April 2015 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

February ... i was brand new to DE wet shaving and just tried to familiarize myself with the landscape while taking my best shot at a blade focus.
March ... during the 30 day rule, i 'found my angle' and increased my skill level immensely!

April ... (another) 30 day blade focus
now that i've learned a tiny bit about this activity called wet shaving, i will humbly attempt to do a little better at blade evaluation.

my March blade was derby. i still have many blades remaining from my initial TSD sampler pack plus a few that just seemed to show-up with other product arrivals ... personna (platinum-UK reds?, lab blue), wilkinson, astraSP, 7am, gillette sharpedge/yellow, super-max, dorco, voskhod, treet durasharp, sharp chromium, and an unidentified blue & white 'platinum super'

now, if only i could shave three times each day ... and try a new blade every day ...

 

I've used MdC ever day this month and really enjoyed it. If you told me it was the only soap I could use, I would be just fine. I've already used 2 of the GEM razors JR loaned me but the carbon blades are just not working for me. I'm interested in how different blades perform. I'll be surprised if the feather blades don't make at least 10 shaves or more in the Mongoose.

 

I am just making sure that you get an entire month if the divinely-inspired, lemon scented Turkish gift to wet shavers and unsuspecting SO's everywhere!

Seriously though...Arko April is brought to you courtesy of our own @wristwatchb , who is sitting on approximately a 58 month supply of Arko!

I just piled on because, well, ARKO!!! I love Arko!!!

 

I think the Schick I have been using the last couple of rules is the easiest, closest cutting, most maneuverable shaver I own. I have only been traditional shaving about ~9months, but I wouldn't be surprised if I end up returning to the Schick later this year. It just may become my primary razor, gonna spend this year trying all my stuff though.

 

What blades are you going with?

 

He's down to a 58 month supply?!?!? Doesn't he consider that level as being "OUT" of ARKO?

 

My bad. Yeah, it's panic time!

 

I am going to continue to tryout the ATT plates I have and some different blades in search of the mighty razor/blade combo! My current goto blade is Astra SP and soap is Arko stick!

I used the M1, R1 and M2 plates so far and liked the R1 and really liked the M2 using a Voskhod even better than the Astra SP. The M1 felt too mild but will revisit it too! I also tried the Plat Lux but not sure about that one so I will have to try it again. I still have the R2, H1 and H2 plates to go through. For blades I have Ladas, Gillette 7 o'clock blacks and some Rapira Swedish Supersteels and I think a Rapira Stainless one.

For soaps, I have sampled a few in rotation that I may have traded to tryout or gotten from PIF's and friends or just purchased. I do have some I dont like including the Palmolive stick as well as some creams.

Thx.

 

For me this April i will being using my Schick Krona that i recently purchased, its been a great shaver so far but i really want to focus on it for a bit more before putting it down. I will also be using some TSD Acqua Di Gio soap and TSD SubZero soap that i won in a PIF provided by @elduderino914 <---- Thank you sir! As for the Arko i will be throwing it in every few shaves to celebrate Arko April!

1. Schick Krona
2. TSD SubZero, TSD Acqua Di Gio
3. ARKO STICK<---- mashed into my Old Spice Mug

 

This month's hardware:







Razors (L to R) Cadet OC 3pc, vintage Gillette Tech, the mighty mighty MTO (Weishi 9306)

I will start April 1 with the MTO for 2 blades worth of shaves, then Tech, then the Cadet. All of the above will be used with the divinely inspired, lemon scented goodness face lathered on a Plisson...the goal, as always, automatic 2 pass smoothness!

The blades are Gillette Platinum Plus, no idea when or were these were manufactured.

Calling @GDCarrington .... Any insight into these blades?

And if those three razors somehow don't take all of April... I will move on these...


(L to R) Synergy Double OC, Utopia, Feather Popular TTO.

 

I've used the Schick J1 Injector razor 5 times. I don't like it at all. I get multiple weepers and I don't feel like I've even shaved after each pass. I put a fresh blade in this morning and it was awful. I'm gonna have to figure out a different focus. This is not going to work. In order to keep with my thoughts of only using items I received for free, I will shift to my New LC and continue with my blade trials. I still have about a dozen blades in a homebrewed sampler that I need to get through. I will be shifting to straights for the weekends as I have a couple of Gold Dollars on the way and my grandpa's Palmer razor in the midst of restoration.

