Things I wish I had known sooner…
Things I wish I had known sooner…
Back in the mid to late 80s, I purchased my first straight razor and started a long painful journey exposing not only my ignorance but a few minor blood vessels too. All I knew at that time about open razors was what I had seen in cowboy movies (remember My Name is Nobody?) and the Three Stooges.
I was flying blind. Deaf and dumb too. That I continued with it should suggest questions regarding my sanity.
So here’s what I had to learn the hard way and what was revealed to me when I stumbled into SRP.
It’s not sharp enough! So, there I had this straight razor in my hand. All new and shiny and the sharpest thing I ever beheld. How was I to know it wasn’t sharp enough to shave with? What a dirty little secret that turned out to be. I have never quite forgiven DOVO for that one.
I knew of no honemiesters (nor the word) to turn to. But I had a whole collection of Arkansas stones and fairly good instincts. I was able to get my razor to the threshold of passing the hanging hair test (I knew of the HHT from Bugs Bunny cartoons).
You can’t sharpen a razor with a strop. See above.
Stropping with out a strop. Enough with the cowboy movies! Your belt, boot, or palm of your hand is not a strop.
Lather from a can? Yeah, I thought the stuff in the aerosol can would work. I mean, how important is lather? How was I to know that the cheapest puck of soap and an old paint brush would be better than the most expensive fluorescent gels? Someday I might be forced to give up my straights (the sanitarium may not allow them) but I’m never going back to the can.
Don’t bear down. When shaving with a blue plastic razor, if you want a closer shave, you press down a little more. So when my DOVO (still not really shave ready) left a great deal of stubble, I tried applying more pressure. Yikes. No, really, I mean, YIKES! Pressing down is still a bad habit I have to watch out for.
Use two hands? When I first saw that video of Lynn shaving (It took about an hour to download to my computer at the time) I saw the true folly of my ways. Stretch the skin! Hard to reach place? Stretch it to someplace more accessible. Stubborn, cross-grained beard? Stretch it! Then switch hands and do the other side of the face. Wow, now I can shave both sides of my face equally close-ish. That Lynn, who would have thought a guy with a mustache knew so much about shaving?
Badgers? I don’t need no steenkin’ badgers. Or so I thought. Are badger brushes that good? Yes. Yes, they are. What makes a good brush is a very subjective thing but for good or bad, badger brushes are very different from the porcine variety (which is still better than a paint brush).
One razor leads to another. The damn things should come with warning labels.
I am the best honemeister. Well, once I obtained the proper tools and spent couple years learning how to use them. No one can hone my razor to please my face as well as I can. Most of the time. Except for that first flippin’ DOVO.
Semper Circa,
LG Roy
Things I wish I had known sooner
Hello, Library Guy:
A good read. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Regards,
Obie