Old OLD School Shave today

[aldomarino]

Ok, so this morning, for no particular reason, I decided to go as old school DE as a I could.

Gillette Single-Ring Open Comb.

Williams soap.

And lastly, a new but dreaded TIGER carbon blade.

I was more than my usual careful. It was not smooth. Two passes, WTG and XTG. It was obvious that I would regret it if I tried to go ATG.

Got a presentable shave, nonetheless. Not smooth to the touch, and I will have a "five o-clock shadow" but looking sharp with no nicks or irritation.

I won't do this again, but it's interesting to know and experience the best my great-grandfather might have had it.

 

[santamariasteve]

Brother Aldo,

I think it's good to do things like that occasionally. It is educational, connects you with an earlier era, and makes you appreciated the advances in shaving and shaving hardware in the last 100 years or more.

How can we fully appreciate the present if we don't fully understand the past?

Congratulations and thanks for sharing!

 

[Pepin]

Congratulations on having a good vintage shaving experience.

I have not tried a carbon blade, but I know that with modern blades I great great shaves when using my single ring Gillette.

 

[sarimento1]

Sir Aldo, also my admirations for bearing through a rough carbon steel blade shave!!
FWIW, I've tried to strop these old blades, still no improvement!

 

[Macfrommichigan]

Old school brush, also?

 

[aldomarino]

Sir Aldo, also my admirations for bearing through a rough carbon steel blade shave!!
FWIW, I've tried to strop these old blades, still no improvement!


View attachment 973470

Actually, the Treet Black Beauty works fine for me, but the Tiger, albeit a modern production, is not in that league at all. Very rough to work with.

As far as REAL vintage carbon blades, period blades, I've tried them half a dozen times. Even after long stropping with a Kriss-Kross, they just don't work. Perhaps time has just degraded them beyond use. I keep some in a collection but that's all.

 

[ajkel64]

Thanks for sharing, I have never tried a Carbon Blade and from what I have heard, I am in no hurry to try one.

 

[Twelvefret]

I've tried two types of carbon blade on GEM razors. The experience was awful and now I use only PTFE blades.

If you want to try your Old Type again, consider Astra blades.

 

[Ad Astra]

Old OLD OLD shave: scraping face with a shard of Aztec obsidian glass.

AA

 

[BigJ]

Tough guy!! Congratulations!!

 

[GoodOutcome]

How did you shave with that Tiger.. I could not complete even one stroke with that blade.
Dullest blade I've ever used.

 

[aldomarino]

How did you shave with that Tiger.. I could not complete even one stroke with that blade.
Dullest blade I've ever used.

The Tiger actually got better as the shave went on. It was never smooth, but the first stroke was the worst. It was about going very slowly and not even attempting a BBS. About expectations.

 

[aldomarino]

Old OLD OLD shave: scraping face with a shard of Aztec obsidian glass.

AA

Yeah...someone who actually has Aztec ancestry should give it a go and write it up.

 

[dmshaver]

Congrats, I tip my hat to you sir. And I'm glad you survived!

 

[razorhead63]

For me too less sharp blades in my Gillette old style have given much of the same feel and result. Too much work and caution needed for me to do it again. I rarely use my old style but when I do I load it with a modern much sharper Stainless. With a Gillette Yellow or an Astra it performs quite well.

 

[Clay S]

Not as vintage as some. But vintage Williams was used:

 

[steveclarkus]

I use straight razors. Guess that would be considered old tech. Oddly, they shave much better than new tech.