December 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Very nice looking Fatboy.

 

Another day another Focus shave. Today I dialed in "7", rather than "6". What a difference. Used Simpsons Unscented Shave Cream and the Feather Black just glided over my face. Finished things off with Clubman AS. Picked up my oldest last night at EWR. First time he's been home for Christmas in two years. It's shaping up to be a great week. Have a fantastic day Gents!

 

Thank you. It is the version 2. Hopefully this didn't turn into more than you were asking for.

The Supply is very similar in shape to the PAL Adjustable, but weighs more than twice as much, 114 grams to 52. Anyone who likes a hefty feeling razor will get along with this.



Comparatively, the Mongoose with a Dr. Bomber on it (figuring it is the closest I have to your Triad you pictured) weighs 154.



It is hard for me to compare the two in terms of efficiency yet. I have only used the Supply for three shaves, and only with the "aggressive" plate. I don't likely see myself using any other. It gave a perfect shave each time. Like you would expect from an injector, it was very smooth and comfortable. This is easily the most efficient of any I have used, and I think it is a combination of the weight and the head design. I have a very stiff beard, and when I shave with most injectors, I need to use a little more pressure, and more of a buffing stroke than I would with a DE, or SE. I don't think of that as good or bad necessarily, just different. The Supply allows for a lighter touch; to use it much more like the Mongoose. I appreciate the size of it compared to the Goose. It just fits into those tough spots better.

This is also having only used a Personna blade which came with it, and is not my favorite. Considering that it will take Twins, and easily load a trimmed AC blade, one could get a "skin your face" type shave if he wanted. It also easily loaded the blade into an empty razor from a Personna cartridge, which is something that I would call nearly impossible for me into most Schicks.

I was originally concerned about the handle, but it has a groove in the backside:



I haven't had any problems with it slipping, or worrying me about it. That is not my favorite handle shape though. It just feels a bit clumsy for me to hold when I work uphill. That's a preference thing though, the PAL is the same shape, and is not anywhere near enough to get me to stop using it.

So far, I only see a couple of downsides in terms of recommending that one try it: One is the severely limited blade choice. If one doesn't mind trimming AC blades, there are a lot of options. Fortunately I get along just fine with either Chicks or Personnas. I will nip off a Feather Pro to try that soon. The second is the screw one uses when changing plates. Having been warned about it umpteen times, I still proceeded to drop it on the floor. My recommendation would simply be to have one for each razor head, held in place with a retention spring or key.

I find it encouraging when a razor works so well for me right off the bat. If it is built well, and this one is, the rest is YMMV.

 

December 20, 2017

Razor: F2 Gillette FatBoy (3)
Blade: GSB (2)
Brush: VdH Boar
Soap: Mineral Fusion

Not a lot to shave this morning after yesterday's close shave, so I decided to play it safe and dial the Fatboy back to '3'. Definitely a good choice resulting in another DFS+.

 

Thank you for writing such a detailed review. That is exactly the sort of thoughts I was looking for. Unlike many, my experience with injectors has been very unsatisfactory. I tried a G, I and J type. I was able to get a decent shave out of each but never a truly good shave. They seemed to require much more work and effort to get a good to great shave. For instance, I can get a great shave with little effort out of Gem style razors once I mastered the area above my lip. The fact that I can manually load a cut down Feather AC blade into the Supply SE is a huge plus for me. It's on my list and I will see what the New Year brings before committing to purchase one.

 

No shave today. I need to let my cut/scrape area heal and I'm still really smooth after yesterday afternoon's shave.

Some thoughts and questions to consider before tomorrow:

-Should I give the second straight I have a try? It's a Cattaraugus. They are on loan from Adam. Or should I just stick with the Genco and not complicate matters?

-I noticed that the blade is lower on the tang end that the other when I hold it against my face. I think I need to elevate my pinkie to bring the razor flat and even.

-I want to try my cheeks again, some upper lip and maybe some chin area. My neck scares me still.

-Am I stropping correctly? I know y'all can't answer that without seeing it. I'm using the linen side about 20 laps and the leather side about 35-40 laps, all before shaving. Yesterday I did about 10 and 20 after shaving. Adam says he does that to help ensure the blade is dry.

