42 takes me back to my cb days. Break channel. This here's 16 gauge.
Printable View
42 takes me back to my cb days. Break channel. This here's 16 gauge.
#9 for me, thanks
what did "the accountant" guess... 36? lol pricelessQuote:
Originally Posted by hidestoart
Also, where did a bunch of you guys get those super awesome SRP t-shirts i saw on saturday? I must have one!
nevermind, I'm slow... found the link up top "SRP Goods"
The Asheville NC Straight Razor Meetup…WOW!
I still can’t believe what a great meetup this turned out to be. (Thank you to everyone who helped organize as well as everyone who attended the event! YOU are the reason it was successful!)
I’m an introvert by nature, so I needed a few days away from all the straight razor excitement to relax and recharge my social batteries before posting about this meetup. (Another 3-day convention starts tomorrow afternoon, but hey, it’s open bar all weekend. What can you do, right?) Now, I’m recharged and ready to tell you all about it. =)
OK, so it all starts on Saturday morning when Aaron (ScoutHikerDad) and I drive up to Asheville to help set up. (Kevin and crew did 98% of the setup work the night before, so I was forced to sit around and sip hot coffee and chat about razors and stuff. Oh, how demanding a Saturday morning can be!) We drove up to the gates and saw this ridiculously over-sized straight razor mounted on the back of Chris’ truck. “This must be the place.”
One by two, wet-shaving enthusiasts trickled in until the whole place (inside and out) was abuzz with straight-razor-this and badger-brush-that; it was an awesome busy sight. Old friends, new friends, and friends that I would never have even guessed would become a friend. How lucky am I! (I’m talking about you, Mister Moo.) More on that later…
So this was wet-shaving Mecca. Utopian and his ten thousand 8x3 bench stones at one end of the room, me and my tiny little barber hones at the other (feeling a bit inadequate; his stones are so much bigger than mine), Lynn the Honemeister in the middle giving his wildly popular honing demonstration and answering every single question thrown his way by the eager newbie and experienced honer alike, five bazillion straight razor fanatics laughing and chatting and asking and answering and sharing and laughing some more.
Kilts everywhere. Talk of a drink called scrumpy. (“Scrumpy…it’s got bits!”) Tons of tickets and prizes and generous donations. More laughter. Me telling a joke that no one got, resulting in blank stares and me feeling totally awkward in front of Joe Chandler.
Handshake after handshake. Quite a few fountain pens and their enthusiast owners drifting about. Demonstrations and more demonstrations. Drooling over custom razors and brushes. Charlie. Joe. Ray. (“I love his logo,” said EVERYONE.) What grit is this? What grit is that? Umm...I don't know (how to answer that question). “I’ve got a lovely Gilbert Brothers razor with genuine ivory scales if anyone wants to hone it up and give it away to a newbie.” (You did a great job honing it, PFries!) Simon the awesomely crazy Scotsman. Zip, zip, zip at the stropping station. (Sometimes CLANG!) Microscopes and bevels and bevels under microscopes and microscopic bevels. More and more laughter. More and more prizes. Friends and friends and friends.
And then it was over. =(
Unfortunately, I could only attend on Sunday morning for the first hour. But it was a nice, pleasant, pipe-smoking morning, nonetheless. (And cigar-smoking morning, Lynn.) Perhaps the best part of Sunday morning for me was seeing another pipe smoker filling up his Danish freehand (with a wonderful little Virginia flake which he was kind enough to share). This stranger was Mister Moo—a real treat for me, because I’d been following his posts on the pipe-smoking forums for a few years now, and I never would’ve imagined that I’d have the good fortune to meet him in real life. What a happy ending to a wonderful weekend!
So that was my weekend, my experience, my perspective. (YMMV) What a wonderful time! I love you, guys. All of you. Every single one. Old friends and new. And I can’t wait to see you all again next year. =)
Happy shaving!
My Best,
Christopher =)
PS: This pipe is for you, Moo. Thanks for the Veermaster. =)
Attachment 164663
For Simon we must say organise.
34............thank you donorQuote:
Originally Posted by rickboone
On a related note...
I was thinking to myself this week about kindness and generosity (because I saw a LOT of it at the meetup), and I wondered where I might stand on the spectrum of kindness/generosity. Naturally, I had to design the spectrum before I could theoretically stand upon it, so I thought to myself, "Hmm...who represents the low end, and who represents the high end of this spectrum of kindness/generosity?" Deciding on the low end (the "1") was easy; it's everyone's go-to icon of evil, Hitler. Surprisingly, deciding on the high end (the "10"), the icon of pure and graceful selflessness, was just as easy. Immediately, without a whisper of hesitation, I heard myself say, "Randy Tuttle."
