I'll never try cheating on Straights again

So the other night, I was in a rush to get over to my girlfriends' to...watch some tv. But I had something of a small beard at that point, from being lazy for a week, so I decided to shave.

In desperation for a superquick shave I ....decided to borrow my friend's mach 250 because for some reason I had it in my mind that it would be faster...??!? :nono:

Of course it was not faster, and after one unsuccesful pass WTG on my cheek, due to the length of my beard apart from the obvious, I switched to my DE which I'd used a few times lately....after 3 barely successful passes on the same location (relathered), I gave up on the DE. :gaah:

FINALLY, I picked up my trusty Wapi, stropped it quickly...on my hand...(no cuts!) and shaved away! Needless to say it was closer, quicker, and actually effective, compared to the others. :tu

Nothing makes me appreciate the speed and sharpness of a straight razors like shaving with a cartridge razor and a DE first!

Another stunt like that and you'll be banned forever...:nono:

I hope you learned your lesson young man! Once you go straight, it's hard to go back to shaving with those sub-par cheek graters. When I had to go back to a DE for a few days, it made me really appreciate the SR so much.

I just had a wonderfull shave with my merkur futur...... I was lazy but the shave was great, fast, smooth and my face is BBS...

Maarten

I don't think I could use a DE even if I wanted to, they look scary to me lol.

At least you know how much you appreciate it now, that's a good feeling!

I should clarify I occasionally use a DE and enjoy it when i don't screw up, BUT it simply does not work if I have too many days of growth, which for my fast growing beard=about 4 days...

I used to do well with my DE. A couple months ago I tried to shave for the first time in over a year. It was a joke. I've completely lost the technique. I'm now faster, closer and safer with a straight. :shrug:

Jordan

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Originally Posted by mlangstr

I just had a wonderfull shave with my merkur futur...... I was lazy but the shave was great, fast, smooth and my face is BBS...

Maarten

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In the interest of time and variety, I did likewise this morning on a Gillette TTO adjustable set to 9. It was a great shave and silly easy. I guess it's like riding a bike, you don't forget it once you've done it. Having said that, nothing beats the straight experience.

I never enjoyed a DE. Don't really know what I'll do if I get too shaky to use a straight. Sport a mountain man type beard I suppose.

I use a DE from time to time, I get unpleasent shaves from it sometimes and others great. The problem is that I'm so accustomed to using a straight that using a DE is so different! Even when I get a decent shave with a DE it's not nearly as pleasurable as using a straight.

you can strop on your hand in a pinch? Does it really realign the micro teeth?

....Does it realign the microteeth? I have no clue :shrug:. Did it make me feel slightly better about shaving with a straight that I hadn't stropped other than that..yes. I'll say it wasn't my smoothest shave with that razor, but I also didn't nick myself at all.

It's probably more accurate to say I can attempt to strop on my palm in a pinch, don't let me be an example of a knoweldgeable shaver...I had heard of it on here a few times, and thought I'd give it a shot.

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Originally Posted by chem_fun

you can strop on your hand in a pinch? Does it really realign the micro teeth?

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Somewhere on the internet I saw some raw, unedited film shot in a marketplace somewhere in Niger. One of the scenes was of a curbside barber shaving a customer's head with a straight razor. He would strop the razor on the fleshy, outside part of his hand and sometimes he would strop across the web of his hand along his thumb and forefinger. There was no audio so I don't know whether there were any screams of pain coming from the customer.

I always strop the heel of my hand when I finish on the leather. I don't know if it actually improves the shave, but hey - it can't hurt.

Regards - Walt

Being that I've only been shaving with a straight for about 7 months, I could easily imagine that my hand could look like the strop that I recieved from kenrup. Yikes...not sure I'm that brave at the moment.