Thread: How not to do a HHT - suffer the agony!

Well, the controversial hanging hair test (HHT) tamed me a few days ago when I was trying to get a Stainelss Steel razor of mine shave ready...

I was really struggling to get this razor to a comfortable shave ready state, and went too far to make it pass the unnecessary old HHT.

I'm sure most of the old hands know what is coming, but here's what happened:

I honed, stropped, tested, honed, stropped, tested endlessly, and slowly got the razor better and better, with it passing a HHT on parts of the blade, so I tried to convince myself that the razor is really nice and sharp, but I still wanted to see it slice that HHT very easily. First mistake.

Grabbed one of my wife's hairs from her brush and continued chopping it up on parts of the blade, but there was one spot that simply did not want to play the HHT game, so I went faster and faster with the hair onto the blade, and came closer and closer with my fingertips to the blade until I got it to cut the hair about 1mm from my fingertips.... Yea, close. Then I thought "that looks nice, let me try again"

Second mistake, re-try: Now I really wanted to show myself that HHT on the bad spot on the blade, so I did it really fast, and verrrrry close to the blade. You guessed it, I mis-judged and chopped off about a 4mm X 4mm patch of my fingertip, and just watched as it started to bleed profusely. Styptic pencil was not going to solve this one! LOL.

Guess I discovered a new sharpness test, I will call it the HHFFTST. (Hanging Hair Failed Finger Tip Slice Test) And no, this does not give a good indication of a shave-ready razor, but feel free to try it out! Don't say I did not warn you from my mistake!

Only good thing is, I finally DID get the razor shave-ready sharp, and it shaves very comfortably now, even though my finger grip on the tang is slightly off-set now!

Sorry about your misfortune.

I've never used the HHT. I have no use for it. I go by armhair shaving. It tells me everything I need to know short of actually shaving.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Sorry about your misfortune.

I've never used the HHT. I have no use for it. I go by armhair shaving. It tells me everything I need to know short of actually shaving.

Just so you know, the HHT is unnecessary to say the least, it means nothing, it is fun, but it still means nothing.

Ouch! Hope you heal up fast!

I agree with Nelson. All you need to find out if your razor is shave ready are the arm hair shaving tests. They'll tell you all you need to know about how an edge is progressing.

Yep, I realize the HHT is not the be-all and end-all, and is very controvertial. Just thought I'd share my funny near-missing digit story! LOL

Henceforth that will be known as the FTPT. Sorry to hear about your accident.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Henceforth that will be known as the FTPT. Sorry to hear about your accident.

LOL! It's all part of the learning curve!

If it's any consolation, several others have posted similar stories.

I happen to use the HHT and rely on it to give me valuable feedback even after the hairs on my arm are getting mowed like butter. The way I do it is:

1.) Take a good, long hair from my wife's hairbrush.
2.) Determine the root end by carefully sliding my fingertips along the hair to feel the "grain" of the hair.
3.) Place the hair, root end overhanging the upright edge of the blade by about 1.5 inches.
4.) Gently pull the standing end of the hair straight down.

The results usually fall into the following categories:

1.) The hair slides smoothly along the edge= dull edge
2.) The hair wiggles as it slides across the edge= dullish edge
3.) The hair pops off the edge, sometimes audibly= kind of sharp
4.) The hair falls silently at the first tug= good and sharp

IME, I won't even try to test shave a razor that tests 1 or 2 all along the edge. If a razor tests 3 or higher all along the edge, it almost always shaves at least very good.

IME, the arm hair test doesn't give me that much feedback. Maybe I'm just not experienced enough.

Next time, try tossing the razor up in the air, flipping it end over end. That should cut the hair!