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Kingfisher's open blade (straight razors and shavettes) journey
- Thread starter kingfisher
- Start date
Prolly aint gonna happen. I'm technologically challenged. I'll certainly still be on the forum. As for popping in here, I'll consider it.
Probably not. I think chronicling the first 75 shaves or so was good, both for me and potentially for others, showing the difficulties of learning how to straight razor shave. Now that I've been doing it for a long time, I'm not sure what anybody could get out of these entries, although once in a while I think about different techniques and such.
Yeppers. Love it.Lollipop Citrus - there it is again!
So, for this morning I planned on using Doc's Special Blend and the Noonan again, but I slept in. At the time I started the shower, my plan was to do the first pass with the S3S and then do a second pass with the Noonan. By the time I finished the first pass, the reduction was so good with the S3S that I just decided to finish the shave with the S3S.
I had an amazing two-pass shave. CCS+/DFS- in 2 simple passes.
I've used a lot of razors over the nearly 10 years since I've been doing traditional wetshaving. I truly think that the iKon S3S is one of the best DE razors ever made (for ME). I hate the way the blade is loaded, but once it is loaded up, this razor fires on all cylinders all the time. Smooth and efficient. Not too harsh. It's beautiful, too.
Hope y'all are having a good day!
187/225 this morning.
No shave at all yesterday, which is very unusual. Played a 4-man scramble fundraiser golf tournament in Virginia Beach. It was a lot of fun. Weather was nice, if a bit hotter than we hoped it would be. I played so-so at best, but hit a few really good shots, one of which led to a 3-foot putt for eagle!
Anyway, so this morning I had two-days' growth to mow down. I chose the Noonan and Stirling Peach.
The lather was pretty good, but not as good as what I normally get with Soapy Science. The razor did OK except for a bit of tugging in the densest spots. I also ended up with a small area of redness, like an abrasion, on the right neck. No blood. It was definitely not a cut or a weeper. Afterward it almost looked like there was a preexisting bump there that I scraped as I shaved that part of the neck, maybe? It happened just as my wife was walking into the bathroom (I shave at the sink right next to the door). I moved aside to allow her to open the door, and that's when it happened. Probably it would be best for me to just put the razor down until she's all the way in and then start again. Lesson learned.
Other than that, it was a decent, but not great 3-pass shave, leaving me CCS and unscathed aside from that one spot.
I was thinking this morning about the Gillette slide and J-hooking, and how those translate to straight razor shaving. To me, with a DE there are two-ways to do the Gillette slide. The traditional way is to hold the razor so the blade is horizontally oriented, and then to move the razor at an oblique angle. The other way is to turn the head so it is slightly tilted, and then move the razor directly down.
With a straight razor, both of these options are also available. I tried option B this morning, holding the razor so it was not completely horizontal, but canted slightly, and then moving it directly down.
You might think there is no straight razor equivalent of the very handy J-hook, but I think there is (at least a facsimile of it). I notice, in shaving videos, that many people who have a lot of straight razor experience move the razor in a "windshield wiper" motion, wherein the toe of the razor travels a lot farther than does the heel. I think this motion bears quite a bit of similarity to the DE J-hook, and it does seem to increase the ease with which whiskers are cut.
I have been incorporating both types of Gillette slide and also the windshield wiper motion into my shaves and will continue to experiment with them.
Hope you have a great day.
No shave at all yesterday, which is very unusual. Played a 4-man scramble fundraiser golf tournament in Virginia Beach. It was a lot of fun. Weather was nice, if a bit hotter than we hoped it would be. I played so-so at best, but hit a few really good shots, one of which led to a 3-foot putt for eagle!
Anyway, so this morning I had two-days' growth to mow down. I chose the Noonan and Stirling Peach.
The lather was pretty good, but not as good as what I normally get with Soapy Science. The razor did OK except for a bit of tugging in the densest spots. I also ended up with a small area of redness, like an abrasion, on the right neck. No blood. It was definitely not a cut or a weeper. Afterward it almost looked like there was a preexisting bump there that I scraped as I shaved that part of the neck, maybe? It happened just as my wife was walking into the bathroom (I shave at the sink right next to the door). I moved aside to allow her to open the door, and that's when it happened. Probably it would be best for me to just put the razor down until she's all the way in and then start again. Lesson learned.
Other than that, it was a decent, but not great 3-pass shave, leaving me CCS and unscathed aside from that one spot.
I was thinking this morning about the Gillette slide and J-hooking, and how those translate to straight razor shaving. To me, with a DE there are two-ways to do the Gillette slide. The traditional way is to hold the razor so the blade is horizontally oriented, and then to move the razor at an oblique angle. The other way is to turn the head so it is slightly tilted, and then move the razor directly down.
With a straight razor, both of these options are also available. I tried option B this morning, holding the razor so it was not completely horizontal, but canted slightly, and then moving it directly down.
