My First Tech - Thanks Jake !

[DMT]

Jake was kind enough to PIF me a British Fat handled tech recently. I spent the last week getting to grips with it, it certainly is a different beast compared to my 38c it's milder and more agile being able to get into tight areas like behind the corners of my jaw, but it's harder for me to find the right angle when going XG. I'm guessing that's due to the extra leverage afforded by the long handle on my Merkur.

Shave 1.
I decided to play it safe and use an Astra SP as they're what I'm most familiar with, unfortunately this particular blade turned out to be one of the random ones that gives a rough first shave. Even so, knowing what a rough Astra shave is like, this felt like the razor was compensating for the blade, it was rough but it wasn't as rough as it should have been. I did get a nasty bit of irritation on my neck because I got the angle wrong on one of my xg passes and went a bit too steep. I called it quits after 3 passes and got a CCS.

Shave 2.
Normally I can get away with skipping a day, but the next day I was in need of another shave and since I had an interview go to I decided to chance my arm despite the bad patch of irritation. Again I went for WG/XG/XG. I did better at getting the angle right and got DFS on my cheeks and a decent shave on my neck. Amazingly the irritation on my neck wasn't aggravated at all, I definitely couldn't have said the same had I been using my Merkur.

Shave 3.
I skipped shaving for two days to let the irritation on my neck clear up. I followed the usual routine of 3 passes and got BBS on my cheeks, I got the same results as last time on my neck so I went for an AG pass. Normally if I go AG I'm asking for irritation and ingrown hairs, but this time it went off without a hitch. I'd rate the end result as CCS, I can still feel a good few hairs rubbing with the grain though they're not visible.

So far I'm loving the tech it light, nimble and very forgiving. I figure I need more practice with it and sharper blade to get better results on my neck, I recon i have another 2 shaves left in my current blade so when I toss it I think I'll try out a 7 o'clock yellow

 

[Copierguy]

Congrats to you and Jake.

When you start feeling more at home with your Tech, you may wish to try dragging a couple finger tips of your other hand ahead of the blade when going against the grain on those problem neck areas. When this skin stretching starts working for you, those spots can be tamed.

 

[celestino]

Congrats and enjoy.

 

[DMT]

Congrats to you and Jake.

When you start feeling more at home with your Tech, you may wish to try dragging a couple finger tips of your other hand ahead of the blade when going against the grain on those problem neck areas. When this skin stretching starts working for you, those spots can be tamed.

When I start getting the angle right consistently I'll try some gentle stretching. I never thought I'd have to go over another learning curve (even such a slight one) again for my Tech, definitely for an OC or slant but not for another closed comb, just goes to show how much I know.

 

[DMT]

I needed a shave that could last me the whole day and into the evening, so I switched back to my 38c. I didn't know myself when I was shaving. I owe it all to spending the last week shaving with the tech. I had to pay really close attention to my technique to get the best out of the tech because it was so mild, that level of fineness seems to have transferred over to the use of my Merkur, it was like I was using a different razor. I found it so much easier to handle, its no longer the clumsy brute I thought it was. I was able to pull of an AG pass without any irritation bar the area around pimple that I ran over, but somehow didn't nick despite performing 4 passes over it. This is definitely the best finish I've ever gotten on my neck the best overall shave I've gotten since I started back in January.