Thread: HHT

+1 on what has already been said. I have purchased a few shave ready razors from both members here and SRP's sponsors and let me say that none of them pass the HHT with my hair, but guess what? They all give excellent shaves as the shave test is really the only test that matters. Since you purchased your razor from SRD, then you have a shave ready razor that probably couldn't be honed to be any sharper. So just relax, lather, and enjoy the shave.

thanks for all the input! I'm glad I asked the question. Now I know that I'm not doing my stropping wrong.

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.