Thread: Me or my Armentarium. Please help.

Hi all!
I am sure you get tons of these types of threads, but please humor me with any responses you might be able to dole out

I started straight razor shaving by getting a parker "shavette" off of amazon last christmas with a box of shark, gillette, and derby blades. Now a year later... I'm still trying to shave without nicking, cutting, or giving myself major razor burn.
I do have some pretty stiff whiskers and sensitive skin to boot.

I generally try to do my pre shave with conditioner on my whiskers during a shower, or else I use the hot-towel method for about 3-5 minutes. Then I use Art of shaving pre-shave oil, then Art of shaving cream with a fine badger hair brush. I always start WTG, xtg in certain areas, and then ATG, but at this point, the razor likes to "stop" around my chin and will not glide through and cut the whiskers easily. I have tried different angles, and don't seem to get any better results. I find I am getting a lot of nicks and cuts this way. I get frustrated with being very delicate and eventually start losing my technique.... because I dont have 45 minutes to shave every day. Even so, I don't get a BBS shave.

My wife has mentioned buying me a traditional straight blade as an aniversary present. Would the heft of a traditional blade help me get a more comfortable shave? Or should I stick with the shavette until I figure this out? I'm consideriing a dovo 6/8 or something along those lines. 200+ dollars is a lot to spend for something that might not eventually pan out. I'm not ready to give up yet, but I'm not having much fun either.

Thank you all
Luis

I would say if your interested try the classifieds here for a lower cost vintage that is shave ready and get a strop. I started with a shavette and find the traditional straights to be munch nicer.

That could wind up costing more than just for a razor. You have to have a strop and consider the cost of sending it out to be honed or buying some hones to do it yourself. I think I would wait and get the shavette shaves going smoothly first and then try a straight.

Bob

How is the irritation with just a WTG pass? If this is not comfortable then I would think technique is the issue. I have not used a shavette myself, but with my straight I found that doing more passes only made the problems worse until I got each pass figured out.

Sometimes when we try and learn something and have no reference to go by we just learn the wrong way and the more we do it the more we reinforce bad habits. I hope you have done some research in using a shavette before you started. Obviously something is amiss and you need to stop and figure it out. Continuing to do what you are doing is not the answer. Since a shavette does not require honing and stropping it all falls back to you the user and the amount of pressure you use and the angle of attack. It's no different than going to the firing range and you can't hit the broad side of a barn. Wasting more ammo isn't the answer you have to figure out what you are doing wrong. Is it your breathing, trigger pull, sight alignment and picture?

I know the parker can be more difficult to use. Maybe a feather would have been a better razor to start with.

Gentlemen,
Thank you for your responses.

BobH, I'm looking at some nice dovo + strop sets from SRD from 120+. I could go as high as 277.
I just need guidance.

mcbrautigam, I rarely feel any discomfort when passing wtg. It's usually fairly easy. The real difficulty is when my hairs pull atg. I can't seem to "glide" my razor over my skin without considerable force, regardless of which blade I use. (Though I'm really not liking the shark blades at all).

Thebigspendur, I know what you mean. I've been trying to diagnose the issues on my own for almost a year. To no avail. That's why I'm here.

I wish I had someone to take me under their wing with straight razor shaving, but I might just be the only bada$$ in manhattan Kansas. J/K

Welcome to SRP

Put your location in your profile and it would be easier for people local to you to offer you help in person. I think we have a number of experienced guys in Kansas, but I don't really know if there is anybody close to you. Take a look at the mentors - see if there is somebody close to you, double check that they are currently active (i.e. have recent posts) and feel free to send them a PM.

Here's the list (from the quick links drop-down menu below the navigation bar): http://straightrazorpalace.com/showgroups.php
Also one of the moderators nun2sharp I think is in Kansas, I believe Kansas City.

You are absolutely right - nothing can match getting help in person from somebody experienced. When that is not an option we do our best to troubleshoot things this way, but it's much harder.

My thought was that you may encounter the same problems with a straight as you are having with the shavette now. OTH you might not but it is pricey to find out. That is not to discourage you from trying a straight and from all reports you picked a respected supplier.

If you put your location in your profile there might be somebody close enough to mentor you and get the problems with the shavette worked out. Once you get that done going to a straight might be much easier because I think the two are similar in use although I have never used a shavette. Someone who uses a shavette may have some useful suggestions for you.

Bob

I tried shavettes few times, but just didn't like it. They felt kind of flimsy and while getting the job done just weren't enjoyable like a regular razor. The thin blade is kind of weird, not sure how to describe it. Of course they're definitely sharp but I can see how it can cause a problem with 'stopping'.
Of these types of razors the feathers were a head and shoulders above the rest - very different thing really - solid, well made tool, but I still didn't enjoy the shaving very much. And they're more expensive than a regular straight razor.

Gents. I just put up a new post. Please read it if you have the time. SRP Mentorship.... a hard earned success story.