Nate's "Trust Your Edge" Straight Journal

[Devonmoonshire]

Wise to wait till the morning.

Yes indeed it was definitely a good idea, unfortunately it also means I miss my nightly shave tonight. But I shall have another tomorrow and with a little more growth since I had to use my Fusion this morning for a fast shave in the shower before work. Really hate that thing but it does have it's purpose for when I need to whack whiskers fast and get my butt to work. Although it does leave me with an incredible, almost intolerable level of razor burn and discomfort no matter how new the blade is.

 

[Devonmoonshire]

Straight Shave #24

Tonight's Experience:

The Bad News:
Not my Best Night ever for Straight Shaving, Had to call it done a little before I was finished. I must certainly pay more attention to my little Genco Master Cutler. It took it's jealousy of my other razors out on me tonight in blood, a LOT of blood. I cut the heck out of my ear tonight with one split second blockage of vision and a slight skip of the razor I had a torrent of crimson running down my neck.

The Good News:
My honing of this razor is definitely SPOT ON! It sang like a dream tonight as it just sliced right through the two days of growth with nearly zero resistance just crisp clear pings as it slayed the stubble in it's way.

The Prep:
10 Minute shower with no conditioner this time. After the shower Hot towel for 2 Minutes with two refreshes in between. Used a little pre-shave oil for the extra Lavender scent tonight too. Really doesn't do much for me shave wise.

The Weapons Of Choice:

The Strop: Hashir 2 1/2x18 in. 25/70 Canvas/Leather
The Pre-Oil: None tonight
The Brush: The Constellation
The Soap: Frankensoap
The Blade: A very Jealous little Genco Master Cutler.
The Post: Scriptic Stick and a little Neosporin +Pain relief

The Photo of the Bludgeoning Tool LMAO DANG She is Sharp!:

View attachment 597028

And The Wound now that it has clotted up and stopped bleeding, not huge, about a 1/4 inch but very deep and bloody LOL:

 

[rockviper]

TRAAAAAAGGGGGGUSSSSSSS!!!!

 

[Devonmoonshire]

TRAAAAAAGGGGGGUSSSSSSS!!!!

LMAO Yeah The Fail Was Strong With this One

However I Shall.........


And My Tragus is seriously throbbing at the moment LMAO

 

[Devonmoonshire]

Guess I better add this to my Journal as well since it too is another First for me.

I just posted my first PIF ever here in the "General Straight Razor Talk" forum in order to recruit 2 new Straight Razor Shavers by offering up two of my personal Straight Razors and two VDH Deluxe Soaps to accompany them in order to give back to such a wonderful community.

For all of you who have Friends who have not tried Straight Razors yet but are on the fence about doing so please point them to the Thread so they can have a chance to win one of these razors to try it out for free

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...-Those-who-want-to-try-Straight-Razor-Shaving

 

[Devonmoonshire]

Straight Shave #25

Tonight's Experience:

Great Scott!!! Awesome BBS tonight all around!! I am not one to give in to anyone or anything and a slightly tempermental and jealous Genco Master Cutler is NO Exception! I got right back on the horse tonight with my little Demon Beasty and it performed GREAT tonight, just needed a little more action I guess. I really didn't do much different than last night except for pay a little closer attention to toe location around the ears and also completed my shave rather than begin to bleed out.

This is shave number 2 since I honed this razor and it is holding up great thus far. I am not going to hone it again unless the performance begins to drop off a lot.

The Prep:
10 Minute shower. After the shower Hot towel for 2 Minutes with two refreshes in between.

The Weapons Of Choice:

The Strop: Hashir 2 1/2x18 in. 25/70 Canvas/Leather
The Pre-Oil: None tonight
The Brush: The Constellation, (Great Great Lathering Brush!)
The Soap: Frankensoap
The Blade: A Much Happier Genco Master Cutler.
Post: Little bit of TAOS Lavender A/S Balm.

The Result:
A Very Very good BBS Shave with no discomfort, slices or weepers at all. All in all, A Truly Great Shave.

 

[rockviper]

Well done.

 

[Devonmoonshire]

Well done.

Thank you my Friend, this little bugger gets into all the tight hard to reach areas very well. One of my Fave's for sure. It behaved itself a LOT better tonight too. The funny part is that this is the only razor I have that will not stand up on it's scales. They are uneven on the bottom LMAO.

 

[Lmarkow]

Excellent! Sorry about the prior wound. That tragus can be like a pin cushion for square points . . . .

 

[Devonmoonshire]

Excellent! Sorry about the prior wound. That tragus can be like a pin cushion for square points . . . .

You as well my Friend, yeah those little square points can bite pretty hard but they are Awesome Shavers for sure

 

[Devonmoonshire]

Straight Shave #26

Tonight's Experience:

Definitely not as good as last night, a little irritation and a rather thin lather tonight, (Probably should have re-lathered instead of going with the thin lather I got, Oh Well, lesson learned.) The blade cut well though, I think I need to go back to the rocks to even out a bit of sluggishness in the center area though. I did get a Very close shave for work tomorrow though and that is the important factor.

This is shave number 1 since I honed this razor and as stated above I think I missed a spot LMAO that as well probably added to the irritation I got tonight.

The Prep:
10 Minute shower with hair conditioner for a couple minutes on the face. After the shower Hot towel for 2 Minutes with two refreshes in between.

