Thread: What about a honing contest?

Originally Posted by Bart

I'm not sure how many of you would be interested in such endeavor, and I'm even more unsure if the moderators find such idea acceptable, here on SRP. The only way to find out, is to start a thread, so here it goes.

You have my blessings. This is a great idea.
If someone is willing to take care of the logistical side of things, feel free to start a dedicated thread in the honing forum.

Originally Posted by Bart

I would like to know how many of you would consider entering such a contest. Please post, if you do.

It sounds interesting. I am not sure if I am going to participate. On one hand it would be fun, but otoh, you know that I am mildly paranoid about remaining impartial and avoiding coi.
But that is just me, and in part because I am a SM.
As far as I am concerned, noone is prevented from participating, including mods.

On the off-chance that someone might ask 'but why don't you object to this, since you objected to the SRP accreditation idea', the answer is simple: this is a contest for fun, with no commerical strings attached.

Originally Posted by Bart

In the mean time, I submit for revision, the following contest rules:
Rules:
1. Every contender pays an entrance fee. The amount yet to be decided.
2. The contest executor holds a list of contenders. He assigns a unique number to each contender. He send to each contender a brand new and quality approved Double Arrow Razor, coded with the appropriate number. (The competition razor could also be a Dovo or a TI, if one of them is willing to cut us an awesome deal on a group buy of entery level razors for the sake of sponsoring the worlds single razor honing contest)
Might be worth it to check out, but I wouldn't hold much hope. Dovo and TI have a serious backlog as it is.
3. The contender hones the razor. He oils the blade to prevent corrosion, and sends it back to the executor.
I never oiled a blade. But if you ask it, perhaps you should specify if there are restrictions to the type of oil?4. The executor divides the razors into 4 groups and sends each jury member one group.
5. The jury consists of 4 experienced straight razor shavers. They shave with each razor, and rate it a score, based on a standardized razor performance sheet. The groups are swapped 3 times, so that each razor is assessed by each member of the jury. (This also brings the durability of the edge a bit into account)
They'd have to be experienced indeed to prevent bad stropping from being a factor.
6. Each contender receives his razor back, together with its score sheet, and its ranking in the total group.
Jurors should not know each others applied score to a specific blade to prevent bias / expectation
7. Only the THREE highest ranking razors will be made public.
8. The winners receive a very nice price, payed with the profits coming from the enterance fees (minus razor and shipment costs) and the willingness of the Contest Sponsors (Think Dovo, TI, Ardennes Coticule, etcetera) to come up with something special. And of course also the prestigious "SRP Honing Contest 2009" trophy.
9. The members of the jury are free to enter their own submission, but those razors remain outside the official competition.

Any critique is much welcome,
Bart.

Another thing you could do is to take the top 5 or 6, and have a second set of experienced Jurors look at them. Or perhaps have the same Jurors re-evaluate them using a different razor ID. This way you'd average out difference between individuas shaves.

Also, are there requirements regarding how they are honed, or is it free for all? e.g pastes, naturals, synthetics, teardrop shaped vs triangle, ...