Thread: What about a honing contest?

Originally Posted by Bruno

Interestingly, that sentence can mean 2 things, depending on whether 'can't' is used as 'not possible' or 'should not'

I don't think you should ever take anything too seriously, and in a case like this where you can't take it too seriously, you don't have to worry too seriously about the should, because the can't doesn't allow for any other option

seriously though (but not too seriously), what's wrong with having a fun contest with prizes and having people who may or may not be perfect judges to judge it? The prize will only carry as much importance as you attach to it I think.

A fantastic idea, from what little I've read. And we could sell tickets!! Admission if you will. A honemasters (and mistresses - PC doncha know) exposition, demonstration, and regaling of the wiles, wares, and wherefores of the dark arts of raising an edge.

Hey, this could generate some serious coin. We could use all four corners of Madison Square Garden to gather together all the edging adepts, the curious, and the razor burned.

And we could donate some sharpened razors to the needy. The sharpest of course would be affixed to the traveling trophy demonstrating to those who follow where exactly the hair hung.

This could be my best plan yet.

Personally I would like it to be either a speed honing or an extreme honing event. Probably extreme honing would be the most fun to watch. Honing underwater, up a tree, water skiing, abseiling, in a shark cage, bungee jumping, tied to the wing of a 747 during takeoff.... the options are endless.

In fact, you could combine speed honing with extreme honing - extreme speed honing. For example, take one Olympic Judo expert. Allow said expert to place honer in a strangle-hold. See how far they can hone an edge before they pass out. Again, the options could be endless for extreme speed honing: picture a "chicken" scenario involving a fully laden cement truck vs a guy with a DA and Coticule....

James.

When you have a boxing match you don't put a lightweight in with a heavyweight and you don't match up a major league ball club with a minor league one. So how do you ensure the razors to be honed start out equally. If honer A starts with a razor almost in shave ready condition and honer B gets an eboy special and the jury says honer A's result is great and honer B's ain't so good what does that mean? Does it mean one guy is really a good honer and the other isn't or one had maybe an almost impossible job and the other had it easy?

My understanding is that the idea would be that all participants would get a Double Arrow with a factory edge. I'm confused about the Ebay razor reference.

Chris L

A while back I had a thought that was critique and feedback oriented. As Utopian said if you take the contest out more may find participation agreeable. Basically I propose we each sign on to a post with "I Agree" similar to the giveaway. Agreeing to pick a razor from personal stock and send it to another whom we have been matched with from the list.

It might be beneficial if we made a choice to be mentor or pupil so we could match opposites or it could be random. Each pair could communicate, critique, and so on. The following week we re match. To add a twist your original razor would be forfeit, you could either send out the one you received or send another; though perhaps it'd be better to send the one you got first.



well whattaya think?

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

When you have a boxing match you don't put a lightweight in with a heavyweight and you don't match up a major league ball club with a minor league one.

You do in exhibition games. Isn't that what this is meant to be?

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

When you have a boxing match you don't put a lightweight in with a heavyweight and you don't match up a major league ball club with a minor league one.

That's why I would give everybody the same model and brand of razor to start with.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

So how do you ensure the razors to be honed start out equally.

I don't.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

If honer A starts with a razor almost in shave ready condition and honer B gets an eboy special and the jury says honer A's result is great and honer B's ain't so good what does that mean?

The jury won't say anything about the honers. The jury will use a razor and rate its performance as a shaver. The honer of that razor shall receive a detailed and private report with the separate jury members' findings, and some nifty excel graphs that situate the razor in the whole pack, for criteria such as shaving comfort, shaving result, and tendency to cause skin irritation.
The top three razors recieve a price. That's it.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Does it mean one guy is really a good honer and the other isn't or one had maybe an almost impossible job and the other had it easy?

If you really insist, I'll drag each razor with its edge over a coticule, rendering those DA's even duller as they already come from the factory, but somehow I doubt you'll find that satisfactory.
Yes, the winning razor could be a fluke. Isn't that a comforting thought?

Respectfully,
Bart.

Bart, I like your plan. Thank you for thinking it up. I hope it materializes and I thank you in advance for you volunteering to take this on.

I do agree that rather than contest (even tough competition to me is fun) maybe this be reorganized as a confidential honing assessment. Given the number of newer, burgeoning, non-expert honers among us (myself included), I would really be shocked if more people don't want to take advantage of a private assessment.

Chris L

I agree with Chris' agreement with Bart!

I am completely in favor of this and would love to participate in it in whatever form it takes. I had no objection to the contest format, I just thought the elimination of that format might eliminate some of the objections.

This is a wonderful idea and a great opportunity. People in this forum are constantly recommending to new members that they should get their first razor honed by an expert so that they have a baseline for comparison. How many people have ever done that? I haven't. I sold one razor to Chris and asked for his honest assessment and I cried for a week, give or take, when he told me it didn't shave well enough. I eventually got over it and I believe I got better. I will cling to that belief either until I participate in this contest or I sell Chris another razor!

Feedback is a good thing. It's a learning opportunity and nobody's going home with the honing dumb*ss prize so you have nothing to lose. Everyone at EVERY level of ability should be jumping at the opportunity to do this.

I will definitely sign up if this goes forward.