Thread: The best part of straight shaving

There's all the standard responses, none of which I will likely disagree with but something very profound occurred to me on the drive into work this morning:

My little corner of paradise, this morning didn't look much like a place that could rightfully be called the Sunshine State. In fact the weather was very reminiscent of my days passing through RAF Mildenhall in the spring, gray, drizzling and generally just pretty dismal. Traffic was slow. For reasons I've never been able to adequately explain, slightly damp pavement in Florida is roughly the equivalent of a horrendous ice storm anywhere else. For some reason people are convinced that if their vehicles go faster than about 20 MPH on wet pavement they can spin out of control and become a traffic fatality with little to no warning. So I'm sitting there in a rolling parking lot with my fellow happy idiots heading off to struggle for the legal tender. Then suddenly the question came to me "How many of these people stropped a razor this morning?"

I've been at this far too long to revel in the bravado of doing something that most people consider dangerous. In fact once I was over the initial learning curve it was just a bit sportier than brushing my teeth. These days, it's just the way I shave. True, we are a fairly exclusive group, not because we're bad ass enough to shave with what amounts to a really sharp knife. The honest truth about straight razor shavers that make us even more special is that we insist on being individuals. We don't care that the rest of the lemmings are growing beards or shaving with whatever the marketing machine has labeled the next big thing. We do things our way. We're free thinkers. In the modern age that's far more frightening than the threat of cutting your throat with a straight razor. I obviously can't speak for all of us but even before I shaved with a straight razor, people always found me a bit unusual, the addition of the straight razor however, propelled me straight to the Crazy Uncle section.

Very well said!! I couldn't agree more.

I just couldn't stop sniffing lather bowl. Same happened with Fitjar's Fjellheim shaving soap.[/QUOTE]

Fjellheim is awesome, as soon as I get a sniff, I feel like I'm at the top of a snow capped mountain with a crisp breeze blowing.

The whole process appeals to me. I know it has filled a void beyond needing to shave for me. It frees my mind of all the trivial B.S. in life....well almost....

I love the simplicity of putting a near 100 year old piece of incredibly sharp steel on my face to remove the whiskers.

It has been the whole learning curve. Two years ago, I struggled through a shave, the cartridge would clog almost immediately, spent more time rinsing it than shaving with it. By the third shave, it was a real struggle, blunt and uncomfortable. Oh well, replace it with another $4 chunk of junk cart. Now I have a couple of straight razors with over 50 shaves each on them and still going strong, with just a strip of leather, that is the best part for me anyway.

My friend sent me Kanenaga to try out, so there is going to be new learning curve with that coming soon. I have just looked it and tested that it is sharp for shaving. Now I am just waiting right moment. I guess best parts keeps on coming

Well as a newbie it is to me a challenge. And each day that I do better with my shave I get more satisfaction out of it. When you are new there is a lot to learn. I am very much enjoying this hobby. Looking forward to learn how to strop correctly. Then when I master that hopefully I can learn to hone.

Roger

"The best part of wakin' up
is Folger's in your cup."

Not. It's true; I've stopped taken a break from homeroasting coffee, but not that low... and now I've (re)discovered the pleasure of whole-bean Eight O'Clock Coffee.

For me, the best part of straight razor shaving is not getting any of those !@#$ nicks or weepers that my beloved DE and injector "safety" razors invariably bestow upon me. OK, an equally good part is that I keep my "extra" shaving supplies in the bedroom walk-in closet, and every time I go in to get something I'm met by this wonderful amalgamation of aromas... a synthesis of scents... and, regardless of mood, it brings a smile to my face.

Straights have taken shaving to a whole new level for me, even DE's can't hold a candle to this experience.