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Natterings of a Nasal Barbarian

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SOTD MONDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 23, 2021

Woke up to a cold, rain, 39° November day. Yours truly had a bit of a “Come to Jesus” meeting last night with my 19 year old grandson, Kevin, who arrived as scheduled last night for his house-sitting duty. He will be alone here today and tomorrow, until the rest of the clan arrives tomorrow evening. Last year he and a friend polished off half a fifth of 25 year old Macallan. I’ve locked as much of my good bourbons and single malt whiskies away in the gun safe, but I was unable to fit a few bottles of Oban along with some RedBreast and Green Spot. Hopefully, I impressed upon the young man the importance of leaving G-Pop’s good booze alone. We’ll see!

Had an otherwise uneventful shave this morning. My Tanifuji Airi 11/16 with its wonderful imported Swedish silver steel blade apparently spent most of its life in a Japanese barbershop. It was obviously well cared for, and the first of my four Japanese razors to be acquired. It arrived with a well-crafted, though dull bevel. My son had recommended this particular razor to me, and ran it through his jnat progression upon arrival. The 9Ball slate in conjunction with my constroption have maintained that great edge which delivered its usual exemplary two and a half pass ultra smooth mug shave this morning..

The dome shave featured one of my two AC safety razors, the Blackland Vector. This particular safety razor design was the result of continual incremental design improvements that started with Classic Shaving’s Cobra AC and was followed by a series of popular designs like the Mongoose AC and Colonial Razor’s first generation General model. But the Vector’s hyper-slim head design, one barely larger than the AC blades it was designed to house, shook things up. The razor felt much more maneuverable than its predecessors and delivered remarkably close shaves, particularly when loaded with a Feather Super AC blade, as it was this morning, leaving your happy narrator velveteen smooth from dome to shoulders.

RAZOR: Tanifuji Airi 11/16 (Mug), Blackland Vector (Dome)
BLADE: Feather Super AC (Dome)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: Viking Silvertip Badger
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Pre de Provence Bergamot & Thyme AS Balm.
 
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SOTD TUESDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 23, 2021

Decided to shave my mug with the CV Heljestrand (CVH) Mk 29 4/8 this morning. I can’t get over what a great little razor this CVH is! Many other straight shavers seem to be migrating towards wider and wider blades, whereas I seem to be moving in the opposite direction. I’ve shaved with a few of my son’s wider blades (GT 8/8), and the shaves were fine. I even own a Gipson just over 8/8 at 14/13, but find my sweet spot to be between 4/8 - 7/8 in blade width. This little CVH at 4/8 is delightfully sharp, nimble and maneuverable. It made short work of my mug stubble in two and 1/2 passes leaving me porcelain smooth.

My noggin shave relied on this terrific little Star DE fitted with my regular goto Feather DE blade. The Kampfe Bros. founded the Star safety razor brand 28 years prior to the release of the first Gillette DE. Their initial safety razor designs were hoe style SE razors with proprietary blades. Rumor has it that King C. Gillette had one of those early hoe style safety razors in hand when he came up with his DE design whose sole purpose was to serve as a platform for the sale of his consistently sharp and disposable DE blades. This particular razor was said to have influenced the Gillette Tech model. In any case two ATG passes left yours truly velveteen smooth from noggin to shoulders.

RAZOR: CV Heljestrand Mk 29 4/8 (Mug), Star DE (Dome)
BLADE: Feather DE
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: MrEE LE #007 Knurled Aluminum Handle Hybrid Knot
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Pre de Provence Bergamot & Thyme AS Balm.
 
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SOTD THANKSGIVING MORNING, NOVEMBER 25, 2021

Arrived in Las Vegas yesterday for Thanksgiving with the in-laws. After my great mug shave with the CV Heljestrand 4/8, it was time for another Swedish 4/8 foray, this time with the Edv. Neistrom #52 4/8. And no folks, it’s not a fluke! These little Swedish 4/8 razors punch way above their weight class. I think it’s the incredible nimbleness and maneuverability that I really like about these razors. They feel great in hand, and that Swedish silver steel holds a lovely edge. Two and a 1/2 passes sheared away all my mug stubble and left me very smooth.

Feather Safety Razor was allegedly started by two German WWI expatriots who stayed on in Japan after their release. Since non-Japanese were prohibited from owning property, their agent, a man named Toshio Kosaka represented the company. The company emulated the Gillette model with a focus on razor blades. After WWII the company’s share of the market dropped from a commanding 72% share to less than 5% in Japan. They dominate in Japan in DE blades and professional barber’s razors.

They were also one of, if not the first to offer a SS CNC manufactured safety razor in the AS-D1, to provide a platform for their hyper sharp Feather DE blade. Unfortunately, that initial model was a bit too protective and the razor failed to provide a truly close shave. Those initial design errors were remedied in the AS-D2 which is an immensely efficient shaver once the owner masters it’s rather narrow sweet spot, as it demonstrated in completing my noggin shave, leaving me velveteen smooth from dome toshoulders!

I wish all my shave brothers and sisters out there a glorious Thanksgiving! Don’t overeat too much!

RAZOR: Edv. Neistrom #52 4/8 (Mug), Feather AS-D2 (Dome)
BLADE: Feather DE
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: Alpha Shaving T-400 with Boar Knot Ferrule
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys WH. Finished with Pre de Provence Bergamot & Thyme AS Balm.
 
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SOTD FRIDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 26, 2021

According to the John Hawley Trust, “Henry Hobson (1823-1897) was born in Sheffield, the son of Edward Hobson and his wife, Hannah. In 1842, Henry married Ann, the only daughter of John Pearce, a cutlery dealer and razor manufacturer on Angel Street in Sheffield. Hobson became Pearce’s manager, but in 1845 launched his own cutlery dealership with his younger brother John B. Hobson. However, in 1852 Henry and John dissolved Hobson Bros, and henceforth Henry operated alone and founded his own cutlery company, H. Hobson, that stayed in his family through the next two generations and lasted until 1930. “ Henry Hobson Sr., the founder, died at Ilkley, Yorkshire, on 29 July 1897, aged 74.

This full H. Hobson wedge holds a great edge, but requires three layers of tape to hone and maintain the proper bevel angle. Coming off that great little Neistrom 4/8 mug shave yesterday, this full wedge did feel a bit less maneuverable. I was still able to complete two great scything passes on the troublesome, swirling neck stubble on either side of the Adam’s Apple, and with some final flatblading to smooth things out nicely. My preference in razor grinds are hollow and rattler grinds, but this old wedge delivered the goods, leaving my mug dolphin smooth, as a Scot shaving buddy is fond of saying.

In 1935 the French company Leresche (of Swiss origins) listed their patent application for the #77 razor. This 4 piece razor has a unique guard bar (like shark jaws) which is incorporated into the upper cap of the head. The head is also slightly wider than a typical razor's head allowing the shave angle to be found more easily. The design locks the blade in tight, making for a highly efficient shave. Originally these razors were silver plated and weigh almost 70 grams. I find the Leresche #77 razor to be both smoother and more efficient than my 2011 Muhle R41. Two ATG passes left me porcelain smooth from dome to shoulders.

RAZOR: H. Hobson Full Wedge 6/8 (Mug), Leresche 77 (Dome)
BLADE: Wilkinson Sword DE
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: Rooney Ebony Pure Badger
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Pre de Provence Bergamot & Thyme AS Balm.
 
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