You might think there is no straight razor equivalent of the very handy J-hook, but I think there is (at least a facsimile of it). I notice, in shaving videos, that many people who have a lot of straight razor experience move the razor in a "windshield wiper" motion, wherein the toe of the razor travels a lot farther than does the heel. I think this motion bears quite a bit of similarity to the DE J-hook, and it does seem to increase the ease with which whiskers are cut.
I have been incorporating both types of Gillette slide and also the windshield wiper motion into my shaves and will continue to experiment with them.
Hope you have a great day.
^^ This is how I understood the Gillette Slide to be done. It wasn’t until Xeno Dave posted the other variation in his techniques video that I had ever heard of the other way.
I dont use the Gillette slide but it would seem to me that if you were going to do that with every DE stroke you would be benefited by shaving with a slant vs a standard DE
Thats why slant razors were invented. To get the same effect without having to hold the razor differently. But if you don’t have a slant or don’t want to get one, that’s how you turn a normal DAE into a slant.
Interesting. For me it was the opposite. I saw the illustrations that Gillette put out with their razors that suggested keeping the head of the razor completely horizontal and moving the razor at an oblique angle. I did that for quite some time and then thought "what if I held the head at an oblique angle and moved it straight down?" I have used both techniques extensively and with good success.
Not really. You are actually going the exact same direction you always go, but with the head tilted. This applies a guillotine-like stroke to the hairs. It's fundamentally equivalent to using one of the non-torque slants like the iKon Shavecraft 102. The whole point of that razor is that the head is applied atop the handle at a slight angle. It is very easy to approximate this or even well exceed it with a regular DE razor.
In fact, when I used DEs everyday, I incorporated some version of this all the time, so much so that when I bought the 102, I had to sell it. Ironically, the muscle memories I had created made it so that I was actually losing the purported benefit of the canted head!
Again, I have to disagree. It is quite easy to do the Gillette slide with a standard DE. After you do it for awhile, it becomes second nature. True slants also incorporate a torquing of the blade that is different from what can be accomplished with a standard DE, but to me it is certainly not crucial.
Precisely.
Yep. I also think it allows for easier cutting of thick hairs in the same way that the J-hook does, but I could be wrong.
188/226 this morning.
Back to Soapy Science, in Doc's Special Blend. Yes! Sweet lather today. For hardware, I picked up the ZY (haven't used it an awhile; today was only its second go since Chris honed it for me). For clean-up, I went with another razor I haven't used in awhile: the MMOC, loaded up with a fresh blade.
Great shave today. Three passes on the cheeks, two on the neck with the ZY were smooth and uneventful. Clean-up with the MMOC was nice. I always forget how nice a razor the MMOC is. It boggles my mind when people say this razor is a monster. It's a smooth shaving machine. I love it.
End result was CCS+ today. Feeling good. Hope you are, too.
189/227 this morning.
For the heck of it, I went back to a sample of Ghost Town Barber that was generously PIF'd to me by somebody in Kentucky (gee, I wonder who?, lol).
Anyway, used the ZY again.
The GTB lathered up the same way it did last time I used it; fluffy with good peaks, classic lather porn. I don't think it shaves as good as it looks, though. Protection for me is slightly suboptimal. Slickness is good. The scent is likely polarizing, but I enjoyed it again today. It lasts for quite some time after the shave, which is different from most of my shaving soaps.
Two passes with the ZY, third with the MMOC left me CCS today.
Hope y'all have a good day and that your favorite college team wins its football game!
For the heck of it, I went back to a sample of Ghost Town Barber that was generously PIF'd to me by somebody in Kentucky (gee, I wonder who?, lol).
Anyway, used the ZY again.
The GTB lathered up the same way it did last time I used it; fluffy with good peaks, classic lather porn. I don't think it shaves as good as it looks, though. Protection for me is slightly suboptimal. Slickness is good. The scent is likely polarizing, but I enjoyed it again today. It lasts for quite some time after the shave, which is different from most of my shaving soaps.
Two passes with the ZY, third with the MMOC left me CCS today.
Hope y'all have a good day and that your favorite college team wins its football game!
Sold Shave! And I think most will agree with you on the performance of Chiseled Face. Solid to better than average performance...but not as good as many at the top. If you like a scent of Ron's it does smell great!
I'll use up the sample for DE or SE shaves; I think it will be more than adequate for that.
Today, being a Sunday, was my day off open blade shaving. As usual, I went with my son's generous Father's Day gift, the AoS lemon cream, for my Sunday morning shave. For hardware, I stuck with the MMOC.
After a single pass with the MMOC I was SAS+/CCS-. I did a little clean-up with an Atra and called it a day. My brother was in town from Manhattan (on his way to Miami), and I was to cook the over-medium eggs for breakfast, so I didn't have a lot of time.
Good shave, good eggs, good day. Hope yours is good, as well.