-Wet lather. I know that is one of the keys and tricks to help enable the best straight shave. What are your tips to creating a wetter lather? I load my brush on the puck and then face lather almost exclusively.

I'll be back with more questions and thoughts later, if they come to me (which I'm sure they will - can y'all tell that I'm curious about this???).

 

Thank you, Doug!

 

Personally, I think it easier to learn straights one fewer razors, so I would stick with the Genco for now. On the lather front, I would always get my lather built the way I liked it, then add a bit more water slowly until it was a little wetter. I also face lather, so I found it relatively easy to control adding more water slowly. I also split my face up like a baseball field, i.e. left field, right field, center field, and lathered and shaved one area at a time. It helped to keep the lather from drying out. One of the biggest benefits I got from straight shaving was much improved lather. When I worked through all these things, I found my soaps all slicker and easier to shave with.

 

I know I am a broken record about showing this video, but for me anyway it is pretty spot on, and I know it has helped a lot of others.

 

Two years ago to this very date, the following appeared on The Shave Den.

http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/greetings-from-st-louis.42058/

In spite of some great efforts to distract me and send me on my way I'm still here. Actually, those efforts consisted mostly of posting pictures of shiny things that insured I'd stay around. It's been a great two years and I've met a bunch of great people on here, if you consider "meeting" as chatting via keyboard. Would love to have the chance to see a lot of you face to face.

The one thing I didn't mention in my intro post was my blade choice. At the time I was using Astra SP as my first Russia blade and had tried a few more. My first Voskhod bulk order was made shortly after. Also, in just a day or two, I heard from this guy out in Colorado, by the name of @Bama Samurai . Interesting fellow, that one. An Alabama Japanese fan living in Colorado? Say what? But, he sent me my first GSB's as well as some Voskhods to start the month of January off in the first ever 30 day thread. History was made.

In honor of the day I'll be going back to my first "real" setup. The EJ DE89l, Astra SP, Tweezerman ultra-shedder brush and Proraso Green. My first actual safety razor was the Van der Hagen Weishi and I included it in the pic. My first blade was the Van der Hagen Ice Tempered and I have NONE of those around nor will I ever again.

Thanks to everyone who has been here the past two years and a special shout out to those who have joined since then! This is a truly unique place on the web and it wouldn't be the same without any of you!

 

Happy Anniversary. TSD wouldn't be the same without you.

 

The Gillette NEW LC and Feather blade combo came through again in fantastic form. Very smooth and effective. I'm glad I'm using the Feather blade and finding out how well it works for me as I have 5 or 6 10 blade packages in my stash. Well over a year of good shaves to look forward to.

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I'm sorry to hear about your injury, Chris, and I hope you heal up soon. What happened?

 

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I guess you will not be filling in at running back for the Broncos until you toe heals. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

 

Decadent December continues with Tabac, heated in the scuttle but no picture. Today is a past pic of today's razor, Koraat 7/8. A three band Thäter to spread the warm goodness and everything was set for a good shave. I think it is time to touch up the edge, not as smooth as before but still sharp. Just a tingle from the alum and BBS finish.

Irritation A Closeness A Smoothness A- Sharpness A

 

Keith, that razor is a beauty. I like the 7/8 blade.

 

After an underwhelming intro to the Schick G1 (I just wasn't getting the close shaves I was used to), I tried to focus on Voskhods. After experiencing some irritation with them, I am going to be testing some other Teflon coated blades (thanks NCoxSTL!) To see if Teflon is an irritant for me. In the meantime, I decided to revisit the G1. You never stop learning with shaving. Today I learned that the difference between an OK shave with a Schick G1 and a stellar shave with a Schick G1 is to go with what I have been told rather than what I feel. I have been told to ride the cap with it, but wasn't getting the feedback I was used to. When I tilted enough to get audible feedback, the shave was rough. So I went against my intuition and shaved while riding the cap, not expecting much because I wasn't feeling much. To my surprise, a quick check of the just-shaved area revealed a quite impressive amount of hair reduction and a smoothness I was not prepared for. Today's shave (along with Old Spice Lathering Shave cream, RazoRock Plissoft Big Bruce, and Barbasol Brisk AS) ended up being one of my best of the year. Here's to exceeded expectations!

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