August 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic & Discussion Thread

Greetings fellow Denizens...

Pics and discussion for those doing a 30 DAY RULE or 30 DAY FOCUS in August 2015...here we go!

Please read the above provided link to @GDCarrington and his guidelines. He explains the concepts and such in detail. His suggestions early in my foray into DE greatly improved my shaves by focusing my efforts. This thread is completely inspired by his guidelines, ideas and methods. Thanks to Gary for all he contributes to TSD!

If you are new to TSD, Welcome Aboard! Thanks for hanging out with us. If you are joining in again, welcome back! Direct chatter and topic wandering is highly encouraged. You are also encouraged to quote posts when in discussion so that we can follow along. This thread is dedicated to getting the most out of your shaving experience. Wide latitude is practiced here with regard to actual discussion topics, and we do wander a bit at times. All skill/experience levels, razor types, and shaving ideas are welcome here.

I hope everyone learns a few things, makes a few friends and has a great time. See a current SOTD community thread if you want an example of how this thread might work. Feel free to introduce yourself to the group and relate your experiences with wet shaving.

Special Message to Newbies: Welcome! You have landed in the right place. We love traditional shaving and we love people who love traditional shaving. We are glad you joined the best shaving forum on Earth. TSD is participation driven...you should probably be on SoS (SOTD) too! It is central to the goings-on at TSD. Feel free to jump in and post pics! It is probably the easiest way to get a feel for TSD and meet the regular posters. They love pics. Coming up with unique interesting pics daily in August is an implied challenge. Good luck!

The housekeeping-

These are the rules. Follow them.

Support your forum here. The Iced Subzero AS Splash is my favorite exclusive. What's yours?

Lots of good reference found >here<. If you are new to TSD, please go back and click that link...it will help you make sense of our acronyms and chatter.



Have fun, follow your plan...Great shaves in August await!

Warmest Regards,

Chris

 

I'm baaack!

I'm looking forward to using another new razor (new to me) and doing a focus on it.
In a little over two months of wet shaving I've used:

Gillette Tech - a bit over two months
46-46 Gillette Aristocrat- one week (thanks @NCoxSTL )
Gillette New LC - one shave

I recently received a great PIF of a Gillette Slim Adjustable (1963 I3) from one of my new favorite TSDenizens @wristwatchb - Thanks Charlie!
(you too can become my new favorite TSDenizen by sending your PIF to me via private message )

Any hoo...Obviously I've never used an adjustable so, as usual, your advice is most welcome.

I've seen a good deal of "best practices" in how to start with an adjustable. One of the interesting theories was to adjust during the shave from high-to-low. The theory being to use the higher setting for the most gentle pass (WTG), and adjust to a lower setting for each of the subsequent passes. Then working your way up through the settings with experience.

This does sound logical to me, so my initial thought is to do a 5-3-3 on the initial shaves.

I will hold most other variables constant through most of the 30 days (i.e., blade brand, soap, brush)

Again, thanks for any and all advice. Happy to be part of this once again!
Cheers!
RT

 

My August focus will be on my J3 Gillette Slim. I plan to go thru various blades to see which I prefer for this razor. I will take a couple of days a week to use some vintage Gillettte OC razors. Brush and soap choices will be wide open but I will Latha soap a lot during the month in an effort to finish the remainder this month.

 

I am back too...

I will be using the Phoenix Double OC and Voskhod Blades. If there is an issue with my blade choice, I will switch to GSB. This will be a strict rule. I am still thinking about soap, but Plisson will be the brush for the month.

 

Welcome back!

 

Welcome back!

 

Welcome back!

Since you asked...I believe the "interesting theory" you propose, is in my humble opinion, backwards. Making the razor milder to cut the shorter second pass stubble would require more pressure, and seems generally counterintuitive to me. If anything, increase the number for subsequent passes. And just to be clear, on on a Gillette adjustable, 1 is mild and 9 is aggressive. I would suggest 3-3-4 as a start point, that would out the razor is a range similar to an Aristocrat. And it wouldn't surprise me at all if you found higher numbers ( >7) to be the best.

Whatever methods you settle on, good luck and I hope this is a rewarding month!

 

It's great to see everyone here for the August focus! I'm using my birth quarter Slim for the first time ever, beginning on Monday. I'm calling it "Adjustable August" since several of us are using our Gillette Slims. My goal is to explore the range of aggressiveness settings on my Slim, much like I did with my Fat Boy during July. My goal is to be "well-adjusted" by the end of the month. As always, I look forward to learning and having fun along with you all!

