Thread: Asheville NC meetup ; April 26-27th

Well I finally have a moment to say my piece

I have been shaving with a straight (although I started on a shavette) since early Feb 2011.
I did not have the luxury of having a mentor readily available and did not find SRP until late august when I was researching honing two real blades I had picked up.
Both were lost causes. At that point I picked up a lot in the library and on line fixing some of my issues.
In early November of 2011 my hones arrived and I was off to the races, for me it was do or die at this point. I watched videos and read material, I did and studied every point along the way.
I screwed things up figured out why and found a way to fix them. If I was not getting the results I heard the pros speaking of I changed something and did it again, and again until I got it. Fast forward to the meet, I walked in with a lot of experiences, please note I do not say experience fully anticipating being humiliated at my un-orthodox way of honing, self taught stropping, amateur pinning and so forth.
Instead I find a group of gentlemen I have so much respect and admiration for watching what I do and not only not criticizing but complimenting me and asking questions.
I was floored!
I watched Lynn set the bevel, and then Randy(Randydance). I figured out even though I will use a good bit of torque and pressure to se a bevel I can use a bit more yet and speed it up.
I watched Ron (Utopian) finesse on a few naturals and picked up my starting point as I am looking to move to the next rabbit hole. Not only that but Ron took the time to walk me through the stages and way less slurry was used in the finishing steps than I would have thought.
The time spent sharing my experiences and getting feed back from those newer to the sport than I was rewarding, refreshing, and gave me several things to come home and play with.
(Yes please note I gave that credit to the newer guys.)
Watching Randy hone as he has system very similar to mine was uplifting, exciting, and eye opening.
I cannot thank those behind the scene enough,
I do have two regrets and I do not regret much of anything.

1. It was only Two days
2. I could not do more

I met more people worth knowing over this weekend than I have met in the 10 years since I settled here in east TN

I Thank you one and all whether you were part of putting it all together, attending, or donating to the cause.
This has to be the best time I have had that I can attribute to picking up a straight.

Here is to the Past event, the friends and acquaintances and let us not forget what has yet to come!

Gents.

Originally Posted by pfries

Well I finally have a moment to say my piece

I have been shaving with a straight (although I started on a shavette) since early Feb 2011.
I did not have the luxury of having a mentor readily available and did not find SRP until late august when I was researching honing two real blades I had picked up.
Both were lost causes. At that point I picked up a lot in the library and on line fixing some of my issues.
In early November of 2011 my hones arrived and I was off to the races, for me it was do or die at this point. I watched videos and read material, I did and studied every point along the way.
I screwed things up figured out why and found a way to fix them. If I was not getting the results I heard the pros speaking of I changed something and did it again, and again until I got it. Fast forward to the meet, I walked in with a lot of experiences, please note I do not say experience fully anticipating being humiliated at my un-orthodox way of honing, self taught stropping, amateur pinning and so forth.
Instead I find a group of gentlemen I have so much respect and admiration for watching what I do and not only not criticizing but complimenting me and asking questions.
I was floored!
I watched Lynn set the bevel, and then Randy(Randydance). I figured out even though I will use a good bit of torque and pressure to se a bevel I can use a bit more yet and speed it up.
I watched Ron (Utopian) finesse on a few naturals and picked up my starting point as I am looking to move to the next rabbit hole. Not only that but Ron took the time to walk me through the stages and way less slurry was used in the finishing steps than I would have thought.
The time spent sharing my experiences and getting feed back from those newer to the sport than I was rewarding, refreshing, and gave me several things to come home and play with.
(Yes please note I gave that credit to the newer guys.)
Watching Randy hone as he has system very similar to mine was uplifting, exciting, and eye opening.
I cannot thank those behind the scene enough,
I do have two regrets and I do not regret much of anything.

1. It was only Two days
2. I could not do more

I met more people worth knowing over this weekend than I have met in the 10 years since I settled here in east TN

I Thank you one and all whether you were part of putting it all together, attending, or donating to the cause.
This has to be the best time I have had that I can attribute to picking up a straight.

Here is to the Past event, the friends and acquaintances and let us not forget what has yet to come!

Gents.

Here, here!!!

well said! and you're absolutely right - I could have just hung out chatting smoking a cigar or pipe and relaxing with you guys the whole time. I actually forgot to ask some of my newbie questions and try some things simply because i was having such a good time. I'm saving it for next time!

Rick & Java





MR. Moo, Lynn and Nippers back

I seemed to have escaped a lot of the photos...
I like it...

Originally Posted by boostdemon

well said! and you're absolutely right - I could have just hung out chatting smoking a cigar or pipe and relaxing with you guys the whole time. I actually forgot to ask some of my newbie questions and try some things simply because i was having such a good time. I'm saving it for next time!

Well ask away now.

Originally Posted by pfries

Well ... Here is to the Past event, the friends and acquaintances and let us not forget what has yet to come! Gents.

Word. The long and the short of it was, "Great people."

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The meet-up was great! Meeting the faces behind the screen name was fun. It made it very easy to talk to people I only knew from reading the forums. I enjoyed the very positive exchange of information, ideas, tips, etc. among all in attendance. All levels of skills from beginner to expert benefited, which was the goal of the meet-up all along. Everyone and everything was upbeat both days. It was a pleasure working with the other team members most of whom I met for the first time when I walked in. It was a very valuable experience all the way around. I'm looking forward to doing it again.

Originally Posted by nipper

The meet-up was great! Meeting the faces behind the screen name was fun. It made it very easy to talk to people I only knew from reading the forums. I enjoyed the very positive exchange of information, ideas, tips, etc. among all in attendance. All levels of skills from beginner to expert benefited, which was the goal of the meet-up all along. Everyone and everything was upbeat both days. It was a pleasure working with the other team members most of whom I met for the first time when I walked in. It was a very valuable experience all the way around. I'm looking orward to doing it again.

Love the avatar buddy it is unique,