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I was working on my heat with a friend and mentioned my grinder I am building and he asked me why I was building a grinder. I told him for restoring razors and possibly grinding some down fresh too.
He gave me a blank stare and said "That's a thing?!" Ha it was so funny. Any one else had similar experiences or funny stories?
I do get some blank stares when I buy the washers, sheet and rod stock at hardware stores and they ask me why I need stuff that small and thin. Usually, once I explain what I'm using it for the guys are like" Awww man that's bad ass," the girls still give me that blank stare like I'm explaining how to build a blown 396 stroker small block from the ground up lol!
I tell the guys at work what I am up and they are still waiting for me to come in with half my face missing..
..........:popcorn:
most people i know just think im nuts for even using a straight razor .. the topic usually comes up when people see me and notice my bare cheeks , cause up till the straight razor kick im on most people have never saw me with bare skin on my face !!
My entire family and inlaws were all "supportively skeptical" when I started out....calling me a rennaisance man, etc. But it fit with the scotch, cigars and smoking jackets.
Lots of people have given me weird looks. However, things changed when I dedicated a whole shop to it, and then started being revenue neutral. Now all of a sudden, I was a bit of an entrepreneur. No one bats an eye anymore.....
Unless you say something about what you use to shave with in this country, no one finds out...or cares. If you do say something about your shaving habits or refer to it as a 'hobby', people start wondering if you've escaped from an asylum somewhere.
It is just shaving afterall. Nothing interesting about that. Some men do, some men don't. Some men neeeed a lotta lovin', and some men don't...Ok now where's the the number for that asylum again...:D
Mick
I'v had some ladys tell me that they think that it's "sexy" that a man would care about himself enough to spend up to an hour shaving. and most guys are like "thats totally cool" The one thing that they seem to both think is that its expensive, I tell them it can be if I let it, dang if that anit hard to keep in check!!!! :w
Rich
If it took me an hour to shave, I'd quit.
Not really a hobby with me,is a way of life.Stopped collecting razors about two yrs ago,have sold well over a hundred in the past year.Have maybe 20 that I use and will not sell.
Almost succumbed (SP) to Honophilia until I realized that you only need maybe 4.
At my age I want simple,not hobbys.
ive told a few people and they think its eather a wast of time (since there are way better razors out there) or they think im a loonie, then i tell them i hang out on a website dedicated to it with a bunch of older gentlman discusion just about everything you can think of and they just shke there head and wonder why the only girl in my life is my dog and my hens.
There is shaving and there is "shaving". As a teen my mom wondered what I was doing in the bathroom for so long...I was "shaving";)Quote:
Originally Posted by ace
All kidding aside, if I find the rare opportunity to do so, I might soak in a tub then eventually shave, then clean up the area...if I'm really lazy and slow, it might take up to an hour?
Most think it is awesome. A couple of colleagues at work are given straight razors a try, for various reasons. Not because they are really 'into it' like I am, but because they have skin irritation from their cartridgs, or because it's much cheaper.
What also happens is that people are now asking me to sharpen their kitchen knives, and a couple of people have also asked me to forge them a kitchen knife. The fact that I forge knives puts me way up on the manliness scale with most people. I'm a systems engineer, but everybody knows 'computer people'. Being a skilled engineer is not the big badge of distinction it once was. But the ability to fire a forge and shape metal on an anvil is rather unique among the people I know.
Bruno --
So, real men make steel? Cool!
No MLA, Real men make steel HOT and then beat the $h!t out of it! :)
Mick
I am wondering about the razors that made the cut. There must be some interesting stories there. But it might make for a longish post...
