August 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Shave 16
Omega 10098
Proraso Green Shaving Soap Jar
Ceramic Suribachi bowl
Gillette New Long Comb
Astra Superior Platinum Blade.
Aqua Velva Classic Ice Blue

This was my second go around with this big boar brush and the suribachi bowl. All went well and the brush ended up loaded with plenty creamy foam. Another standard 2 pass shave N/S then E/W. I have a small blemish on my chin which I was able to steer around without any issues. No cuts, nicks or weepers. Overall a DFS today.

 

Gap on the Slim and Fat boy are identical. It's the head design and geometry that gives it that extra "boost".

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

Yesterday's shave, using my 1902-1904 Case Brothers XX honed by Glen. Three pass BBS, although I chased a little on the neck. The alum was warm, but not bad.

I didn't really focus on anything this month, but realized I need to thin the herd and get rid of some razors. Including the ones inbound, I have over 60 now.

 

Good setup Adam.
Hmm, 60.

 

Thanks, Doug. You know it's bad when your wife says, "Wait, you are selling 13 straights? How many do you actually have?" and you can't answer without checking.

 

"Never miss a good chance to shut up."
Will Rogers.

 

Now there is advice I wish I had taken more often!

 

Adjustable August has been great. I bumped my #195 from a five to setting seven and enjoyed very comfortable shaves. When I see you @Bama Samurai running flat out on #9 all month I'm tempted to, but where do I go from there?
Riding the cap has been my key to reducing errors. A slight adjustment to my order of operations may have helped as well. I found that N to S, S to N, then E-W with G-slides gave less irritation little need for clean up strokes.
Time to scrub the old Boy down, polish him up, and set aside.
Here come the SE's!

 

Awesome Adjustable August Finale

Proraso Sensitive & Omega Pro #248
'59 Gillette #195 @7 & a Voskhod blade
Alum & Vintage Old Spice AS



Got my game on earlier today. DFShave without incident. Out to lunch with my parents - Dad's 76th B-day. All you care to eat buffet. Everyone gets something they enjoy that way. Afterwards we wandered several retail stores seeking a replacement coffee pot. Spent $10.00 worth of gas and hours trying to save five bucks. That's my father. Our visit was pleasant and we parted.

Then I got a call from an acquaintance that had me recalling my Stoic Daily Affirmation;

 

Awesome Adjustable Arko August!!!!

August 31
Grand Blade Trial

Razor - 1962 (H1) Gillette Slim (9)
Blade - (3)
Soap - Arko
Brush - Wolf Whiskers Custom Silvertip
Post - Alum, The Veg

Final day on the Royal blade and the Slim was wide open and ready to go. This blade gave a really nice shave on Monday, a fantastic one Tuesday....and today is its last day to impress. And boy did it.

The lather was a bit thin today. I always laugh a bit when I don't have Arko perfect. How easy is it to lather Arko?! And how dumb do you have to be to mess it up? Well, in my case I left the brush a bit too wet and ended up flinging it all over the place. Lather thinned out a bit but it still provided a nice slick base. My first thought on day one of this blade was that it had to be sharp, given the performance at a 2. The second day provided an even better result with no irritation giving it more a characteristic of a not so sharp blade. Today, silky smooth still, no drag, no cuts, nicks, weepers. Nothing. Just a fantastic three pass shave to a very near BBS finish. Acting like a less sharp blade but.....also a sharp blade. So what is it? Who cares....it was one of the best three days I've had without a Russian in the razor. Move the Personna plant somewhere else and I'd buy in bulk. Great performance on this blade.

Tomorrow I'll be moving to the Personna Red to see if the Royal feels the same. Question is - are all of these Israeli's just the same blade rebranded for different markets or are their differences? Since the Red is more or less the legendary blade, it's up next for a comparison point to the Royal and the others that follow.

That does it for me in August....SEptember starts tomorrow with Drug Store A/S attached. Should be a great month. In case I haven't said it enough around here, I appreciate all of you participating and sharing in this thread. I do believe it's the best one for not only knowledge but also just having some good fun and making some good friends. Thanks for a fantastic August and here's to an even wilder SEptember!

​

 

August 31, 2016

Adjustable August- RECAP
DEs - Gillette Fatboy and Slim
Injectors - PAL and Schick M1

Unfortunately most of this month was spent offline as I had a busier than usual travel schedule but for work and pleasure. Hope to be around more in September. Though I wasn't online much, I still shaved!

I spent the month comparing 4 adjustable razors, giving me about 5-6 shaves with each. In one sentence - a month of great shaves, where I discovered preferences, but no clear favorite.



The first two weeks were spent with my two DEs, using my best "ride the cap" focus - with pleasant amazement about how close the shaves were and how many resulted in next-day shaves needing just one pass. (I generally need two passes.)

I had only ever shaved with the two DEs during month of August last year - so just about a dozen shaves with each. I had not had any shaves this good back then.

I then switched to about two weeks with the injectors. I had previously used the Pal for 5-6 shaves and the Schick was new to me.

Most of the injector shaves were experimenting with angles and blades. The blade angle did not come immediately with either razor, but I was soon getting shaves that put the next days' shave into the 1-pass category as the DEs had.

The last four shaves of the month were "split-shaves" one side with a DE, the other with an injector.

Man, let me tell you these are all fine razors. After each shave I could not tell which side had been shaved best. Each side had BBS or minor stubble, yet in the same spots on both side and the result left me with a one-pass shave for the next day.

I enjoyed all razors for their ability to be dialed up or down and I experimented with using lower settings to do ATG on my chin, or dialed up to test buffing WTG on the chin.

All four have their design differences that may appeal one way or another to different shavers. I felt I could use more pressure with the Schick than the Pal. The taller head of the Fatboy seemed to make riding the cap smoother, the weight of the Slim seemingly more maneuverable.

In the end, all four will be kept for the uniqueness of their adjustability, experimented with more, and used on a regular basis in the future. All of them are keepers

A word about blades...YMMV of course.

All DE shaves were with NOS 7 o'clock Blues - my current favorite DE blade, which never disappoints me.

The Pal used both the Chinese and Japanese Schicks. Both are currently manufactured blades. The Chinese were fine as usual, but the shaves with a new Japanese were noticeably smoother and sharper, even though they dulled sooner than the Chinese.

My favorite with the Schick was a toss up between the Japanese Schick and a NOS Dutch Schick. Oddly, I one shave with a NOS Schick Twin that was tuggy and rejected. I will have to revisit this in the future as most Injector-heads swear by the combo of the Schick Adjustable with a Twin blade.

Cheers!
RT

 

Great write up Rufus, very insightful.