Thread: Greater Pacific Northwest Meet-Up ** Saturday Sept 13th at 11am**

Good point deighaingeal. One other thing I would like to work on for next year is more pictures of both the people and the items they brough to share.

About what time did you all break up?

Next time I plan on being able to stay for the whole meet.

They had another Group booked at 7 so came in and asked us to move out to the Bar by 6:30... I think we were some of the last to leave and that was about 6:45 or so.

My only regret... I saw 'Rhubarb Pie' on the menu, intended to order it (my favorite) but was so distracted with everything going on I didn't remember it again until the next day. :-/

I bet your wife makes better pie homemade is the only way to go.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I really loved the Mystery Hone Challenge, I would like to hear how that razor shaves when you get time ...

I've been running ever since with my house move. Everything packed and hard to find.

Tonight is the first opportunity to shave since a quick on the run SE touch up Monday.

Within a couple of hours or so (once the flooring quy finishes up) I will be in my new den, soaped up and ready to rock! I am so needing a great relaxing shave right now so it will be a great way to run the newly freshened pipe razor up.

Soon........ : )

Donated Product Reviews...

I just got done with my first Shave since the Meet... It's been 8 days and I typically do the 6-10 day growth thing as that is about how long it takes my head hair to grow long enough to be frustrating and I was still waiting for my wounds to heal from my last Head Shave Disaster learning with the Fatboy (... both Slim and Fatboy now on eBay and I'm sticking with Merkurs... The Progress kicked butt and I started at .5 and went to 2 for my Head Shave. Perfect!) so it was a pretty good time to Test.

Note: I don't really do Reviews and have never seen a consistent standard to follow so this is simply Subjectively-Weighted-Word-Salad delivered by Stream Of Consciousness...
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First Up: LA Shaving Soap- Topanga Fougere

From the LA Shaving Soap Company Website: "Fougère is French for fern, which does not have much of a scent. The term is used to describe the combined woody, floral, and herbal scents of an imagined forest floor."

I had no idea what Fougere meant so had to look it up. I honestly don't know what to compare the scent to other than to say it appeals to me greatly... I grew up in Colorado and love every single thing about outside and I can pick out a bunch of different scents that remind me of various outdoor things and different times of year. Experientially, the only thing I've smelled like it is Al's Shaving Cream when Gerrit/Deighaingeal did an Uber-Lather Demo for me. The smell is great and even though it is an 'up-front' smell it has no lingering smell strong enough to be a concern but simply blends in to my awesome 'Man-Scent' and as I walked around I'd get hints of it here and there but it was only pleasant and relaxing, never distracting or abrasive.

They fill the sample cup completely to the top which is such a cool thing... Many Samples of 'whatever' I've seen in the past have just a percentage of the container filled but this is right to the top so, even with samples, you can see their focus on quality and customer service. I didn't really know how much to use so I put about a third of the sample in my Cup... I Head Shave first then Face Shave so end up lathering up 3-4 times total so I expected to use a lot... I was close to correct in my guess but still had enough left over at the end to put lather all over my head and face as a Pre-Aftershave Balm-ish Application while I was cleaning up my gear... I kinda like doing that in general as it reminds me of 'Shampoo Mohawks' in the bathtub when you were a kid. Performance was great and I had to check the label twice to be certain it was a Soap and not a Cream... Very soft and it handled my one significant complaint about Soaps in general... Slickness was adequate even when doing the second pass/touch-ups on my head without a full re-lather and that is rare for me. I typically add RS Shaving Cream to my other Soaps to bump the slickness, otherwise the Razor chatters and bounces over my skin. And, I'm simply not going to use Pre-Shave Oil, Post Shave Balm, etc with a Soap as it is much simpler to use Cream as an all-in-one. But, with the Topanga Fougere there was absolutely no need and I would have bet a handsome sum that it would have been the other way around and had planned time to ditch it and re-do with added Cream. Rinsed clean and left my skin feeling smooth and hydrated and not 'sticky'. Very, very nice Soap that certainly opened my eyes to what a soap can do and be. Very happily surprised!
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Next up: Captains Choice Bay Rum

