Thread: Single Pass Shaves Vs Beard Reduction

Originally Posted by volleykinginnc

No question this one is fake too.....you don't really expect us to believe you voluntarily went 3-4 weeks without shaving do you? Nice try...where's the smoke and mirrors?

AND I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU MEDDLING SRPers!

But really, the payoff is great. If you have a nice ol' Sheffield blade and can wait a few weeks between shaves, try it out once.

HAX! SO FAKE BRO!



...lol.

They're all laughing at me!

Originally Posted by Alembic

So for those of you that say BBS in 1 pass - how exactly are you making that 1 pass and is it truly 1 pass or are you going over the area multiple times?

Personally, I would call what CommieCat shows "one pass," even though he makes small overlapping strokes. I sometimes do an actual single stroke, and sometimes I do small overlapping strokes.

And my own results mirror Commie's; whatever hair is on my face comes off in 1 pass. I get what I call directional BBS - meaning if I run a finger along my face in the same direction I shaved, it feels BBS. If I go WTG, ATG will not feel BBS, but XTG might if it's a really good pass/edge.

I just don't understand beard reduction with a straight. The only way I could imagine doing beard reduction would be if you shaved without putting the edge on your skin, but instead floated over your face, cutting the hair above the skin. But doing that really makes no sense to me. Unless you have a razor that knows to only shave off every other hair, or something like that...

As for DE's or SE's, the only alternate explanation I could think of is if the razor gets clogged and is no longer able to cut hairs (I do get this sometimes with a straight, if I am shaving off some serious beard and the already shaved lather/beard slides down the blade onto the edge or gets on my face). Not that I really know anything about using paperweights to shave....

Dylan, I think with DEs the blade is able to pass over the skin while cutting the hair because of the safety bar which allows the razor to float as you describe

that's my theory anyway, having shaved with one twice in my life

Originally Posted by goaT

They're all laughing at me!

Ha, not at all. I've showed that video to some folks at work and they were a bit surprised. Honestly, so was I when I shaved that first time as that was the longest I had ever let my beard grow.

It was almost gross how the hair seems to peel off in sheets, but simultaneously impressive and enjoyable. I got my first real beefy (for me) razor earlier this year (a hefty Savage wedge) and once again grew the beard out for like 2 weeks just to experience it being mowed off.

I do WTG and then XTG as my normal routine, and I'll usually shave every other day.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Personally, I would call what CommieCat shows "one pass," even though he makes small overlapping strokes. I sometimes do an actual single stroke, and sometimes I do small overlapping strokes.

And my own results mirror Commie's; whatever hair is on my face comes off in 1 pass. I get what I call directional BBS - meaning if I run a finger along my face in the same direction I shaved, it feels BBS. If I go WTG, ATG will not feel BBS, but XTG might if it's a really good pass/edge.

I just don't understand beard reduction with a straight. The only way I could imagine doing beard reduction would be if you shaved without putting the edge on your skin, but instead floated over your face, cutting the hair above the skin. But doing that really makes no sense to me. Unless you have a razor that knows to only shave off every other hair, or something like that...

As for DE's or SE's, the only alternate explanation I could think of is if the razor gets clogged and is no longer able to cut hairs (I do get this sometimes with a straight, if I am shaving off some serious beard and the already shaved lather/beard slides down the blade onto the edge or gets on my face). Not that I really know anything about using paperweights to shave....

My understanding of beard reduction is that the first pass takes off 99% of the hair, leaving stubble left. XTG and ATG then reduce that stubble to BBS.

Personally, I define BBS as smooth even when rubbing ATG, and I can only get that by shaving going WTG, XTG, ATG. The ATG pass is water only, and I use a lot of buffing. I've only been at this a few months though, and my razor needs a honing. When this topic has come up before, there are plenty of guys who say they get BBS with a single pass, and I believe them. I think a uber sharp razor + refined technique + good prep can do it.

I also like the idea of constricting yourself to only one pass to force development of technique. My razor lost its super keen edge a while ago, but I keep using to force my technique development.

And since we are sharing videos, this is one I found before I bought my first razor. It scared me at first, but now its one of my favs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQLgRG4hC0A