Tricky beard grain direction on neck, advice requested

I'm slowly improving in my straight shaving ability daily, but one area really has me still puzzled.

Like most people, I have "hollows" on my neck on either side of my adam's apple, below my jawline. But, my beard grain in these hollows is either "northwest" or "northeast", growing almost straight out and up from my adam's apple toward my jaw joints. Not quite sideways, up, or down - more a 45 degree angle.

I've tried multiple across the grain passes (straight up or down), and that doesn't quite get it for me - the beard there is tough for me at my stage of skill without blade-burning myself because of too much pressure. I can't seem to lean my head over quite far enough to get a flat enough surface to try a true against-the-grain pass from my jaw joint down to my adam's apple, sliding down at a 45 degree angle. :rant:

Does any experienced straight shaver have a tip on how they deal with this? Perhaps a skin stretching trick or on-the-bias blade stroke that I haven't figured out yet? I have to admit, the across-the-grain passes in these areas are working much better than a few weeks ago, when I couldn't get anything right in these hollow areas at all. Stretching and a very light touch with the blade have really helped.

I'm far from experienced, but I'm thinking perhaps moving the skin slightly aside?
Across the grain should be fairly close and comfortable, I don't think I go everywhere WTG first.
In fact just under my jaw line it grows kinda sideways, so when I lift my chin up the right side is poingint southeast in the mirror, I guess I never shave it strictly WTG and may be at the very end I'll try ATG on part of it. But I don't need or try for BBS shave - sometimes I may but almost always I could feel very short stubble esp under the jawline.
Did I mention I'm fairly inexperienced - too bad there's not enough space on my status line to keep that there :)?
Hopefully others will come with more useful advice.

I too have the problem with that area:(

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/3...ture250cg5.jpg

On the right side of my neck it grows up, and on the left it grows down. I guess it can't figure if it's coming or going...:)

Good to know there are others with the same challenges. I'm hoping that as I improve with my ATG skills in this area, this will become less and less of a problem.

There's one area that I've actually found easier for me to handle using a straight - the centerline of my neck, from under my chin to below my adam's apple. This area used to give me fits with a DE, because my beard hairs are individually very thick and tough. Even with a slant DE, I generally ended up with some burn trying to get that area BBS with too much pressure. The skin in this area of my neck is looser than other areas, so with a little stretching and a very light touch, that big straight blade takes no prisoners plowing through that centerline cleanly, yet gently. Very light, rhythmic, and short downward strokes on either side, starting at the chin and going down, works for me.

I've also stumbled upon getting BBS on my cheeks occasionally in the past few weeks with one WTG and one XTG pass, no ATG pass. With a DE, it would take at least three passes - WTG, XTG, ATG - plus touch ups.

And I've noticed that the stubble doesn't feel as "sharp" when it's growing back as it does with a DE after a really close shave. I'm thinking that this is because of the mass of the blade and light touch with a straight, and no guide bar or teeth like on a DE to indent the skin surface, the straight cuts the beard more squarely.

I too have grain that goes in various directions on the neck area. The best advise I can give you is to know what that grain is and to adhere to shaving with the grain regardless of the direction that your razor must take on the first pass. I use two across the grain passes in different directions and do not really feel a need to do an against the grain pass.
For example: During a WTG pass, I shave N/S just under the chin, 45 degree angle from chin to earline, and S/N from under the adams apple up to just above the adams apple.
Keep up the great progress!

I think I may have had good fortune regarding my adam's apple. It is not so large, and I can pass over it easily, so I stretch the skin that is usually over those hollows on either side all the way toward my adam's apple and simply shave straight up and down over it. The far side of the hollow won't quite reach the flatter area near my adam's apple though, so I'll stretch it as far as I can toward my ear and go at it from an upward 45 toward my chin

This has greatly reduced the burn I used to get on my neck

I don't have trouble in that spot -- for me it's the corner of my jaw on the left side. I can do a pretty good job on it by pulling the skin over to a flatter/more accessible spot. Maybe that would help with your Adam's apple. It also helps me to open my jaw up wide; in your case, maybe holding a swallow to move your Adam's apple would change the shape just enough to help.

-- pwf

I too have the same problem.

The closest shave I've had was with two XTG (down, up) followed by something I saw on mantic's video here:

YouTube - Advanced Shaving Techniques

He calls it J hooking and it is about 1:35 in.

it's harder to do with a straight, but if you use the heel or the toe predominantly, you can get it reallly close..

I'm new to these forums, but maybe I can help, when it comes to shaving my clients, I apply a hot towel 3 times to the face, this will soften whiskers before I start shaving, when I start I stretch the skin pretty tight when I encounter this problem and this should help, but I do have 1 client that I still have to do a once over. I hope this helps you