Thread: ATG, how to?

Hey guys,

I'm in need of some help or some directions.
I've been shaving with a SR for a few months now and it's going very well.
No more cuts, no more razorburn, the only thing is, I only shave WTG.
I wanted to make sure I felt at ease with the SR before going ATG or XTG.
Now I've arrived to the point where I want to give it a try.
But what is the best way to start?

All tips are more than welcome.

Make sure your razor is not pulling or tugging at all. I find most days I can get a really close shave with two passes one WTG and one XTG. If you stretch the skin in the opposite direction of your XTG pass the shave will be very close.

When going ATG go slowly. Keep the spine very close to the skin. And do not try ATG under your nose.

My suggestion would be the same as you started. Start with the cheeks and work up to more and more as you get more comfortable with it. Good luck

90% of the time I only go WTG and then a XTG. If I want real Close I do two XTG. Start very slow, watching your pressure and angle. I suggest going back to when you started, get the hang of your cheeks then move to harder areas. You'' have to be much more careful with growth patterns and textures. I've got very thick course beard that grows almost flat against my neck, its just asking to be cut to ribbons most of the time to go ATG on it. When in doubt remember you'll learn from your mistakes, and keep a styptic pencil near.

I started with XTG fairly soon, I go XTG from ear to center, seen lots do it the other way around, for some reason, that doesn't work for me.

ATG definitely came later, after about 20 shaves, I could do some ATG on the neck area, but that was it. Then I just slowly kept creeping up higher and higher until I can do my entire face ATG no problem.

For me, one of the key's to ATG is properly stretching the skin by pulling down on the neck area by the collar and leaning the head back a bit to get a good stretch, otherwise it's more difficult to get a clean shave, and you can give the blade a chance to dig in potentially.

Yes, what they said. Full ATG is simply not necessary for good close comfy shaving.

And you are quite correct in NOT trying it right off the bat.

The potential problem with ATG is that the grain of the whiskers will pull the blade into your skin AND/OR push/allow the blade movement laterally (to the intended direction of travel), and one must have developed a really good control of his blade to counter this. The sharpness of your edge will play into it as well. It's not that big of a deal where the hairs are less dense and multi-directional, but in areas of heavy growth, proceed WITH caution and only with the sharpest of blades.

And only after you've reduced the beard in that area by WTG, XTG strokes.

Again, ATG is never really necessary. Good on ya for askin'.

Originally Posted by Yves81

Hey guys,

I'm in need of some help or some directions.
I've been shaving with a SR for a few months now and it's going very well.
No more cuts, no more razorburn, the only thing is, I only shave WTG.
I wanted to make sure I felt at ease with the SR before going ATG or XTG.
Now I've arrived to the point where I want to give it a try.
But what is the best way to start?

All tips are more than welcome.

Congratulations on taking it slow!

Have you "mapped" your beard growth? If you make drawing like so:



However, that being said, many people generally take the XTG pass as horizontal passes(East to West and West to East), ie, from ear to ear. I generally start on my right, high jaw/hair line and work my way across my lip and chip to the other side. I sometimes stop in the middle of the lip or chin and move to the left side, high jaw/hair line and make my way across to the lip and chin.

My neck anywhere except a little under the chin and under the jaw area by the ear and a little at the very bottom, an XTG pass is difficult to accomplish with the straight. I generally go right to an ATG pass(south to north).

Hope that helps a little.

IMPORTANT: You must drop your angle to 7-15 degrees in an XTG/ATG pass or you will pay! I will come to your house and take your styptic away!

As with anything, it requires practice. I do one pass WTG and one pass ATG with touch-ups and completely cut out the XTG. Skin stretching, proper lather make-up and a sharp razor is key IMO.

It can be done despite what a couple of people here said.

Good luck,

Frank

Originally Posted by Lakebound

As with anything, it requires practice. I do one pass WTG and one pass ATG with touch-ups and completely cut out the XTG. Skin stretching, proper lather make-up and a sharp razor is key IMO.

It can be done despite what a couple of people here said.

Good luck,

Frank

Agreed - I used to think it was great to get my shave done quickly, two passes and out the door.

Now, if I could invent several different types of passes, I'd do them, just to enjoy the experience of shaving. You'd think you'd do WTG, XTG, and then ATG, for some reason, I like to do WTG, lather again, then all over ATG, re-lather again, then XTG on the cheek areas and another ATG on the neck, stretch that shave out as long as I can....LOL.

But yes, you can get a great shave with WTG only if you wanted, just practice and technique, as with most things.....

What I love about a thread like this one is the simple fact that we, as a group, spend so much time talking about razors, hones, eBay, strops/stropping, restoration, or arguing about tape on the spine that we neglect the shave itself. If I were to give any advice on the best way to start, it would be to understand what ATG means to you. Everyone's beard growth is going to be different. Know what ATG means to you and think about how the blade needs to engage it such that its ATG. Then think about how you'll need to hold the razor in order to accomplish that. Since you won't have only one direction, you won't have only one grip you'll need to utilize. Do as others have suggested. Start with one section and nail it. Then move on to another section and nail it. Later, string them all together in a logical sequence (clear area A in order to stretch and shave area B). Same thing with XTG. You're ready to try it when you're comfortable with WTG. There are things others can teach you and there are things you'll teach yourself. The sequence is all you. But there are common areas where you might run into trouble. Post those when you run into them or PM someone you can lean on for advice.