True story.
Me
Those look really nice. Put me down for #7
They do look nice. I'll go with #19. Thanks!
Last count I believe was 39.Quote:
Originally Posted by Haroldg48
You're welcome! Happy to meet you.Quote:
Originally Posted by CJBianco
Eighteen (18).
Thanks again sponsors!
I think it was 47 I am pulling that he gets this one right he deserves it.Quote:
Originally Posted by boostdemon
Please share these vendors with others you know.
Straight Razor Designs. You should go there and get some of this aftershave.
Attachment 164691
It's some of the best I've used. A little goes far.
I was skeptical of green shave. I ordered two jars and got them today. Skeptism is gone. Great cream. All natural for those that it matters to. I was truly surprised and impressed.
Attachment 164692
Now the badger didn't work well. Many of you tried the moustache wax and called it a flop. Well the shave soap was too. It did lather but it was gone before you could pick up the razor. Fail. I speak honestly to save you money and for the company to improve. They sent asking us to give feedback. I hope they reevaluate and improve.
Attachment 164693
Oh saint Charles shave has a killer mothers day deal going on. Tell her rick sent you and get the hook up. I don't know if we get 20% off on the package she put together. But she will treat you right. Ten days till mothers day.
If you haven't yet tried Coates cream ask yourself why not. This is the last on earth (that we are aware of). It's $4. 1 shipping. Stock up.
Ok guys , here are some more links to videos this time we have 2 of Kevin Adamas and 3 from Utopian! :)
Kevin
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1o9LPsgHfI
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os_COU_Ls0U
Now Utopians videos
1. http://youtu.be/QrkOaVZmNNo
2.http://youtu.be/OkFi7QDQ2Mc
and the last one
3. http://youtu.be/XUs4u-IOR14
There will be more pics and videos but first I have to sort thru 27 GB of them! :)
I have to say many thanks to Brian aka Shavingsnob for taking a lot of the pic's & video's. :tu
Okay, this is my article. Use it or not...
Sometimes people question why have a meet up. With so much information online, what's the purpose? To some, a meet up is just joining for drinks with a few members of a forum and looking at razor collections...
With so much information available online can you really benefit anything in person? Truth of the matter is you can.
Not only do you build lasting friendships not just relationships with people you build true and lasting friendships.
People that you talk to on a regular basis people that you have empathy for and share things with, true friends.
It may sound odd to have people that come together that share a common interest something as silly as shaving or sharpening. It's not any real hi tech stuff there, no fancy cars or anything. Just shaving.
The more odd thing is you have people from all walks of life; you have truck drivers mingling with doctors and scientist and chefs and soldiers. There is no social class in the razor world. We are all shavers. Blue collar white collar go out the window we United as one Brotherhood.
Several have commented they learned more in a day or two in person than they had a year or more on the forums. There's so much truth in that statement.
About two years ago I attended my first meet up in Atlanta Georgia. Lynn Abrams was there Joe Chandler and Simon and sic boater. Of course others, these were just some well known SRP folks there at the time. It was here Moose became known too :)
Up until this point I have been trying to learn how to properly hone a razor. I had gotten decent results but none of which I was real happy with. Some other seemed to have enjoyed the edges I was putting on, maybe they were just being nice? Personally I did not. And, being my face, I had to like the shave. I had read and read and studied and studied about setting that bevel. The bevel is set when you can cut arm hair or when it feels a certain way on your thumb or finger nails. All these different tests yet for me it was really hard for me to interpret what does it truly mean and how do I really know? That was until I saw it for myself in person.
I believe it was Joe Chandler that helped me get a bevel set on a razor and said this is how supposed to feel. He handed it to me and it made a world of difference. I was nowhere close in my previous attempts.
He also spent some time with me that day to help me look through a microscope and realize what I was up against. I was trying to remove a double or triple bevel.
So yes in person really does make a difference If you ever get a chance to get with other straight razor users or wet shavers, do it. It doesn't matter if they don't have the skill set that some others have, they know more than you think and so do you. When two people come together with similar interests, great things can happen and doesn't matter if you have been doing it one month or 10 years. You come together and start brainstorming you come up with ideas and techniques and figure things out.
Fast forward to October 2013. I had a meet up in my neck of the woods. There hasn't been anything in the southeast in quite a while so I tried to get some people together. It was a relatively small turnout, less than 10 people I presume. I worked diligently at getting Lynn to come he just never fit into his schedule.
