Thread: Greetings from another Nub

Hello from California,
My name's Gary. I'm 44 and have been shaving for about 26 years. I've tried every conceivable combination of safety razor (1,2,3,4,5 blades) with aloe and whatever moisturizing stips...
I've also tried every combination of electric razor over the past quarter century. They all stink???

From about the age of 4 I've been a fan of anything sharp. For the past ten years or so I have been toying with the idea of going straight edge. I've been looking and researching and reading and watching everything I can about wet shaving. I've come to the conclusion that straight edge is just not in my cards right now. I'm going to have to "settle" for DE safety shaving.

My current set up is a Gillette double blade disposable. Whether it works or not, I strop the razor on Levis before each shave and I try to dry it off afterwards.

I use a hideously cheap brush and soap combo I bought at a large chain store. The brush sheds on my like a Bear in Spring time. I won't insult badgers by saying a "Badger in Spring Time".....

I currently shave seven days a week except for vacations. Then I may go a week or two at a time. Although I really prefer to be shorn.

I shave two passes at least, but typically three or four. I shave up, down, sideways, sideways and diagonal. It turns out I already do that Gillette slice thing. Here I thought I came up with it...

I've been in contact with Jim at Vintage Blades already. I hope I haven't driven him away....

I'm looking hard at the Merkur 39C and sample pack of blades. I'm going to have to talk myself OUT of using Feather blades at some point.

I'm looking forward to reading, writing, and learning.

G'Day Gary and a warm welcome to you. (37 deg C here today)

Glad to have you on board

G'day Chat. Thanks for the greeting. Whooboy, 37C!! That's toasty. Where I live we have screaming hot summers as well. This last September had 25 days over 37C, and half a dozen or so of them over 38C. Typically our July and August are the hottest, but the weather seems to have shifted a month. It is awesome to get your reply, because I was thinking yesterday that I would like to talk to some folk from Down Under about shaving while conserving water.
I live in an area with pretty severe water issues. Well, two issues. One that we don't have much of it, and second that what we do have is extremely expensive. There is no way I can shave in the shower. When I see the vids and read the instructions with guys having the water running in the back ground and seeming to splash water all over the room it just makes me cringe.
Do you have any unique tricks to keeping water use to a minimum? I already just put some in the sink and use that as my water source until I rinse. But what about brush or lather techniques???

Thanks again for the greet!

Hmmmm... sorry, I cannot help with the water conservation issue because I live in Minnesota where we have over 10,000 lakes ( no joke). No lack of water here!

Boy would that be a change of scenery.... I love Minnesota. When I was a kid we had cousins who owned a small resort outside of Detroit Lakes. We went there every summer. My dad worked there during most summers growing up, and his parents went there before he was born. We could go out on one of the two lakes the resort had access to and triangulate to within feet of the hottest fishing holes in the lakes. The only bummer was when someone cut down one of the marker trees or put in a new window in one of the line of site cabins. We always caught our limit of Pike and Walleye every day....
Boy that was fun. Now that I think of it, that may have been the genesis of my blade obsession. Watching my grandfather fillet all those fish and keep his knife fillet-sharp was hypnotic....

Originally Posted by bluedivergary

. . .
I use a hideously cheap brush and soap combo I bought at a large chain store. The brush sheds on my like a Bear in Spring time. I won't insult badgers by saying a "Badger in Spring Time".....

. . .
I'm looking hard at the Merkur 39C and sample pack of blades. I'm going to have to talk myself OUT of using Feather blades at some point.

I'm looking forward to reading, writing, and learning.

I suspect you can make good lather with a cheap brush, but it might be worthwhile to try a better soap than the corner-store variety.

I don't know how aggressive the 37C is. If it's fairly mild, don't be frightened to put a Feather in it. Just use a very, very, very light touch when you shave.

. Charles

Welcome,

Well it's winter here, so our days are down to the mid 30's C.

We go over 50C in the summer. Water is quite scarce, I do rinse my razor under running water, but turn the tap (fawcet) on and off each time, with whatever hand isn't holding the razor. generally I only have to rinse twice on each pass, so water usage is minimal.