July 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

I've never tried Mikes. Hopefully you can figure it out. I do like your backup choice.

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Tell him it's a simple process--complete all requests in triplicate, forward first two copies, one each to Kyoto and HQ. Then take the pink copy to room 234, annex b, to obtain Cartel Certification stamp. Upon receipt of the completed pink form, the form used to request the form to initiate a requisition may be obtained. This form is to be filled out in triplicate....

Bribes work too.

 

USA razor?

 

Bribes are generally preferred.

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And hopefully more paperwork. Or paper to work. Or whatever.

 

Thanks Neal. I'm learning that this month, which I didn't know before. Well said.

 

SOTD July 18th


Gillette New Short Comb
Dorco ST-300(3)
Stirling 24mm Synthetic
Tabac

Today's shave concludes my trial of the Dorco ST-300 blade. Today's shave was much the same as the other two that I had with the Dorco ST-300, smooth. I said it on its fist shave and it still hold true, this is perhaps the smoothest blade I have ever used. Even in the aggressive short comb it never felt harsh and I never felt that if I messed up I would cut myself. Sharpness on the other hand leaves a little something to be desired. If I were to rate the sharpness on a scale of 1-10 I would say that brand new its starts out at maybe a 6 or a 7. I was able to get a BBS the first two shaves but really felt that the edge was deteriorating on the third and ended up with a DFS. For me the ST-300 was certainly not a bad blade but it also wasn't one that made the heavens open up and the angels sing. One other thing to note, in each of these shaves there was not a hint of irritation. If one didn't have a particularly coarse beard this would be a very good blade to try. It also pairs very well with an aggressive razor.

Have a great day my friends!

 

Finished up one of the tubs of Eli's Extracts. It works just fine, but I'm not sure it is worth not using a brush to scalp lather.


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It's not a bribe, it's a quick service fee.

 

July 2/3 Brush Focus

Vintage Williams Stick & C.O.Bigelow
Vulfix 660s Medium Super Badger
Gillette Flare Tip & Rapira SS
Alum and Osage Rub AS


Hot weather calls for a cool shave. I've experimented with superlather mixes and this one works well. Between old Williams and C.O.Bigelow cream I get that yogurty As Seen On TV lather. Plenty of slick & cooling to boot. I had a couple days of growth to mow down and the Flare Tip does it with flair. Rinsed and received a quiet swipe with alum. Then to the moment I've all been waiting for; Osage Rub. Having been forewarned of the consequences of improper use I carefully poured a couple drops into my palm. Setting the bottle down to avoid accidental exposure to sensitive body parts, I rubbed my hands together and applied to my face. Humm, I thought, I get the Vick's Vaporub scent. Then the alcohol evaporative cooling kicked it! THEN the menthol chill! So good I applied much more over top of my first dose.
Uh huh - good stuff!

 

Congrats on Osage! It's a classic. Now you see, that while it's not the coldest AS, it's strong enough to satisfy most freeze heads. I'll use some today because of your post.

 

Rockwell 6S/ R5 Base Plate/ Voskhod (1)
Whipped Dog 30mm High Mountain Badger
Stirling Glacial MITA
Thayers
B&M Arctique


I'll update this post a little later as I have a million and three things to do today and no time to get it all done. Long story short for now.... Hellishly hot today so I broke out some menthol atom bombs. Hope everyone is staying cool and having a great Monday. I am off to go help a buddy with some roofing....4 stories up....and its 96 degrees out with high humidity....kill me now.

 

No focus focus update.
Today was my first experiment with ChromOx and it was a good one. I did ten laps on felt with ChromOx, followed by fifty on leather, with both the straight and the Ever-Ready stropping blade. Both of them were smoother than before. Nice shave today using both razors

 

Be safe! This time of year roofing projects are best begun at dawn and done by 10AM. Not even a siesta and after noon session. Shingles too soft to walk on. If your feet feel hot, it's too late. Use an old 4 inch thick couch cushion to sit down.
On the up side there is a nice breeze coming down from four stories up. but use the ladder.

 

In the Good Old Shavertime!

July 18

Grand Blade Trial

Razor - 1962 (H1) Gillette Slim (2)
Blade - (1)
Soap - Arko
Brush - Wolf Whiskers Custom Silvertip
Post - Alum, The Veg

Week two of the Grand Blade Trial begins. After yesterday's great shave I'm looking at another Dorco blade. This one is the Prime, and it is featured in their Prime Starter Set that has an obviously cheap TTO and 30 of the Prime blades, which are designated STP301 in there scheme. They are described there as a Platinum blade with extra Tefton coating. No, that's not a missed spelling...that's right off of their website. I assume they mean tefLon coating.

Arko and the Wolf for another fantastic lather. No mistakes on this one. Thick, more than enough for two shaves, the whole nine yards. First pass was pretty weak. I didn't expect perfection after the ST-300 but I'm not sure this blade is better. It wasn't painful, draggy or anything like that, it just didn't do much reduction. Clearly not a sharp blade. But not horrible either.

Second pass XTG and it did a bit better. I did feel a bit more drag this way but nothing serious. And the third pass ATG was a nice finishing pass that took my face to a barely DFS. On my neck I made sure I added lather and went very steep Gillette Slide. About 50 degrees steep with is suicidal with a sharp blade. This one just gave me some further reduction but I can't claim it's even DFS on the neck. Maybe barely.

So, on the mild setting this blade is not working well. It gets the job done.....enough......but so many blades do better in a mild razor. We'll dial it up halfway tomorrow and hope it goes better!

​

 

Stay hydrated and don't worry about the height. Nobody ever died from the height. It's the sudden stop after the fall you have to worry about.

 

For all my menthol junkies... Get out there and get it...it's Monday!

July Leopard Blade Trials
Cartel Week Final



Voskhod. Needs no review. Lots of menthol, but I won't get nuts with it. Have this setup planned for late afternoon. Lots of work until then! Other than that...all is quiet in Colorado.

Have a nice afternoon!

 

Why do I hear a modified Budweiser jingle......"When you've said Voooossssssskhod.......you've said it all".

Disclaimer - I no longer consume any Anheiser Busch product since the sell out to InBev several years ago. Want a REAL St. Louis beer? Schlafly. All the way.

 

I will sum up STL food culture in one word.

ProVel

That is all. Carry on.

 

July Focus Day 18:

Stirling Synthetic Brush
Stirling Frozen Tundra
Gillette British Tech
Osage Rub
Stirling Unscented PSB
Canoe AS

A quick post from the cabin in Tyler, TX. I had a nice shave with my travel set up; which made me realize that shaving with a good ol' Tech is sometimes hard to beat. It quick and easy, with DFS results. I finally got some travel bottles and brought some Osage Rub along, which is nice for this East Texas heat. Canoe topped it off. I hope everyone has a great day!