Leg pulling?

While helping my father-in-law move house on the weekend we got talking about razors. I was telling him about how I test for sharpness with a HH and arm hair etc..

Anyway, he told me what his father and grandfather (supposedly) used to do with their cutthroats to test sharpness. In the interests of keeping things marginally tasteful, let's just say he reckoned they used the "coarser" hairs of the body (those that even baldies like me possess), still attached to that part of the anatomy from whence they grow. If the razor could split the hair lengthwise, the razor was sharp!!

I told him that if a razor could do that, then I had no doubt it was sharp!:eek: He never cracked a smile once during this whole conversation.

I think he's pulling my leg, trying to see if I'm stupid enough to try it out (like fetching left-handed screwdrivers etc.). I mean, even if it's true it's not likely to become anyone's preferred method of sharpness testing!

I know this is probably a stupid question, but no one has ever heard of this, have they? (Please say no)

James.

The barbers in my town still do this one.

They may, but if you are ever camping and need a smoke sifter, lemme know..................:roflmao

Lynn

I was at my barber's the other day and he did the 'PHHT' as they call it around here and the hair sorta 'popped' instead of quietly dividing at the atomic level. Needless to say I sent him back to the hone.

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Originally Posted by dylandog

I was at my barber's the other day and he did the 'PHHT' as they call it around here and the hair sorta 'popped' instead of quietly dividing at the atomic level. Needless to say I sent him back to the hone.

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LOL!! Perhaps this is where the expression "ball-tearer" came from?:D

James.

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Originally Posted by Jimbo

LOL!! Perhaps this is where the expression "ball-tearer" came from?:D

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Could be!

Seriously though, this guy gave new meaning to the word 'inept.' Fortunately I had my laptop with me and I got Alan and Randy online for a three-way skype tutorial, and within 45 minutes my barber was scything crop circles into every crotch in the shop.

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Originally Posted by dylandog

Could be!

Seriously though, this guy gave new meaning to the word 'inept.' Fortunately I had my laptop with me and I got Alan and Randy online for a three-way skype tutorial, and within 45 minutes my barber was scything crop circles into every crotch in the shop.

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dylandog - now I *know* you're just pulling my leg!:) I have to say, just picturing the look on someone's face as their barber "tests" the sharpness of his razor...:roflmao

James.

Eventually he got to my face, and a decent shave it was in the end, I have to admit.

You know, difficult as it has been, I have been giving this some serious thought. I think my relatives and your barber are onto something. From a scientific standpoint, those particular hairs are too coarse for a standard HHT to determine an adequate sharpness. Hence the modification requiring a lateral, longitudinal split (LLS).

In addition, said hairs possess a higher elasticity than other body hair, and Hooke's law tells us that we must therefore "Extend" the hair, still attached, to overcome the linear restoring force which would otherwise render the test impractical.

So, although I have no problem with the PHHT, I propose we called the test the Extended P Lateral Longitudinal Split test, or E-PULLS for short.

James.

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Originally Posted by adjustme69

They may, but if you are ever camping and need a smoke sifter, lemme know..................:roflmao

Lynn

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Right or Left handed??:roflmao

well, the guy is not kidding. I can split a hair (from the head) length wise, and badger hair splits that way even easier, which is kinda similar to the chest (oh, alright, pubic) hair your father-in-law was talking about...

Nenad

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Originally Posted by RichZ

Right or Left handed??:roflmao

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Do you need a sky hook? I can get either one for you, just send the funds to paypal and I'll ship!

RT

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Originally Posted by superfly

well, the guy is not kidding. I can split a hair (from the head) length wise, and badger hair splits that way even easier, which is kinda similar to the chest (oh, alright, pubic) hair your father-in-law was talking about...

Nenad

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Kidding or not, let me tell you I may shave naked but I hone fully clothed...:y

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Originally Posted by superfly

well, the guy is not kidding. I can split a hair (from the head) length wise, and badger hair splits that way even easier, which is kinda similar to the chest (oh, alright, pubic) hair your father-in-law was talking about...

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I guess I'm losing track of whose leg is being pulled.

Where I come from we call pubes the "short and curlies" and they're nothing like badger hair. We Americans put a man on the moon but we haven't yet coaxed a pube into lying down flat for longitudinal slicing. They be curling and springing off on their way like a slinky.

Then again I've never laid eyes on a Balkan badger so that may be the source of confusion. They got that old-school Rick James geri-curl look?

Haha, don't worry, I ain't splitting no pubic hair. I just mentioned it because of the original post. If the razor is sharp enough to pass the hanging hair test, it will also split the hair length wise, although you will need more patience.

Bring the razor slowly to the hair like you normally do with the hanging hair test, and when you feel the edge catching the hair, rotate the hand you are holding the hair with to almost touch the razor's spine, so the hair is almost parallel to the blade's surface. Proceed slowly, and the hair should split lengthwise, just like on the Bugs Bunny cartoons. It's a cool trick for astonishing your pals.

It is even easier with thicker hair, like badger's... I don't know about beaver's hair, haven't tried that yet ;)


Nenad

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Originally Posted by superfly

Proceed slowly, and the hair should split lengthwise, just like on the Bugs Bunny cartoons. It's a cool trick for astonishing your pals.

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Man, this kind of HHT is still totally elusive for me. I once got a hair of mine to 'ping' in half and I was exultant for the rest of the day. I have never once seen that quiet cleaving at the atomic level that Josh talks about on another thread, and that apparently Bugs Bunny could pull off. Usually I just hone until the razor pops arm hairs and then I strop and shave. 9 times out of 10 there's no pulling.

OK, so it's not beyond the realms of possibility to split a hair longitudinally if you have the knack? I can see some sliced fingers in my future before I pull that one off...

Lynn, do you still have that smoke sifter? I know a father-in-law who could use it...

James.