August 2018 30 Day Rule/focus Pix & Discussion

Adjustable (Arko) Anything Goes and whatever else we decide AUGUST!!!!

August 8


Razor - Soviet Consul (9)
Blade - (8)
Soap - Stirling Iced Pineapple
Brush - Jayaruh #54
Post - Alum

Shave two with the Soviet Consul but shave eight with the Personna 74 blade. I do believe this is the first time I've ever indicated 8 shaves on a DE blade. I've only ever been this high with AC blades in the pain sticks. Amazing that it's still hanging in there. Well, not hanging in there. Still shaving like it's a new blade. I had expected something by now indicating it's starting to show its age. A little drag? Nope. A bit of roughness? Nope. A finish less than BBS or near-BBS? Nope...the baby is in the house again after two passes and touch ups. This blade is just doing what it was made to do. Shave. I'm beginning to think that Tungsten was the magic coating that made blades permanent - and the various blade cartels decided to never use it again! Nobody would buy nearly enough blades if these were still in production. Remember also - this blade is a U.S. blade made by the American Safety Razor people who owned the Personna brand. And while modern Personna blades are top shelf items, they don't compare to this one. Wow. Simply wow.

Speaking of wow - the JR54 with Iced Pineapple was amazing as well. The icy feel at the end of this shave was to die for. Amazingly refreshing and the pineapple scent with that menthol kick is enough to make me take the tin to bed just to smell it all night. Wonder if my wife would notice?

My weekend is finally here. I need it. Work has been an absolute terror the past two days. If you read anything in the paper about a mattress store burning down with a screaming fiend in it - well, you get the picture. I'm hoping that two days off will reset my brain a bit. I think some extra time with my head in my shaving gear and all of that will be a good thing for me.

​

 

The DE big gun shows up!

 

Deep inhale. Long exhale. Relax. Breathe.

Enjoy your weekend.

 

I'm keeping an eye on your shaves. You are one ahead of me on the P74 blade. If it fails for you I'll know to keep my eyes open! Great shave! I will also admit being a bit perplexed at the benefit of adjustables. However, that may be because we overthink them. When they were introduced it seems that Gillette was really just trying to find a way to stop making so many choices and develop a razor everyone could use. So instead of three different Super Speeds - they'd have one adjustable that people could set and forget. A working theory as to their origin at least.

 

Probably not the smartest thing to mention burning down a business with malice online anyway. Especially given the watch lists that my love of all things Russian no doubt have me on. They might even consider that "Terrorist Intention" - or however that goes. But what do I know?

 

Epic. Nuff. Said.

 

@Primotenore
@NCoxSTL

I also see little practical benefit, mine stays on nine. However, it's a classic of 50s mechanical engineering and enjoys iconic design recognition. I feel like nostalgia and "coolness" play a large role in the demand for FB razors. However, they do shave well.

 

Russia FSB
RDX
Fuses
Mercury Fulminate
Highway diesel
Wholesale ammonia
Trinitrotolulene
PVC
JP-1
Primers

It's really out of hand. We gotta be more careful about leaving random words in our posts thoughtlessly. Actually everyone should random cut and paste that list into every communication imaginable. The noise in the system would be a good laugh for, well, somebody.

Well, back to shaving.

 

I definitely agree that our careless tossing about of words like bombs, nuclear rods, depleted uranium, and other such nonsense is probably irresponsible. Although it does give someone at the NSA a job. I guess you could call us job creators.

Now, back to my fan letter to Timothy McVeigh and the Unabomber.

 

(diet coke through nose, you got me)

 

I hope you are both using appropriate safety protocols and using a VPN. if not remember Winnie the Pooh is watching.

 

I'm enjoying your P74 blade trial, Neal. You're putting the blade through its paces, and it is delivering. You may be able to rid yourself of those nasty Russian blades and enjoy this tuck of good 'ole American P74's for the duration.

Enjoy your weekend and your break from work. Have some BBQ!

 

Congrats on the epic shave, Keith. I will enjoy following your P74 blade trial as well.

 

Pure class, Joseph! And another P74 blade trial in progress!

 

Same here, though '5' is where my Gillette adjustables reside.

I have to agree with @NCoxSTL and say that modern shavers probably overthink adjustability. The mindset of the 1950s would have been more along the line of simple ergonomics- find the setting which is right for you and use it. My best "just woke up" analogy would be an office chair of the era which had one basic setting for height (a big-ass nut on a threaded shaft) as compared with something like a Herman-Miller Aeron char.

 

It would probably be interesting to try and find some old ASR employees and learn the inside story on he Personna-74. I'm starting to get the feeling that it may be a case of the Engineers going too far and having to be pulled back to reality by Marketing.

Think about it... That kind of long life is probably great for the average consumer, but is overkill for many applications (e.g., barber, surgical prep, etc.) where the blade only needs to support a single shave. OTOH, how do you profitably sell a product whose longevity guarantees that consumers will need less of them and need to buy them less frequently.

Potentially, this is as close as one may come to a real-life version of the story about the 100 MPG carburetor which was killed by the oil industry.

 

Thanks Charlie.

 

August 9 SOTD:

Razor: Gillette Fatboy
Blade: Polsilver
Brush: PAA Atomic Rocket
Lather: The Body Shop Maca Root SC
Aftershave: Aqua Velva Ice Blue
Additional Care:
Stirling Unscented PSB

After yesterday's shave, I probably could have skipped today had it not been for work. I did a one pass clean up and called it good. I hope everyone has a great day!

 

Excellent photo, Jim!

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