Thread: advice on ATG when neck hair grows directly towards ear ?

Originally Posted by touchdowntodd

my neck portion of my beard grows 90% towards my right ear, directly across my neck on a horizontal line...

with a DE i could go ATG and get a nice smooth shave

with the big ol straight, cant.. just cant find a way to stretch my skin etc to get there..

now i LOVE shaving every day... so i sorta dont mind, but the 5oclock shadow isnt fun when im putting in this much effort LOL

advice?

thanks guys...

...consider using a 4/4 str8...or the DE...I have the same problem in nearly the same area and to be honest, most of the time I just live with the bad spots if I can't get them as close as I'd like...the same issue is in place whether I use the srt8 (which is most of the time) or when I use the DE when I'm travelling...my biggest problem area is the sides if the neck between the muscles and the windpipe and the hair grows sort of diagonally from front to back at about a 15 degree angle relative to horizontal...so...if the shave gets the whiskers as close as the rest of the face, great...if not, no problemo. one of my best friends is also the pastor at my church back home and he often uses a phrase "pressing things out of measure" that sort of sums up my attempts at shaving...basically, I take what the blade will give me that day for that shave...if I try to get too much out of it or "press things out of measure" them I'm asking for trouble with nicks or worse...haven't ahd a real nasty or deep cut but I have indeed nicked myself a few times and given myself razor burn when trying to get too much out of the shave...I usually go two passes (WTG and ATG) but I'm still learning the grain...I've read where some folks have actually mapped out their grain so that may help too...sometimes I'll try and hit the trouble spots for a third pass but not often...keep reading these posts and you'll find your stroke...happy shaves...

"ah, but then i would be admitting defeat!"

You don't have to admit to defeat. You can declare yourself victorious by rising above the remaining
bristle on your neck, just shaving it WTG or XTG as best you can and moving on. Those neck hairs may
grow in different and difficult directions, but they tend to be lighter in texture than jaw and chin whiskers
and aren't bothersome by the end of the day.

I used to have this very problem, stubble under the jawline towards the throat. The solution, for me, was alternating stretching patterns. I stretch towards the ear, or more precicely, just under the ear, and also north, over the jawline. It can be hard to get both stretches in one go so I sometimes use 2 passes. Also use a scything stroke, as well as grimacing, head tilting and leaning over.
Dang, reading this over I gotta ask myself if my shaves really are as comfortable as I think they are

I have exactly the same issue, and I'm starting to think this is more common than some are letting on. What I've found is helpful is by shaving diagonally on my neck in those areas. Mine is the entire width of my neck, below my chin. (The Lord has blessed/cursed my with spotty hair growth and less-than-average amounts in those spotty areas)

Similar to the scything technique has come my diagonal motion. It's more or less slowly moving towards an East to West movement over time, until I become more comfortable with the directly lateral movement. This way, I'm easing myself into that transition instead of throwing myself into the fire.

I'd give the diagonal motion a try and see how well that works for you.

I had awesome shaves the last two nights. After a basic WTG all over, I used the japanese kamisori grip with short strokes with the blade flat against my neck (like honing). Up from the bottom, then down from the ear using left hand on right side, and vice versa. Awesome results. Still have a couple random spots I have to figure out how to hit, but very happy with the progress.