Thread: ATG Necessity?

I go slightly XTG (as a consequence of how I shave) but mostly WTG and I don't feel like my shave is really lacking anywhere. I could pull on the skin and feel a little bit of hair (that I wouldn't if I stretched it tight and really worked at it ATG), but otherwise if I feel my face after a shave, I don't feel anything except perhaps just at my neck below the jawline which is a big time razorburn area for me. I usually take it light there but still get it pretty good, just WTG.

Someone made a comment here not too long ago about a barber saying that the thing that most people do wrong is try to get too close. If you have extremely sensitive skin (I do) then you can get a really really good shave with two WTG passes and a razor that is properly sharp (if it's not properly sharp, then it's not going to work that well).

If you want to play some saturday and take a 20 minute shave, then you can fiddle with the rest of the stuff, I guess. My morning shave is two passes in four minutes (which includes getting out and putting away the soap, face lathering only). I don't blade buff in the morning, and I don't even pull the skin that tight, it's not necessary if the razor is really sharp. Just start the razor at the sideburn and run it all the way down to the middle of my neck. Move over an inch and a half, pull one long stroke again. And do the same thing on the second pass.

When I first started shaving, i'm pretty sure my razors were a step short of the sharpness needed to do that and get a good shave. I'm much more pleased with that process now for a daily shave than all of the fiddling to try to get everything perfect and go over some spots more than twice. It's a very pleasant experience, and it's still a better shave with less irritation than I ever got with cartridge razors.

It's a must for me, or I can feel stubble in certain directions. I guess it all boils down to how picky a person is with the smoothness. I don't feel any discomfort with it though, so you have to do what's right for your skin. Everyones face is like a snowflake, no 2 the same.

No two alike, definitely true. Reminds me of Ben Hogan's comment about the secret to his swing "it's in the dirt", as in working at it is the best way to find it.

A little patience and some repetition and a few iterations with honing/stropping and I don't think most people will find it very hard to shave with a straight razor. But it seems like resolve is lacking sometimes in finding out answers for ourselves, persisting, and then having the confidence to stick with what you find instead of trying 29 different things afterward when you already know from experience what you'll need to know.

I thought shaving with a straight razor was a bit cumbersome and slow until I resolved to do it every day for a month no matter what. After shaving only a day a week on the weekend with a straight for a year, within about two weeks of doing it every day instead, it clicked and I haven't picked up a grubby cartridge razor in a long time. I can't say that I ever worry about the possibility of getting a mark on my face now from the razor, it'd have to be a freak event for it to occur, and certainty is a matter of repetition and less than literal things, rather than an exact review of piles of methodical details.

Personally if I feel any whiskers I'm slightly disappointed in my shave. My routine is wtg and xtg with my straight and then atg and touch ups with my de. My hair is so course that atg grabs at my blade. Also I'm sure my technique could use work.