​

 

Charlie- You strike me as well adjusted. Welcome back!

Edited to add-- I would do adjustable August, but the Slim I used is January was traded to a TSD member (birth year swap so he could have his) for another Slim. The Slim I acquired was then given to my Dad with a tub of Proraso Green, 100 Voskhod, and a badger brush so he could join in the fun. But I like the "Adjustable August" moniker for your month!

 

I hope you like the Phoenix as much as I did! Just make sure every thing is tight, unlike me this morning. A few nicks and cuts to show for it. The razor has been a good performer for me, though. Honestly, it is probably my favorite razor at this point.

 

I am a bit torn on my focus for the month. I have spent the past couple of months using one razor for each month, most recently a Phoenix Dbl OC razor that I just loved. I am trying to decide if I should work on a different razor each week and compare to the Phoenix, or do a straight razor focus. I will eventually do a month of straights, but I want to make sure my work schedule is not going to cause issues, so I am leaning a bit towards a focus on using some other razors to compare to the Phoenix. My fear with this one is that it may actually lead to a den thinning, as I may decide that a couple of my razors just don't stack up anymore.

 

An issue with Voskhod blades? Heresy, my good sir, heresy!

Although GSB as the backup can't really be argued.

 

Well Chris you haven't steered me wrong! (....yet )
I guess I'll need to trust you again.

I did know about the range...9 being highest. And I did actually see the inverse of your suggestion. That's what was "interesting" to me. Their theory, I assume, was to use the most aggressive setting on the least sensitive cut WTG (don't know if sensitive is the right word). Anyway, using the mildest setting for the ATG.

I get what you mean about the resulting requirement for more pressure using the mildest setting for the ATG.

Ok 3-3-4 it is! ?..actually, with the hope for 2-pass shaves, a 3-4. I'll assume that a couple of successful shaves at that setting will result in adjusting to the next higher setting?

 

I too am back for more fun. Last month I used my '56 Super Speed and explored a number of different blades. This month I want to continue that effort, but I've acquired a few other razors and I'm itching to try them. My plan to stay with the Super Speed for the first couple of weeks while I go through the rest of my sample blades. After that, I'll spend a few days each with one of my other razors. I plan to keep the brush, cream, and After Shave the same throughout the month.

Looking forward to hangin’ with the gang!

 

It is not uncommon for a shaver to prefer more aggressive razor heads as his skill and experience increase.

Ymmv....

I found that the lower settings made me want to really lean on it to try to make it cut. The higher settings made for less strokes (less pressure too) and in my case a better experience. You will likely find 2 and 3 to be very similar to your Tech. You will likely end up liking a higher setting... But that's why they're adjustable.

Any way you do it, it will be a good month. The Slim is a classic (benchmark actually) in razor design for a reason. I did a rule with one in January, and then took a hard detour into Schick injector world for while. I think you will enjoy it very much.

 

Apologies. I wrote some ignorant stuff. Voskhod. No backup.

 

Well, my sense regarding pressure is "we" tend to use too much pressure as opposed to too little...so I'll use that as the determining variable and proceed with the 3-4 starting approach. I know, I know - YMMV! No guarantees in life!

 

Well, well, well.....isn't this an interesting bunch for August. I'm actually quite amused and pleased both at the number of people using a Slim for the month. Why would that both amuse and please me? Because I had and have decided the same thing! As you may know I got a K2 and J1 Slim last week. The K2 was one of the three razors my customer sold me for 20 bucks. The J1 was an Ebay find and win. As the J1 is in the best overall condition it will be my choice. So, @clint64 it looks like we're both going back to 1964 for the month. I'm going to focus, not rule on the slim as I plan to use different brushes and soaps to help figure out the best combination of brush and soap I can. And for blades? Voskhod, Sharp Star, Bic and a couple of others. Mostly trying to find the sweet spot for each blade in the razor.

Now, having said all of that I'm also going to spend some time this month with the Feather SS. I want to continue working with it and move back to the full Japanese grip and style. The Henkotsu is warming up in the bullpen and this will be my final month to get the basic mechanics down for it.

Basically on my days off or late in I'll be using the Feather, meaning Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I'll use the Slim the rest of the days. No particular order of blades, I'll just announce them as I go. Same with soap/brush. I know this is pretty free-style for a Focus, but I think it will help me with both razors.

As always I really look forward to reading and following everyone on this thread. I can't always respond as much as I'd like but I'll give it my best shot! Here's to a great August!!

 

As Russian Blade Czar I appreciate your change in attitude Comrade.

 

In Russia you do not change your attitude; your attitude changes you!