The Weapons Of Choice:

The Strop: Hashir 2 x 18 in. 45/80 Canvas/Leather
The Pre-Oil: None tonight
The Brush: The Constellation, (Great Great Lathering Brush!)
The Soap: TAOS Unscented
The Blade: 6/8 Wade & Butcher Arrow.
Post: Little bit of TAOS Lavender A/S Balm.

View attachment 597471

 

[cmh737]

Whew - glad that the Genco has come around and is behaving now!

 

[Devonmoonshire]

Whew - glad that the Genco has come around and is behaving now!

Me too My Friend, that thing has an EVIL temper LMAO

 

[Devonmoonshire]

Straight Shave #27

Tonight's Experience:

Much better shave than last night and a much better lather as well. Very smooth sailing accross the Face with the Lyon Bros. Improved Eagle, definitely a close call between this one and the Genco Master Cutler as to which has the loudest singing voice when working on the railroad and chopping through the rebar that is my stubble.

This is shave number 3 since I honed this razor and it is still doing excellent, as with the Genco I will not hone this razor until performance degrades to an uncomfortable level and even then probably just a really thorough touch up on the Glass Black Ark.

The Prep:
10 Minute shower no conditioner tonight, a little extra time under the hot water on the face. After the shower Hot towel for 2 Minutes with two refreshes in between.

The Weapons Of Choice:

The Strop: Hashir 2 x 18 in. 00/80 Canvas/Leather
The Pre-Oil: None tonight
The Brush: The Constellation, (Great Great Lathering Brush!)
The Soap: My Frankensoap
The Blade: 6/8 Lyon Bros Improved Eagle.
Post: Little bit of TAOS Lavender A/S Balm


View attachment 597799


Overall:

Had a very very hard day at work today for about 14 hours and it just never ceases to amaze me how BLAZING FAST a truly great shave can completely relax away the hardest of days.

Until Next time my friends, Great Shaves and Calm Waves

 

[McVeyMac]

I never realized before how therapeutic the performing of the art of wet shaving with a sharp piece of steel could actually be. I normally do morning shaves, and it always starts my day off right. I might have to throw in an occasional "wind down" shave for the hard days.

 

[Devonmoonshire]

I never realized before how therapeutic the performing of the art of wet shaving with a sharp piece of steel could actually be. I normally do morning shaves, and it always starts my day off right. I might have to throw in an occasional "wind down" shave for the hard days.

I did not either until I was done shaving last night and really reflected on how relaxed I was VS how stressed out and tense I was before hand. That was kind of my "Shaving Epiphany" for last night. It also seems to be somehow more gratifying when it is an edge I have honed myself. Not sure why that is other than perhaps that I "Know" that a professionally honed edge WILL give me an incredible shave. In contrast, a blade I have honed myself is a mystery at this point all the way up until I get lathered and put blade to stubble as to how it will truly perform. When it performs really well like last night, I am somehow Vindicated and Ecstatic that I did a good job honing the blade. The funny part is though that even when it does not perform well as was the case the previous night I was still not unhappy, I was actually glad that I had learned something new about that particular blade.

I dunno, I am kind of rambling on about it but it is just so cool to me the level of discovery involved in this type of shaving

 

[cmh737]

..... It also seems to be somehow more gratifying when it is an edge I have honed myself. Not sure why that is other than perhaps that I "Know" that a professionally honed edge WILL give me an incredible shave. In contrast, a blade I have honed myself is a mystery at this point all the way up until I get lathered and put blade to stubble as to how it will truly perform. When it performs really well like last night, I am somehow Vindicated and Ecstatic that I did a good job honing the blade. The funny part is though that even when it does not perform well as was the case the previous night I was still not unhappy, I was actually glad that I had learned something new about that particular blade.

I dunno, I am kind of rambling on about it but it is just so cool to me the level of discovery involved in this type of shaving

I totally agree with you. You've summarized it quite nicely.

 

[Devonmoonshire]

I totally agree with you. You've summarized it quite nicely.

Thank you my Friend, I think it truly hits the nail right on the head

 

[Devonmoonshire]

So after a close look in the Mirror, I decided to deny myself a nice relaxing shave tonight as I located a previously unnoticed SLICE on the right side of my neck. Apparently the razor was so danged sharp it sliced right through me without me even feeling or noticing it. I guess I have discovered the true meaning of "Lunatic Sharp" LMAO. No worries though I need something to test shave this darned W7B with tomorrow night after I finish my next attempt at putting a lunatic edge on it.

 

[Devonmoonshire]

Straight Shave #28

Tonight's Experience:

Another terrific shave tonight at Least a DFS+ with the Gouverneur 65 for sure. The last time this thing saw a stone was three days after I received it due to me chipping it and it is still working great with the exception of a slight amount of tugging on the extra thick stuff at the tip of my chin, still tore through it pretty good though with no irritation afterwards so all in all might give it a few more shaves before I introduce it to my Hard Black Ark.

The Prep:
10 Minute shower used Pantene Conditioner on the stubble, and a little extra time under the hot water on the face. After the shower Hot towel for 2+ Minutes with two refreshes in between.

The Weapons Of Choice:

The Strop: Hashir 2 x 18 in. 00/80 Canvas/Leather
The Pre-Oil: None tonight
The Brush: The Constellation, (Great Great Lathering Brush!)
The Soap: My Frankensoap
The Blade: 9/16 Gebr Krusius Gouverneur 65, (My Very First Straight Razor from Whipped Dog).



This Brush can SURE Whip up a lather quick


Overall Thoughts: A Terrific and Relaxing way to wind down another busy day. This time not work though just running all over the county doing the shopping LMAO.

Until Next time my friends, Great Shaves and Calm Waves