Well at that meet up I met some great folks, Kevin and Chris along with several others. Kevin and Chris and I had remained in contact quite a while. Kevin took some things he learned at the meet up in October then he went down to the Midwest visiting with Randy and Ron and also visited with Lynn, picking up on even more knowledge. But it was not so much the knowledge he picked up on it was the relationships he built while he was there.
Earlier this year I got a message on SRP from a gentleman that just transferred through the army to Columbia from Washington State. Glenn had actually sent him over to me. The message read something along the lines of Glen said you just had a meet up and do you know if there will be another one anytime soon I hate that I missed it blah blah blah. I told the gentleman he did indeed miss it but I would be glad to meet with him, and for past couple of months I've met with him at least once a week trying to impart any little bit of knowledge that I have to help him along.
At the October meet up Kevin had made a comment that he had a place in Asheville that we could possibly do a meet. With that little bit of knowledge I called Kevin up and says remember what you told me? Let's do it! But, we have one catch! I've got a soldier here that's only going to be here until May so therefore whatever we do we need to do it quickly. Kevin said let me make some phone calls and I'll get back to you. Couple days later he calls me up and says we can do it on this date. Then he and I had contacted Lynn and he was able to come as well.
Kevin also relied upon the relationship he had built in the Midwest contacted Randy and Ron and had them coming in as well. Before you know it, it spread like wildfire. It was tremendously awesome to be bringing this many different personalities and ideas together.
The planning stage is never an easy task but we managed. I would not have done it any other way. Kevin kind of took the reins on building in assembling a team. Heck getting prizes quickly turned into a full time job. However at any time I could have called anyone of them or emailed anyone and got something taken care of without issue. What I like about these guys is not only are they willing to help but they're brutally honest with you and will tell you your idea sucks it's not going to work. But they also offer some alternative suggestions. I have that to say that we all have the same goal in mind, that is to further the support and educate as many people as we can about wet shaving. As Lynn says, further the sport... It doesn't matter to which group you belong. We are here to share the joy of shaving.
Going back to what I said earlier about my first meet up and what I learned in person, at this meet up I got to talking with Tom, or Java. He was quite new to honing. Actually had never honed on his own. Was just keeping his razor edge up with a balsa strop.
While he claimed to be quite satisfied with the results and doing rather well with using just that, he was ready for something different.
We talked about various touch up stones finishing stones that he could use to maintain his edges. Before he left I gave him a set of lapping film. Said you could use this to hone up a razor keep it refreshed what have you and I was showing him how to use it.
Sitting beside us was a complete set of Shaptons that the Shapton company had company had brought in. (God I want a full set of Shaptons now). I encouraged Tom to jump on those stones and to practice, that way when he got home and needed to use his film he would have some background knowledge, rather than just trying to rely on what he saw and heard.Tom begins honing as he has Richard or stropper, and myself observing. Richard can observe things that I miss. Ron walks up and notices a couple of other things. Ron asks do you mind if I interject which we replied not at al,l please do. That's the beauty of these Meetups. Tom had 3 people observing what he was doing and selflessly giving him tips and advice that he would not have picked up anywhere else. As he was doing this they were easily and quickly able to spot what may have been some potentially bad habits and correct it right away. So now with Tom goes home and practices on his film or whatever medium he gets to hone his razors, he's armed with much more knowledge then a person that's been reading the forms for 3 years. He's way ahead of the game. And truthfully if Tom was the only person that we helped or that got anything from the meet up, the entire thing was worth it to me.
That is what this is all about to me. Just passing it along. In any way. We all have a talent that we can pass along to the next person. Spread the word.
Thank you all for coming and supporting this event. Thank you for the comments and feedback provided. You all are special to me and I appreciate all of you.
Long story short,you did good.Quote:
Originally Posted by rickboone
Ha, it was a long story. But, it wasn't me. I made a phone call. Offered ideas and collected prizes. I appreciate it but there's so many others that deserve credit for getting this thing going. Thank you.Quote:
Originally Posted by pixelfixed
Is the number thing for the scuttle? My ticket number at the convention ended in 13, so I will go with that.
I need to change my number to 6, since 13 is taken.
It is a custom lathering bowl, you'll choose one that's pictured, but yes.Quote:
Originally Posted by lindyhop66
Who got one of SRD's new natural strop? That thing is gorgeous. Want!
Sounds good.Quote:
Originally Posted by lindyhop66
If two people choose the same number, prettiest person wins.
That or time stamp. Or I'll have my son do his meenie meenie moe catch tiger by a toe.
