Quote Originally Posted by boshave View Post
An old, retired, barber told me today the notch was for access to the openings of the nose to trim away unruly nose hair. The notch would ride on one edge while the barber gently cut away long nose hairs. He said he never used it that way but his mentors did. I don't think he was pulling my leg, because he was passionate about straights, his favorite hones, and how important great stropping was to the proper use of a straight. He claims none of the current crop of barbers has any idea of how to cut hair, much less use a straight. I claim no ability to judge veracity. I'm just relaying what I heard from someone who was a medic with long range recon in Viet Nam, and then became a barber. He is tough as nails, has a hand grip like a vise, and came across as a straight shooter. It was clear we both loved straight razors. Just reporting, I thought I would add that to the list of reasons for a "barber's notch" on a straight razor.
This was my theory as well. It just happened one day while trying to leave the mustache, but straighten it up under the nose. Oh and the notch helped with that too. Kept me from cutting my nose off.