I got 4 Samples (Bay Rum, Lime, North and Cat O'Nine Tails) so chose the Bay Rum to try first and they all seem to be of the same great quality. First thing I noticed is, again, they fill it just almost to the tip-top... Use caution when opening as they do not hold back when filling... Another nod to quality and Customer Service focus. The thing I noticed most about this scent and the rest is that it is a Darker/Man/RAH! type scent. I really like Burt's Bees Bay Rum but that is a Bright/Light/Sweet-ish scent. Captains Choice Bay Rum is the total opposite of that but in a really positive way... I did not look up the ingredients but I noticed a much greater presence of Clove and Anise scents with the rest of the expected Bay Rum notes coming in the background. Just a really different experience for me... I've really not spent much time with scents as I just use what I have and have never considered what 'else' could be out there. Captains Choice has given me much to think about and a whole new scent profile to appreciate. Like I said above, I absolutely love everything about Outside and this scent just reminds me of those type scents... Rather than manufactured, yuck, sneezy, powdery, woman's make-up counter type scents that seem to be what so many other companies put their "Men's Fragrances" on top of, this is just something I've never smelled before and I'm still so dazzled by it that I'm having a hard time explaining myself. Some of the best scents I remember from my Childhood are GoJo Handcleaner (Old-School, not the New stuff) Diesel Fuel, Grease, Oil-Soaked Dirt and Steel. My Grandpa and Dad owned a Trucking Company and a CASE Dealership and I loved being able to go visit and walk up and down the Aisles of Parts, back in the Shop where they'd get a stool and let me wash random stuff in the Parts Washer. Those are all similar to the way the back-notes of the Captains Choice Aftershave present... No screwing around, this is DUDE STUFF! I have a Wife and 2 Daughters and 2 of my 3 last dogs (.. current is a beautiful female Lab..) have been female (Male German Shepherd checked out at 8 and left me hanging... Dammit, ya furry little lovable bastard... He was my Soldier!) so when I smell ANYTHING Dude-ish I pay attention and appreciate that more than most could possibly ever know! I often vacillate between choices when it comes to Shaving Gear in general and, though I'm not really fickle, I often try stuff then flip it or move on... What I can tell you about the Captains Choice is I will absolutely be asking for this as a reasonable gift or buying it for myself in the very near future... I will not run out of the Samples before owning a full bottle!
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That's my spiel... Hope it provides some good/positive information or perhaps a mirthy moment!

Thanks again to the Vendors/Donors! I definitely would like to see more product exposure at any future Meets and Samples are absolutely worth their weight in gold... The Soap Sample is easily enough for 3 of my Shaves (Head and Face Twice) and the Aftershave Samples are HUGE! No idea how long they may last but, for my use, I'd say 15 applications each bottle, perhaps more... Very generous of both Vendors and a huge testament to their focus on quality and customer service. Thank you again for your generosity and awesome products!!!!!

Shawn
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Hmmm... I just got done looking at the Captain's Choice website and found this in the description for their Bay Rum:

"We saved the best for last - there are no cloves used in our formula."

I know what my nose told me and it said there were Cloves and Anise notes in there so just not sure what to think... I did some research and both Basil and Allspice came up as possible ingredients that smell like Cloves. I really don't know what they use now... But, it still smells great!

Hmmmm... Just plain, Hmmmmmm...

Shawn
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I THINK they went that way because some people are sensitive to them. Seem to recall a post somewhere stating that

As far product reveiws go I didn't bring anything home with me, but I was able to sample the Ogallala Bay Rum and I must say I REALLY like it. Another thing that suprised me was how much I liked the aftershave sampler pack from Captains Choice. I felt kinda silly sticking my face up a some others guys neck and taking a big sniff..... but damn it smelled good! These will both be on my short list for Christmas!

I have no idea where I put the last two weeks! : /

I only fit in three shaves since returning, and each with the Pipe razor that Deighaingeal 'finished' on the mystery slate.

I must say that the improvement to my edge was marked. The shaves have been terrific. The first shave was a little touch and go but I had much longer stubble than I'm used to. (I typically shave quite regularly and shaving of a week or so's growth is a treat.) The second and third shaves though were very nice. I'm glad to see a finishing stone only put the edge on a razor I have been regularly honing. I can conclude my basics are pretty good and I can now focus on the 'top end' of sharp. It is great to know that I can use my 'mystery hone' to bring my razors up to their expectations. (It belonged to a japanese barber who was 92 when he passed away over twenty years ago now. No idea where it came from - but it was a great opportunity to have folks show that it can be a fine finisher as well).

A maintainance question - this Pipe razor hasn't seen tape for some time, but the edge was finished on the mystery hone with tape. What is recommended for this razor in future honings? I prefer not to use tape but I see the Seattle group like a good 3M film. I'm not sure what my next step should be for the Pipe razor.

I have yet to put any learning to actual use. : / Moving has been surprisingly disorienting and there is simply no time yet. I am looking forward to Prashton's suggestion of honing while watching TV just to get a lot of reps in and get a strong sense for the feel of the process and the change that occurs as the edge progresses. I will get there gawl dern it.

I won a sample of the LA Shaving Soap Topanga Fougere and gave it a run with my first shave. I appreciate the chance to try products I don't normally have access to and I would like to thank LA Shaving for the samples. Packed nice and juicy like mentioned earlier!

I have to say that the scent is not quite resonating with me yet, but my wife really liked it - and I see that Prashton likes it - so I see good company enjoy it. I suspect it will grow on me quickly and perhaps be one of those scents I crave after a while. It is definitely unique.

The soap performance was a nice surprise. I wasn't expecting such a good shave experience. The soap was a snap to prep - actually rather pleasant the way the cream formed. The foam held together nicely and didn't stuggle with bubbles. The resulting cream was firm and nicely cushiony. This was on a week-old beard and it competed well for space on da face. I am not one to have a lot of creative praise prose available to describe soap, so I can just say that I was very happy with it and would be glad to include a jar in my armament.

Now - where did I put the darn SRP soap I won?? I will find it!!!

If you choose to not use tape it will not take long to set the bevel back to where you want it. Honestly, we are not talking about a lot of steel there.