Thread: HHT

This adherence to the HHT validity by many new straighters is testament to the fact that most are not reading deeply into old and older posts on specific subjects.

I've been there too: "my mind is made up and I can't be confused by the facts."

If we could only physically build with such as this mental adamantine, we would never see any earthquake, regardless of its Richters, damage another structure, ever.

I hear ya Bruce, when I first found SRP I had been using a straight razor for about 26 blissful years of total ignorance with one simple Arkansas stone to maintain my two razors and my trusty Illinois strop...

Then came more razors, and more stones, and this quest to hone and strop a razor to pass the HHT regardless of what anyone said...

So I honed and tested, and wow that was easy my hair popped the HHT, shaved OK too, so what was the big deal here...

Then the horrible accident happened, on the next razor I plucked out one of the wife's hairs and not mine nope no HHT, on any amount of honing, at any level of honing, just wouldn't happen...

Finally I wised up and tried the shave, wow that was good

Back to the HHT, which of course now I pluck out one of my hairs and pop...

Took me a few more of these "Tests" to figure out that the HHT needed to be calibrated in to be of any use at all, and that those senior members on SRP actually knew what they were talking about


I have total faith that about a year from now the newer members will be writing this same post, in a thread very similar to this one, thinking to themselves "God, I hope nobody remembers that old post of mine"

I made a beeline for this thread because I knew it would be fun, and sure enough Glen has just made me laugh out loud. My wife's hair is HHT proof too, barring flukes!

The HHT is a useful test - for honers. When my hair is long enough (not often) I use it to assess progress, but it doesn't necessarily tell me anything about whether shaving will be a comfortable and pleasant experience ... in fact the thumb pad gives me more of an idea about that. In a year's time I'll have revised my opinions no doubt, but as things stand now when I hone a razor for someone else, a test shave is an essential part of the service.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

... There are several threads about the HHT on here but the very few things everyone agrees one is that the HHT is for the people who hone razors, and even then only after developing it into a semi-reliable test for that person ...

I think there are two type errors afloat about the HHT. One is that the HHT is a good test for everyone. The other that the HHT is of no value to anyone.

Glen, thanks for stating things correctly...

The bottom line is if it shaves good then it is good..!

A story I use all the time is my Boker Edelweisse which I got from SRD and is a stellar shaver. It passed the HHT for me about 60% of the time, for my dad all the time and a friend of mine couldnt get it to work at all. The reason for this is that all of our hairs are different, so the test only means something if you've calibrated it for your hair.

The golden rule is, until you get into honing and all that good stuff, dont worry about any of the tests other than the shave test. All the other tests are ways of gauging how an edge is progressing as you hone it.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Sometimes I can have some really tough steel on the hone and can't get any HHT of the stone for the life of me. When that happens I'll alway test shave with it just to see what it needs and occassionaly the razor is fine.
I gotta say though every razor that has ever give me an exceptional shave has always passed the HHT easily (any hair).
That said I've had razors that were face harsh but good HHT.
I just find some edges are a delight to hone whilst others are SOB's, to me I need to match the hone and approach to the steel and some razors will never give a good test result but shave fine.
I also find pastes will get me there most of the time if I'm struggling especially stainless which in my opinion don't quite get as keen as my best carbons.