steveclarkus]

I certainly hope so. This morning I’m five shaves in. My biggest problem is pressure because I’m not trusting the razor. Also, I’m trying to get too much on the first pass. I am shaving my entire face now - even my chin but it isn’t quick. Larry at Whipped Dog honed my razor so the razor isn’t the problem. I’m a 69 year old grandpa and have plenty of time so I’m not discouraged in the least. Like most things, it will come with time and experience. Every grandpa should be able to shave straight don’t you know.

Also, I enjoy honing as much as shaving and thanks to Slash McCoy, lapping film and diamond paste, I’m getting pretty good at that.

Without this board I likely would have never gone down this road so thank you B&B.

 

[Seveneighth]

Shaved twice a week with straights for 20 years - so over 2000 shaves. But I was taught the old fashioned way: right handed, single pass XTG, with a very very sharp blade. Bad form if you couldn't get at least DFS with that one pass.

I gave up for over a decade. Coming back to it recently all the edges on the shave ready razors are blunt in comparison and the modern technique of reducing the hair in multiple passes and swapping hands felt unnatural, unskillful and just plain... wrong. But it's been a lot of fun learning to shave that way and now I enjoy it just as much. It's also allowed me to re-evaluate and enjoy shaving in a different way. There are more possibilities for cutting the hair, more angles. It allows me to experiment and each shave feels different and new.