Oldest wet shaving forums

Discussion in 'The Chatterbox' started by Alex7, Feb 22, 2019.

  1. Steveclarkus

    Steveclarkus Well-Known Member

    I got my hand slapped for mentioning a journalist, Christopher Hitchens. The mods are pretty tight there. A good friend got excommunicated so
    I came over here with him. This board seems a bit more laid back but I’ll be careful. I do remember your avatar. In any case, I’ll see you around.

    Steve
     
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  2. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

    A bit more laid back? Speaking from experience, The Shave Den is LOT more laid back than B&B. This forum encourages open, polite discussion, and you do not need to worry or walk on eggshells. The mods and admin here are on your side, not against you. They want you to thrive here and be happy. That being said, cussing or discussing anything connected with politics or religion is frowned upon, which also holds true for most other forums and many real life gatherings.

    One side effect of the open and level-headed approach here is that the information on TSD is generally accurate. Heavily censored forums are missing essential viewpoints and information. The information on those sites is therefore biased, incomplete, and of questionable accuracy. Anyways, glad you decided to come here!
     
  3. MntnMan62

    MntnMan62 Well-Known Member

    Hey Steve. Since I posted that post, I thought I'd make one last attempt at rejoining B&B. I had written them before and only received silence. So, it was July 2018 when I was banned. I sent an email to "Contact Us" at the bottom of the B&B page, told a little of the history of my banishment, ate some crow and asked if there was any chance I might be allowed to rejoin. I was not expecting to hear from anyone. I then received an email from one of the mods asking to know what my screen name was. I provided it. The next day I was told he enabled my account. I was shocked. So I signed on and went perusing the site. I noticed that The Barbershop was not available to me. So I wrote to the mod mentioning that The Barbershop was hidden and it may have to do with the fact that my first ban was just from The Barbershop. He responded saying "let's see how it goes" and to reach out in a couple months. Now, this is all after a full one year of being banned. A ban that I very much deserved by the way. And if not for that ban I would not have found this and the four other forums I now belong to. But I am grateful for the opportunity to rejoin B&B because there are guys there who only seem to be active there and not on other forums who I missed our banter and interaction. This mod could very easily have ignored my email. But I appreciate that he's giving me another chance. And I found it amazing how many guys welcomed me back. I figured that I was out of sight out of mind. I won't be doing anything to get myself banned from there again or any of the other sites. I pushed the envelope and saw the consequences. I feel no need to do that again. And among the 6 sites, I think I'm really active on only 2 or 3 of them. But they are all great sources of information about everything from shaving, to cigars, to coffee, to cooking, etc. Not sure what my point here is. Maybe things are loosening up a bit over there.
     
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  4. Steveclarkus

    Steveclarkus Well-Known Member

    I am still a member of B&B and still check my mail but don’t post as much now. My main problem with it is a pervasive sense of elitism there. The members I miss most are Polarbeard, Slash McCoy and Boris: Ice-man has recently joined here. I spent most of my time on the General straight shaving section and was most bothered by excessive conflicting information given to guys new to straights and honing. I don’t have especially hard feelings but am more comfortable here. I’m glad you were allowed to rejoin and I intend to remain a member.
     
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  5. wchnu

    wchnu Duck Season!

    Thank you for throwing TOST in there!
     
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  6. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

    Given that they treated you like dirt before, why? And it is not only you. In asking that question, which is entirely non-rhetorical, it is my belief that people should be treated well. That is to say with courtesy, respect, fairness and decency. That applies not only to B&B, but to all people in all forums and every other place where interact, both online and in the real world. Sure, there might be some great people in toxic places, but that won't make the problems go away.

    If you are looking for a mega-large forum as an additional source of wetshaving information, IMHO Reddit /r/wicked_edge would be much better than B&B. It is much larger, more open-minded, fairly run and friendly. The information there is uncensored, and hence more accurate and useful than that on B&B or TSN. Reddit also has a number of subreddits for cooking, coffee, cigars, watches, fountain pens, and everything else under the sun. B&B is a drop in the bucket compared to Reddit.

