Thread: Neck advice?

Ok, another day and another straight shave. My progress is coming along quite well, I can now do my cheeks, and one side of my neck really well WTG. However, the other side of my neck, has me completely bamboozled.

I'm right handed, and the left side of my neck is the problem area. I can't contort my arm any further without either dislocating a shoulder or simply breaking it to get to the far left side of my neck. When I try my other hand, well thats just asking for decapitation. I try different grips, the other grip that provides some benefit is simply straightening the blade and scales out, similar to a weishi I guess, but I wouldn't say I'm effective with it. I'm most comfortable with having the blade with the traditional grip 1, variation 2 from the wiki page.

I've flaunted with ATG, and XTG however with no luck. Can anyone offer any advice on how to break through this? Also for those who have come from DE shaving to a straight, can you tell me if you had to change your shaving passes+direction because of restrictions the straight blade presented?
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It takes a lot of stretching as well as proper blade angle, I usually go ATG on the left side of the neck. Hope this helps.

Aza,

I had the same problem; in the end, the only way round it was to bite the bullet and learn to use my left hand as well. It didn't take long - a week or so, to become most comfortable with the razor in both hands

Best of luck

Have fun !

regards

Russ

When I do the left side of my neck I open the razor out straight like a Japanese razor and shave that way. I can then get a good mix of WTG and XTG passes in, using my left hand to do any stretching.

Or you can learn to use your left hand...! I just didnt because I found a way that works for me, so I stuck with it.

I also dont go WTG on my cheeks, I just go straight into XTG by shaving from my mouth towards my ears. I do this on both sides, but open the razor out like above when I do the left side of my face.

Then I do WTG/XTG passes on my neck, with the normal grip on the right side and the Japanese grip on the left side.

Good luck!

Since I am left handed, I learned to use my right hand for my right side of the face and neck. At first I used passes with only a slight touch and I finished with my DE until I mastered it...it took me a couple of weeks to accomplish this.

Originally Posted by PhatMan

Aza,

I had the same problem; in the end, the only way round it was to bite the bullet and learn to use my left hand as well. It didn't take long - a week or so, to become most comfortable with the razor in both hands

Best of luck

Have fun !

regards

Russ

Thanks Russ.

Well after having trouble with the left side of my neck, I decided to go back to the tape (video's). Watched and watched and realized last night, 'f*** it, I'm going to have to learn to shave with my left hand'. Got it in my head and set myself to have a go tomorrow morning (this morning). Stropped my blade in preparation for the event before going to bed.

Well, I thought I would take it head on. I normally start with the right side of my face, but went left side, left hand, big breath and here we go.

Well....drum roll please...........da daaaa It worked, I did it!! That just set me up for the most comfortable 3 x pass (WTG, 2x XTG) straight shave I've had since I started. Once I got that first stroke out of the way, it was amazing just how naturally the rest of the shave on the left side came using my left hand. With each subsequent stroke it was easy and free flowing and I found myself being able to pull the skin taut and adjust my face accordingly to get the best angle. I feel like superman this morning, unbelievable.

I've just started my second week of straight shaving, I knew after my second shave I was hooked, and after this morning shave it's confirmed. I'm a straight shaver.

With that, the next frontier is ATG. I'll keep you posted.

Originally Posted by Aza

With that, the next frontier is ATG. I'll keep you posted.

Be sure to know your blood type. It will speed things up at the emergency room.

Just kidding.

Do be sure to read the wiki page: Shaving passes - Straight Razor Place Wiki. Pay special attention to the section on cutting angles.

I had a similar experience. When I finally got around to using my left hand on the left side of my face, I found that I did a better job with it than I did with my right hand. I think it was because I was deliberate and slow and careful. None of the poor habits I had developed with my right hand were there, and the shave was better. Now the trick is to relearn to use my right hand without that bad habits!

shaving my neck makes my entire shave go from relaxing to just plain frustrating! stupid neck hair thinks it needs to grow in 14 different directions its like there is a center line in my running all the way across where the hair splits like the great divide and then on one side there is a cow lick where it just grows all kinds a ways i usually get the sides of my neck with the straight then i pick up the DE and make quick work of it before i can get to upset about the whole situation

It has taken me quite a while to get all of my face and chin smooth but the neck is strange the way it grows.I think for most people, the neck is the hardest to get right.At first, as I am right handed, I thought using my left hand to do my left cheek would be suicidal! I was amazed at how easy I found it when I tried though.
The neck area is different,however.With the grain,I can do right face with right hand,left face with left hand but on my neck when it comes to against the grain, I can so far only use my right hand to do my left and right sides of the neck.If I stroke my neck from ear to Adam's apple, it is rough but Addam's apple to ear is smooth.I have tried every direction of stretching even with a safety razor but I give up.It'll just have to stay rough!Mind you,I thought that about my chin area at first.It's all part of the fun of straight shaving I suppose.

Ta Ta the noo