Quote Originally Posted by csrund View Post
Please suffer a "noob" to chime in, as this thread is highly interesting.

I'm a recent SR convert, but I've been unable to get the BBS results between neck and jawline with the straight. It's agonizing to make the ATG pass below the jawline--it really tears up my face, and the long SR blade is difficult to manage at that awkward angle. Consequently, I can't get a full BBS reduction with the straight, which has been disappointing.

The closest, cleanest shave for me has been with cheap store-brand, triple-blade disposables with the lanolin strip. About a buck each, no irritation and the shaves are close enough to last two days. Try using them with a guillotine/diagonal stroke, up and down in an X-pattern. Also, try using fingertip control to make a scything stroke. Use a feather-light touch. The reduction you can get is amazingly complete and silky.

HOWEVER... like most of you, I'm addicted to the other aspects of SR shaving: collecting vintage blades, honing, soaps, fragrances, etc., not to mention the indulgence of a 25 minute spa treatment with hot towels, balms, etc. Then, there's the actual act of precisely drawing a bare blade over the face. Makes you feel a kinship to granddad and his pals who came of age when men were men. Gives you a sense of having cultivated a rare skill.

So for me, it looks like I'll have to keep some triple-track disposables around for the BBS finish. But I'll always enjoy shaving with a straight a couple or three times a week.

Sounds not unlike some of the other replies in this thread. Anybody else have a similar experience?
Hi csrund,

I know you've received a few responses to this comment.

I am a recent SR convert, too, and I also have a problem with getting that perfect shave. My beard above and under my chin is especially coarse, and I have dark hair. Not only that, but the hair under my jawline grows sideways, not up and down, making anything other than ATG very difficult for me.

I do not have a DE or SE razor to fall back on, I only have a cartridge; and I've not used that cartridge after my third shave. Maybe one day I might get a DE for travelling, but I've forsworn myself off cartridges forever.

For most of the time I've been using a SR, I've not had the best of shaves. I've been presentable most of the time, but especially on my chin and underneath my jaw, it's been very difficult for me. My technique has been improving, but I felt that if I didn't get a good enough shave or if I left patches where there should be none, I wasn't going to correct them with my cartridge, or even a SE if I had one. This might not work for everyone, especially a person who is in sales or does presentations or otherwise must look immaculate at all times, but it left me with no crutch. I had to, and still have to, improve my skills or I suffer the consequences and live with my shame for all to see.

I guess I've dedicated myself to this cause. I could probably get a better shave now with a cartridge because my prep work is heads and shoulders above what it once was; I've learned a lot about wet shaving simply because it's a necessity for straight razor shaving. But I'm not in this for the perfect shave. I'm in this for the straight razor shave; and I think that the perfect shave will come along soon enough.

I have experienced other benefits that other members have noted. My face and skin are healthier; my razor bumps along my neck are almost gone. I don't experience ingrown hairs, even where I do get that often elusive BBS. This may not be every members' experience, but it has been mine. Also, if it weren't for straight razor shaving, as I mentioned, I would have never learned the joys of wet shaving in general, and the general pride one gets in learning this art. At some point I plan on getting into honing, and maybe even into restorations.

I really like this hobby and I'm glad I ran across SRP. There's no way I would have taken this up without all the information available here and all the nice people willing to give good advice to someone like me.

So Mr. Gillette can stick his cartridges someplace I'll never see them again. I'm on a new journey down what others have styled The Straight Road. And I'm not looking back.

-Mark