Slantember (Used to be September) Is For Slants! | Version 4 | 2021

[EMG06]

See what happens when you put a nickel in me about something I've spent some time thinking about? Thanks for asking! I hope it was helpful.

Thank you sir for this amazing answer. I’ve been lucky enough to try the slants you mention (except for the ATT S1/S2!! I should really change that!). I love getting to hear the opinions and wisdom of this community of shavers, and I’ve enjoyed following your slanted (or tilted) journey @Old Hippie .
Eric

 

[Dngolden]

I've been using "slantember" as an excuse to go between my Ikon slant and my Fatip Classic Lo Storto Chrome Slant Open Comb (FOCS). Both great razors but very different. The Ikon can cut through any length subtle (I have a course beard and have used it for over week growth as if it was 2 days). Yet the shave is always very smooth and comfortable - with only a little sharpness. The shave is quite close but I'm not fooled into thinking I shaved with a straight. The build is heavy and solid. I find the FOCS to be less smooth and with more sharpness. I'm more prone to weepers with it. Yet, damn it is a close shaver for it's level of aggression - near to what I get with a straight. A gorgeous looking razor, though light with handle that gets slippery. Overall, I prefer the IKON if it's buttery smooth shave at any growth length and solid feel. It has been one of my favorite DEs for years. But I can see why the FOCS has its fans. As I have other razors that fill the very close shave category, I'll like put the FOCS in the Sue Moore Auction or BST.

 

[Old Hippie]

Just for the record: I've read that legend stuff about Gillette using their razors as loss leaders and making it up with blade sales. I've also read historical sources which I'm too lazy to find right at the moment which say otherwise. I know it's hard to fathom that Gillette made money selling such good razors at the prices they went for, but there it is.

A very good point, Jim. There is an alternative argument to deploy here. I have a feeling once the tooling is created whether for moulds for casting or dies for stamping that economies of scale can be realized pretty quickly. I'm no Gillette expert, but it seems to me that in the day when "shaving" was almost always wet shaving and Gillette was making literally hundreds of thousands of razors, once they had the tooling set up they could whack them out by the kabillions. The same thing applies as well to new models coming out regularly -- one way to capture some of the otherwise "rusted on" market. How many guys got new razors in those days for a special birthday, or as a retirement present, or for some other reason. Even just to buy a nice set just "because" would help the bottom line.

I had kind of thought about the loss-leader philosophy after finding and ultimately selling on an NOS Gem Clog-Pruf a few years ago. The original box indicated that with five blades the razor sold for the princely sum of 50 cents. I'd have to go do the cost-of-living calculations for the year that razor was made, but the $25.00 I sold it for was probably still higher than the equivalent of the original price. I think my last batch of Gem blades came in at about 35 cents apiece.

My most recent contact with Merkur/DOVO gave me a figure relevant to our modern market: they said that a new design would have to pretty much guarantee at least 5,000 sales in the first run to justify even doing it as a special edition. With so few (comparatively) guys buying wet shaving razors these days, that's practically stratospheric. In the final analysis I am tremendously grateful to any company that's making slants -- even if it's basically mining someone else's intellectual effort.

Don't automatically doubt your sources. They may have the straight of it.

Question: Is the FOCS modeled on in terms of its engineering or design previously available slants such that a very very similar previous razor was as successful as a shaver?

Darn good question! I don't know. However, Richard @efsk may have some insight; likewise Claudio @Clouds or another of our UK or European members. I need to spend some more time digging in the non-English forums!

In my view of it, the FOCS is very hard to beat for its balance of qualities - smooth in feel, quite efficient, unlikely to bite you, inexpensive, real metal - not that it is as efficient as the Wunderbar.

I completely agree, having finally jumped on that bandwagon. Looking at mine, I can see that it's well enough fitted and finished. I had heard the usual stories about Fatip razors being a bit more interactive than some in terms of loading and using, but either all the random stars lined up for my razor or they've been working to bring up the consistency of their product. Or both, of course. I haven't used mine yet during SLANTember -- lots of others are using theirs; and with one foot in SEptember as well I've lost half my slant shaving days right off the hop. I'm saving it for the penultimate slant shave of the month.

Thanks for your great post, my friend.

You're certainly welcome. My apologies to anyone who felt like they waded through a word cloud. There's a lot to explore and think about in this hobby, and for me slant razors are fascinating.

O.H.

 

[Tanuki]

Only MODERN single-edge slant

You big tease!

 

[Lefonque]

Pre	PAA Cube 2.0 USA
Soap	PAA CaD, USA
Brush	BGB Sunset G6 Badger, Australia
Razor	RazoRock German 37 Slant, Canada
Blade	Astra SS, Russia
Post Shave	Proraso Alum, Italy Proraso Balm Italy
Fragrance	PAA Gondolier, USA
Rating	9/10

 

[Invicta]

Mercur 37C + Astra SP #5.

 

[EMG06]

September 20
This week is the Return of the FOCS.
Fatip Lo Storto Gold didn’t have much to do after yesterday’s shave, but I did a little cleanup to have me looking smooth for work.

