Should have done this before
Hi. Sorry folks I should have already done this.. I actually joined in May but never came here to say HI. (how rude!)
Anyway I am here now.
I am from West Yorkshire in northern England (God's own county) and have been slicing bits of skin off with sharp blades for about 13 years.
I actually got into straight razor shaving because I spent 10 years living in the Pyrenees (French Mountains) and for the first 4 years was living in a van in a forest. I had no electricity. No toilet and no running water. Well I had a river.
With the exception of digging holes in the woods to do what bears do :) I found shaving to be the biggest problem. I was living pretty primatively and thought "How did people used to shave before modern plumbing and power etc." Obviously a sharp blade was the answer.
I mentioned this to a friend of mine and a few weeks later he sent me a nasty spanish straight, that he picked up for 7 euros brand new whilst he was on holiday.
It was terrible, but it got me started. I found that I could do downstrokes without much problem, but against the grain was terrifying and not really possible. In reality I would have probably done better with a piece of sharpened flint.
In the end I went the 10 miles or so into town and got a shave from a barber there. After talking to him for a bit he actually gave me one of his older razors and also an old badly nibbled strop. He also keened the blade up for me whenever I went into town. NICE MAN!!
When my brthday came around a few months later my mum bought me a heljestrand number 2 and I never looked back. I had no idea about razors at all. but I managed to shave with it.
That is untill a couple of years ago when I returned to UK.
I did a REALLY stupid thing. I just know that most of you are going to cringe at this next bit but. I needed to apply new silicone sealant around the bath in the house I was living in and, instead of going down stairs to get a knife to cut the top off the tube of silicone, I thought.. "its ok my razor is sharp and will easily cut through the plastic top"
Guess what? It didnt. It pretty much shattered the blade of my razor.
I definately learned something that day..
1/ I am stupid
2/ Nice swedish razors are expensive
3/ I am not very good at siliconing around bath tubs.
I also learned a passion for straights.
I now have a nice little collection of 19th century Sheffields. Nothing of any great value, but I like them and am always on the lookout for more.
I also now have buffing and polishing mops and greaseless compound etc and Love my hobby.
Before my straights I used to hate shaving. I found it really boring, but now I enjoy it. I feel like I am pampering myself. It gives me a little time out from the day and a bit of "me time"
It is much much more than simply removing facial hair.
Anyway That's me.
Hello!
