Been lurking... had a few questions now that the first razor is on it's way.

Strop height...Doorknob. I zip tied a key ring around the narrow inside part of my bathroom doorknob and just clip the strop to it.
Cushion...kinda refers to the thickness of the lather. Put a good dab of lather between your index finger and thumb and lightly squeeze. With good cushion you will almost feel the lather push back. Sorta springy. No cushion the lather offers no resistance and just collapses.
As far as the nose...if you do a "fools pass" and shave your upper lip against the grain...well the risk is yours!

Pete <:-}

You can put the strop anywhere and you can even just use a paddle strop and hold it in your hand.

Soap is soap. It all works, just don't let it dry out.

I don't do against the grain strokes under the nose (actually, I don't do them anywhere with a straight).

Thanks for all the answers! the kit actually arrived today, hanging out with grandpa...whose honing it for me, and showing off *his* collection of razors, pointing out exactly who he had inherited them from, and learning the ropes. some how the 'quick little thing' turned into 'most the morning' and then... 'Oh crap, I have to go to work'.

As it happens, first shave was a success!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dieseld

[...snip]
As to cuts, yeah they do happen but the longer you SR shave the more rare they become. I've never had a bad cut, but some bled like they were serious.

as a matter of assumption, I figured it'd go that way. I did alright today- no visible bleeding, and the shave was better than I had in years with cartridges. (Mostly because, with cartridges...I hated shaving. left my face feeling raw, even if the cartridge was new.) Definitely not going back... okay so it takes more time... but it's fun. and relaxing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RezDog

Ah yes we can be a little sadistic. [...snip...]It was always better to see the surprise reaction. [...snippity snip...] The styptic pencil does have a certain bite to it for sure. But don't tel anyone it too is better as a surprise.

That's not sadistic. that's brilliant. :\ I'm manager for a security company... during training for tools (taser,baton, handcuffs...that sort of stuff) we like to tase/mace the new guys at least once. supposedly for empathy, but it really doesn't work that way.

my usual prank on the new guy, is during the post-training uniform inspection (where we go through the whole kit and caboodle- the post's AED, trauma kit, other stuff) and at some conveniently innocuous moment, point out that they're missing the spare chemlight batteries. It's hilarious. unless the new guy happens to be a former service member... at which point, they typically chuckle and smile a bit. Then, I pull the gag with flex-cuff keys. (you know the 'zip-tie' handcuffs. our particular brand doesn't have keys...).

usually by the time he's done he has a fairly good understanding of where to go if he actually needs something. but... that's a massive digression... hmm... maybe we should start another thread in a more appropriate section...