Quote:
Originally Posted by pixelfixed
Not long at all,My Palmeras,a few Fillys, a few sheffields,a few Wackers and two Jwests,all 7/8++ Oh and two Powell customs,that it.Quote:
Originally Posted by WW243
No sentimentality involved? Just big beautiful razors that are superior shavers?Quote:
Originally Posted by pixelfixed
I feel like the person who is closest to me is slowly accumulating data and I'm not sure how the backlash is going to go just yet. But I am hearing things from her like: so you don't want to buy that $280.00 crankset for your singlespeed anymore? And, you seem to be moving away from craft beers......have you noticed that the hems on your pants are fraying? And, why is a sharpening stone sitting in the bay window?
Nope,are just very fine tools that work well for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by WW243
No differant than my machine tools in my shop,My guns,my knives, My cast iron cookware.
Most guys either say...
1) "WHY?!"
2) "That's bad as hell but I could never do it, I'd be too scared!"
Women say...
1) "Hot" and then "May I feel your face?"
To the men I say...
1) It's actually cheaper
2) You can go days or weeks without shaving and shave without irritation or clogging as a cartridge does.
3) You're not going to cut your throat open! It's not like using a machete! It's a light touch
4) Shaving will be something you actually get excited for instead of something you view as a chore.
To the women I say...
1) I actually used a sharp axe :rock:... Permission granted. Feel away:hmmm:
Wife recently said: haven't you had enough of this razor thing? Why don't you go out and shoot?
Could be because it ~20 degrees F. Outside!!
My wife's female coworkers seem to think it's cool that I shave with straight razors, the guys don't seem to care. My coworkers gave me the sideways glance thinking "ummmmm, okay you weirdo" So now I only mention it if someone specifically asks me about it. I guess asking or telling someone about personal grooming habits (outside of SRP of course) is like asking them what brand of toilet paper they prefer. Do I really want to know or do I even care? However, if I ever see some guy wearing SRP gear or tumtatty's shirts I would strike up a conversation with him.
LOL this is exactly my story.Quote:
Originally Posted by Maxi
My wife says "you're an idiot".
My mother says "everyone should be shaving like that" (from an eco point of view)
Almost everyone else has made reference to bleeding out when I mention it.
SWMBO has so many different hobby's, all her animals, doll collecting, ect..ect..et alia. So when I took up wet shaving it gave her feeling of relief, now "I" have a hobby so she feels now that she isn't the only one in the imidiate family that get's all those small brown packages from the post service!! 3 years of wet shaving now and almost have it figured out!!
FYI: The rest of the family just thinks I stark raving Bonkers
Well, it seems that a few of my wifes co-workers went out and watched 'Skyfall' last week. A part of the conversation offshoot from that was in relation to whether or not a man would like to have a gift of a 'barber' shave with a cut-throat, since no one today uses cut-throat razors anymore, and a general doubt over just how good a shave it could it be.
My wife, hearing the conversation, spoke up, and had the whole office in shock (apparently), when she told them that I used a cut-throat razor regularly and that it does a better job than todays razors. That, if I was anything to go by, a man would probably like the gift of a barber shave.
When she told me about this conversation, I told her that most blokes would be curious about cut-throat shaves and would most likely be happy with that sort of a gift. I also told her that they are disposable blade razors used in barber shops and that a real cut-throat is a little different to use.
Mick
I agree, women are most impressed. Men are competitive and jealous in nature. They just say I am crazy and that they would cut their throat! Some of these are guys who race top level motocross. Something I surely would never do! I tell them I would wind up killing myself. I don't fear the occasional nick!
Her office contains just two men...Well one man and a bloke who bats for the other team. The rest are women. All of them were in said shocked state (Men and Women) at my apparent level of crazy (or extreme manliness) :).
Mick
Anyone else hearing crickets? :) Suile, I have a live and let live approach to life, and please don't take offence, but I feel a little uncomfortable with your last comment. I'm not sure I want to know where you're heading there, but if it has something to do with "Straight Razor hobby reactions" feel free to explain. Again mate, no offence meant, or taken for the matter of that. Just a little outside my comfort zone.
