Thread: Passing It Foreward And Or Paying It Back

Roy,

Pay it Forward seems to be the "Spirit" of this Forum, people (strangers) were helping me from day one. Roy you are a good example of a person who pays it forward with newbies or anyone who needs help on the forum. You have shared a lot of time and energy showing me the ropes. That said, you've set a good example for me to share what I have learned with others coming into the fold. Freddie

I'm a little at a loss for words at the kindness and generosity that has been extended to me by so many members of this community. Of course I have always expressed my sincere thanks and tried to offer what I could in return. Passing it forward is the other half of enjoying the gratitude I feel. Whether it be a tangible item or knowledge and wisdom, passing it forward honors the person who originally gave it by doubling the recipients of their kindness, and so on and so forth.

Well where do I start? I have given 8 or 10 razors to various people on here and few hard soaps to some folks on instagram in hopes of someone picking up the passion but that isn't to big of a deal to me.

I am going to try and remember the real importance of this thread and that is, the many many people who have helped me.

Roy has given me at least 2 Razors, restored a couple of razors at cost and honed razors for me on more than one occasion. I will leave the details out but just so no one thinks I take advantage, me and Roy talk rather often. He checks up on me all the time and I do my best to keep tabs on him. If you ever wonder why I disappear for a bit ask Roy, he will know why. He is a true ambassador to this site as well to our "sport" Thank you Roy.

Phrank has helped me on more than one occasion. He sent me a Gillette Slim at no cost that I use more than any razor I have. Traveling makes it hard to take a straight and strop so his razor has been my go to for the last year or so.

10Pups and Euclid440 have both spend time teaching me how to hone, if it weren't for them I might have given the honing thing up.

John has on more than one occasion offered up various Clubman parts to me. Some of them are rather hard to find. Although I have not taken them, he would have sent them to me in a heartbeat. He also has the task of answering all my PMs I send him. (Its only fair, he has all the clubman bottles on earth )

HarryWally sent me a custom boar brush that I use regularly. It was a total surprise to me when I received it. Andrew is one of those guys that goes the extra mile and is great for this community.



I can't thank all of you enough for the advice, time and tools you have given me. I have done my best to spread the wealth. While I couldn't ever repay you all, I give when I have a free moment to send a package out. I am a full time student raising 2 kids while constantly traveling so time is a premium. If I have forgot anyone I apologize and I will try my best to edit this is I remember anyone.

welcome back Ray, Tc

Getting and giving both make you feel good.

I have given a fair bit of gear to the monthly give away Bill runs so smoothly. I enjoy seeing newbs and friends using items I have donated.

Over the years I have gotten a lot from different people. I found my bladesmithing friends to be very generous with both knowledge and materials. I feel it is only natural to help people in kind.

I make a point of not caring whether someone 'deserves' my help. Deciding to help out is usually a spur of the moment thing for me, and I have given away steel, blades, help, money because I felt like it at the time. It's also interesting sometimes to pay it forward to complete strangers. I firmly believe that the world could do with more completely random niceness to counter the bad things that happen at random.

I've shared this story before but for those who don't know it: I come from a wealthy family. Wealthy with a capital 'W'. I never saw any of it though. In ww2, Belgium was occupied and food was scarce. Not a huge problem for my grandmother but all along the street people were literally down to eating grass to keep from starving to death. And my grandmother decided that that would not do. So she bought food and gave it away to anyone who didn't have any. She literally fed half the village through the war at some point or other.
By the end of the war, the money was gone. Still, she was happy she'd done it and as long as I can remember, she taught by example to be generous.

