I had to take a break from the forums for a while. My wife Kristina was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, she had an attack that caused both her hands to go permanently numb. We have had to make a lot of changes to our day to day life as a result of this new illness.
I spent a lot of hours in my shave den pondering my hobby, among other things, and what I think I have deduced is this:
I think a major part of the whole attraction to this hobby is the fact that it is a road of discovery and an exercise in self discipline. The key to finding great razors, brushes, blades etc, is to try it. Trial and error. The specs on paper, on a razor for example, will likely not be a great indicator on wether you will like the razor. I recently had two razors in my shave den that should’ve been nearly identical in how they shaved. One was the Haircut & Shave N075, with a blade gap of .75mm and “neutral” blade exposure. The other was the Karve B Plate, with a blade gap of .73mm and a blade exposure of “0”. So you would think that both of these would shave nearly the same. Not the case. The H&S was wildly more efficient than the Karve. The only way I could have figured that out was to discover it for myself. Is this a bad thing? Not if you have money to sink into a hobby like this. But if you’re somebody who still views shaving in the same regard as taking a shower or getting dressed for work, you’re just going through the motions, then this could be quite discouraging. And then when you ask for advice. Everyone gives you a different answer based on their own experiences.
When people ask me what razors, blades, or soap, they should buy first, I now simply say “that’s a tough question for somebody else to answer for you”. That is both the blessing and the curse of having such an extreme amount of variety to chose from. Trying to break yourself of simple habits and willing complicate your daily routine is one of the reasons so many people don’t even know this hobby exists. There’s too much information presented at once, too many variables, and too many options. Some vendors and prominent shavers in the community have developed beginner kits, but even those have baggage that has to be unpacked.
It also requires weeks, even months of practice to get comfortable with a double edge or single edge razor. When you change to a new brand of blade or a new razor, you have to start all over again and give yourself at least a week of practice to get it dialed in before making a judgement on wether you’ll like it or not.
Where am I going with this you ask? Traditional shaving is basically the model car crowd. We are all trying to build that Oldsmobile 442 out of chrome plated plastic and paint, and make it look like the one on the box. Is this a problem? No. Both hobbies simply require you to be willing to jump as far down a rabbit hole as humanly possible. Both hobbies are supposed to be therapeutic. That’s how I have come to view my hobby that takes up my whole bathroom and has my wife pointing at me and laughing hysterically. It is a truly brilliant therapeutic tool that enables discovery and reflection.
That’s why I shave the old fashioned way [emoji16].
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I spent a lot of hours in my shave den pondering my hobby, among other things, and what I think I have deduced is this:
I think a major part of the whole attraction to this hobby is the fact that it is a road of discovery and an exercise in self discipline. The key to finding great razors, brushes, blades etc, is to try it. Trial and error. The specs on paper, on a razor for example, will likely not be a great indicator on wether you will like the razor. I recently had two razors in my shave den that should’ve been nearly identical in how they shaved. One was the Haircut & Shave N075, with a blade gap of .75mm and “neutral” blade exposure. The other was the Karve B Plate, with a blade gap of .73mm and a blade exposure of “0”. So you would think that both of these would shave nearly the same. Not the case. The H&S was wildly more efficient than the Karve. The only way I could have figured that out was to discover it for myself. Is this a bad thing? Not if you have money to sink into a hobby like this. But if you’re somebody who still views shaving in the same regard as taking a shower or getting dressed for work, you’re just going through the motions, then this could be quite discouraging. And then when you ask for advice. Everyone gives you a different answer based on their own experiences.
When people ask me what razors, blades, or soap, they should buy first, I now simply say “that’s a tough question for somebody else to answer for you”. That is both the blessing and the curse of having such an extreme amount of variety to chose from. Trying to break yourself of simple habits and willing complicate your daily routine is one of the reasons so many people don’t even know this hobby exists. There’s too much information presented at once, too many variables, and too many options. Some vendors and prominent shavers in the community have developed beginner kits, but even those have baggage that has to be unpacked.
It also requires weeks, even months of practice to get comfortable with a double edge or single edge razor. When you change to a new brand of blade or a new razor, you have to start all over again and give yourself at least a week of practice to get it dialed in before making a judgement on wether you’ll like it or not.
Where am I going with this you ask? Traditional shaving is basically the model car crowd. We are all trying to build that Oldsmobile 442 out of chrome plated plastic and paint, and make it look like the one on the box. Is this a problem? No. Both hobbies simply require you to be willing to jump as far down a rabbit hole as humanly possible. Both hobbies are supposed to be therapeutic. That’s how I have come to view my hobby that takes up my whole bathroom and has my wife pointing at me and laughing hysterically. It is a truly brilliant therapeutic tool that enables discovery and reflection.
That’s why I shave the old fashioned way [emoji16].
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
