Thread: who knew more..when?

My old man was an AF pilot and he died in a crash landing when i was a kid so nobody ever told me how to shave. I just learned it by myself. I lived with my grandparents and i remember my granddad using straight (nowadays mine). He never told me this or that about shaving as for him it was probably something that just had to be done. No big deal.
I had a Gillette DE and yellow Bics when i started and been ok with them until i decided to try my granddads straight. For few years i tried electric but as the thing broke off i went back to wet shaving. I have never had or tried Machs or such multiblades.
I was surprised as i found SRP because i always thought i am nuts or something because i use straight. Glad to know i am not the only nut there is.

ok guys.. get this.. my charges' grandmother is in town visiting from georgia and she noticed me faceturbating all day.. so she asks me why i'm so in love with my face.. then the conversation starts.. she is 60 years old and somehow i end up shaving her legs with my merkur hd... she said it was amazing and she doesn't ever remember her legs being that smooth.. she even told me i should open a spa and make it with as many girls as possible.. she basically thinks i'm a true gentlemen in the sense of the word.. and this lady is from georgia!.. she also said that she remembers using a DE when she started shaving and tore her gams up terribly.. she has been using plastic disposables for years and has never had such smooth legs..

i essentially feel as though my manhood could be stroked no further.. i plan on getting on ebay and finding her a vintage lady gillette.. as a women who has lived a full life and seen and been through may shaving methods.. i used my knowledge from straightrazorplace.com and showed her how wonderfully smooth a shave can be using the proper equipment, lather, and technique..

this young blood of 29 feels more the man than anything right now.. i came real close to slapping some bayrum on her legs... i ended up going with aloe vera.

god knows the results had i used my artist club

also.. please excuse my pathetic corey greenburg nod by using the word "gams"

My grandfather shaved with a Dubl Duck on occasion. He would trim all the grandboys sideburns with it. I really dont remember him shaving with it himself. As far as my shaving, Mach 3 self taught with no problems. I enjoy(ed) wearing a beard so no problems. I think what we have a vast amount of information at our fingertips here. Its also a great way to get many aspects. If grandad said thats how it was...thats how it was. Here...we can have the opinions of many members.

I sometimes think we tend to overcomplicate things. People are less self-reliant these days.
Without wishing to upset anyone, some of the questions asked are so basic you do wonder how the person asking survives daily life.
Like many men in the senior age group I had to work things out for myself and learn by my own mistakes.
I'm happy to help anyone, but often think that perhaps some of the questions posed have solutions that are blindingly obvious and perhaps the person asking would learn more if set the challenge to work it out for themself.

Originally Posted by welshwizard

I sometimes think we tend to overcomplicate things. People are less self-reliant these days.
Without wishing to upset anyone, some of the questions asked are so basic you do wonder how the person asking survives daily life.
Like many men in the senior age group I had to work things out for myself and learn by my own mistakes.
I'm happy to help anyone, but often think that perhaps some of the questions posed have solutions that are blindingly obvious and perhaps the person asking would learn more if set the challenge to work it out for themself.

i fully agree.. as someone who learned to shave basically on my own.. shaving is something that can be self taught using simple common sense.. unless you are of course intelligently under-par..

with that said.. there are a ton of questions that need to be asked to achieve the perfect shave.. and those questions are perfectly suited for this forum.. being an intelligent being who frequently forgets what he had learned in formal education.. who was it that said.. "the stupidest question was the one that was never asked" ?

postscript: please forgive my punctuation.. i dropped out of college due to my job as an internet jockey paying more than i was spending on my ivy league education. i still type words like "gonna" and "prolly". and for the life of me.. i can't stop putting a dot dot at the end of every statement.. someone shoot me now!

Originally Posted by vthomlinson

"the stupidest question was the one that was never asked" ?

That statement became fashionable in the eighties. Usually in the opening preamble on training courses.

Sadly, there are stupid questions, and sometimes it's better to suggest that the questioner thinks it out for himself.
In the end, this is often more beneficial. Obviously, dependent on the question itself, the time, place and many other factors.

I think that more people are becoming unable to think for themselves, perhaps really depending on statements such as: "The contents of this cup are hot and may cause injury"

Originally Posted by Ryan82

In the Age of the Straight I highly doubt there were many hobby shavers who prided themselves on knowing everything there is to know about straight razors. It was simply shaving. Most guys had only one or two razors, one strop, one brush. Many may not have even owned a single razor hone, as it was popular for your trusty barber to touch up your razor for you. So there probably wasn't as much thought being put into the entire process.

I would guess that we know more now. As experienced? Perhaps not.

Doing more while thinking and knowing (obsessing?) less about it. That may be the main difference between us and our grandfathers.