Thread: Newbie with a technical question

Wow! What a neat site, although it seems sort of like trying to drink from a firehouse.
I'm 59 and just starting with straight razors. Got interested because my kids gave me a Father's Day gift of a the royal shave at the art of shaving. Had mine in Atlanta and thought I'd try it for myself. I began shaving with a safety razor in my teens and eventually wound up on a Gillette fusion. Along with the shave ,I got a starter kit from the art of shaving with a badger brush shave cream and pre- have oil and after shave balm. I have used those and really liked them even with the cart.
did my first straight shave this morning and discovered a problem. ( One WTG pass)With my cart,the width is short enough that it is no problem to go XTG under my neck. the straight is too long to do that comfortably. Anybody have any advice on a way to handle that. None of the videos I have seen sems to have an easy way to do that.
BTW, I'm in Newnan Ga, just south of Atlanta. Anybody else close?

There are a ton of videos around...just keep peeking around.

There is also a section in the Wiki here that show a variety if grips. Check that out and give some a try. For me, it was about confidence and getting comfortable with the blade. Keep going WTG and cleaning up with the cartridge. Confidence and familiarity with the grips will come and it will be easier to go XTG and ATG. Once proficient, it may even be possible to eliminate one of those passes you needed with the cartridge. It has for many here it seems. I still need three to get BBS, but not on whole face. On neck I use WTG and ATG, and my checks and jawline are WTG and ATG, sometimes XTG in some spots to get BBS.

Just check the grips in the Wiki, check out some videos, and keep going slow and steady.

I need to work on being able to use my non dominant hand, which for me is difficult since I injured it many years ago. I have to learn my own way of doing that, but I'm leery of doing it with a sharp razor on my throat. Practice,practice,practice!

Yup...just keep practicing. The more you handle the blade, the better it will feel. My advice is to not try anything you're not comfortable with...don't want to get a cut.

Don't get overconfident either...my first three weeks I started I got no nicks or cuts. I felt good, and was able to go more quickly with confident strokes. Then I got my first cut....

Just keep at it. Its fun and addictive.

Down on the neck, then upward on the neck. No side to side xtg.

Yeah,I learned a method for determining if the blade is sharp enough; if you don't know you're cut until you see the blood! got a little nick on my chin this morning...little styptic pencil fixed it right up

I haven't got that area perfect yet, but closing in on it. The only way for me is a combination of pulling that skin to another area along with a windshield wiper motion of the razor. Try to pull the neck area up to at least the jawline. I then windshield wipe from the ear towards the chin, catching the neck area at the jawline.
I've also tried the bread knife motion down the neck which helps, but that's getting quite dangerous so careful there.
Good luck!