Thread: Thoughts?

Originally Posted by Porl

I usually don't vary too much now. I seem to have settled on what's comfortable for me. The only thing I would say is if you have a wedge watch out for a bit of suction if you get the angle too low. I don't actually have a full wedge, but I have experienced this with a quarter hollow.

Not sure how to explain it really, but when the blade is flatter to the face the gap gets filled with soap and seems to stick the blade to the face. Maybe it's just me, but I tend to watch those shallow angles now. As others have said I find about a spine's width is the sweet spot for me. A light touch is what makes the biggest difference but YMMV.

Definitely not just you. I've found anything that has a tall bevel is liable to do it too. The important thing is to stop and unstick it, rather than trying to pull it through the stroke. I shudder to think what would happen if the blade flicked juuuust right.



I don't go after hair at 30 degrees intentionally. My comfort zone seems to be about 10-15 degrees, with as little variance as humanly possible. 2 passes max, there's no 3rd ATG pass for me. Too sensitive. WTG + XTG, then call it good. I don't have any Pinaud to tell me yea or nay, but Captain's Choice Cat O'Ninetails Bay Rum will sure light you up if you did something wrong.

Originally Posted by kelbro

Never paid any attention to it before but I decided to look today. It looks like mine is usually 40-45° and my edges last quire some time.

Wow. Thats a lot. Maybe we are using different rulers here but wow!. I bet im more around 15 degrees in my shaves. Maybe 20 at the most. Id think at 45 degrees you could stick your finger between face and spine of the razor.

Originally Posted by Gasman

Wow. Thats a lot. Maybe we are using different rulers here but wow!. I bet im more around 15 degrees in my shaves. Maybe 20 at the most. Id think at 45 degrees you could stick your finger between face and spine of the razor.

90° is straight up and I'm at about half of that. I've been doing this for about 40yrs so I guess it works OK

I'm 56 and people tell me that my skin looks like a much younger mans'. Must be all of the exfoliating

Originally Posted by kelbro

90° is straight up and I'm at about half of that. I've been doing this for about 40yrs so I guess it works OK

I'm 56 and people tell me that my skin looks like a much younger mans'. Must be all of the exfoliating

Well if it works you can't argue, I guess it'a always a case of YMMV. You must have perfected the light touch. Kudos on the compliments too

So, I gave this theory a try. 30deg seems a bit much for me, my guestimation of it is anyway. I dropped it down to about 20. That worked fine on the cheeks but I automatically dropped down to, say 15 on my neck. Next pass is generally atg. Second thoughts, after spending the time to think. Xtg should be next but it wasn't. I cut the angle in half say 7deg. No dramas. Xtg pass nearly flat call it 5deg. A bit of flat buffing on my neck in the hollow... real flat and a bit of pressure to get the skin to wave a bit in front of the blade and Fanny's your autie.
Test... pibr. A bit of sting on my neck but not as bad as before I started working on my angles.
Conclusion... odd are good you'll vary the angles automatically as you improve your technique. I think starting aggressive and decreasing your angle on sucessive passes is a good idea. I can get a bbs 3pass shave with no sting but it grows back faster.
Shave how you want, it's your face but I think this technique is a pretty good one... not sure about specific angles but otherwise sound.

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Originally Posted by Porl

Well if it works you can't argue, I guess it'a always a case of YMMV. You must have perfected the light touch. Kudos on the compliments too

Indeed. Seems like most everything in shaving has a significant YMMV to it. I never even thought about it until I pictured the angle that folks on here said they were using and had to go take a look at my own technique. Shaving is on autopilot for me...

Light touch? Probably. Sharp? Very sharp! I like my edges to be like a Feather blade most of the time. Typically only one WTG pass as well but If I want really, really close, I do an XTG on the cheeks. Never had any irritation.

Well, more power to ya. What works for some dont work for others. I guess YMMV in short. If i was to go at that steep of an a gle id pay dearly when the A.S. went on. That is if i didnt slit my throat. Ha.

Ive been trying the steeper angle on the first pass and i think I am getting closer sha es on the first pass but not sure if its making any difference in the final outcome after my 2.5 passes. Its fun to try new things for sure.

I only do 2 ATG passes on most of my face. The only exception been the upper and lower lip areas getting 1 WTG, and 1 Xtg pass. And my chin getting 2 XTG passes.

Neck to sideburns is all one upwards stroke for me. Neck to chin is also all uphill but only to the point of my chin.

Well Kelbro, I gave it a try. About a 45 degree angle. And found a great shave that was damn near BBS. I dont normally try for BBS as I gave up on it. But to tell the entire truth, I did a pass in the direction of from ear to bottom of neck. It was something I've been wanting to try but couldn't figure out how to do it. By-Gum, it worked. I was so excited that I forgot to touch up my sideburn area. It could have been the perfect shave.

Now I have to say I did have a bit more irritation but not as much as I thought I was going to have. Thanks for sharing this slice and dice angle. It might be something I try more often.

Originally Posted by Gasman

Well Kelbro, I gave it a try. About a 45 degree angle. And found a great shave that was damn near BBS. I dont normally try for BBS as I gave up on it. But to tell the entire truth, I did a pass in the direction of from ear to bottom of neck. It was something I've been wanting to try but couldn't figure out how to do it. By-Gum, it worked. I was so excited that I forgot to touch up my sideburn area. It could have been the perfect shave.

Now I have to say I did have a bit more irritation but not as much as I thought I was going to have. Thanks for sharing this slice and dice angle. It might be something I try more often.

That's cool Jerry. It has always worked for me and after reading here, I thought I was doing it all wrong! I'll bet that the irritation subsides in a day or two when the skin adapts.

My left side can go one stroke from top of ear to the base of the neck. Right side neck grows the opposite so I do top of ear to lower jaw and then up from the base of the neck to the jaw. With a good edge, one pass will last most all day. Adding an XTG on the cheeks will make it last until nearly bed time.

You do have to me mindful of the 'approach'... there are still times where I'm distracted and get a 'reminder' to pay attention