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An Unexpected Journey: A Newbie's Walk In Wet Shaving

Here's a picture of the plain's style knife sheath I made for myself with my antique buffalo skinner knife I traded for a while back.

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Because of the curved nature of this knife you have to either make a curved sheath (which I think looks like something worn by the tribals in the HIndu Kush) or have the handle canted a little bit one way or the other. I planned this so it would ride at 4 o'clock behind my handgun so the cant forward is perfect to let me get my hand on the knife handle. You might notice with the brass tacks that some are unevenly spaced or a little out of line, and that's purposeful so it has that correct look. Most originals I've seen have a lot of missing tacks and quite a few that are not looking to evenly spaced. I just can't quite go that far, but I can go this far!

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The knife blade is 6 1/2 inches long with a total knife length of about 10 1/2 inches. This is super good high carbon steel too. It sharpened like a dream. Good old steel. It's seen some miles on it, but I like the character that adds as well as the marks from field sharpening with what looks like whatever stone they found in the mountains fur trapping.
 
Did some cooking out at the cabin the other day. Cherry smoked hamburgers over the open fire! Well, actually I cooked over the coals which is the better way. It's nice to actually use the cabin even though it's far from being finished. And yes, it is a sad stone arrangement around the fire pit, but I had to use stones my girls gathered so I made due and managed to find some bigger ones to help.

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I've noticed something that I think is noteworthy with my Variant DE razor. I've tried ramping up the setting to 4 on the first pass and ramping down to 3.5 on the last passes. This really didn't produce a smoother shave and I think caused irritation. The next thing I tried for a week was to ramp up the aggressiveness setting to 4.0 on the last pass. It produced, what felt like, a smoother shave but then something funny happened. I noticed as my beard grew in it felt much more prickly and less like the sandpaper I'm used to.

I thought a lot about this and I think that less pass on the more aggressive setting was taking a somewhat rounded stubble and cutting it off lower and at an angle leaving it pointy. Does that make any sense to anyone? The only example I can think of is if you were to carve the end of a stick with a jack knife and you worked at all sides with just one cut, you'd have a somewhat rounded end. Now if on the last cut you sheared off one big piece by cutting deeper you'd have a pointy end of the stick (don't poke yourself in the eye now!). Maybe I'm just overthinking it, but something was for sure going on.

This brought me to this week. What if I slide the aggressive setting pass in the middle? So far that seems to feel like it's going to be the winning combination. First WTG pass was set to 3.5, second XTG passes were set at 4.0, and the last ATG pass set back at 3.5. Incidentally, even sneaking up and getting creative, I'm finding I have to set my Variant at 1.5 to go ATG on the top lip after the other passes. That seems to get the last little bit without causing irritation. Still rocking the shower shaves with Williams!

On the personal side of things, the government I work for is facing massive shortfalls and lay-offs are unavoidable if there's no help from the Federal government. I do not know what that holds for the future. I'm in the safest possible position I can be in, but being 18 million in the hole is unprecedented. My fear is that this will be happening all across America and that we will be facing, as a Nation, levels of unemployment nearing the Great Depression levels. I've lived hand to mouth before, but I don't think there's as many that could do it today without rioting, stealing, etc......All this worries me and I think, but God....................and I begin to recenter. God has seen me through so many things and I've never gone hungry, cold, or unclothed. Still if feels like I am waiting on the edge of a battle, which is worse than fighting in one.

 
The adjustments to your razor are completely understandable. I have tried something similar with my Merkur Progress. I may have come to your conclusions...but honestly...I am too lazy to twist the little knob at the end of the razor during the shave. Actually it is more like I forget to twist the knob. Either way...whatever works for you.

Hoping and Praying your job situation is stable. I know there is a lot of uncertainty out there...but I am confident things will work out. At some point the powers that be need to realize that natural forces just need to do what they are supposed to do. And while I am not sure anything will ever go back to the way it was...I am positive the world will normalize. I think you are in a better position than most if you have to "bug out." And you are right...most people won't know how to deal with life if it comes to what you think. These are things that I worry about from time to time...yet I sit here in my house and do very little to improve my situation. It's actually disturbing on some level. But like I said...I am confident things will work out.

Hope your day goes well!
 
Things certainly are kinda surreal still right now. I hope your situation remains stable Mike.
 
On the shaving front, I'm embarrassed to admit this but I think I've been using my DE at the wrong angle for a while now. Somehow I've been creeping back and riding the cap which caused me to subconsciously apply more pressure than needed. This morning I accidentally tilted the razor more toward the guard and it was like magic as I realized the sweet spot was much more in that direction than I though. Came away with a really fine shave that felt great with some DBBS areas and nothing below BBS. Here you think you've got the hang of things and then you realize you didn't know as much as you thought you did! The military community I come in contact with always stress that you should never stop learning and that there's always someone you can learn from and that's so true even when it comes to shaving.

