Thread: Different strokes for different folks,........

Watching a video of a straight shave demo by a renown barber recently.
He was suggesting longer strokes with the straight razor (shavette) which to me went against the grain so to speak.
Obviously there are areas of the face where you can't use long strokes but say the cheeks????
I have always used shorter strokes with both straight and DE razors.
What is the consensus? What length of strokes do you use?

Short strokes for me. Never thought about length but I bet an inch wouldn't be too far off. Give or take.

i use long strokes on my neck and cheeks. Short strokes on chin and upper lip.

Well it depends. Certainly there are areas of my face that are too confined for a long stroked and corners change things too. I do both long and short, probably about 50/50, of course that changes a little with direction to. As with many things straight related I have no hard fast rule.

Originally Posted by RezDog

Well it depends. Certainly there are areas of my face that are too confined for a long stroked and corners change things too. I do both long and short, probably about 50/50, of course that changes a little with direction to. As with many things straight related I have no hard fast rule.

Yup, as above.

Bob

Originally Posted by criswilson10

i use long strokes on my neck and cheeks. Short strokes on chin and upper lip.

The same, horizontally on the cheeks (1st from mouth to ear, 2nd from ear to mouth), and on the skull too.

I shave and shape a beard so use short strokes and really short strokes around the line of my beard.

As long a stroke as i can. Short strokes just seems like a cut waiting to happen. (at least for me if a cut happens it's at the start of a stroke it seems)

Long strokes, except around the stache n goat.

During a ATG pass, I start at the base of my neck, and swoop it over the jawline in a C shaped pass, with the blade slightly slanted as well.

Warning.....not a pass for the novice.!!!
As is my so called..X Pass.





Its what I have to do, to obtain that BBS shave.

The length of the stroke is not as important as the speed of the stroke. If your speed is too slow, the blade will tend to stretch the hair (tugging) rather than severing it cleanly. Of course, the speed that you can control safely differs for each area of your face and depends upon your skill level and the contour.