Thread: Hello from Sweden.

Hello everyone.

I'm a 29 year old man from Sweden who has been reading on this forum for a while, so I decided it was time for me to join. I have been shaving with a straight for a few weeks now, I must say that it has been going surprisingly good, and it's going better every time.

Background story: I have always have very dry skin in my face which demands meticulous care with skin creams, avoiding the sun and so on. Shaving has always been tough on my skin, so naturally I have been looking for the optimal shave routine. In my youth I started out with a sensor excel, which work very well on my teenage-soft hair but as became older my beard became thicker and my skin drier. Shaving became something to fear, sometime it went quite ok, other times I got a red, irritated skin with infected follicles which took days to recover from.

I did some research on the web and to my surprise I found that shaving interests people so much there even exists forums! A common opinion was that one blade is better than many. My grandfather had a DE razor he didn't use which I took care of, and yeah, it really was better! I have been using that razor for a few years now, and now my face almost look as a face should do! But of course, it can always be better so I decided to try a straigt razor. I found one at a flee market in good condition and bought a set of naniwa stones and a strop.

And I think this method is even better than the DE! I feel it gives me more control and it forces me to take care and shave careful which my skin really appreciate. Too bad I didn't try this earlier.

This place has really helped me getting into the straight razor world. Thank you all!

Valkommen til SRP!

What razor are you using? I hear the old Swedish blades are very very nice. My only Swede is a tiny Berg frameback, light enough for backpacking.

Stick a pin in our Google map (it's in the Community drop-down menu) and see if there are any straight-razor users near you. I know there a few active Scandinavians here.

Var bor dig?

Vi ses.

Tack så mycket!

I have these two razors now:


The one with the fish is made by Erik Anton Berg, same manufacturer as you have I suppose. The other one is a J.A Hellberg. The scales on this one isn't good, they are warped, cracked and untidy repaired with glue. They are both from Eskilstuna, swedens own Solingen, kind of. The Berg razor is my favourite, very sharp and smooth to shave with, but I am suppose the other one can get as sharp once I learned to use the hones better.

I live nearby the town Gävle.

I studied Swedish in the summer of 1985, at the folkhogskola in Grebbestad. My family came from Bersbo, near Atvidaberg in Ostergotland. Uppsala is probaly as close as I got to Gavle, unless I passed through on the train back down from Kiruna. I spent a couple of days in Trollhatten; that blade is extra-cool. Jatte bra!

My little Berg is also a very good shaver. I'd like to put it in some different scales. The ones already on it are fine, but the whole thing looks kind of cheap. Here it is next to a 5/8 Dovo for scale. The tang and tail are flat like the blade, like it was stamped out.


I recently got a Naniwa 12k; it's a fantastic hone. To get to it I use a nameless 1k/6k and a Norton 4k/8k.

Hej da for now,

Tim

Välkommen

Jag är själv uppvuxen i Skutskär.

Most welcome. Nice to see another Swede starting to enjoy using a straight razor.
Please join the SRP: Nordic group here at SRP you can get the link if you click on my profile.

Roughkype: So you have swedish roots, that's cool! I don't know why the blade says Trollhättan, I have never heard of neither a steel producer or a razor manufacturer there, and the stamp says Eskilstuna, but I agree, it is a nice looking blade.

Bjsulla: Tack! Själv kommer jag från Sandviken. For how long have you been using a straight razor?

I've been using a straight for about 6 months but been dreaming about it for well over 20 years. I was reading a English forum about Espresso Coffee and there was a thread about traditional shaving that got me started. Every time there is a discussion about shaving it always end with the statement "but did you ever had a shave with a cut throat razor?". Nowadays I can say - Yes I have and I enjoy it very much because it is the best shave ever.