Two Month Update

Been straight shaving for two months now and thought I'd share my progress.

To complicate things, after one month in I left the States on a military deployment, and continue my shaving in Okinawa...

I started with a 6/8 Rauh Cutlery, New York (Made in Germany) hollow ground spike and a 4/8 (really almost a 7/16) G. Wostenholm hollow ground round point. The Wostie just won't hold its edge, so I added a 5/8 Wade & Butcher wedge soon thereafter.

For my strop I went with a TM red latigo & canvas. I started with Col. Konk shave soap and a Tweezerman badger hair brush.

First two shaves were aweful, primarily due to blade angle and skin stretching. I also ruined the edges pretty quickly due to poor stropping and sent the blades off to Glen (gssixgun) for some supersharp honing. My initial lather was very poor, but improved somewhat after some advice off this board.

After about a week I was getting some okay shaves, although I was often told it looked like a cat attacked my face. Stopped most of the cuts by the end of the second week, and got my stropping technique to an acceptable level about that point too.

A week in Singapore found me acquiring Tabac shave sticks and an Omega boar bristle brush. No more lather problems! I find I prefer the boar bristle, at least with the Tabac...

Starting to get some *really* good shaves now. Shave time down to about 20 minutes. Pre shave routine is a hot shower, post shave is a rub down with an alum block, splash of bay rum, and Herban Cowboy after shave balm...

Biggest problem area shaving is the upper lip and chin. Lynn's tip of watching the blade angle on the chin really helped me out, but it's still somewhat of a problem area. My other issue is keeping my blades sharp in the tropical humidity. So far I've been able to keep them up using 20 passes on the canvas and 50 on the leather each morning, with weekly touch-ups on newspaper. I'm not sure how long that will last though. Also starting to get *rust* near the pivot. So far it's only been surface rust that rubs off with a soft towel, but I'm concerned about it setting in. Heading off to a drugstore first chance for some camellia oil...

Cheers,

- HJ

First off, thank you for your service to our country. My kids sleep at peace at night because of our fine men and women serving our country - thank you again.

Sounds like you are on a routine that is starting to pay off. My only thought here is that I too find the chin and upper lip the toughest part. I have had success with the following;

1. Good, wet prep.
2. after the WTG pass, I keep the upper lip and chin wet and lathered while I shave the rest of my face. NEVER let those areas get "dry" while continuing to shave.
3. Prior to the XTG re-lather and strop on leather, then hit the upper Lip and chin first before the other areas (sharpest blade to the toughest part). Blade angle decreases at this stage too - drop it closer to the skin.

Also, my chin pass patterns are much like cutting the grass; one section, then the next one right next to it, so on so on. I am passing only a 3-5 mm section in width so the chin takes some time.

OFFICIAL


Regarding humidity, You may want to find some desiccant (little pillows that come with new electrical equipment). Get some Tupperware (or something similar), and store your razors inside with the desiccant.

Good luck, stay safe.

Alpsman

Sir,

I'll echo Alpsman's sentiments. I'm glad our servicemen/women still get to check the site while deployed -- AND I'm glad you still get the chance to enjoy your SR shaves.

I agree with Alpsman's advice. I don't strop between passes but if your blade tugs on those passes it certainly makes sense. If you are touching up on newspaper, especially if you are having trouble keeping your edges, consider picking up some crome ox from ChrisL or some cerium ox from gratewhitehuntr. Even if you don't have a backup strop for pasting, you could certainly paste the newspaper for touch-ups.

Hope this helps!

Ogie

This post is sooo true to straight shaving. If new shavers read this it would show the path.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Good luck and stay safe,
Rick

HJ,

Let me start by saying thank you for serving for our Country and for protecting our Freedom!

What a great post, as a newbie myself you post does help.

I cant wait to get this thing going...seems challenging.

Mike

+1 with everything said so far, as for your chin here something that may help. When you look at the contours of your face try to visualize them as small flat planes and adjust your stroke accordingly.

+1 me too. As ex-military I have nothing but the highest respect for those who wear our uniforms proudly. I've only been at this a month myself so we must just continue to learn. good luck.