Thread: East to west pass across the neck

Everybody has their own way of doing this thing, usually after trying a billion things to find out what REALLY doesn't work, and what's left is what sorta does.

To me, an extremely sharp razor is essential. I use a single pass shave, generally. I stretch the skin really tight and keep my shave angle very low, almost dragging the spine. As long as I stretch hard, and keep the angle low, I get a very comfortable shave and close enough for my purposes.

A perfect BBS is simply not needed, unless you are in military boot camp and your drill instructor likes to scrape his ID card over your face to test your shave. Especially on your neck, nobody notices.

The direction of the stroke doesn't have to be exactly WTG, XTG, ATG, whatevah. The sharper your razor is, and the better your stretching and shave angle and stroke technique, the less it matters, and conforming to precisely the correct direction is pretty much impossible in places. Just approximate WTG as close as you can, given the limitations on this imposed by your topography, and you will be okay. Sometimes my stroke ends up being almost exactly ATG in the interest of convenience.

As you will see in the video below, many factors can be ignored or discounted or compensated or compromised, as long as the razor is nice and sharp and you exercise firm control over those factors that you can easily adjust, such as pressure, stretching, and shave angle. You don't even need an expensive razor. A $15 ebay beater, if it can be honed properly, can deliver a great shave. A $20 Titan. A $4 Gold Dollar. And exactly following the classic instructions to go precisely WTG then XTG then ATG is not sacred dogma that you must follow to the letter to avoid the flames of shave hell.

Originally Posted by CrescentCityRazors

Everybody has their own way of doing this thing, usually after trying a billion things to find out what REALLY doesn't work, and what's left is what sorta does.

To me, an extremely sharp razor is essential. I use a single pass shave, generally. I stretch the skin really tight and keep my shave angle very low, almost dragging the spine. As long as I stretch hard, and keep the angle low, I get a very comfortable shave and close enough for my purposes.

A perfect BBS is simply not needed, unless you are in military boot camp and your drill instructor likes to scrape his ID card over your face to test your shave. Especially on your neck, nobody notices.

The direction of the stroke doesn't have to be exactly WTG, XTG, ATG, whatevah. The sharper your razor is, and the better your stretching and shave angle and stroke technique, the less it matters, and conforming to precisely the correct direction is pretty much impossible in places. Just approximate WTG as close as you can, given the limitations on this imposed by your topography, and you will be okay. Sometimes my stroke ends up being almost exactly ATG in the interest of convenience.

As you will see in the video below, many factors can be ignored or discounted or compensated or compromised, as long as the razor is nice and sharp and you exercise firm control over those factors that you can easily adjust, such as pressure, stretching, and shave angle. You don't even need an expensive razor. A $15 ebay beater, if it can be honed properly, can deliver a great shave. A $20 Titan. A $4 Gold Dollar. And exactly following the classic instructions to go precisely WTG then XTG then ATG is not sacred dogma that you must follow to the letter to avoid the flames of shave hell.

Great video , thank you for posting that. Believe me I know you are correct with not chasing the bbs shave . I don't know why I care as much as I do. Im just obsessed at being better I guess.

I can achieve it, no problem. But I don't see the need of it for me, in my line of work, and lifestyle. Two pass, or BBS, I will still need a shave every two ta three days, anyhoo. I get better results from a bit more beard growth,over everyday shaving. YMMV

Originally Posted by outback

I can achieve it, no problem. But I don't see the need of it for me, in my line of work, and lifestyle. Two pass, or BBS, I will still need a shave every two ta three days, anyhoo. I get better results from a bit more beard growth,over everyday shaving. YMMV

That's about it for me as well. Two and three days and it's ready to mow down. Like I said I don't know why I'm obsessed the way I am with a perfect bbs shave. I guess that's how I'm measuring how successful my shave was or how perfect

I'm no different. Always looking to best myself at what I put my mind to. At least, to my abilities at what's at hand, and with what I got.