why so many people get into honing!

Hello Fellows,


I couldn't help but to share this thought I had.

I feel that if so many people get into honing their own razors it is mostly because that's the first and main wet-shaving related activity that you can practice with others without feeling weird.

When I started straight shaving, I would have liked to have someone beside me showing me and telling me how to do it. But that's in the bathroom, usually with just a towel wrap around your waist, that is a kind of intimacy I don't want to share with a stranger met online...

When you start wet-shaving, honing may be the first activity that you can do in a totally non-intimate situation. I kind of believe that, in a way, that is why so many people hone, or why many people do much more than just touch ups (that can take you a long long way...). Because you can easily meet people and share your experience about that.

Any thoughts or opinions about this?


Cheers
Christophe.

I hone alone

Hone and the world hones with you. Shave, and you bleed alone.

The developer left himself open, but I'm not going to make him mad.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

I hone alone

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With just a towel around your waist?

I hone in the middle of the night so not likely to have others around... maybe because no one else is around lol

I got into honing just to be self sufficient at first... so that I could maintain shave ready razors forever. Now, I enjoy honing because of the sense of accomplishment I get when I shave with an edge that I honed myself and get a smooth shave. It's also relaxing. I hone in my garage "man cave" while watching netflix. I'm sure when HAD gets its grasp on me, I will enjoy trying new stones and methods to get that perfect edge. I haven't ever honed with anyone, and don't really have an inclination to... not that I'd mind showing them how...

As I live in Norway, there really wasn't any appealing options out there, other than to do it myself.
Nowadays it has become a major part of why I enjoy this sport so much.

I am in the process of ordering my first set of hones. My main reason is, as mentioned previously, to be self sufficient. I want to be able to keep my razors sharp and eventually not have to send them out.
Also, I think that people who wetshave are obviously persistent individuals, and it is something that none of us take lightly, and we never half-ass the process. As we get better, we want to learn every aspect of it. Like I said, I think that it is something that has to do with the persistence of the individual to continue and further your knowledge and skills.
It is a lot like many other skills and hobbies in that aspect. For example, many people, after learning to drive, learn maintenance on their vehicle. Self sufficiency and the pride of mastering a new skill are what I believe to be the two driving forces behind the masses of people that learn to hone.

I think most of the reason people DIDN'T hone themselves back in the day is because they didn't want to take the time to learn...

I doubt you'll find anyone here who (while we may be impatient with the learning curve) has a problem putting in the time. At some point, we made a decision to put whatever time is needed to learn this art. As long as we are spending all that time, why not go for broke?

Well obviously you fellas don't know about that kinky online site with shavers in all kinds of suggestive shaving positions and states of undress eh? Just so you know what happens when your partner takes that digital image of you shaving.

I think you would find back in the day most folks honed their own razors and if they didn't expert razor honing was very easy to find and very cheap.

I hone my own because I like my own edges best. I won't say that I am the best honer out there but I have had too many so called shave-ready razors in my hands that were not shave ready by my standards. I really like my razors to pass the hanging hair test before they touch my face. Too many so-called honemeisters or wannabe honemiesters claim a razor can be shave-ready even if it does not pass the hanging hairtest. IMHO that is a load of BS

I'm picking up a 3 line swaty in a few weeks from a friend who doesn't use it. I want to be able to maintain my razors without having to send them out, which can get expensive if you have more than 1-2 razors. Eventually I'd like to get a combo stone and learn how to produce an edge from butter knife dull to razor sharp, as it's a good skill to have IMO. The maintenance is part of what got me hooked on straights in the first place. I don't plan to go to any group therapy sessions on honing, as you can learn everything you need to online here.

self reliance and I got to a point where I was curious and fed up of not honing, and like yourself, why everyone else was doing it and I wasn't... passive peer pressure essentially :)

Shaving is an individual art and something that I felt I wanted complete control over my shave which means honing your own razors and getting them to where you want them to be... on yer face, razor sharp ;)

and we don't talk about those members who are into that kind of honing...:whipped: strictly fully clothed razor honing, thank you very much :angel:

Honing my own razors was also a no brainer for me as I was already insane about sharpening my own kitchen knives, when you have 75+ kitchen knives you don't drop them off somewhere that charges by the inch :p I found my understanding of edge geometry really helped my learning curve for honing razors. And in return my kitchen knives got sharper for my understanding of razor honing lol