Thread: Coming to you from Houston

A few months back I switched to a safety razor and that worked great for me. I think because the blades are more reasonably priced, I change them more regularly. Apparently, one sharp blade shaves better than 3 to 5 dull ones. Anyway, that transition went smoothly.

Now I'm giving the straight razor a try. After a half dozen shaves, I am starting to get the hang of it. Long way to go to be proficient, but it's not so intimidating as it started. The first attempt at shaving my neck caused beads of sweat on the forehead (and it wasn't hot in the bathroom). I thought the left hand would be really difficult, but I find in practice that it's not much harder for me than the dominant hand.

The most significant challenge I think is dealing with the glasses. I wear glasses sometimes and contacts other times. My corrected vision is better with the glasses, but shaving with the contacts is easier. When I tilt my chin up to see the throat better, I am looking under the glasses and can't see well. I'm farsighted, BTW, so taking the glasses off and getting close to the mirror doesn't help like some nearsighted folks probably do. Today I took the glasses off and shaved without any vision correction. That worked in a fashion, but not ideal either. So, I'm experimenting with different ways of working with the vision problem using a straight razor. I feel like it would be OK if I wasn't just learning to use the razor. So there is hope.

So far I have seven razors I purchased on Ebay, 2 of which were supposed to be shave ready. I have also bought a strop, brush, and soap. Then I picked up a set of Naniwa honing stones (1k, 5k, 8k, 12k). The first attempt at honing didn't work out well, but I've concluded I moved past the 1k before I should have. Today I shaved with a razor I honed and it was as good or better than those that were purchased "shave ready". BTW, I'm the guy at hunting camp that everybody wanted to sharpen their hunting knifes. Yes it's different from a straight razor, but the principles are not far apart. At least with the razor you have a blade that can be rested flat on the stone to hold the bevel consistently. You probably think I jumped the gun getting into honing so early, but I was interested in learning to do it.

Another minor challenge is having the soap dry before I get to all parts of my face. I shave very slowly with the straight razor!

One last challenge is that I travel a lot with work and I never check baggage. I don't think TSA would take kindly to me having a straight razor in my carry on bags, so for now the straight razors are for home use only.

I can't say enough about how helpful this website has been. This is my first post, but I have been reading a lot and watching some of Lynn's videos. I guess that's about enough for this post.

Welcome aboard to SRP. You must not be too far away, I'm in the area.........Sugar Land. I guess from you watching Lynn's video's you must have seen them on YouTube. You'll find a wealth of information here & a lot of knowledgable members here so if you have any questions, just ask. If you aren't to far away, drop by & we can talk straight razor's. I also can show you some things as well. I hope you have a strop & know how to use one. You can find all that information in the Library though..........everything from stropping to honing & restoring. Let me know what part of Houston you're in.
Good luck

engine46,

I am actually in Friendswood. So I'm southeast and you're southwest. This is about my 4th time to live in Houston and one previous period I lived in Sugarland myself. And yes, I saw several of Lynn's videos on Youtube.

I would be interested in stopping by for a visit since you so generously offered. My learning curve is so steep, I expect a few minutes of your time would teach me a lot. I'm about to leave town on a business trip to Edmonton, AB, however. I'll reach out to you in a few days after I get back in town. Looks like you are a Hickok fan. Must be a story there!

Yep, I like the movie Wild Bill! My mother lives in Pearland closer to you.

Hi and welcome. Meeting with Steve should see you overcome any basic issues and he can check that your razors are truly shave ready. There is a big performance difference between almost and shave ready. I'm sure he can answer any questions you can fire at him and give you some of the answers to questions you don't even know that you need to know and anything in between. Good luck with your shaves and avoiding all the addictions that goes with it

Hello and welcome. I believe there are quite a few members on the same side of the state as you and Steve.

-mikeo

[QUOTE=mikeo;1519631]Hello and welcome. I believe there are quite a few members on the same side of the state as you and Steve.

-mikeo

Yes, I know Tom aka shartonn lives in the area but not as close as I would like.