May 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix and Discussion

MAYhem 2016

May 8

Razor - Rimei
Blade - (1)
Brush - Vie-Long 12705 The Horse
Soap - Mitchell's Wool Fat
Post - Cold Rinse, Alum, Nivea

The @Mr. Freeze93 shave! Perhaps nobody here has been rooting as hard for the shaving gods to hand me the worst possible equipment than @Mr. Freeze93. Misery loves company and I do understand that. However, the fates decided not to hand me the worst, but certainly to hand me a different setup. The Rimei is actually a pretty good razor, for a cheap piece of Chinese metal of some sort. It's extremely mild but usually effective, and since I paid less than $3 for it I consider it a welcome addition. It would make a great travel razor or one to go camping with, where you want a decent shave but don't want to cry if the razor disappears or gets smashed.

The 7 a.m. Hi Platinum is from Samah Razor Blades Industries, LLC, in Bangladesh. Just seeing Bangladesh as the country it comes from should cause some concern. Not exactly famous for precision steel work there. And, I've had a few really bad blades from there including the Sharp. So, probably a good thing the ultra-mild Rimei got the call but who knows if it will shave or not until we try.

The Fat and the Horse for the lather and I realized I have never used the Horse with MWF. And, after lathering, I realized why. Mitchell's is probably the hardest soap out there, or one of them anyway. Seriously, freeze a new puck of it and throw it on the ice at Scottrade tomorrow night for game 6. See if the Blues could break it. Horse brushes, even the 35/65 mane to tail brushes I like and use, are floppier and less abrasive than a good boar or silvertip. Getting the brush loaded was a bit of a trip. Now, I will say that it was whipping up a pretty good lather on the puck itself, but getting it into the brush where I need it, not so much.

I finally did get it loaded and got a good lather and went to work. The blade is a bit rough. Expected that. But the Rimei seems to keep it tame. I finished the first pass without incident and went XTG to the sound of a lot of feedback. Clearly it isn't highly effective, either because of the blade or just the nature of the Rimei. I finished the second pass and lathered again. A bit thin since the brush load was a bit light. ATG and Gillette Slides to finish and I nicked the cut on my neck from two days ago. Finished with a near DFS. Just not quite there but not horrible. The alum was pretty quiet except for the slight nick.

Glad that the razor and blade seemed to keep each other in check, the razor more than the blade. Would have liked a better lather and I will never deliberately pair the Horse with the Fat. The Pony is fine with it, but is a smaller and bit firmer brush than its bigger cousin. Of course for the rest of the month MAYhem may make me work the HorseFat combo more.

Hope everyone had a good Sunday. My weekend is here and I'm ready for it! Tomorrow......the @Keithmax Wildcard shave! Oh, and that also means it's time for @Rufus T. to choose some numbers! 1-15 for blade, 1-15 for razor, 1-6 for soap, 1-7 for brush.

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I believe so, but some are set deeper. The three color one has a ton of backbone, my other one has backbone but not like this one. Great value. I also have a Shave Revolution brush that has the same handle style but not the same backbone, it's still a fabulous brush! A quality brush for under $15 is a steal. I still have my Plisson but haven't used it in some time.

 

@ob1page

Thanks Kerry!

 

Damn, that is a lot of effort for the world's worst blade. I was thinking more along the lines of one of those blade sharpeners with the pull string- good old Eastern Block razor sharpening technology. That... or a flat rock.

I'm really curious to see the results of your experiment.

 

They are actually very nice shavers. I used this one for a monthly focus a few months ago and was getting beautiful shaves. I just plain screwed up and got careless last week.

 

root for a tiger shave from @NCoxSTL and you'll see what comes of it. I'm almost afraid to shave with it unless I have some shared pain to exchange horror stories with.

 

@Rufus T. thanks for being such a great friend.
Kerry

 

You're a wise man. These are the guys you never want to see in person for insulting Russian steel.



Especially Ivan....second from the left....that boy is just plain crazy.

 

LOL "As I always say if you are in hurry just the straight razor down and step away." LOL

 

We have a semi-official tradition in our family that we're always a day or two late with major celebrations. Birthdays we try to be on time for, everything else, not so much. I'm not making this up, by the way, it's just how it worked for us and we got to enjoying the uniqueness.

So, though I may seem a day late to wish you a HAPPY FIRST YEAR at TSD, I'm really right on time, based on my upbringing. If you think this is strange, you can blame my mother. She's still living and would most likely love to tell you all about it, a day late, of course.

Seriously.....you have been one of my favorite people around here and we have connected on a more personal level as well. Thank you for ALL you have done and do here and may there be another 20 years at least for our friendship to grow. The world is a better place because you're in it!

 

I think we have a winner! I hope to get it ordered next week.

 

Its posts like this that make me so happy to have found this site.

 

A quick note about the "Chosen Choosers" for my MAYhem shaves. I'm almost through the list the first time, so if anyone who is not already on the list would like to volunteer, feel free to speak up! When I hit the end of the list I'm going to start over at the top, so if you missed out on letting me know you want to volunteer just say so. You may be the one who finally aligns with fate to get that Tiger on my face.

 

Me also, I have meat so many great people on here in the short time I've been here. I would name names but basically all of you on this thread with a few more thrown in.

Tonight's shave was pretty good I was able to add 2 more elements to it, a pre shave oil of caster and EV Olive oil, and a post of some Wal-Mart Witch Hazel, along with the Nivea balm

 

count me in, if you want to! I'll chose

 

Sweet! You're on the list.

 

Choose the pain stick

 

well there's no telling since it is randomized daily, but I would prefer to give him his best shave.

 

Comrade how can I too join the committee?

 

Offering bribes to the blade czar already. I like this guy. He has a future around here.