Mick
That's probably one of the reasons women are so fascinated with gay men. All of the sudden, someone notices what they notice and then it becomes like the impossible mission to try to find a straight man who acts like their gay friends except who likes girls.Quote:
Originally Posted by Suile
My wife often tells me how I should be more like her gay friends. She says, "you would dress nicer, be nicer, appreciate other people more") :p
That's crap! I know a lot of blokes who take care of the way they dress, the way they act and the appreciation they show and not all of them are homosexual. Some might be, but they haven't made it known to me if they are. :) And now I can't believe I'm buying into this line of conversation...
Mick
How about we leave sexual preference out of this. This thread is about reactions to straight shaving and or funny stories please.
We straight men here in the states are a bit of an unrefined sort of group. There's some tidy dressers among us, nobody would confuse us for europeans. We're fatter and as my wife says "you men dress frumpy".Quote:
Originally Posted by MickR
That's her favorite word...frumpy. Which may be why she thinks I'm such an idiot for the shaving thing - she wants me to crack open more magazines and care more about clothes and stuff, and not care about the simple pleasure of maintaining an edge wiping hair off with it.
I don't get out much, been off work and kinda trapped at home for the last year. But the people I have mentioned my straight razor shaving to, seem to look at it with bemusement. Nothing really positive, but nothing negative either. The only person that shows enough interest to actually listen is my daughter, but she's my little girl, so anything Daddy is doing is OK with her. The only comment I've gotten from someone who didn't know was a guy asked me if I just came from getting my hair cut, I had shaved and used Pinuad Clubman.
I gave up on talking to people about my hobbies long before I picked up a straight razor. Here int the States, if you know everything in the world about football or college basketball, you're an interesting person. If you choose to learn and obsess about anything else, you're eccentric. My other hobbies are cooking/food and wine. I learned not to discuss those either. When the average person you encounter finds making toast too much trouble, they can't wrap their heads around making Demi glacé from scratch. And I inevitably leads to the most obvious question of why. And that always leads to the inevitable discussion about the superiority of the results. And that leads to the inevitable conclusion that I'm a snob. The more unsolicited information you offer up the more you're looked at as crazy. Best to let the results speak for themselves and say nothing. If someone asks, I tell them in the most general terms. If they want to know more, I tell them more.
The guys where I work had a few standard comments when they found out I use a straight. The "gents" where my wife works went bonkers when my wife told 'em I used a straight. Understand that she works for a VERY high zoot floral design studio and two thirds of the people there are gay. I work there part time when they need help. It's fun and I enjoy it. They're good people and they treat my wife wonderfully. My step son works there occasionally as well and there have never been any problems of any kind that some people would associate with the life style of the owners and young people. Like I said, they're good people.
One the remarks that was made when the subject came up was " Willie, you''re so STRAIGHT, that it's not surprising that you even shave with a straight."
Due to the arthritis in my wrists, it HURTS to use a plastic razor. I used to HATE shaving and would only shave every third or fourth day. The wife put up with my scratchy face but she is now a happy girl since I usually shave every day. I'll skip a couple of days when I'm honing up new ones to give a good test and she tells me to hurry up and test those damn things. LOL
My brother in law was over for thanksgiving and saw my razors. Now I only have 4. But I showed him my razors and told him the benefits of shaving with them. His response was “well, some people collect stamps “now on the other wand my wife loves my hobby I always smell good and look squared away. And she actually brags about me using a straight razor.
Gents,
I mentioned shaving with a straight at work once, a couple of the young blokes were sufficiently impressed to take up straights as well. My Minister of War and Finance who is a tight as a fishes arse, is really impressed as I almost never buy razor blades. Iffen I do its for my late fathers' DE. People who know me don't find it surprising at all, goes with shooting front stuffers and disturbin cows for fun, !! Mick is right down under shaving habits are not generally a subject of conversation, and you are tolerated mildly like some eccentric old Uncle !! or someone just mildly potty.
Merry Christmas to you all too by the way !!
People always make an exaggerated stropping motion and ask if I have "the leather thing that barbers use"
Michael