Thread: Lurking and learning.

alllllrighty then. Now comes the time that I have decided to introduce myself.

First, a little history about myself. I have been shaving since before i really had hair on my face, I have JROTC to thank for that. I started with your basic Mach 3, and shaved with that for years. I have never really needed to change blades as i don't have much hair on my face, so I would normally just change a blade the the gel stuff wore out, normally once every two months or so. Shortly after getting out of High school I joined the United States Marine Corps, and served 4 years as a 0311 ( infantrymen ), Because of boot camp i got out of shaving with creams and gels because it simply took to much time that you didn't have. So, for four years I would "dry" shave while i shaved simply because i found my face could handle it. (by dry i mean water only)
Shortly after getting out of the Marines I became a card dealer at a casino. The work is fun at times, and stressful at others but i still shaved the same way as i did in the Marines. Simply because it was what i knew. Never had a completely smooth shave but, hey it worked. Fast forward two years. About a month ago i discovered that there were people out there that still shaved with a safety razor, so I did a little bit of searching and found that there were people that shaved with straight razors as well.
Que the RAD. I did a little bit of research and bought some basic shave soap and a cheap brush. Adding this to my shave routine and using the basic WTG, XTG, ATG passes was able to achieve really good shaves so I thought to myself is i can do it with a store bought razor then what can i do with a super sharp blade that requires and demands constant attention? Well, I decided to find out. I went to the local auction and was able to find some blades that were cheap and seemed to be in decent order. overall came out with 5 razors and a safety razor for around 40 dollars. I knew none of these would be ready to shave with to i set them to the side and waited for the razor that i had bought as a sight unseen deal to arrive. Now i have 6 razors. The razor arrived in the mail but not before i had already took the pick of the litter to a local knife shop, whose owner shaves with a safety razor, and his assistant shaves with a straight razor, to be sharpened. Didnt cost much but i also picked up a brand new dovo 6/8 for around 50 dollars. Using the razor that i had got online from the sight unseen deal i decided to shave. Now this is where i threw all advice to the wind and decided that if i was going to shave i was going to shave. So I shaved my whole face, three passes, WTG, XTG, ATG. Holy hell the razor burn. but the only blood was from a few hairs that caught the edge and stopped the blade. Maybe two spots, no big deal. Needless to say i was happy with myself, sure it wasn't the smoothest shave ever. But dammit i shaved with a straight razor and didn't "cut" myself.
Que, E-bay. At this point i have a few shaves under my belt and feel as though i am getting stropping down better then i had started paying close attention to correct over speed. Because if there is one thing I have learned its the saying that goes with shooting. "Slow is smooth, Smooth is fast." gotta crawl before you walk, and walk before you run. Would be a good translation for that saying. Anyway I bought a W&B wedge of unknown size, and another razor which should be arriving in the mail soon. I bought these mostly so i could clean up and have a project for later.
The wrap up. I am now 2 weeks into shaving with a straight razor and have around 12 shaves under my belt on my face and 2 on my friends face. I know that i shouldn't be shaving anyone but myself yet, but he convinced me to do so and in fact it has helped me with my own face because now i can see what the razor is doing along with what angles to use better.
At this time I am saving up for a nice strop from SRD, and have no intentions of buying more razors till i learn what i have.


Thank you for your time

Gameslay3r

Welcome to SRP! Enjoy and have fun. That's the most important part.

Welcome to SRP. You'll find this forum to be full of very helpful members. Read the helpful links for beginners, and please ask any questions you have.

Sounds like you're off to a good start. Hang around and have some fun learning the slightly misplaced art of shaving with a straight.

Thanks for your investment of your time in our future as a Marine.

I'm an old 'Nam squid.

Willie

Welcome aboard ! Best Regards Kenny