Rolling the Bones

[4and20blackbirds]

Sunday shave

Prep: Cleansing Story White Clay foam
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Manna di Sicilia
Brush: Karve
Razor: Gillette fat handle Tech, #2
Blade: Astra SP, #2
Post: alum -> hyaluronic acid -> Lucky Tiger

Two passes with neck touch-ups for an all around DFS with no feedback. Close and comfortable. And fast--it's easy to toss the Tech around.

 

[4and20blackbirds]

Monday shave

Prep: PAA Ice Cube 2.0
Cream: Noble Otter Northern Elixir
Brush: La Maison du Barbier synthetic
Razor: Gillette fat handle Tech, #3
Blade: Astra SP, #3
Post: alum -> hyaluronic acid -> NO Northern Elixir

Took the Tech steep tonight and the results were mixed: areas of DFS, CCS, and SAS. Very inconsistent, even with attempts at cleanup. Still, super comfortable even with extra touch-ups and buffing. Very minimal feedback on my neck only. I'll probably just stick to the usual angle with this one given the results. The Northern Elixir was awesome--I love that stuff! And the fact that I used the PAA Ice Cube for my prep meant it was a cool shave start to finish.

Soundtrack for the shave tonight was Galway Girl by Steve Earle. I don’t know how I’d never heard that song before today, but I’ve had it on repeat since hearing it this afternoon. I came across it because I’ve been making my way through 1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die by Tom Moon and Steve Earle’s Transcendental Blues came up for listening today. And it’s a fantastic album—not a dud on there.

 

[4and20blackbirds]

Tuesday shave

Prep: PAA Ice Cube 2.0
Soap: Southern Witchcrafts Druantia
Brush: Vie Long Silvertip
Razor: Gillette fat handle Tech, #4
Blade: Astra SP, #4 and binned
Post: alum -> hyaluronic acid -> Ogallala Bay Rum aftershave

Back to a typical angle with the Tech and, with a little bit of touch up, DFS and no feedback and no sting from the Bay Rum, either. 3017'd the hyaluronic acid tonight.

Really enjoying this razor so far. The only con to it that I've noticed is that there is an occasional tendency for it to grab at the bottom of the N-S pass on my neck. There's no plating left on the cap, so maybe that has something to do with it.

 

[4and20blackbirds]

Wednesday shave

Prep: Curology Cleanser
Cream: ToBS Royal Forest
Brush: SOC Mistura badger/boar
Razor: Gillette fat handle Tech, #5
Blade: Gillette Sputnik, #3 and binned
Post: alum -> Suavecito Bay Rum aftershave

Two passes and a touch-up for DFS with some feedback (I think I was moving too fast). Finished with the Sputnik--definitely usable and I’ve got one left for another spin at some point.

 

[4and20blackbirds]

Thursday shave

Prep: Noxzema
Soap: Noble Otter Hamami
Brush: La Maison du Barbier synthetic
Razor: Gillette fat handle Tech, #6
Blade: Crystal Super + Stainless, aka Israeli Personna, #1
Post: alum -> NO Hamami aftershave

A fast DFS tonight. First use of a Crystal blade and it worked fine, no issues.

 

[4and20blackbirds]

Friday shave

Prep: PAA Ice Cube 2.0
Soap: Noble Otter Monarch
Brush: Karve
Razor: Gillette fat handle Tech, #7
Blade: Crystal Super + Stainless, aka Israeli Personna, #2
Post: alum -> NO Monarch aftershave

Another super-comfortable and fast DFS tonight. No alum feedback. This Tech is an easy shaver.

 

[4and20blackbirds]

Saturday shave

No picture because I’ve been getting a server error for the last two days each time I try to upload.

Prep: Cleansing Story White Clay foam
Soap: HTGAM The Beach
Brush: Omega boar
Razor: Gillette fat handle Tech, #8
Blade: Crystal Super + Stainless, aka Israeli Personna, 3
Post: alum -> Pinaud Clubman Classic Vanilla aftershave

DFS with two passes and touch-ups. Actually went for BBS on the lower part of my neck, in the hollows just to either side of my Adam's apple, but couldn't get there. A little bit of alum feedback on my neck as a result, but not too bad. That area is a constant puzzle (pretty much the sole area that prevents me from getting a DFS every shave) and the next time I skip a day I'm going to take some more photos to try again to figure out the grain.

 

[4and20blackbirds]

Monday shave

Prep: shower
Soap: La Toja
Brush: Simpson A1 Astor in Best
Razor: Gillette fat handle Tech, #9
Blade: Crystal Super + Stainless, aka Israeli Personna, 4 and banked
Post: alum -> Skin Bracer aftershave

As it turned out, I skipped Sunday but forgot to take a picture. Oh, well. Next time. Decided to make this the last shave with the Tech since it was going to be the last use of the Crystal. And it was the usual for this razor: two passes for a very comfortable shave, landing at DFS with CCS on my lower neck.

