Thread: Help shaving with my super coarse thick beard

If you have read a bunch on beginners, you will find this same thing going on all the time, guys expecting to get this down quick, it's a pride thing that most guys have that they don't want to admit they can't get it right now. It's not your beard, and it sounds like it's not your blade unless your stropping has degraded the edge, and just so you know sometimes it takes a year too start improving your edges with stropping and shaving takes a good 100 shaves or so to learn well.
So just keep at it, it will come, not to mention learning the different angles and way to make a pass will be a trial and error proccess that eventually comes together.
So take the advise to look up a mentor, they can see what your doing wrong and help. Oh and I shave with every kind of grind now, and my beard is steel cables, no issues with any f my blades as long as the edge is right. Tc

Thanks for the advice

Maybe I'm not stropping correctly because it feels like the razor just isn't sharp

Originally Posted by Razorfeld

Two things come to mind. What is the grind on the razor(s) you now use. IIRC a wedge or near wedge is preferable for your kind of beard. Thinner grinds are a little flexible and don't always shave cleanly. ....

I'm curious about this. OP reports that shavettes don't produce the same issue, and I would imagine shavettes are closer to full hollows. (Though I've never used a shavette, so perhaps I'm mistaken.)

That said, OP's beard sounds similar to mine, and I do seem to have better luck with razors closer to the wedge side of the spectrum than the full hollow side of the spectrum (though I've simply used more wedge-type ones, so that could be a factor).

Originally Posted by Bleacherbum76

Maybe I'm not stropping correctly because it feels like the razor just isn't sharp

You say you're getting a smooth shave on your cheeks so the razor must be sharp.
The angle of hair growth on your neck will likely prevent a perfect BBS finish but the razor should still shave the area.
I'm guessing it's a technique problem.

Originally Posted by benhunt

I'm curious about this. OP reports that shavettes don't produce the same issue, and I would imagine shavettes are closer to full hollows. (Though I've never used a shavette, so perhaps I'm mistaken.)

That said, OP's beard sounds similar to mine, and I do seem to have better luck with razors closer to the wedge side of the spectrum than the full hollow side of the spectrum (though I've simply used more wedge-type ones, so that could be a factor).

Wedges don't shave better. They can be easier to use for beginners is all.

I'll keep trucking and report back

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Wedges don't shave better. They can be easier to use for beginners is all.

I wasn't suggesting that they shaved better; but there was an implication earlier in the thread that wedges might be better suited to certain beard types - which is what I was curious about. Do you think that beard type and grind style have no particular correlation? (I would suspect this to be the case; thus my earlier curiousity.)

Remember the product for ladies, "Nair"?? The two times I have seen it used, it seemed to dissolve hair, now I wonder if the active ingredient could be used perhaps thinned a bit for those of us who have the extra tough beards? There are several chemicals that are used, so, time for Mr. curious here to do some experimenting, VERY carefully, I'll let you guys know what I find out, starting with Calcium Hydroxide.

Originally Posted by benhunt

I wasn't suggesting that they shaved better;
It's a common misconception so I wasn't sure what you meant.
but there was an implication earlier in the thread that wedges might be better suited to certain beard types - which is what I was curious about. Do you think that beard type and grind style have no particular correlation? (I would suspect this to be the case; thus my earlier curiousity.)

Yes ,absolutely no correlaton other than a stiffer blade being more forgiving for new users. If there were, the famous Fili EPBD would be a wedge rather than a full singing hollow

No giving up on this end. I expected it to take plenty of time to learn with a straight so I came into it pretty patient. I know there is a way to get a great shave on my neck with a straight razor and it will take as many shaves as it takes.