I won an SRD strop and couldn't decide the type leather. Maybe it's the natural. Joe Neer (nipper) won a strop as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by rickboone
I've been stropping with nothing else since.
Then I guess lindyhop66 can pick 13 to and know if that # hits I will get an honorable mention :gaah:Quote:
Originally Posted by rickboone
I'll pick 21 even though I've never been to Vegas.
As best as I can estimate, this was my 15th shaving meet-up. I will remember it as one of my favorites. Many people have already been named and thanked and they deserve every bit of recognition they have received. It took a lot of work to pull this off and I consider the entire event to have been a huge success. I am very grateful for the effort they put into it.
Honestly, I'm at a loss for anything new to write after reading all of the other comments about the meet-up. I started out writing a list of reasons that the meet-up was a success but they were all pretty obvious. Basically I can narrow it down to we had fun, we met new people, we learned new things, we played with toys, we left with free stuff, and nobody died. Success.
It's rather difficult to explain one of these meet-ups to the uninitiated masses who suffer with modern razors. When I tell people I'm going to one of these gatherings, I usually describe them as being like Comic Con, but with sharp things, rocks, and old guys. I understand the puzzlement on their faces.
"Wait, you're going to sit around and talk about shaving?"
When I first heard of wet-shaving as a hobby, I thought it was absurd.
"How about brushing my teeth or washing my face? Can I make those into a hobby too?"
Whether you call it a hobby, or a sport (like Lynn does!), or a simple necessity, wet-shaving is greatly improved when you learn more about it and these meet-ups are great for that. Honing seems to be the most challenging part of using straight razors so beginners tend gravitate to it at meet-ups. It's easy to get carried away with that but the organizers of this event made sure to include other essential aspects of straight shaving as well. There was ample opportunity for everyone to follow their own interests and that's why the videos and photos show people spread out around the room.
Simply put, I truly enjoy attending these meet-ups and highly recommend everyone try to attend at least one. Next year's Asheville meet-up will be even better than this one!
Well put, sir.Quote:
Originally Posted by Utopian
Me
Thank you all for organizing and cat herding. The organizing crew had all the bases covered.
I had a good time at this years Asheville razor meet. It was well worth the drive from out of town to attend. It was great to meet new people, put faces with names from the internet and to see old friends.
The venue and organization were top notch. I am always surprised by how kind and friendly the attendees are at these razor meets. This meet had an abundance of vendors, kudos definitely need to be given to the organizers and movers and shakers of this meet.
I learned a lot at this meet. One thing that was interesting was the number of 1k hones being used. It kind of brought home the point that a lot of problems in honing can be traced back to the bevel not being set right. It is fascinating seeing the different techniques people used to hone. The brush turning demonstration was informative. It was good to talk to the klingspor man about abrasives, he knew his stuff and I learned a lot.
All and all, Big Thumbs Up,-----------when is the next one, I am looking forward to it.
Charlie
Stropper and others. I found this.
http://razortips.blogspot.com/2009/0...y-jig.html?m=1
Lathering bowls. What's not given away will be sold. The drawing will be next week.
No problem - my pleasure, but I admit that I suck at videoing.Quote:
Originally Posted by randydance062449
In those two short days, I learned so much more than I could have imagined about razors, brushes, soaps, and honing - I even learned a little about how to work that darn video camera. However, it looks like I still need a little more practice. Ha!
BR//ShavingSnob
Kevin,
Nice write up on the front page. Well done.
Straight Razor Place - Asheville Meet up 2014
I only have one problem with that write up Kevin,Quote:
Originally Posted by Warpiper
You to need to take a bow.
Gentlemen again I can not thank you enough for the time, knowledge, and hospitality.
With the energy and enthusiasm you gentlemen put into this wet shaving has a strong ally in furthering its audience base!
I wanted to remind a few people I met who are interested in coming to our Triangle group get togethers sometime, to PM myself, Robert Smith, lindyhopper66 or Joe Neer, nipper to get a feel when everyone is available to come some Saturday.
To all .....
It must be said that Kevin Adams is responsible for the success of this Razor Meet. His background in organizing other events like this is what made this possible. He put together a very good team and allowed us to do our part without micro-managing or heavy handedness. For me personally, at the age of 64, this was the best managed team I have ever been a part of. I look forward to working with Kevin in the future! :)
The drawing for the lather bowl will be Tuesday.
Simon passing his knowledge to Warpiper as he learns to hone.
Attachment 164926
Pfries Passing on his wisdom (In the way not to cut your neck?)
NOTE: The reaction to this demonstration Is that Randy running?
:rofl2:
Attachment 164927