 

[4and20blackbirds]

Looks like pics are working again so here was Saturday’s:

 

[4and20blackbirds]

Total of 9 shaves with the fat handle Tech and I'm moving on because I feel like I've got a good handle on how it shaves. I really enjoyed this one--very comfortable and pretty much effortless shaving. Great for when running short on time as there is almost zero chance you could cut yourself with it. A classic for a reason. Mine is in shaveable shape, but isn't the prettiest razor (but man it would be sharp if it still had all its plating); however, I've got a ball handle Tech that looks brand new. I'm going to keep the fat handle in rotation, but may or may not keep it long term depending on how I like the ball handle Tech. Overall, I rate the Gillette fat handle Tech at an 8 on comfort and a 5 on efficiency. Rank-wise, it's going to slot in just below the Mamba--that may not make absolute number sense because the Mamba has slightly less efficiency, but the rankings are more about my overall thoughts and I prefer the Mamba to the Tech, barely.

	Rank	Razor	Comfort	Efficiency
Tier 1 - Keepers	1	Gillette Slim
	2	Schick Type L1	10	5
	3	Parker Semi-slant
	4	Yaqi Beast
	5	Gem Junior	8	6
Tier 2 - In Consideration	6	iKon X3	8	6
	7	Timeless .95	8	6
	8	RazoRock Mamba	8	4
	9	Gillette fat handle Tech	8	5
	10	Parker 24C	7	6
	11	Merkur 34C HD	8	6
	12	Gem MMOC	5	6
Tier 3 - Not for me	13	Timeless .68	7	5
	14	RazoRock Mamba 70	5	3
	15	Wilkinson Sword TTO
	16	Fatip Open Comb Slant	3	4
	17	Mühle R89 Grande	3	3

 

[4and20blackbirds]

Tuesday shave

Prep: Neutrogena Razor Defense face scrub
Soap: Murphy & McNeil Ouroboros
Brush: Sanax badger-cased boar
Razor: Gillette fat handle Tech, #9
Blade: Silver Star, #1 and done
Post: alum -> Clubman Reserve Brandy Spice aftershave

Rolled up the Timeless .95 and decided to pair it with my iKon handle, which is one of my favorites. First impression was that I prefer a shorter handle on the .95. The shave was not as good as some of the others I've had with the Timeless because I also rolled for a new to me blade. The Silver Star was usable in that it got me through the shave, barely, but I'll be passing these along because I didn't find it sharp or smooth enough and I ended up with some irritation on my neck.

 

[4and20blackbirds]

Decided to make a change to the way I roll up new razors. I'm going to narrow the list and only roll from razors I haven't used yet, then, between new razors, I'll roll from a list of razors that I am keeping or are still under consideration. That way, I'll have a new razor each time and I'll also be going back to the other razors more frequently so that I have comparisons that are more contemporaneous. For now, I'll keep the already-tried razors to one shave in between new razors but might expand that a bit later.

 

[4and20blackbirds]

Next razor is a Schick Type E3:

 

[4and20blackbirds]

Wednesday shave

Prep: PAA Ice Cube 2.0
Soap: Meissner Indian Flavour
Brush: Simpson Astor A1 in Best
Razor: Schick Injector Type E3, #1
Blade: Schick (China), #1
Post: alum -> Stirling Lemon Chill aftershave

First use of the Type E3 and, man, what a surprising difference from the type L1. Same type blade used in both, but the E3 was nowhere near as comfortable as I was expecting. In fact, it bit me twice, something that never happened with the L1. Part of it could be because I was rushed tonight, so I'll make sure to take my time tomorrow. Thinking back on it, the other thing might be that I had the wrong angle--I defaulted to a DE angle instead of putting the cap against my face.

 

[Rosseforp]

First use of the Type E3 and, man, what a surprising difference from the type L1.

Neither one of my E2's shaves the same, it is also my understanding that the later Schick injectors like your type L1 are milder.

 

[4and20blackbirds]

Neither one of my E2's shaves the same, it is also my understanding that the later Schick injectors like your type L1 are milder.

I thought I remembered reading that, Doug, but didn't realize how much difference there could be! I'm looking forward to seeing how correcting the angle works out (plus more time to shave).

 

[Rosseforp]

I thought I remembered reading that, Doug, but didn't realize how much difference there could be! I'm looking forward to seeing how correcting the angle works out (plus more time to shave).

I keep the angle pretty steep with my E2's, thankfully they have short handles!

I made these boxes to keep the Type E2's in

 

[4and20blackbirds]

I keep the angle pretty steep with my E2's, thankfully they have short handles!
View attachment 1259718View attachment 1259719View attachment 1259720
I made these boxes to keep the Type E2's in

Those boxes are awesome—nice work!

I’ll have to try taking the E3 steep at some point to see how that goes. Meanwhile...

 

[4and20blackbirds]

Thursday shave

Prep: Noxzema
Soap: La Toja
Brush: Epsilon horse
Razor: Schick Injector Type E3, #2
Blade: Schick (China), #2
Post: alum -> Aqua Velva aftershave

Objectively a better shave than last night since I only got one weeper, so a 50% improvement. I took my time and used the correct angle and kept a light touch, but this thing is aggressive. It's also very efficient and gives me as smooth a shave as I've had in two passes so I hope I can tame it.

 

[4and20blackbirds]

Friday shave

Prep: PAA Ice Cube 2.0
Soap: Soap Commander Love
Brush: Karve skate maple badger
Razor: Schick Injector Type E3, #3
Blade: Schick (China), #3
Post: alum -> Gillette Cool Wave aftershave

Since I was prepping with the PAA Ice Cube tonight, figured I'd use it as a preshave, too. Made a nice combo with Love, which is a fantastic soap. Another improvement in the shave--no weepers tonight, but nowhere near comfortable.