Thread: Shaving Demonstration Video

Thank you for the video BW. Good job!

Now....get a haircut


Scott

It's a nice video. The sound quality could be better, but you have an impeccable musical taste .
Your razor grips are quite interesting. I have a straight shaving friend that uses the same style of holding the razor like you do. He only started recently, so he's insecure about it. I'm going to e-mail him a link to your video, I think it will be quite revealing to him.

I don't have a video of myself shaving, but I sometimes join up with two friends in what we call "shaving night" and than we end up watching each other shave. Our wives think it's a bit obscene . Wait till we start shaving each other.

Best regards,
Bart

The hair cut will be coming in the spring some time when the weather turns nice. I'll definitely want to shed some of the mane's weight when it gets warm and I can go outside without a coat.

Bart: Tell your friend he can hold the razor however he wants, so long as he's getting the job done. No reason to feel insecure. Notice that I use the standard stroke with the pinky or ring finger on the tang while shaving the right side of my face, but that I adopt more of a pencil grip on the razor for the left side. I'm obviously right handed, so this is the way I taught myself from the beginning. I'm definitely able to hold the razor in my left hand and shave with the finger on the tang as I do with the right side of my face, but I don't like shaving the left side with the left hand. It feels awkward. Thanks for passing the link on to him. You're a Neil Young fan, I take it? Awesome. Bit of a Beatles clip at the start, too.

When I first heard him at the age of 15, Neil caused my musical awakening. His music has been kind of the sound track of my life ever since, so yeah... you may call me a fan.

It 's one of the beautiful things about straight razor shaving that every body seems to have his own unique style. I use only my right hand myself, with 4 different grips to get the blade across my face in the directions I need. The two other guys I witnessed shaving myself, both do it quite differently than me. The one being very new to straight razor shaving, felt a bit insecure, because he held his razor so differently than me and the other guy, who shaves both-handedly. I told him to stick with his own grip, if that felt naturally to him. It was a nice surprise to see you do it the same at about 2'50" in your video. I've e-mailed the link to him immediately.(He's not a member of SRP) I'm sure he will be pleased with it.

kudos for the video, but a note for straight razor newbies, that's a wrong razor grip demonstrated. Blade said that it gets the job done, but still, if learning, a propper razor grip is adviced...

Nenad

Originally Posted by superfly

that's a wrong razor grip demonstrated. Blade said that it gets the job done, but still, if learning, a propper razor grip is adviced...

Nenad

I disagree with that. If you use the standard grip with your right hand on the left side cheek, the hand really gets in the way of the razor. Barbers use a different grip for such forehand strokes. Many shavers solve it by using their left hand. Some twist their head to the right far enough so that they can use the same stroke as on their right cheek. Others (including myself) use an alternative grip that keeps the hand (and sometimes also the handle) out of the way. There are many different ways to skin that cat. I wouldn't consider Blade Wielder's solution wrong. I would encourage any one to experiment and find out what works best for him.

Maybe, because Blade Wielder start of with shaving his left cheek in the video, it looks as if the way he holds the razor at that point , is the basic grip. At 4'40" he does his right cheek and uses the basic grip. From a didactic viewpoint it pobably would have been better to start of with that.

I think it takes guts to stand in front of a camera and put your face on the internet like that. I'm sure it helps others.

Originally Posted by superfly

kudos for the video, but a note for straight razor newbies, that's a wrong razor grip demonstrated. Blade said that it gets the job done, but still, if learning, a propper razor grip is adviced...

Nenad

I'm going to go ahead and disagree along with Bart.

If I knew that I was able to get the most effective shave by holding the razor between my toes, I'd have no problem doing it (assuming I had the dexterity in my feet to do that)! As I mentioned in the video's YouTube summary (and others have mentioned many times now), the audio is quite poor - but if you turn your speakers up, you'll hear me mention that at times I adopt what others might perceive as an "unconventional" hold on the razor. However, this is by no means "wrong," simply because gripping it on the top and bottom of the shank with one finger on the tang seems to be the most popular way of holding the blade. As Bart mentioned, I do in fact use that grip for the right side of my face, and am perfectly capable of using it for the other side of my face too -- but I choose not to.

There is no "right" or "wrong" way to hold a razor; what's important is simply having a firm grip that's not going to slip out of your fingers, and that you hold it at a proper cutting angle.

Anybody have video of shaving their head? I have NO idea of how to do it. I am 100% new to this straight razor business but I would like to learn so I can shave husband. I learn more by watching. I have been reading up on how to straight razor but I think I really need to see it done. I liked watching the demo video however it was just the face. I hope to learn all I need to know my Christmas so I can get a barber chair and the whole nine...I dunno... If anyone has more videos that you think may help me out or any tips I would be greatful.

Shakes

Originally Posted by Shakes

Anybody have video of shaving their head? I have NO idea of how to do it. I am 100% new to this straight razor business but I would like to learn so I can shave husband. I learn more by watching. I have been reading up on how to straight razor but I think I really need to see it done. I liked watching the demo video however it was just the face. I hope to learn all I need to know my Christmas so I can get a barber chair and the whole nine...I dunno... If anyone has more videos that you think may help me out or any tips I would be greatful.

Shakes

I think Lynn's DVD covers pretty much everything you need to know to get started using straight razors, but it doesn't include shaving heads. None the less, the DVD is a great reference and will ease the learning curve dramatically, particularly if you are a visual learner. It is available in the BST Forum.

A few of the guys here shave their heads with a straight, so keep posting the questions and I'm sure someone will be able to help. I think an old practice technique is to lather up a balloon and scrape off the lather with your razor. Pop = cut..except with a much bigger mess.

I'd have to agree with BW about the no right or wrong way to hold a razor. BUT...(and maybe this was already brought up, I didn't read all the posts) for someone just starting out, I think it better that they learn the classic technique FIRST, then, once they are comfortable, they can choose do do what they want.


Scott