Thread: Problems with nicks

I've never REALLY gotten myself with a straight *knock on wood*.

xman,

It's been nice knowing ya!

RT

Originally Posted by rtaylor61

xman,

It's been nice knowing ya!

RT

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

X

Everytime I said I had this down, Well I have scars to prove I didn't

I've got a lot to learn about using a straight, but I consider myself very proficient with a DE. The past two shaves with a DE (I'm playing around with an adjustable) have caused more blood to flow than I thought possible with a straight. Razors are like motorcycles...give them the respect they deserve, or pay the price!

RT

My worst cut ever came from one of those Gillette disposables, the blue ones ("Good News", I think). I cut a hunk of my chin off and bled for a few hours. I find I cut myself no more often with a real razor than I did with my old DE, which was very infrequently.

I think that whenever you change the style of razor you're using, you're going to nick and cut yourself while you get used to it. I had to use a Bic once and cut my face to ribbons while still leaving quite a few wiskers on my face, though people who use Bics have no problems normally.

Originally Posted by rtaylor61

I've got a lot to learn about using a straight, but I consider myself very proficient with a DE. The past two shaves with a DE (I'm playing around with an adjustable) have caused more blood to flow than I thought possible with a straight. Razors are like motorcycles...give them the respect they deserve, or pay the price!

RT

Very true, I find overconfidence is a sure ticket to a styptic.

Well, I tried some of your tips tonight and got by with one nick and that's because I got careless and got the razor angle too steep. Big improvement! Thanks for the tips, everybody.

I agree it's technique. The neck is almost universally a difficult spot, not just because of tough angles and shapes, but the skin seems kind of loose and will be cut if you don't stretch it well.

One problem with the neck may be that you're trying to go against the grain on the first pass. Check your beard, and don't assume you're not. For most men, the grain is down on the cheecks and up on the neck. If you're one of them, when you shave down on your first pass you're actually going against the grain when the whiskers are the longest. Ouch!

I got this information from the barber's manual. In a one pass shave they say you should shave down on the cheecks and up on the neck, unless your grain goes down on the neck.

So, check the grain and try that first. It could be an easy fix.

And don't forget stretching. See if more of it on the neck helps, especially as you get lower.