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The wonderful excesses of acquisition disorders...and wet shaving

No shave today...but thought, after an 18 hour workday, to log a quick entry here. It's been incredibly busy out here, and I had to make a choice of what to continue with, so I went with the videos. I enjoy making them, and adding content to the website. I wish I could do more written reviews, keep up with the journals, (and mine), but there are only so many hours in the day. I'm getting to other member videos as I can, and am really enjoying the content that I'm seeing!!

As far as the shaves have gone, about 60% of them have been recorded, so y'all have seen a lot of them. I'm not sure what my count is for the number of shaves I'm on...I'm afraid to go back and look, truth be told. LOL. If pressed...there's about 47 days since my last entry. I've missed two shaves, (including tonight), and have maybe 9 straight shaves. so that would put my counts at: total shaves: 656 with the straight shave total around 384/5 or so. I've tailed off with my straights for the simple fact that a lot of the razors I want to use are in need of a refresh, which I just don't have the time to do. So, sticking with the safety razors for the time being. Time will loosen up eventually and I can get these beautiful hunks of steel rubbed on the stone some.

I know I wished this on the last video I did, but I do want to wish all my brother service members a very happy and safe Veterans Day. It warms the cockles of my heart to know that I have a solid group of great men I can call brothers in arms. As to the rest of you...you're special as well. LOL.

As to what's on the horizon for me? Well, short term is getting through this rush of bologna that's currently ongoing. There are a couple of exciting acquisitions coming in as well...looking forward to those. I'm happy the pass-arounds are going as well as they are, and hope people are enjoying them! Also hope to see a few more additions to the end of year PIF I'm running...there are a lot of open spots still...I think 50 out of 69 are still open?

Sorry for the verbal diarrhea everyone...it's been an extraordinary couple of months out here. I wish I could get into more details, but needless to say, being on this end of foreign policy gives you a very unique perspective on how our government operates internationally.

Have a great day everyone, and see you on here periodically, and of course in the video section!!!!

Peace!
 
So am I a Brother at Arms? Or Am I Special? Can I be both?
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But seriously...I have a vague idea of what you are going through Josh. And yes...you are right...with what you are doing I venture that you have a very unique perspective of what is going on!

Stay safe my brother...you are continuously in my prayers!
 
LOL...y'all are great!

Another shift change necessitated another delay in videos, as I adjust and figure out when they'll be done. Of course, if I had made a video yesterday it would have been quite interesting, as I was going on about 22 hours without sleep. All good, this new schedule will most likely allow me to interact here on the forum a little more regularly, as well as keep up with the daily mandatory tasks at work without getting sidetracked by other projects that always pop up during the day.

That being said, the shave yesterday was with Stirling's Barbershop...first time out of the full tub. (beforehand it was a sample size) The Christmas Eve soap will be held off until after Thanksgiving when I use nothing but Christmas themed soaps through Christmas; though I almost used it last night. I do have a couple of soaps and additions coming in that I'm really looking forward to...some are blind buys based off of some positive reviews.

The weather out here is beginning to turn cold, well, it has been for a few months now....which opens up the variety of fragrances I can wear to the darker scents that don't play well in hot weather. With as hot as it does get in the summertime, sandalwood, oud, vanilla and those types of scents are not really options It's nice to be able to stretch out into that wheelhouse a bit more. Of course, that doesn't mean that brighter scents are off limits at all...but that they just require a bit more to get the performance (sillage, longevity and projection) off of them.

Hope everyone is having a pleasant week...only one week left before the holiday season goes into full swing!
 
The cold out here isn't that bad on its own. But when you're seeing an average temperature swing of almost 40 degrees from the daytime high to nighttime low (it's gotten down to around 22* so far this year, it was about 60* during the day, that day), it makes it seem just that much colder. During the peak winter months, we'll get down to single digits...sometimes sub-zero at night. Not too much snow, surprisingly...at least not since I've been out here.
 
Josh,
Here I was ready to recommend that you try Australian Private Reserve soap and I see that you already have some Florian. I have Florian, which I have not yet used, and Ozymandias which I have used. Based on my use of Ozymandias, I have to say that APR has vaulted to being one of my favorite soaps. The scent of Ozymandias is exquisite and the performance is very nice indeed.
Regards,
Glenn
 
Southsider said:
Josh,
Here I was ready to recommend that you try Australian Private Reserve soap and I see that you already have some Florian. I have Florian, which I have not yet used, and Ozymandias which I have used. Based on my use of Ozymandias, I have to say that APR has vaulted to being one of my favorite soaps. The scent of Ozymandias is exquisite and the performance is very nice indeed.
Regards,
Glenn
Click to expand...

