Thread: Over-complication

I enjoy collecting cutthroats and shaving with them. I love the simplicity. I know that for many, it can be a very absorbing leisure interest.

Reading many of the posts and threads on the subject, I often wonder if some of us tend to over-analyse and unneccessarily complicate the very simple act of shaving. ie a very sharp blade, soap and water.

Does anyone else agree with the K.I.S.S. approach or am I a lone voice in the widerness?

Or even the Wilderness?

Originally Posted by welshwizard

I enjoy collecting cutthroats and shaving with them. I love the simplicity. I know that for many, it can be a very absorbing leisure interest.

Reading many of the posts and threads on the subject, I often wonder if some of us tend to over-analyse and unneccessarily complicate the very simple act of shaving. ie a very sharp blade, soap and water.

Does anyone else agree with the K.I.S.S. approach or am I a lone voice in the widerness?

+1

To me shaving with a straight is just a way to get the best possible shave i've gotten this far. I like to keep it simple, the way that generations before me did. The results are solely up to me. Not luxury or status, just shave.
It is not that i like good soap and brush, but they are just soaps and brushes. I do not use pre-shaves except a wash with local tar soap.
This is just a way i do; everyone should find their own way and chemicals and time they want to spend with their faces.

To put it simply ..... yes !

but then i don't do complicated

ian

I am in total agreement with you but I believe that we as humans tend towards overcomplicating things. I suspect this may be due to a lack of deep understanding.

I think it becomes simple to you once you have experience - when everything becomes second nature. You bring up a good point, welshwizard. I like to think that my routine is fairly simple, however I now wonder if I would have thought the same routine to be simple back when I started out...

modern people seem unimpressed by the simple and just gush over the complex. yet, when it's time to examine truly difficult things, they tend to rest in the most conventional of views. why does the analytical mind vanish at times when it might truly benefit oneself and others?

For me, straights are really not about making things simple. I enjoy hunting for razors, buying razors, cleaning razors, honing razors, and shaving with razors. I like the DOing of all those things (except when it gets frustrating....).

If I wanted simple, I'd get a Super Speed and some Derby's.

We have different camps with differing philosophies concerning shaving. Some see it as just the best way to shave pain and simple, some as a pampering activity and they enjoy all the soaps and creams and bubble bath (har har) and some who like to collect and restore and shave maybe for fun maybe for profit or both. Of course there are all those who are in-between too.

Interesting how all types can come together and get along on this forum eh?

Definately agree.

I have a friend that hunts with a compound bow that has every gadget, bell and whistle on it.

How about using an old English Long Bow?