 

[bigbrucefan]

Great shave today:
Razor - Wunderbar with Astra SS (3) followed by the RR GC .84 also with an Astra SS.
Brush: Zenith Manchurian with B&M Seville.

 

[alin]

Ikon x3 Slant
Astra Superior Stainless (32)
Omega 10049 boar brush
La Toja stick
Alpa Windsor aftershave + Edc

 

[Batman]

Second shave with my new FOCS. Outstanding!!!!

A couple of weepers but dolphin smooth results.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tehnothing]

Third shave with the Fatip lo Storto Gentile. Very smooth. I nicked myself and everything burned, but, that was technique.

 

[hopper_64]

Slantember 20

Fatip Open Comb Slant
Astra SP (8)
Shavemac 2-Band Fan 24mm
Palmolive Classic Shavecream
Epsilon Blue Mediterranean
Nivea Sensitive Cool Balm

 

[Somerled]

It's been a while since I've shaved with a slant.

This post inspired me to dig out my little used FOCS.

Razor: FOCS
Blade: Polsilver (1)
Brush: SOC Taj Mistura
Soap: MdC Fougere

Finished of with a little Proraso Cypress & Vetyver Balm.

Very nice, effortless, close shave.

Might dig out my Ikon X3 for a try before the end of the month.

 

[Billy T.]

SOTN 20/9
-FOCS
-Polsilver #5+
-Omega Evo "Gray Stone"
-SW Incorporeal SS
-Occult Grooming Barbossa AS

Long time no see
Southern Witchcrafts; Wow! Just wow, what an amazing soap.
I chickened out on their scents since they get pretty wild.
The FOCS felt better with the Polsilver, what an incredible blade.
It's been sitting on my self for months but it's still going strong.
Easy BBS, no irritation or discomfort.
Also no burn from the AS; the reward of being light handed with yer razors

 

[Old Hippie]

SOTD: Monday September 20, 2021 (SLANTember 5st)
Razor: iKon Shavecraft 102
Blade: Astra SP (4)
Brush: Omega 10005 Boar
Soap: Yardley Almond

Last week was History Week in the Lather Pit. This week is "Out of the Shadows" -- dedicated to shining a little light on some razors that, while not particularly rare, are not seen all that often around here. The iKon Shavecraft 102 is a tilted slant. I have to say that this is a really excellent razor, and add that while I was decidedly underwhelmed by the performance of the iKon X3 the 102 is lovely. It's got a bit of a humpback to it like a vintage tilted slant, and absolutely unlike a couple of the vintage tilts I've used the 102 clamps the blade like it was caught in the door of a bank vault.

Running out on the "back half" of the blade now. I may bin it just because changing razors every single shave day this month (and next, for OCtober...) means I'd like to have the best of all possible shaves with each razor.

O.H.

 

[NCGent]

Slantember Shave #20

Razor: Maggard Slant
Blade: Personna Red (2)
Brush: RazoRock Synthetic
Cream: Palmolive Classic
A/S: PAA Clubguy

 

[InkStainedWretch]

SLANTember 20

Today, I face lathered some ARKO that I've mashed into a puck. Brush-of-the-day was my Omega 49 boar (Big Red). Good lathering experience. The shave: two passes and touch-ups with a Shark Super Stainless in my Razorock German 37. My early experiences with this razor left me (slightly) bloodied. Either this blade works well in this treasure (for me), or my technique has improved. In either case, an enjoyable DFS.

 

[Tanuki]

One Slantember day, two shaves

Prologue: yesterday's shave was low end CCS, so good stubble this morning.

The villain of today's piece...
a zamak knockoff by GBS of a RazoRock Stealth (RR themselves converted to stainless a vintage Glosbusman). It cost me $20 during the second Slantember...

The full cast...

Morning shave:
GBS heavy hitter / Rapira PL (3)
Mogno
Omega 10086 bigger bambino
Hard to find the angle, low efficiency, IMHO a massive loser of a razor. Two passes to a nowhere SAS. I did get to use a Stealth this year. Also a big-headed razor, it is a silent assassin, almost too easy to get to get shaved. Not the perfect edging tool, but unless I have my ATT S2 in hand, a standard OC or an SR is a better edging tool than most of my slants.

Then came a shadowy five o'clock...

Evening shave:
Wanton Leresche lightweight / Rapira PL (4)
Arko from an old insect repellent tube
Omega 11047 badger+boar
One sorta-ATG pass and a little XTG jawline cleanup. Ultralight flight to stubble freedom - or at least to CCS on the all important night time neck.

 

[Lefonque]

Pre	PAA Cube 2.0 USA
Soap	A&E Vanille de Tabac, USA
Brush	BGB Synthesis G6 Badger, Australia
Razor	PAA Filament Slant, USA
Blade	Astra SS, Russia
Post Shave	Proraso Alum, Italy Proraso Balm Italy
Fragrance	GFT Eucris edp, UK
Rating	8/10

 

[Clouds]

Archdale / Wizamet Rubberset 400 / Self made ferrule and a Badger Boar mix Wriggly Tin Vanilla Patchouli I used the Archdale in "Slant" mode for this Slantember shave.​