Thread: I need convincing

Originally Posted by BeBerlin

1. Dovo
2. Böker
3. Puma
4. Revisor
5. Wacker

There are in fact more

Thank you, Robin. Not certain where I got the idea that Dovo and Thiers-Issard were the only two major companies, but I would have bet the farm on it.

I've been wrong before and I'll be wrong again. I much appreciate the correction.
Namaste,
Morty

What the hell is "STR8"?

Originally Posted by gsurko

Alright here goes. Why do I want to use a STR8? I've been reading all the forums, watched all the videos, bought Lynn's DVD and committed the ultimate sin and bought a Gold Dollar razor and Philly strop from Rup Razor and gave it a go a few (Maybe 3) times. I'm willing to admit that perhaps the Gold Dollar is junk but the act of STR8 shaving is an effort in futility for me. My hands don't know where to go or what to do, I look at that razor up against my neck in the mirror and I want to poop my pants. I don't have one of those round faces that everybody on the videos has, I'm more sculptured with sharp corners and pronounced bones and ridges. Let's not even talk about the fact that I have a number of birthdays under my belt and I'm wearing a few well earned wrinkles. I'm looking at the razor and strop sets at SRD. and before I pull the trigger on a nearly $200.00 purchase, is it worth it? I get real good shaves with a DE. HELP!

Because anyone can shave with a DE.

BTW, did you just call Lynn chubby?

Originally Posted by icedog

What the hell is "STR8"?

This is STR8:

__________________________________________________ ____________

it took me 3 months of putting the blade on my throat to do an up stroke,like you said i didnt want to mess my pants either,but i kept at it because it was something i had to learn.practice,practice

Originally Posted by RayG

Because anyone can shave with a DE.

BTW, did you just call Lynn chubby?

"Round faced." If he takes offence to being called a round faced guy, he'll forgive me when I buy a razor.

Obie, without necessarily meaning to, probably wrote the creed for a lot of us with his response, from noobs like me to the pros on this site. Such elegance in words! Made me want to go and bust out all Zen on my strop with whatever razor needs it (and when DON'T they?). I can feel myself relaxing just thinking about it.

Romac touched on some of the practicalities involved and tapped the "green" (sustainability) angle that I share.

Another writer spoke to that aspect of str8 shaving that touches upon the seamless intergenerationality of the practice. That one runs close to the bone with me, too.

I remember watching old movies with my father (gone these three years now) and, when a scene would pop up w/ a str8 in it "Dad, did you ever learn to use one of those?"

"No," he'd say, "I always wanted to, but I was always in too much of a hurry. I wish I had." This, from a man born in 1924 who, though a blue-collar worker all his life had as keen an appreciation for fine things as any person I've ever known and delighted in the rare occasions when he got to pay attention to his appearance. His trips to the barbershop were attended more seriously than some folks pay to church attendance.

And so it was, a couple of years back, with my father gone, that I happened on some website with mention of straight razors. I had no idea anyone was still doing it, but it woke up an itch I couldn't quite reach to scratch. Upon further investigation, I found this place a little more than a year ago, and slowly, Slowly, SLOWLY got started.

I'm approaching my tenth shave now, and I think of Dad every time I begin my routine, knowing he'd have enjoyed it, too. If anything, RAD would've owned him. Lord knows, it's got me by the short-and-stubblies.

I love the learning process, and the nuance and the places that such esoteric knowledge leads. Heck, I know more about soap composition now than I did in the first 45 years of my life. The same goes for steel composition and what remains of real, honorable mastercraftsmanship. This has been, to say the least, an enriching experience.

On a practical level, I agree that the mirror is a terrifying thing. THAT blade at YOUR throat can be quite daunting. That's why I stopped looking at it for awhile.

I reasoned that shaving has been going on for a VERY long time and, as such, most likely the razor came before the mirror, or at least before the mirror was very good, like, say, a polished bronze thing from three thousand years ago. Consider the Greek myth of Narcissus. If he'd had mirrors, he likely wouldn't have spent all that time staring at his reflection in the still waters of a pool, and such self-admiration wouldn't have been an affront to the gods. That meant the idea of spending time looking at our own visages is of relatively recent vintage on the human evolutionary scale.

To me, that meant that the phsyical skills of hand-to-throat likely pre-date the concept of working with a mirror-image of oneself (consider the Roman Legionaire attending to his beard on a quiet morning in camp somewhere in Gaul). As such, I did a couple of things: (1) I sat in the tub with my cartridge razor and shaved without a mirror, judging the effectiveness of my shave as men have done for aeons: by touch; (2) when I was ready to start handling the straight razor, I sat with the side of an unsharpened pencil and mimicked the stretching and practicing various strokes without a mirror.

I've come to the conclusion that our hands know our bodies best and that the mirror can be quite the most daunting part of the process. Because, however, my hands learned before I watched them doing it in the mirror, the mirror was less of a terror-inducing golem.

It has helped me significantly, such that I can stand before the mirror and get as good a shave as I've ever had and do it in an unbroken line that leads back to the earliest urges of the human male to alter his scruffy nature and present a more pleasant face to the world around him, a world that saw him more often than he ever saw himself.

Originally Posted by gsurko

"Round faced." If he takes offence to being called a round faced guy, he'll forgive me when I buy a razor.

Besides, even a bean-pole can be round-faced. We got a bunch of those in my family, including me. No matter what you weigh, you'll always have those cheeks! It ages well anyway.

BobKincaid - What a lovely post. I bet your dad would be proud.

My dear BobKincaid:

Thank you for the kind words. I liked your post as well. It was quite touching, actually, and so well thought out and well written. Such good stuff.

Regards,
Obie

Originally Posted by gsurko

Alright here goes. Why do I want to use a STR8? I've been reading all the forums, watched all the videos, bought Lynn's DVD and committed the ultimate sin and bought a Gold Dollar razor and Philly strop from Rup Razor and gave it a go a few (Maybe 3) times. I'm willing to admit that perhaps the Gold Dollar is junk but the act of STR8 shaving is an effort in futility for me. My hands don't know where to go or what to do, I look at that razor up against my neck in the mirror and I want to poop my pants. I don't have one of those round faces that everybody on the videos has, I'm more sculptured with sharp corners and pronounced bones and ridges. Let's not even talk about the fact that I have a number of birthdays under my belt and I'm wearing a few well earned wrinkles. I'm looking at the razor and strop sets at SRD. and before I pull the trigger on a nearly $200.00 purchase, is it worth it? I get real good shaves with a DE. HELP!

Yap, yap,yap, yap.
First you MUST enjoy shaving (luxuriate in the process/ritual)
Better than DE ???????
I don't know? what I do know is when you get it right all variables considered, boy you won't go back.
Is it worth the learning curve? Only you can answer!!
All said and done, what an elegent way to take fuzz off your face. Remember at one time it was the only way you could shave. I figure in the old days a lot of guys had beards because they couldn't afford a razor or regular visits to barber (time and money).
Be different, be cool,and don't feel you always have to use a straight.
After many years, I still get the occassional bad shave and I don't know why??? but that's the fun of it. every shave ain't gotta be perfect, comfort first in my book. The straight razor IMHO has to be one of the all time perfect designs.

Dive in and enjoy the zen of the straight.