Walking the straight path.

I have just had my official straight razor shave this morning and I am quite surprised. I just had my Dovo honed by Lynn delivered yesterday and I finally got to put it to use. Overall I feel pretty good with my 1st attempt. No nicks or cuts and just a slight razor burn on my neck. But my neck is always irritated after a shave. Another reason I am trying this to see if I can have better results.

I have to say the SRP provided a vast amount of information and reading the faqs and posts finally pushed me to the edge to try this out. I want to say thanks to everyone contributing to this forum. No doubt I have you all to thank for not leaking any blood this morning.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y64...rit/Shave1.jpg

Try a little less pressure on the neck area. It may help.

Oh yes, and welcome to the forum.

Mick

I will definitely keep that in mind next go around. The blade angles gave me a little trouble while doing my neck. Figured it was going to be trail and error for awhile to find what works best for me.

I had the same problem with my neck, it's much better now but I'm still making improvements. My best advice is shave with as little pressure as possible and move you skin around a bit to make sure the razor is making full contact with 'taught' skin. Also, check the grain pattern of your neck, sometimes you never realize but your hair may be growing in a different direction than you expect and shaving in a normal pattern might cause irritation. (this was the case for me anyway)

Did you shave with it the way you're holding it in the pic?

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Originally Posted by tekbow

Did you shave with it the way you're holding it in the pic?

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That would be my question too. It looks like you might have it backwards or upside down or something.

No I just was trying to take a pic that you could see what I was holding. I was also posting it on my facebook and many people still didn't know what it was.

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Originally Posted by ats200

I had the same problem with my neck, it's much better now but I'm still making improvements. My best advice is shave with as little pressure as possible and move you skin around a bit to make sure the razor is making full contact with 'taught' skin. Also, check the grain pattern of your neck, sometimes you never realize but your hair may be growing in a different direction than you expect and shaving in a normal pattern might cause irritation. (this was the case for me anyway)

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I have the same problem. In my quest to get it as smooth as possible I was probably using too much pressure. I will try pulling on the skin to make it more taught as well. Thanks for all the advice.

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Originally Posted by Wckd

No I just was trying to take a pic that you could see what I was holding. I was also posting it on my facebook and many people still didn't know what it was.

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ahhh ok, gotcha. As for the pressure thing, yeah we all do that to start. let the blade do the work, you're just moving the blade, it does the cutting by itself.

Now the real challenge and victory is to remember all the little things you learn thru trial and error and apply them every time. When i joined, i'd just got my first proper straight and had been shaving with a feather for a month. Had found an awesome guide online but still, a lot of what i did without here was very much "well, i hope it goes better this time". Would love to be in the "i didn't nick myself when i started" club but in fact am in the "My maths teacher would be impressed by how parallel those lines are" club..

Something that i've found that helps is to imagine you're shaving someone else. your touch suddenly becomes a lot lighter. also, spend a while with a feather razor. Some people advocate it some people don't, but if you can shave with one of them, you can definitely shave withthe real deal

FWIW, I was staying at a mates place in another city a couple of weeks back, I had an event to attend. I was in a bit of a rush to get ready so my mate offered to iron my shirt while I had a shower and a shave. I was in the process of lathering up for a shave (with a DE, but the principle is the same) when he handed me my shirt. He voiced his disappointment at not being able to watch me whip a bloody great blade around my face when he saw the DE in my hand, as I have already got him using one of those for himself. He was, however, amazed at how feather light my touch was with using it. I had never given it much thought, but there you go, the lightness of the touch is obviously a visible/noticable thing. Other factors were discussed during my shave, things like learning the direction of growth, benefits of using a brush and soap/cream as opposed to canned stuff, best place to buy blades in bulk etc.


Mick

Glad to see another successful 1st SR shave! I still haven't pulled the trigger yet, but seeing posts like this is encouraging!

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Originally Posted by MickR

FWIW, I was staying at a mates place in another city a couple of weeks back, I had an event to attend. I was in a bit of a rush to get ready so my mate offered to iron my shirt while I had a shower and a shave. I was in the process of lathering up for a shave (with a DE, but the principle is the same) when he handed me my shirt. He voiced his disappointment at not being able to watch me whip a bloody great blade around my face when he saw the DE in my hand, as I have already got him using one of those for himself. He was, however, amazed at how feather light my touch was with using it. I had never given it much thought, but there you go, the lightness of the touch is obviously a visible/noticable thing. Other factors were discussed during my shave, things like learning the direction of growth, benefits of using a brush and soap/cream as opposed to canned stuff, best place to buy blades in bulk etc.


Mick

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I plan to give it another go tomorrow. I was definitely not using a feather/light touch on my neck. Hopefully I can get some better results this time around and less irritation.

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Originally Posted by Moonshine

Glad to see another successful 1st SR shave! I still haven't pulled the trigger yet, but seeing posts like this is encouraging!

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I was toying with the idea on and off for awhile. It wasn't until I really started researching, reading forums and watching some videos before I felt like it was something I really wanted to try. It is funny to see some of the reactions I get when I tell people what I am doing. My boss is an old retired Navy chief and he thinks I'm crazy.

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Originally Posted by Moonshine

Glad to see another successful 1st SR shave! I still haven't pulled the trigger yet, but seeing posts like this is encouraging!

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You will when you feel ready, then when you get it down, you may never look back. Anything worth doing is worth the time and effort to do it right.

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Originally Posted by Wckd

I was toying with the idea on and off for awhile. It wasn't until I really started researching, reading forums and watching some videos before I felt like it was something I really wanted to try. It is funny to see some of the reactions I get when I tell people what I am doing. My boss is an old retired Navy chief and he thinks I'm crazy.

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I would too if I were standing on the deck of a moving ship!


Mick

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Originally Posted by MickR

You will when you feel ready, then when you get it down, you may never look back. Anything worth doing is worth the time and effort to do it right.



I would too if I were standing on the deck of a moving ship!


Mick

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My Dad was a Boswain's mate for two go-rounds in WWII. The first go was as Higgin's boat skipper landing Marines et.al. on the various beaches around the theater and some of those stories brought chills to the spine.

Even more chilling was when he informed me that he didn't get his first "Safety Razor" until he was almost home - sadly he traded his unknown straight for that Gillete he used every day for the next 30 years or so. I never saw him bleed very much.

I do have my Grandfather's Larkin that I shave with now and then, but it's just not as nice as the "like new" W. H. Morley Clover Brand my brother got me last Christmas.

I've spent many days on rocking boats, but shaving on a "ship" is probably not a big deal in reasonable seas. My guess is in 40 footers the order of the day was a bit more relaxed...

:)

You are quite correct of course. A ship is one thing a boat another. I've seen many a picture of bearded sailors as well as clean shaven. I don't know what the regulations were for naval personnel back in the day, but I would assume the regulations would have been fairly relaxed before the safety razor came onto the scene.


Mick