On the home front, I'm waiting for my lumber to be finished being milled for the cabin exterior. Nice wide Hemlock with a ship lap on it. That's had me busy in all my free time putting up blocking in between the studs so I have something to screw to from the outside. I also had to reframe around the windows because the last guy who owned it basically cut a hole in the OSB and shoved a window in there. For those that don't know, your roof carries a load down through your wall structure to your foundation. You have to direct the load around windows and doors otherwise you'll have problems when there's a foot of heavy snow sitting on your roof. It actually wasn't too bad. The windows haven't leaked ever so I left them alone and just put up headers, king & jack studs with the proper cripple studs. If all goes well, I should be starting the outside hemlock next week. I also picked up the Jotul 602 woodstove for it last week. It's going to be just right for that small of a cabin.

I've also taken some time to clear more trails in the woods and began identifying tree types. I've been looking for oaks and so far I've only found two red oaks. One is about 52 years old and the other around 100 years old. The white pine near my house is 186 years old having just peaked out of the ground as a seedling in 1834 or so. Lots of cottonwoods, sugar maples, ash, black locust, honey locust, ironwood, and beech. It's a young forest, but I plan on establishing some oaks and cutting out white pine to build a wood shed from by hewing them / half dovetails. The large buck I've been watching is an 8 point whose spread in his rack is already past his ears - nice deer. I think I will leave him alone and watch to see how big he gets. Rambled on enough I guess
 
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Wow, that sounds like a lot of goings on to me! Glad the cabin is progressing.

On the razor angle thing, I have to do the same occasionally and readjust before I go to town. Muscle memory seems to loosen up over time a bit.
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GearNoir said:
Wow, that sounds like a lot of goings on to me! Glad the cabin is progressing.
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Yeah, lots of mowing too. I like to keep the roads and trails mowed to reduce the chances of picking up a tick. The deer thank me too as it's easier traveling for them. Here's a picture of the 8 point wandering my woods:

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His antlers are still in velvet but I don't think his rack will be getting much bigger. He's in his prime so I think it's important to let him have more offspring. When he gets old and is on his decline is when I'll think about hunting options. I think when he senses fall is late and hunting season is beginning that he will find a place to hide during the day. He's obviously got a great game plan so far or he wouldn't still be around in hunting country where I live.
 
Was walking the dog on the trail I'm clearing currently and actually saw this buck. The dog is so small he could see the deer but he knew something wasn't right. The buck and I just stared at each other like we were both kings. He seemed unafraid of me and I think that's because he's familiar with my scent. We feed the deer apples and fruit scraps rather than throw them away, so I think he knows my scent as something that isn't an immediate threat. Yup, his rack is as big as I thought it was. A very nice deer, and he definitely is a local king (at least of my forest.) I love moments like that..........then the dog barked and jumped behind me when the buck just ducked under a tree and trotted away. He didn't bolt, he just decided whatever barked was more of an annoyance than a threat.

I was helping my Dad and we got going through some old boxes in the garage only to find a box full of old electric razors. Man, I think it was a collection of almost every early electric shaver that came out on the market. I was hoping for a DE or SE vintage razor hiding in there, but there wasn't any. I did come away with an old butter crock that belonged to my great grandmother and a box of horns suitable to make powder horns out of. Boy I just love digging through old boxes of stuff.
 
Graybeard57 said:
I'd love to have a getaway in the woods, but my wife is disinterested. I envy you.
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dangerousdon said:
I'm with Bruce...I would love a place like yours right about now. While the world is spinning off its axis...you are talking about walks in the woods and eight point bucks. It seems to good to be real.
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Guys, I have not fallen into a state of taking it for granted and I hope I never do. When I walk or work out there I don't see or think about masks or any of the current events. Sometimes I even let my mind drift as I'm walking the portion of the old turnpike that's on my property. I imagine the Indian attacks that could have occurred there with the high ground being above the wagon trail that became the turnpike.

Something else that I love is that as I walk along I'm tucking different resources away in my brain so that when I need them I remember where I saw them. Every large stone I see will one day be picked up and towed to the cabin site to become the foundation for the hand hewed beam wood shed I build. Even if that never happens (but it will!) it's fun to do. I've already found the perfect place to start my ginseng patch. Ginseng loves gravely soil facing north on a hillside of hardwoods. It needs good canopy and hardwoods to grow. I used to hunt ginseng years ago and it was rewarding. If you trace back up a hill you often find the grandfather plant and you keep him there and harvest the middle roots which are still quite large. It will be quite nice to have my own patch on my own land someday.

I think it's rooted deeply in all men to have land to manage, because it satisfies a deep place in this man's soul to walk the woods, to make it better, and to be a caretaker of it. Not in a "save the trees" Lorax way or a tree hugger way, but more in a master of the woods type of way.

