Thread: ATG only?

Is this a common approach? I only have 3 SR shaves under my belt, but the most recent one I skipped the WTG and the XTG (except for the jaw line, haven't figured that out yet) and went with ATG only, and didn't notice a difference in the quality of the shave vs going with all three. While I haven't read this entire site yet (has anyone?) I'm curious if anyone else more experienced is going this route, and if not, why? What are the potential pitfalls?

Nothing saying you can't, it's all about what works for you. If you can get a smooth good shave in one pass, then go for it I say. I can't b/c my stubble is really wiry and coarse, so just going straight to ATG the blade will skip around and tug, so I go 1 WTG and 2 ATG on my neck and 1 WTG and 1 ATG on my cheeks, only WTG upper and lower lip, and 1 WTG and 1 XTG on my chin. Sounds complicated, but I usually keep in in the 10-12 min range everytime.

The reason for the different passes is that whiskers can grow in different directions. I can get a pretty close acceptable shave in 2 passes, but if I want the perfect shave I need 3.
If you can get acceptable shave in one pass, then stick with one pass if that is what you like.

I experimented with it for a bit, and yes it does work but not for everyone...

I have changed the different passes into more of a Multidirectional pass that gets me a CCS in one shot, but you have to figure out what works best for your face

Just to be clear I am more concerned with "Comfort" I like "Close" too but not at the expense of my skin

My skin doesn't like abrasion. One ATG pass has proven to give me a comfortable close shave where more passes just seem to cause irritation. I have discovered there are some areas which ATG is north/south and some are south/north and some go anyway they like but keeping ATG allows for the least opportunity to rub my face raw.

If one's whiskers are coarse and dense it could be more difficult to get good results in only one pass. Preparation, preparation, preparation, and refining your skin stretching technique will prove most fruitful and developing the best routine will take time.

I've done it and had success with it, but I found that I just would rather precede the ATG with a WTG pass. I almost never use an XTG pass. The ATG pass seems to go so much more easily if it follows a beard reduction WTG pass.

As other have said...whatever works.

I can get a good shave in one pass, but I simply cannot go ATG in some areas regardless of the number of passes. This is either due to the geometry of my face, or my abilities (not sure which).

I find that I can do pretty well xtg in one pass. YMMV

i started doing ATG for my first pass with my DEs and then XTG with the second pass with touch ups and am getting better results as i am not doing so many passes which was irritating my skin.
If it works for you, then keep at it and good luck.

I've tried it a couple times and it just didn't work with my beard. The beard reduction system works best fo me.

I did a similar experiment and started a thread: http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...-do-first.html
I do a combination now, for the jaw line down I do multiple passes. But for the cheek and sideburns I usually go directly ATG. Did this just a couple hours ago works well for me.