Thread: ATG Impossible?!

Hello all,

I'm new to this forum, obviously. I've done some reading and searching through the forums, but have a specific question regarding straight razor shaving. First off, I began straight razor shaving about 2 weeks back. I've had moderate success; my technique has steadily improved, I haven't cut myself whatsoever, and I've achieved a close shave on most parts of my face (not the CLOSEST, but good for how little experience I have IMO). Now, to my question:

The hair on my neck is somewhat oddly-directed. My entire neck hair is directed from left to right. This has made shaving the entire portion above my adam's apple EXTREMELY difficult with the straight razor. It seems that I can't maneuver the razor to go right to left or left to right without poking myself where my neck begins to curve. I've shaved both upwards and downwards, but constantly have patches of hair left over directly under my jawline, where the razor cannot make contact without poking myself or otherwise causing damage.

So, my question is: What do I do? I purchased the razor (a non-disposable DOVO) with the intention of using it exclusively when I become experienced with it. However, I've had to use my old razor to go over my neckline to get it just right, which I don't want to make a habit of doing.

Thanks in advance for any responses!

There is nothing wrong with using your old razor to do touch ups while you are learning, especially on tough areas like the neck.

In this excellent video Lynn demonstrates skin stretching on the neck.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/video...beginners.html

Going against the grain is tuff with a straight razor. I have found that learning to stretch your skin really helps. There is a nice video on youtube. It's called the ten minute, three pass, straight razor shave. This guy is good. I'm a newbie and my shaving has improved after watching his technique.

welcome to srp! the upward and downward strokes you are doing are essentially both across the grain and if your holding the razor at proper angles then those 2 passes should be getting you 99% there, shouldn't really be leaving patches of hair after those 2 across the grain passes. the 3 things that id think right away without watching you shave are that you may need to work on stretching the skin more when doing those 2 passes (don't even do against the grain), you may need to work on the angle you hold the razor during the strokes, your razor may not be up to snuff or need stropping. an edge that's dulled a bit can still cut (scrape) away hair but often will leave patches uncut. as you progress and get more comfortable you will learn to use a scything stroke to get more of an across/against the grain "combo" stroke that will definitely help with the neck situation.
and remember- short strokes are your friend again, without watching you shave im just picturing things that could be problems starting out. sometimes theres a newbie tendency to do long strokes to mow down the hair. short strokes are key.

Some good advice there already. Time, patience and practice are you best friends. Especially patience. You will get there.


Mick

ATG passes on my neck continue to be a challenge. I have experimented with several techniques, and one that seems to help me when it comes to efficient stubble reduction with the least amount of irritation is 'buffing' strokes with the blade nearly flat against the skin. This combined with skin stretching and beard prep have helped me with all directional passes on my neck. And, I am never ashamed of picking up my DE to finish the job. As so many experienced shavers have told me on these forums, comfort over perfection. Good advice! Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by SFS1090

Hello all,

The hair on my neck is somewhat oddly-directed. My entire neck hair is directed from left to right. This has made shaving the entire portion above my adam's apple EXTREMELY difficult with the straight razor. It seems that I can't maneuver the razor to go right to left or left to right without poking myself where my neck begins to curve. I've shaved both upwards and downwards, but constantly have patches of hair left over directly under my jawline, where the razor cannot make contact without poking myself or otherwise causing damage.

So, my question is: What do I do? I purchased the razor (a non-disposable DOVO) with the intention of using it exclusively when I become experienced with it. However, I've had to use my old razor to go over my neckline to get it just right, which I don't want to make a habit of doing.

Thanks in advance for any responses!

The hair on my neck grows sideways too.

Have patience, this will take time, think in terms of getting this one thing right in a month. It is going to take a couple of months to get where you want to go. Always go for comfort first, and a close shave will follow along.

You will mostly end up dividing your face up into regions and come up with a way to shave each reason. You will mostly likely figure out that using both your right and left hand will work best if you can manage it.

Now just fix the jaw line problem this way. Take a face cloth and dry your face to just above the jaw line, now take the fingers of the hand not holding the blade, and put them just above your jaw line and push or pull the skin up as far as you can (under your eye). Now while the skin is stretched up towards your eye like that, shave the bottom of your 'cheek'.

When you take your fingers away, and the skin relaxes, you will find you have shaved from your jawline down an inch or two below your jaw, and you got to do it on the easier flatter portion of your cheek. When I started doing this, I would get just below my jawline. You get better at stretching your skin with practice. Now I can shave my cheek, jawline, and about two inches below my jawline and never take the blade off my cheek. Yes, I shave the top of my neck while the skin is stretched up on to my cheek. You will have to figure out something different just below your chin.

Try it, it works!

Best,

Ed

I use this grip on the razor to go ATG on my neck. Using this, I can get everything. It's helped some others and maybe it'll help you too.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...ml#post1028898

It did help me actually, but not directly. I tried it and I can make it work some. But your picture was the first one to make me think about a grip that was 'different'. You got me to think outside of the box.

So I started experimenting with grips because of this picture, I haven't figured out how to document my grip yet but I would like too. And I got there only because of this unusual grip you posted.

Thank you!

I actually use a weird grip I figure for ATG - hold the blade completely open, thumb on the edge of the tang, firm grip on the scales...guess like holding a knife, only with the edge of the razor obviously pointed upwards to do the ATG...I also tried different grips, this is the one I settled on as it's most comfortable for me...as mentioned, the grip that works for you will come with experimentation.

Keep Calm and Shave On!