Thanks Glenn! APR is some very good soap, just shy of Elite and in the same category for me as Noble Otter, Tallow + Steel V3, and Lisa's Artisan soap base, all of which I would put as tier 1 box 2 soaps. Florian is nice, but reminded me of Arko with a little more complexity to it. I had the chance to smell Ozymandias (I think) when I stopped by Pasteur's in August on my way back out here and while it smelled nice, for me it wan't a "wow!" scent...
 
Dagwoodz said:
The Christmas Eve soap will be held off until after Thanksgiving when I use nothing but Christmas themed soaps through Christmas; though I almost used it last night. I do have a couple of soaps and additions coming in that I'm really looking forward to...some are blind buys based off of some positive reviews.
Click to expand...
I like that idea!
 
MilkCrate said:
Nice updates Josh! I’m a bit behind on the videos, I’ll have to get caught up. Stay safe!
Click to expand...

Thanks Tim! Pretty safe and secure where I'm at for the most part (it is afghaniland, after all), but enjoy the videos!

NurseDave said:
I like that idea!
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave...Have a few more xmas soaps coming in, and will probably make excuses to use a couple of others that aren't so much "christmas", but are newer....lol.
 
18 November, 2018...First impressions of a new arrival

What can I say other than it’s been a flippin’ hectic couple of months. I would like say it looks like it might slow down here in the near future, but I’d be lying. What I CAN say is that we are having some serious effects out here on people looking to do bad things…is it enough? For this country, my inclination is to say no way, Jose. As a matter of fact, it’s a knee-jerk and HARD no….not just an inclination. With all that, today brought some good news with the arrival of a new piece of hardware, the Blackland Vector, their new Artist Club style Single Edge razor.



I’m going to be brutally honest here, and when I first saw pictures of this, I wasn’t all that enthusiastic about it. I forget who put up the picture of the small head on a big body-builder type, but that’s what I thought initially. Combined with the lighter than usual weight for a stainless steel razor, I was highly skeptical, to be sure. However, the more I saw it, and the more I read about it, the better it started to look. Then the reviews started coming in, both written and on the Tube of Youz; almost all unanimously praising the razor for being efficient without being overly aggressive; highly nimble, and extremely comfortable.



Well color me cupid, I think I’m sold!



So, when the means were available, the trigger was pulled, and here we are, 11 days later, with a beautiful razor. The packaging that Blackland sends is top notch. First, the box it arrived in was nice and sturdy, all black, with a tastefully embossed Blackland logo on the front/top. It is a snuggly fit box, so getting the top off can be a bit of a challenge. This is a GOOD thing, as it is another measure of securing the piece of shaving equipment contained within. Once you get the box opened, you have your razor, surrounded by high density foam. There’s give, and it’s soft, but because it’s the high quality foam, your razor is going to be well secured and safe from harm. There is a cut-out on the side for what I’m guessing is an additional head for your razor, should you choose to purchase one. The biggest disappointment I had with the packaging is the lack of a space for the base/stand. Other than that, it gets very high marks. I wish all razor manufacturers took the time to package their razors like this.



The razor itself is quite pretty, and upon first handling it, you can tell it’s going to be like a Porsche around the face. I haven’t done any measurements yet, but I want to say it’s about comparable to my Gillette Fatboy in weight. The swirled knurling on the handle feel sturdy and secure; on top of that, there is a slight cut out a little more than halfway up the handle which is intuitively where you will be placing some of your fingers. Nice touch. I don’t think there will be any issues with grip, but that remains to be seen. The small, low-profile head comes off smoothly from the handle revealing a proprietary screw…it’s not a full threaded screw, but instead a flat piece with two sides threaded for the handle. I can see this is for two reasons: first, this post goes through the center of the AC style blades, which I’ve not seen in other razors of this type. Second, this cuts down on the amount of space and weight that is devoted to the screw post. Quite ingenious indeed. The posts which secure the blade are not the most substantial I’ve seen, but they’re more than enough to secure the blade and ensure the baseplate and cap marry up well. Installing a blade, (in this case a Feather Professional), trapping it between the baseplate and cap, and screwing it in to the handle are admittedly slightly more challenging than a normal screw post. Unless this is something you’re doing daily, there is a moment where you have to pay attention to what you’re doing so you don’t strip the threading. This will most likely be one of the major drawbacks to this razor as time goes on. But, if you’re careful and pay attention, this shouldn’t be an issue at all.



The blade gap and exposure are moderate from what I could tell. Looking forward to trying the razor out tonight after work. I’ll post a video of the shave, and my initial impressions of how the Vector handles. Here are a couple of pictures of the razor. Have a great day everyone!

 
I don’t really care for the looks of it, but the more I hear about it, the more I’m liking it.
 
Awesome unboxing! Love the styling, thought it a bit smaller than I thought. The head does look pretty delicate in some of your photos, but I guess that will lend itself better to detail work!
 
That is one beautiful razor! The handle looks like it could get slippery although the knurling appears to be somewhat deep. Head design is pretty cool as well.
 
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