Thread: Greetings from Colorado

Hello, Wolfcobra:

Good luck. Keep us apprised.

Regards,
Obie

Drum roll please........

I did it After days upon days of waiting and searching the internet, my razor finally came. After a long, hot shower I went to the sink and tried my hand at being a real man. I started with the right cheek, WTG. No cuts and the angles seemed to work out pretty well. Moved on to the left cheek, with similar results. Embrazened by my success, I decided to forge ahead to the upper lip. That, too, went more or less well (although, granted, it wasn't the cleanest of shaves). Moving on towards the jaw and chin line, I ran into some issues with very small cuts popping up near the chin on both sides, but they all closed by the time I finished.

Deciding that I wasn't quite ready to do the chin or neck at this stage in the game, I went back to the cheek and sideburn area. I did both a XTG and ATG pass, both of which went fairly well. Finally, I tried an ATG pass on the upper lip, which left two small nicks on either side. Finished everything left over with my Gillette Fusion, and called it a day. I'm one happy kid after only one day!

There were a few issues, however. First, my lathering abilities are absolutely terrible. Despite a few attempts at improving it, I was left with a thin film that had dried up before I even got to that respective area of the face. I have the correct materials, and have read just about everything on the topic, but I don't yet have the experience necessary. I'll chalk it up to a temporary lack of feel for now. Secondly, I'll need to improve my first pass. Although the end result was entirely BBS on the sides of the face and cheeks, I never felt like the first pass was quite as effective as it was supposed to be. That will take some more practice as well.

Overall, I would like to attribute my success to the wonderfully honed razor by Lynn, and to the wonderful advice and support I have received from everyone at this forum. Thanks so much!

Here's my current kit:
Vintage Blades Brand Luxury Shaving Cream
Dovo "Black Best Quality" Razor (6/8")
Rooney Style 3 Size 1 Super Silvertip brush
A little cocoa butter/shae butter/vitamin E cream diluted with water for an aftershave moisturizer (only until my skin food gets here, although I do LOVE the scent....)

Congrats! It sounds like you are off to a good start.

Dont rush the different areas of your face, only tackle them once you feel comfortable with handling the razor. Work on your lather as well, and check the Wiki article about lather making for some tips!

Good luck and keep us posted!

Hello, Wolfcobra:

The drums roll. Congratulations. Well done.

Now, a little at a time. Whatever you do don't push or force the straight razor: it has a mind of its own. Also I would lay off, for now, doing against the grain on the upper lip, meaning the blade inching toward your nose. Up there, do with the grain for now.

Otherwise work on you preparation. That luxurious lather is important.

Regards,
Obie

Oh, I nearly forgot... I wanted to explain some of the things I did that I felt helped me pick up the shaving motion without much problem.

First, I mocked shaving with my pocket knife while I waited for my straight razor to get here. I didn't actually need to touch the face, but it helped me learn what hand angles would be required in order to get about the correct blade angle. I suppose one could use a butter knife or something similar if they wanted to have even more realism and do some blade to skin contact.

Second, after getting a feeling for how to hold the straight, I actually shaved a bit of my arm in order to get the feel and pressure down, and to see the blade angle that would work best for me. I may look a little goofy for a few days, but it was worth it to learn the tangible aspects of the shave before trying it on my face.

I hope this might be useful for future newbies trying to pick up straight shaving, and it saves them a lot of grief and nicks. On another note, I believe what I was doing with my lather was greatly underestimating its ability to absorb water. I was too worried about overwatering the lather that I don't think I ever got it to the right consistency. I'll know for sure tonight when I go for pass number two!

-Wolf

sounds like your getting it under control pretty quick...
how long have you been at the acadamey? have you got to do the CBRNE, shower shave units yet?......just a heads up if they make you guys shower in the shower shave units dont even try to use the "mirrors" in that thing YOU WILL CUT YOURSELF.....do yourself a favor for that one and borrow some chicks makeup with the small mirror inside..your prob gonna get laughed at for it...but you wont be bleeding

Wolf,

I know exactly how you feel. I'm wearing out the UPS & FedEx shipment tracking websites. I ordered one razor set, not shave ready, from overseas. When I realized that would need to send it to Lynn to let him get it shave ready, I decided that I just couldn't wait that long. The solution? I ordered a shave-ready Bismarck from Lynn. Current status: One razor in Frankfurt, the other in Cincinnati - both Alabama-bound.

I've been wet shaving with a safety razor (Gillette Fusion - like you) for a couple of years. Despite the fact that it is killing me to be patient, I've vowed to follow Obie's advice to be slow & patient once the Bismarck arrives. His advice to me was "Compare wet shaving with a straight razor to dining in a luxurious restaurant with wine and all. There, you take your time to enjoy everything, from the place setting and the ambiance to the main entree and the final cognac."

To that end, when I shaved this morning with my safety razor I didn't rush. I concentrated on building a nice lather with my soap & brush and savored the feeling of the warm lather on my face. It made me a little late in joining friends for coffee before work, but what the heck - you've got to enjoy life's little pleasures...

BTW, thanks for giving of yourself in service for our country.

Greg

BAMARACING8: I am going to be doing most of that training this summer during Global Engagement (GE). However, I know for certain that I'm not going to be using a straight over that period of time. I'll have to resort to either my electric or Fusion, but it will be worth it if I can save some time and keep from damaging my blade while I'm out in the field. Thanks for the advice though.

Greg: Thank you very much. Every day I am reminded why I made the decision to serve by meeting amazing people like those on this forum. Best of all, I say that with every ounce of my heart.

Hope you both have a nice day.

Great read on this thread...

There are quite a few Colorado members on here, I am up in Idaho now, but Colorado Springs is my old hometown...

In fact I am going to be down in mid July so a few of us are thinking of a small meet up on Sun the 18th in Denver... Not sure if you will be in Colorado during the summer months but you are more than welcome to join us if you are...

Oh, and Bamaracing, I have been at the Academy for nearly a whole year now. We were even recognized recently