Another episode of deep thoughts.............brought to you by Blade-Meister and underwritten by Mammoth Painter's Anonymous.
 
Blade-meister said:
Guys, I have not fallen into a state of taking it for granted and I hope I never do. When I walk or work out there I don't see or think about masks or any of the current events. Sometimes I even let my mind drift as I'm walking the portion of the old turnpike that's on my property. I imagine the Indian attacks that could have occurred there with the high ground being above the wagon trail that became the turnpike.

Something else that I love is that as I walk along I'm tucking different resources away in my brain so that when I need them I remember where I saw them. Every large stone I see will one day be picked up and towed to the cabin site to become the foundation for the hand hewed beam wood shed I build. Even if that never happens (but it will!) it's fun to do. I've already found the perfect place to start my ginseng patch. Ginseng loves gravely soil facing north on a hillside of hardwoods. It needs good canopy and hardwoods to grow. I used to hunt ginseng years ago and it was rewarding. If you trace back up a hill you often find the grandfather plant and you keep him there and harvest the middle roots which are still quite large. It will be quite nice to have my own patch on my own land someday.

I think it's rooted deeply in all men to have land to manage, because it satisfies a deep place in this man's soul to walk the woods, to make it better, and to be a caretaker of it. Not in a "save the trees" Lorax way or a tree hugger way, but more in a master of the woods type of way.

Another episode of deep thoughts.............brought to you by Blade-Meister and underwritten by Mammoth Painter's Anonymous.
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Very nice read sir. Nature truly does reward for those who take the time to learn her ways....
 
1savvyRogue said:
Very nice read sir. Nature truly does reward for those who take the time to learn her ways....
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Very true Mr. Rogue! There are so many things in nature to eat that I know of and so many more things that I do not know or understand. I've yet to find a dogbane patch on my property but know one must exist somewhere and will look for it this winter. For those that don't know, dogbane is a plant that when dry, split, and stripped from its pithy stalk, is excellent cordage material.

I think it must be how the Native Americans carried on their lives. They walked everywhere and they knew where everything in their area grew / what it was good for. Take Chicory for instance.....I see it growing along the roads and pretty much everywhere and it can be a coffee substitute with medicinal qualities. Most drive or walk past it without a second though. I wish I knew more about this stuff.
 
Put in a full day at the cabin and it's hot, humid, and miserable out there. Why would I mention it? Well, working in those conditions all day calls for a cold shower which means....................a rare cold water shave for me! I used to cold water shave every day until I switched to shower shaves, so I really enjoyed the cool and refreshing shave. Felt dang good and BBS all around!

On the personal side of things, I've begun work again on the cabin again. My ship lapped hemlock got delivered finally so I had to get going. I wanted to get that wood up so I don't have to sticker it (putting small pieces of wood in between each piece of lumber) and build something to keep the rain off it. I've got the wood covered with a couple of tarps with a ladder and some other things sitting on top of it so there's some air flow. I'll admit, I've never worked with green wood before but I've read a lot on the subject. I learned that boards cup toward the bark side of the tree so you have to put that side toward the sheathing so that any cupping will just tighten things up. Saturday I spent the entire day flashing the window on the back side of the cabin in the most unorthodox way, but it should be dang near impervious to water now. I also got the felt paper up and promptly it rained Saturday night. I don't like dimply felt paper, but it doesn't hurt anything. Today I had to sort the lumber, and decide where to start. Normally one would think you'd pick a side and start there working all the way to the other side, but this can cause problems when you reach a window or the corner. I decided to start in the middle at the window so that I could choose where the boards lapped in relation to the window. That's the way the old-timers used to do it. With green wood, you only want to put a nail or screw in the middle of the board to allow the board to shrink without cracking. For the most part the hemlock I received was pretty good with much of it old growth wood with small growth rings. Here's how far I got before having to pack up and get to town for an appointment. Dang mosquitoes just laughed at my deep woods off spray too. I killed a number of them, some with my dang blood in them! Oh forgot to mention.........my lower back is in rough shape for some reason and began hurting me on Saturday to the point where I was really hurting. My back was sure to complain when I was holding that green lumber against the building trying to get a screw in it before it move! The plan is to leave it just like it is for a year to see how much the wood shrinks. It the gaps are too big after a year I'll have to install battens over them. Notice, this smart guy started on the backside so by the time I get to the front I should know what I'm doing :LOL: It's starting to look like a cabin now!

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Blade-meister said:
Put in a full day at the cabin
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Blade-meister said:
My ship lapped hemlock got delivered finally so I had to get going.
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Blade-meister said:
Saturday I spent the entire day flashing the window on the back side of the cabin
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Blade-meister said:
Today I had to sort the lumber, and decide where to start.
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Blade-meister said:
I also got the felt paper up
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And then.....
Blade-meister said:
my lower back is in rough shape for some reason
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See above...
 
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