 

Well Charlie, the Weber is actually 2nd place behind my New SC, but its really close. Grandpa was given this razor by a widow lady in Northern New Mexico, after he stayed the night after a long day riding from somewhere to somewhere else back in the early 1900's. He offered to chop wood or fix fence to pay for his bed and supper. He asked the lady if he could clean up and she asked him if he would use her late husband's razor. She was impressed that he knew how to shave himself (he would have been a teenager or early 20's man at the time) and she asked if he would accept the razor and strop as a gift. He accepted. My mother remembers watching him shave with it in the late 1940's and 1950's.

 

Thanks! I love the Krona as well it simply shaves great! I have some TSD shave cream and love it, so the soaps should be nice as well. You definitely should get over to The Shave Den Shop and pick some samples up . Lol I enjoy Arko so I couldn't throw it out! The stuff can't get any better with how cheap it is and the way it performs

 

This sounds like a plan, and a good idea. Big change for me as I usually change every Friday. I'll post my decision on the first. Thanks.

 

Arko April Focus - CJB Kamisori
March 30, 2015 - Week 1 Day 2
Prep - Hot shower and towel
Brush - VDH Boar
Soap - Arko
Razor - CJB & '59 Gillette Superspeed
Blade - (2) (2)
Post - Alum & Clubman

Day two and a workday so not quite as leisurely. However, I allowed some extra time to avoid too much of a rush. The CJB first pass was solid although a bit shakier than yesterday. I found myself adding angle but caught myself before doing any damage. When I got to my neck I had to take a quick breather and remind myself.......watch the angle and no pressure......that is my mantra with this thing. Finished the first pass, did a second with the Superspeed and had a DFS. Alum provided more sting than yesterday proving that I had some angle issues causing irritation. Threw on the Clubman and it's off to work!

 

I think the Arko is already growing on you more than you are willing to admit. You are like that kid in elementary school still picking on the girl he is secretly in love with.

You can just fess up anytime now. We will still respect you

 

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Sorry to hear Troy, but probably a smart decision. Once you have been wet shaving a certain length of time, it gets easier to quickly recognize when something won't work. I had the same problem with Gems, and probably hung in with them longer than I should have. They cut everything on my face "except" my beard

 

I still haven't quite figured out the angle. 30 degrees is what is recomended for straights, but I seem to do closer to 45 with mine. I think the lack of muscle memory in my left hand is intresting, as I seem to be more solid on that hand than my right (dominate) hand. I have pretty much just been trying to scrape the lather off with this razor, and getting decent results.

A word of warning if you have any facial hair, it might look differnt after a few shaves. My sideburns lost a few inches, and my horseshoe mustache sides got much thinner. I didn't even feel the blade tugging them, which is my normal way of knowing where the DE is.

 

I started my 30 days a little earlier as well. My focus is going to be Arko and a Gillette Slim thanks to @Bristle Me . My face went pretty well and I surprised at the results after 2 passes. Well that's where everything went downhill as I got a bit cocky when I moved to shaving my head. The lather was a bit dry so I'm sure that had something to do with it but I was also a bit careless. There were quite a few areas that needed to be touched up but on the positive side only a couple small nicks. Overall a good way to start a focus as I can only improve from here. Maybe I'll dial down the Slim as I had it set to 7 until I get at least a week of getting acquainted with it.

 

Thanks Charlie! My razor inventory is shrinking though...

The Slim from earlier this year was given to me Dad along with the late Forties Aristocrat...I gave him a kit for his BDay that included the two razors, a bunch of GSB and Voskhod, Proraso green, alum and a badger brush. The Flare tip I had was given to my Bro-in-law. So far, they are my two converts. As I determine certain razors aren't for me, I restore them and PIF them to those who express interest in wet shaving. Some of the razors above will likely be PIF'd to forum members later in the summer..stay tuned!