Thread: Japanese Straight

Never mind maybe this will force me to hang on to it

Originally Posted by over5feet

Never mind maybe this will force me to hang on to it

I just completed my second shave with a Japanese straight this morning. It was a challenging and ackward shave, for sure. But, I had a lot of fun doing it. I do find it extremely difficult to shave my entire face with the flat side of the blade, but this is probably what also makes it a fun shave for me. IMHO, I think you should stick with it, I can remember my first shave with a western straight, and it was probably as ackward as my first shave with a Japanese straight, but it got a lot easier as time went on.

A couple of things that have helped my out are: I shave with the blade almost completely flat on my face, and I use different directions on my face. For example on the left side of my face my first pass is down with the grain; however, on the right side of my face my first pass is starts from my ear and progresses towards my mouth, on my neck I start at the bottom of my neck and progress towards my jaw. I am not sure if this is the way anyone else would do it, but at least for now it seems to working for me. Today's shave was a lot better than yesterdays. I also practice in the mirror holding the razor about 2 inches away from my face, trying to get the feel and seeing what works for me. Anyway, if nothing else maybe you can also give me some pointers on what you have found works for you. I have looked all over the internet and this site for shaving videos and have had very little luck finding much as far as instructional advice is concerned.

Don't get me wrong I have a good shave with it but I favor my family piece over this and I don't collect things if its not used then I pass it on, They are cracking razors and I wished I used one when I first picked up a straight all those years ago but I did not and I am so in tune with a western straight I just don't want to change its a bit like using a DE I do when I have to but I like my straight

Getting rid of razors (or any stuff, really) that you don't use is probably good policy. I've never been good at it, but I can certainly see the logic.

The only word of caution would be to wait long enough to be sure that you don't want the kamisori before selling it. In my experience, comfort using something can turn into boredom with the very same item pretty easily. I am very comfortable using my straights and less so with the kamisori. That's one of the things I like most about using the kamisori, it's different and a bit of a challenge for me.