Good Reads, and my two cents on the Gillete Slide and Slant. Two different animals The Gillete slide indeed keeps the blade as horizontal as possible with a scything stroke at about a 45. the slant attempts to tweak the blade to allow a similar result but with straight strokes, however the angle of attack is different. Both are great shave, but the slant allows for less error or racing stripes
Agree, although some slants, such as the Mulcuto and the iKon Shavecraft 102 that is based on it, just have a canted head, and thus, simply replicate the Gillette slide.
190/228 and 191/229, yesterday and today.
I like to experiment, at least a little, so yesterday's and today's shaves were a direct comparison of a DE and a straight razor, one on each side of the face/neck. The DE in question was my Hybrid Tech, which I consider to be the best DE shaver I own. The straight varied, but both were small; the Rosette shorty yesterday, and the "Mighty Mite" (Sta Sharp) this morning (it's a full-length blade, but it's lucky if it's a 4/8).
For lather, I used Soapy Science both days, Lollipop Citrus yesterday and Doc's Special Blend this morning.
Yesterday, I used the DE on the left side and the straight on the right; this morning I reversed that.
Final result? The DE is more efficient. It does in two passes what it takes three for the straight razor to do. Comfort is about the same, although the actual feel of shaving is completely different. In some ways I prefer the feel of the straight, and I find it more fun to use the straight, especially the Mighty Mite. But for me, at least, a strong argument could be made that the Hybrid Tech is a better overall shaver. It's faster, easier, and more efficient, and does not result in more irritation. It has no downside whatsoever except that it's not as fun.
Anyway, those are my conclusions and they are just for me. YMMV. I will likely continue to use straight razors even though for me the DE is superior, just because I like to. Once I hit 200 straight razor shaves, though, I am probably going to mix up my weapon of choice a bit more, like Georgia Tech Chris does. Maybe use the straight razor 3 or 4 days a week instead of 6 days like I have been. I feel like now that I have enough skill, the straight has become just another method of removing facial hair. I was using it daily in order to build up my skills as quickly as possible. Now that there is not much improvement from day to day, I will probably allow the straight razor to become one of my options for my daily shave. I plan on still using them fairly frequently, but not "religiously."
I hope you all have a great day.
Nice read, adn indeed you are right, the canted head just aint right, LOL
Randall, I agree with everything you said. Overall, I get "better" consistent shaves from a DE over the straight. I still like using the straights, but I have to admit it's because it's fun, it's got the ultimate "cool factor", and I like the challenge of honing.
192/230 this morning.
Went with Stirling Peach; made an amazing lather (loaded a bit longer and worked it a bit longer). Used the Mighty Mite again today, for three passes, with Hybrid Tech touch-up. I did the third pass on the left side of my face ear-to-nose, even though I do nose-to-ear every day and haven't tried ear-to-nose but maybe once or perhaps twice before. I don't even know why I did it. I remember thinking, "How would I approach this is I were to go ear-to-nose?" and then I held the razor up to my face and thought, "Yeah, this would work." Next thing I know, I was actually doing the pass that way.
It went OK. It wasn't better than nose-to-ear. I think I end up with a slightly closer shave going nose-to-ear, which is probably why I have been doing it that way, lol.
Anyway, I ended up with some irritation just to the right of my Adam's apple. I was trying to shave as quickly as possible, and probably had the wrong angle or perhaps a bit too much pressure there. It wasn't a cut and didn't bleed, but it was more like a tiny patch of classic "razor burn."
I used the Myrsol F./Extra just in order to find out if there were other spots of irritation, but luckily it only burned in that one spot. All things considered, a good shave. I have to remember that if I decide to rush a shave, the base of the neck near the Adam's apple is probably not the place to rush.
Hope y'all have a great day.
Went with Stirling Peach; made an amazing lather (loaded a bit longer and worked it a bit longer). Used the Mighty Mite again today, for three passes, with Hybrid Tech touch-up. I did the third pass on the left side of my face ear-to-nose, even though I do nose-to-ear every day and haven't tried ear-to-nose but maybe once or perhaps twice before. I don't even know why I did it. I remember thinking, "How would I approach this is I were to go ear-to-nose?" and then I held the razor up to my face and thought, "Yeah, this would work." Next thing I know, I was actually doing the pass that way.
It went OK. It wasn't better than nose-to-ear. I think I end up with a slightly closer shave going nose-to-ear, which is probably why I have been doing it that way, lol.
Anyway, I ended up with some irritation just to the right of my Adam's apple. I was trying to shave as quickly as possible, and probably had the wrong angle or perhaps a bit too much pressure there. It wasn't a cut and didn't bleed, but it was more like a tiny patch of classic "razor burn."
I used the Myrsol F./Extra just in order to find out if there were other spots of irritation, but luckily it only burned in that one spot. All things considered, a good shave. I have to remember that if I decide to rush a shave, the base of the neck near the Adam's apple is probably not the place to rush.
Hope y'all have a great day.