Thread: minimalism

As a relative newb (one year into straights) who thinks he is a minimalist, but who is nevertheless starting to amass a small collection of old razors and hones I have to try and anlyze why...well, I learned from the internet, primarily from this tremendous forum, so I had no example or frame of reference to compare my results with in real life. I think that everything I have tried has been driven by a desire to find out if I am "there" yet, or whether I am still just at the start of the learning curve and making mistakes... is my razor as sharp as its supposed to be (even though I am very happy with the quality of my shaves most of the time)? Would this old XYZ brand razor turn out to be better than what I am currently using (better buy it to find out)? Am I honing properly (geez it seems a lot fatser in those online videos!) I guess someday I will get to the point where I am confident in one razor, one technique, one strop, one soap and I'll ditch all the other stuff. Then I can be a true minimalist again! or maybe I better keep a spare or two, just in case...l

Originally Posted by ShavedZombie

I took a piece of rock and meticulously ground the edge of a seashell until it was thin enough to cut hair, or at least pull it out by the roots. Now I shave by dragging a sharpened seashell across my cheek. My only pre-shave treatment is water that I obtained by digging a hole in the ground, and waiting for natural ground water to bleed into that hole. I dug the hole with the rock I used to grind the seashell.

Good sir, you have been topped.

I pull my whiskers out one by one with my fingernails. Not only is THAT minimalist but it feeds my OCD!!

On a serious note, I found Dinosilone's post both endearing and enlightening. I'm sure most of us would agree that there's no perfect way of going about things, including straight razor shaving. Whatever works for you and you're happy with, God Bless. That said, one can always learn from others, and, if interested, adopt new techniques that might make things more enjoyable and/or more efficient. I kind of wish I were a minimalist, but alas, I have been bitten by the bug and have become an avid collector of razors, hones, strops, etc. as a hobbyist. Anyway, good, thought-provoking post, Dino!

I happen to use a single razor and strop, with a single stone
for touchup purposes.

I do, however, hone and shave-test other folks' razors, so I
get a little variety (I also get to use 1/2/4/8/16/30k hones
to do it -- with my touchup hone in there for good measure).

The best part about this `hobby' is that you can make it what-
ever you want. Go `Nutz' as Glen says, or keep it simple.



- Scott