January 2019 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Thanks, Bruce.

 

Thank you it is fun, informative and even a little scary at times.

 

Holy Moly...who knew Robitussin packed such a punch!

 

Almost not fair. MWF (and Tabac for that matter) will live longer than Keith Richards. Well...maybe not...scratch that.
But it will outlast the majority of artisan soaps.

 

Celtic Women are pretty awesome! In a number of ways......I remember seeing one of their concerts on PBS once and the music and artistry was amazing!

 

January - Shavettes and Jeeves!

January 6

Razor - Kai Captain (pain stick)
Blade - (1)
Soap - Jeeves of Hudson Street Bay Rum
Brush - Jayaruh #206
Post - Alum

Onward and forward to the final pain stick in my collection. The Kai Captain is, of course, from the biggest Japanese competitor to Feather. Like there are Feather and Kai DE blades, so there are Feather and Kai Artist Club razors. The heads on the DX and Kai Captain, while similar, are unique enough to think this was not an attempt to clone.

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The heads of the DX and CJB are much more a copy of each other, or rather, a copy of the DX by CJB. The Kai is similar in length and weighs the same as the DX. Both weigh (including blade) 1.7 ounces. Out of curiosity I switched to grams and found that the Kai is 48 grams while the DX is 47, so there is a slight....and I do mean slight....advantage in weight to the Kai. I know what you're thinking....it's the "marker band" on the Kai handle. Actually, it isn't. I took it off and it still went 48 grams and the band by itself won't even register a gram on the scale. See, I do think things through.

Build and material quality on the Kai are quite good, just like the DX. The handle is a smoother profile so again it's a bit different to grip than the DX but not difficult at all. So, let's shave. Perfect Jeeves lather courtesy of the JR206 set the stage. I found the angle to be as intuitive on the Kai as the DX. Once set it was easy to hold. There was no detectable drag in the shave. The razor moved smoothly across my face and neck with no resistance beyond the normal cutting action. That's an improvement over the CJB, though again the cure to the CJB drag is just a bit slicker lather. The Kai Captain will run and gun without fuss, though, like the DX.

The razor feels balanced in my hand and the finish was the same quality DFS I've been getting from the DX and it was hassle free. Hard to say which razor has the advantage. Easy to say the Kai is a better built razor than the CJB but also easy to say the CJB does the job for less money. Kai Captains are running for $80+ on the bay and getting a bit scarce. In that regard they mirror the DX as well.

Note - there is one other Kai AC razor, the Excelia. I haven't seen one for sale in quite awhile as they were discontinued a few years ago. They are pricy but look very cool. If I find one - it will be mine. Now that I have a Toggle - I think the Excelia is my new "precious" to obtain. That and of course the true "unobtanium" of a bottom dial Fatboy.

One personal note - that concludes 5 consecutive pain stick shaves with no blood. None. All very fine DFS finishes with alum a bit warm in spots but nothing horrible at all. I'm happy with that.

Monday is upon us and with my change of store I'm back to having Monday and Tuesday as my weekend. So.....as you go back to work tomorrow....I will be sleeping in. I like that arrangement. Have a great night and a great start to your week!

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I've adopted a similar procedure Charlie. Previous phone had same megapixel capabilities, but more friendly user controls. I have decent but not pro lighting so no flash, use the autofocus box on selected point of interest. Ready steady click. Click, click. Using free Snapseed app on phone I do perspective adjustment, crop, sharpen & structure, seven different tune image features, and mail it to myself. In Command Center (laptop viewed on flat-screen TV) run the improved image through a 2001 version of photoshop (I stopped upgrading, too many options) to Clarify, sharpen or soften as needed, and do touchup with a clone brush to remove random artifacts, dust specks, resize to 1/3 original for TSD limits, save as GIF for large photo but less colors.

Simple, right? I'll work on the "hold camera still" thing since technological adjustments don't help a blury picture.

Tapatalk via LG

 

So I did manage to find one at the local indian store...but they were $1.99 instead of a $1....

Lol...for real though good tip. I'm curios to try it out tomorrow for my shave.

 

Very true. Arko is the same way. There are so many ways to consider the cost of soap it really doesn't help sort things out unless there's just a particular pain point that creates a decision. Price per ounce, total price, price per shave.....all can influence our choice. There are certainly soaps going for far more than we've already listed as well and people use them for whatever reason they find compelling. My buying decision when it comes to price comes down to how long it will last and does it work. So....yes.....MWF will always be a huge value to me because I have only bought two pucks since my original one. That's in 4 years of shaving. I've never completed a tub of Stirling yet, though I rotate through many scents so that's part of that. I have 10 sticks of Arko. Based on @Bama Samurai 's data that's 4 years of soap. All of those seem like great values to me so the initial outlay doesn't matter. Now, tell me I should buy a tub of AOS soap? Nope. Not gonna do it. That initial price blows me out of the water. It might last a year but I'll never know it.

 

Awesome! That's still a good price!

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

I’m sorry your mom didn’t have a good day, Danny. I hope she makes a quick recovery.
Bergamot Lavender is one of my favorite scents from Stirling. In the top five anyway. Hopefully she’ll like it and open the door wide for future Stirling orders! After all, you HAVE to hit the $75 mark in order for free shipping.

 

Excellent report, Neal. Good luck back at the old store...hopefully they’ll leave you alone for a bit.

 

Thank you, Perry!

 

Thank you, Jim!

 

Great score, Danny!

 

Thank you for the Welcome!

 

For only $25, it does seem to be well made, and has a bit of weight to it. Sure is a fingerprint magnet though.

 

Thank you, Bruce.

 

Thank you, Chris! I’ll try to “lean it out” a tad for the next shave and see how that goes. Hopefully it’ll be a little more efficient, but still not bite.

 

Haha...I remember when this video went viral!

Cool Looking razor. Your knowledge of techs is pretty amazing! I was looking at your post shave...and I couldn't help but wonder..."listerine"? as aftershave?