Thread: Damn

So I've been shaving with a straight for about 7 months now, but last night I was trying out some advanced shaving techniques (specifically, the scything motion), and it was all going really well until I gave myself the worst cut of my straight shaving career! Seriously, there was lots of toilet paper and swearing involved.
Oh, well. Ya live and ya learn, right? Guess I'll have to work on controlling that horizontal motion

Were you using the circular motion or "The Slide"?

The Circular motion is a little less dangerous than the slide.

Did it involve stitches?

I was doing a slide motion when it happened.

Nah, no stitches, though. Should heal in a day or so, it was just pretty bad at the time. Definitely the worst cut I've ever had.

Just an observation from what I have been reading over the past few months, it seems most people get cut after they have passed the learning stages, myself included. Do we get to comfortable, or confident ? Im also shaving differently than when I started a few months ago and notice myself cutting and nicking myself here and there.

Hunter, keep some antibiotic type ointment on it.....

I think I was in my first shave when I tried an ATG pass on the right (non-dominant) side of my face with my non-dominant hand. The blade hit my skin and stopped...so I tried it again...with the same results. All in all, I give myself three vertical cuts the length of my blade on my right cheek...way too confident for my first shave. Since then, I've barely given myself a nick. Feels much better, too! Kinda hard to explain when I had to show up to work the next day...

This is a great resource for scything, etc
Advanced shaving techniques for the straight razor - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Don't go for a DE type J-hook, or something crazy like that. I normally employ the "guillotine" style angled blade, but stright ahead direction myself. But after seeing the little scything GIF, I've been trying that with some nice sucess.

Originally Posted by huntmol

Guess I'll have to work on controlling that horizontal motion

I find it causes me problems if I even think of a horizontal component of the motion. It's far easier if you view it as a linear, slightly diagonal movement, or a straight movement with the blade at an angle (guillotining.)

All 3 viewpoints are 100% functionally identical, but our motor skills work better seeing it as a single vector.

Compare it to driving a car. We don't deal with forward and sideways components of motion and speed. That would confuse the hell out of us and people would be crashing all over the place. Instead, we just point the car where we want it to go. Our brains are better tuned to work that way.

I think there is a learning curve with everything that one is not comfortable with. I have some complicated areas to shave between my sideburns and my goatee, and I use a scything motion to get very smooth. When I first tried it, I gave myself a few long nasty cuts. But just like straight shaving for the first time, I got better, and as my stroke became more purposeful and less timid, I started to cut myself less. If you are happy with your shaves without using any horizontal motion, then stick with it. But if you feel that a horizontal motion will help, keep practicing and it will come.

Thanks guys! I appreciate all the support. I'm still getting the hang of this!

Originally Posted by zib

Hunter, keep some antibiotic type ointment on it.....

Thanks Rich, I've been putting some Bacitracin on the cut and it's healing nicely.