I started my traditional wet shaving about 18 years ago with straights. I stumbled upon what was back then "the only game in town". I experimented with several hones, pasted strops of various compounds. As with a lot of beginners, there was a steep learning curve, especially since the forum/Yahoo group I was in was run by a self-professed "honemeister" who taught one way and one way only, and if you deviated from the pyramid method of honing with a certain hone, then you didn't know what you were doing and you were accused as a heretic of promoting bad information. True story. I eventually got tired of the crap and left on my own. Posts getting deleted, private emails getting posted by the group owner, bully-boy kind of stuff. I stayed away from online forums for about a decade then found another forum, which has grown to be the largest wet shaving forum on the internet. Ironically, the owner of this group was one of the victims of the bully tactics from the previous group. The newer group, as many of you probably know, is run similarly with the heavy handed moderation, some topics/products are forbidden and will get posts deleted and you banned. Anyway, I recently dabbled with looking for other forums for this enjoyable hobby of ours and here I am, or I should say here we are. This forum, while small in number now, will no doubt grow, but the "vibe" of this one truly seems like a place where friends hang out and socialize, much more so than any other forum I have been to. It's about shaving, not personal power trips or money making first and shaving last.
Back to my story. I am proficient with straights, honing and stropping. I have modded some here and there but am no artisan. Like many of us, I succumbed to some sort of "Acquisition disorder" and Ebayed my way to more straights than I could ever use, I did feel an obligation to at least hone them all, make sure they shave, and then sell them at a modest cost. Needless to say I have failed miserably at this task, I grew bored with the constant honing and testing. It got more of a chore than a hobby that brings me joy out of a necessary grooming ritual. Eventually I will sell the collected razors and assorted hones, no doubt at a price loss but I will be de-cluttering my house at the same time. So I guess there is profit to be found after all.
I gravitated to safety razors, mostly DE but I have dabbled with SE and Injectors. When I started with straights, the online internet was absolutely nothing like it is today. The soap and cream choices were extremely limited. We also had to walk to school, uphill both ways, but that's a story for another day, lol. Whatever you could find locally, like Williams, Palmolive Lather, Kiss my Face, were the few choices that I remember. Classic Shaving had their house brand soaps, and I really don't remember a whole lot of other choices that we knew about back then. When I found B&B while researching safety razors, again like most of us, I bought more soaps and creams than a sane person should. Eventually I learned to adopt the 3017 methodology, and currently am trying to pare down to a few solid choices that work well for me. Arko, Palmolive Lather that I was able to hoard from Ebay (19 tubes the OOP white and red plastic tube), and a handful of other makers, mostly production. I have lately shied away from artisan soaps because I like consistency. Nothing wrong with artisans of today, they make great soaps, but some of them close shop, others are constantly changing their soap base formulas and scent selections. I just prefer to buy a product that I know and like, and am pretty well assured that it will be just like the last one I used.
As for razors, I am on a stainless steel kick. Blackland Blackbird, Game Changer 84, SB and OC, Lupo DLC, and my latest razor is a Weber PH, a replacement for one I sold off years ago. Always regretted selling it, and I paid twice what I sold my first one for. That'll teach me to do dumb things like that, huh? I am very interested in the upcoming Stirling razor, and the Tradere release from Blackland. Oh yeah, Blackland is coming out with a titanium Blackbird too.
Blades, I have tried quite a lot of them, and still have some sample packs to finish up, and am currently satisfied with Lord Platinum, Shark Platinum, and Bic Chrome Platinum. I bought a hundred pack of each.
I dig cheap dime-store aftershaves, Clubman in its various scents, Lustray, Aqua Velva and Skin Bracer. Florida Water is my long time reigning champ.
Brushes - for the past few years I have been using synthetics about 99% of the time. For me, boar and badger don't have the same performance of the new generation synths. Razorock and Yaqi and one PAA Starcraft are the ones I use.
I did a stint in the Army Reserve, have been a cop for just over 30 years, and love riding my motorcycle. I have a Victory Highball but when my wife goes back to work after she graduates from nursing school I will be heading to the local Harley dealer.
Happy shaves everyone, thanks for having me, and I hope to document my daily shaves here. I do shave every day, even when I am off.
Back to my story. I am proficient with straights, honing and stropping. I have modded some here and there but am no artisan. Like many of us, I succumbed to some sort of "Acquisition disorder" and Ebayed my way to more straights than I could ever use, I did feel an obligation to at least hone them all, make sure they shave, and then sell them at a modest cost. Needless to say I have failed miserably at this task, I grew bored with the constant honing and testing. It got more of a chore than a hobby that brings me joy out of a necessary grooming ritual. Eventually I will sell the collected razors and assorted hones, no doubt at a price loss but I will be de-cluttering my house at the same time. So I guess there is profit to be found after all.
I gravitated to safety razors, mostly DE but I have dabbled with SE and Injectors. When I started with straights, the online internet was absolutely nothing like it is today. The soap and cream choices were extremely limited. We also had to walk to school, uphill both ways, but that's a story for another day, lol. Whatever you could find locally, like Williams, Palmolive Lather, Kiss my Face, were the few choices that I remember. Classic Shaving had their house brand soaps, and I really don't remember a whole lot of other choices that we knew about back then. When I found B&B while researching safety razors, again like most of us, I bought more soaps and creams than a sane person should. Eventually I learned to adopt the 3017 methodology, and currently am trying to pare down to a few solid choices that work well for me. Arko, Palmolive Lather that I was able to hoard from Ebay (19 tubes the OOP white and red plastic tube), and a handful of other makers, mostly production. I have lately shied away from artisan soaps because I like consistency. Nothing wrong with artisans of today, they make great soaps, but some of them close shop, others are constantly changing their soap base formulas and scent selections. I just prefer to buy a product that I know and like, and am pretty well assured that it will be just like the last one I used.
As for razors, I am on a stainless steel kick. Blackland Blackbird, Game Changer 84, SB and OC, Lupo DLC, and my latest razor is a Weber PH, a replacement for one I sold off years ago. Always regretted selling it, and I paid twice what I sold my first one for. That'll teach me to do dumb things like that, huh? I am very interested in the upcoming Stirling razor, and the Tradere release from Blackland. Oh yeah, Blackland is coming out with a titanium Blackbird too.
Blades, I have tried quite a lot of them, and still have some sample packs to finish up, and am currently satisfied with Lord Platinum, Shark Platinum, and Bic Chrome Platinum. I bought a hundred pack of each.
I dig cheap dime-store aftershaves, Clubman in its various scents, Lustray, Aqua Velva and Skin Bracer. Florida Water is my long time reigning champ.
Brushes - for the past few years I have been using synthetics about 99% of the time. For me, boar and badger don't have the same performance of the new generation synths. Razorock and Yaqi and one PAA Starcraft are the ones I use.
I did a stint in the Army Reserve, have been a cop for just over 30 years, and love riding my motorcycle. I have a Victory Highball but when my wife goes back to work after she graduates from nursing school I will be heading to the local Harley dealer.
Happy shaves everyone, thanks for having me, and I hope to document my daily shaves here. I do shave every day, even when I am off.
Again Welcome and looking forward to your journal even if you follow the Harley Herd 
