The Beard: HOW LONG?!!!!

Hi everyone,

I've just been wondering about beard lengths, i mean, when's the best length to crack out the straight?!!! I had a shave last week, after knocking my beard off with clippers. I got pretty good results, and not alot of pulling.

I let it grow a bit, then was gonna shave but ended up not having time.

SO yesturday, i decide to give it a go. There was a good amount of stubble, and i have heavy whiskers anyways. I just wondered if it's better to shave quite frequently, as the shave was great, very close, but did pull a little, and i got irritation for an hour or so, which died right off after that time.

I used to get the same problem off a gillette mach 3 turbo with a fresh blade.

OR should the razor take out ANY length of beard?!!! In which case it's back to the hone, but i'm passing the hht!!??!! I think an 8000 hone could help too? 6000 currently.

Thanks guys. Other than this little gripe, converting to a straight is the best thing i've done for a while!! (especially when i see my collegues hack job with a bic!)

If you have a tough beard, getting an 8000-grit stone would probably be a good idea. I actually can get my razors to pass the HHT after the 4K stage, which isn't really a smooth enough edge to use comfortably.

I find that I need to go beyond 8K to get a comfortable shave. I use a pasted paddle strop with 1 micron and .5 micron diamond pastes.

You should be able to shave comfortably every day, although a lot of guys find that they get an even closer shave by skipping a day. I've never grown a full beard, but I think you shouldn't have any trouble taking it off with a straight without trimming first. :shrug:

Good luck,
Josh

My first shave with a straight was with a full beard. I debated about clipping first but decided to try the straight since it obviously wasn't going to clog like the Fusion. Worked beautifully, no irritation and a nice smooth shave. A couple of days ago I managed to get the same shave with a pretty good growth of about 4-5 days (short, but pretty solid coverage, beard for me).

I do tend to take smaller strokes and lather more frequently when taking the beard off. It just gets some of the excess hair off the blade and more lubrication into spots that might not have penetrated the beard as well.

Ant

I find that shaving every day is fine, but it seems like skipping a day somehow achieves better results. Make sure you're shaving after shower, lots of hot water, etc. After you finish shaving, try rinsing your face with cold water & see if that changes things any.

thanks guys,

yeah i'm sure i'm sharp but not as smooth edged like you suggest, but i reckon i need to go back to a courser stone and work back through. I was just checking the edge under a light, and i can see a beautifully polished edge after honing expect for a slight dull area, nothing crazy but a definate change of intense reflection in one spot.

I must admit, i was rather keen to get my first shave in and could probably have spent a little longer on the first stone. Just another question, whats the coursest you would start with?

Thanks again!!

I think it's a little more work to get as close if I shave daily. The hairs are just too short to locate. My best feeling shaves are done after 3 or 4 days growth, but I've taken a months worth off with the same result.

X

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pea

I must admit, i was rather keen to get my first shave in and could probably have spent a little longer on the first stone. Just another question, whats the coursest you would start with?

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The finest grit that will do the job in a reasonable amount of time. The big variable is "reasonable time". Some guys use only barber hones, which are very slow. Some guys jump straight to the norton 4k, which is very fast.

If you've already got a 6k then that should be ok, just keep honing until that dull patch sharpens up. Then move to a barber hone or a pasted paddle to finish polishing the edge.