Gentlemen,
It has been lovely reading this thread. I too wanted to share some of the lovely gestures I've witnessed first-hand. I have waited for a while, because this was going to be a long post. And I always procrastinated sitting down to write it.
I think, at the top of the list for me, is the awesome giving mentality of the whole community. Whether it is in a shaving-related thread, or a food-, coffee-, writing-, watch-, music-, or a baccy-related thread, all members are always so forthcoming with tips, notes, suggestions, and recommendations.
To me, logging into SRP evokes a feeling reminiscent of the show Cheers. You know, where everybody knows your name? And you can feel the warmth?
I have been blessed with many lovely gestures here.
My Brother in Blades from the Boars Nest shared some awesome recipes for sausage, and even links to equipment for sale. Roy: guess where I'm taking the family over the holidays for some meat-related shopping? Right here. The girls are excited about the fudge. I'm looking for a smoker.
Then there is the giver of pirate-juice, former Chinese demon, and current Senior Moderator. It really made my day, Nelson, to win the Bay Rhum.
Then, the sharer of bread recipes, with a love of felines, Richard has been such a lovely influence, especially when it comes to challah bread. It is the season for me to bake the yearly rye bread, and posts will be coming up soon.
And what about the deliverer of the monthly giveaway, aka the giveaway dude, Bill has been arranging the monthly Giveaway for a while?
Then there are participants in some of the awesome food-related threads I like to check out. Recipes and tips are freely shared. Photos even more so. By the simple action of sharing your photos you give me (and many others) a goal to aspire.
I have to say, thank you all. Unfortunately, I cannot mention everyone by name, otherwise this post would be even longer and I would be sure to forget too many, but you have all contributed to my growth as a wetshaver, and a better gentleman in general. Whether it is by feeding my love of no-prep coldwater shaves, or how awesome Sartorial is, or whether you head a Pinaud syndicate.
I have tried to give back. That is where the reward is, for me. On one occasion I held a mid-summer workshop on wetshaving at work. It was quite successful, but hasn't been allowed since. Something about surgically-sharp objects and carotid arteries...
Photos of some of the goodies I brought to show, including loot bags...

->Reveal<-

There have been a couple of occasions where something I had passed forward ended up showing up on an auction site, but that is life.
The most happy occasion of passing it forward has been my father. He taught me how to shave with a cartridge many moons ago. He visits us about once a year, as an excuse to see his granddaughter.
Over the last few years he's seen my collection grow, and asked me last year about a shaving soap he remembers from his younger years, when he'd get a shave at his local barber. Turned out to be Cella. I had a bowl to give him to take back home, along with some 4711 aftershave.
I want to say thank you to y'all.
I think I will wrap it up here. I have breakfast to make. And snow to shovel. And I need to prepare for baking bread tomorrow.
You get the idea.

A very nice post about a wonderful forum. I agree. Thank you for sharing.

I've received wood blanks from two people when I was just asking where a good place was to buy them. I also got something very special just the other day!
When this thread was started it was Cudarunner (Roy) who was talking about a gentleman named Mike who had received a kidney transplant from his sibling Jen and after 5 years Mike had passed. Jen then gave Roy all of Mike Shave gear to pass out to who Roy felt could use it. I'm happy to say that I happen to be one of the fortunate people that Roy felt worthy enough to receive a razor. This is the razor I posted today in the SOTD. J.A. Hellberg. Roy honed it up for me and shipped it out and I enjoyed a very fine shave from this razor. Thanks to Roy for being the middle man with a grand heart. Thanks to Jen for giving all the equipment to be PIFed out to those that can use it and RIP Mike. I didn't know Mike but he must have been a good man knowing people like this and this group.

Originally Posted by Gasman

I've received wood blanks from two people when I was just asking where a good place was to buy them. I also got something very special just the other day!
When this thread was started it was Cudarunner (Roy) who was talking about a gentleman named Mike who had received a kidney transplant from his sibling Jen and after 5 years Mike had passed. Jen then gave Roy all of Mike Shave gear to pass out to who Roy felt could use it. I'm happy to say that I happen to be one of the fortunate people that Roy felt worthy enough to receive a razor. This is the razor I posted today in the SOTD. J.A. Hellberg. Roy honed it up for me and shipped it out and I enjoyed a very fine shave from this razor. Thanks to Roy for being the middle man with a grand heart. Thanks to Jen for giving all the equipment to be PIFed out to those that can use it and RIP Mike. I didn't know Mike but he must have been a good man knowing people like this and this group.

That's awesome!