Thread: Throw those crutches away

Tierdaen,
I sense anger in your posts, which to me sounds like you have had bad dealings with people in the shaving communities? If this is so, then be more specific & maybe it will help others.

I think it would be pretty hard to "convert" , a term you used, a new shaver to drop his disposables & place a straight to his face. This is a jump that a person has to want to try.

I'm sure bungee jumping is a serious rush also, but I'll be da*ned if anybody could convert/convince me to do it.

I guess, in my post above, my point was unclear. I think practice is the discipline required to become competent with any tool. It is also important that the tool be in condition to do what it was designed to do. My point is that there is an underlying assumption in the standard advice that given practice and a good tool, you will eventually get the best shave for your face and skin. I don't agree with this point of view. You will get better and better at using the tool, but it is possible that another tool would give better results or you may not have the coordination to get all the angles necessary or the honing skills to keep your razor in top condition. To my mind, it is like saying that if you buy great quality golf clubs and practice a lot you will become a par golfer or better. If that were the case, there would be many more competitive golfers than there are. We are all unique with different skill sets and temperaments (and budgets). Why should these not be acknowledged when discussing straight razor shaving. One size fits all advice will not always help the new shaver. IMO

It just takes time is all,no blade, soap,brush, strop is going to create shaving nervana.
As far as golf,I can play to par on any course with any clubs, anywhere in the world.
Been doing it for yrs.
Played a 72 yesterday,when I hit 72 I quit,might be six holes,on a good day maybe 10 or 12.Head on in to the clubhouse and bitch about just getting around with par score

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

It just takes time is all,no blade, soap,brush, strop is going to create shaving nervana.
As far as golf,I can play to par on any course with any clubs, anywhere in the world.
Been doing it for yrs.
Played a 72 yesterday,when I hit 72 I quit,might be six holes,on a good day maybe 10 or 12.Head on in to the clubhouse and bitch about just getting around with par score

Well, I am very pleased that you have these talents, and, thank you for making my point. Good shaving.

In the six months i have been shaving with straights, i have learnt alot, enough to know that you can set yourself up for under $100, i have expensive razors, soaps, and brushes, but my current favorites are an $8 boker, that i honed myself, arko soap, not much around cheaper than that, and a $5 horsehair brush, and i get a great shave. One thing, without this site and the huge amount of information on tap, i probably would have given up. No you don't need those crutches, but them darn razors are so pretty lookin.

Six shaves in to this cold water face lathering shave routine and they all have been excellent shaves. I have used a variety of different grinds on razors ranging from no name to some decent vintage stuff, a variety of soaps/creams from a Williams stick to Cella, either a boar or 2 band badger brush and they all gave a decent lather with some better than others. The only common denominator seems to be that the razors used had a good sharp edge which I did no destroy stropping them.

All I can say is that I think most of the problems encountered by beginners such as myself are for the most part self inflicted by poor technique. Poor stropping technique leads to dull razors/cut or nicked strops. Poor lathering technique leads to an uncomfortable shave. Add poor shaving technique on top of that with a sub par blade and ouch. All the little niceties that we all like to add such as expensive soaps, razors, scuttles, brushes, strops and even hot water are not strictly necessary for a good shave. They are however very gratifying to use and enhance the shaving experience tremendously but don't trump technique. OK end of rant.

Bob