    Try pushing the envelope here or at some of the other wetshaving forums and you will get feedback from the mods. They won't flip out and go swinging the ban hammer willy nilly, however. They might get annoyed, on rare occasions very annoyed, but you won't see them being abusive, elitist, mean-spirited or capricious. You absolutely won't get sanctioned for conflicts of interest.

    Pravda and Izvestia, the two largest newspapers in the Soviet Union, said the same thing during the cold war. Being censored and having ulterior motives, they were hardly reliable sources of information, even though they might have seemed truthful to some people. The same applies to certain forums, both wetshaving and otherwise. Uncensored and well-run venues are much, much better.

    That'll be the day. Perhaps if a new owner and mod team take over, but that seems unlikely. Badger & Blade has not changed substantially in over a decade, both in demeanor and goals. The same goes for The Shave Nook, of more recent vintage. The way people are treated there is no accident, as what appear to be traditional shaving discussion forums have ulterior purposes and motives. Unless they break the law, all forum owners will run their venues in the ways they see fit. It is unreasonable to expect anything else. It's the nature of the beast.

    Once again, B&B is the wetshaving bete noire, the elephant in the room. This also exists in many other forum-based hobbies, and is becoming rather tiring. My take is that the best approach is to join one of the small to medium size forums, such as this one, and Reddit. The two formats are different enough to provide a variety of experiences and information. If it is camaraderie that people are looking for, I think that is best found in the real world. Technology can be a bridge, but also a wall.

    All of the above is in my humble opinion. I hope it does not come off as judgmental, preachy or condescending, because it is not meant that way at all.

    TL;DR - You deserve to be treated well, not badly. If a forum treats you badly, then why stick around or, worse yet, go back?
     
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  7. MntnMan62

    MntnMan62 Well-Known Member

    I hear you. I did create a second profile and screen name. Apparently people who are more computer savvy than I have done that with the express purpose of hacking into websites. So I understand their applying a ban to that. I'm not going to go any deeper into this other than to say, they let me back in and there really isn't any more fair way to treat someone than letting them back in. Why would I want back in? Because I am contrite in my prior actions. There are guys there who I enjoyed communicating with. My first double edge was PIF'd from a member there. Say what you want about the mods but the members are good people as are they on the other forums I've joined. And the mod who re-admitted me clearly is a decent fellow. I deserved to be banned and now I'm back. And I was taken aback by the warm welcome I received when people started to see my posts again. I didn't realize that I was as well liked as I was apparently. But I didn't know that when I asked to rejoin. I just took a shot. It's all good. And yes, camaraderie is something that only really happens in person. Talk about another black hole. There are 6 guys who play golf regularly who live within 3 or4 houses from me and each other. I've been fighting the golf thing as I'd rather get on a bike and ride, either on the road or on a trail. But I've been sort of lazy lately. This weekend 8 of us went out in two foursomes and engaged in a little competitive fun. I had not swung a club in at least 5 or 6 years and even then I had only played 36 holes. I have to say I actually had fun and even played fairly well for someone who doesn't play. Maybe encouragement for me to pick it up and start playing with the gang. And besides The Shave Den and B&B, I also belong to Against the Grain, The Shaving Cadre, Damn Fine Shave and yes, The Shave Nook, although my impression of that site is similar to yours. Anyway, there you have it. I'm happy.
     
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  8. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

    Like you, I was treated very well by the rank and file members in my short time at B&B, and was surprised at how friendly they were. The only reasons I left were that some vendor names were banned (very petty) and certain members were severely mistreated.

    If you are happy, then that is what counts. It is really good that you found The Shave Den in the process. I hope you find all that you are looking for in your wetshaving journey!
     
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  9. Chuck Naill

    Chuck Naill Well-Known Member

    They despise Timber Tools, allow name calling, and unfounded accusations, but other than that, it’s a useful resource. :D
     
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  10. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

    Maybe they are opposed to wood shaving? ;)
     
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  11. ghostlife

    ghostlife Well-Known Member

    I guess I can join the long list of people banned from B&B now... a mod sent me a message which asked to confirm receipt and I guess replying "acknowledged" was against the rules
     
  12. SHAVEWIZARD420

    SHAVEWIZARD420 Well-Known Member

    TSD was my first fourm i joined and is one of the best options IMO. Still consider it my home base although i dont post as often as i used to, the people here are wonderful and you couldnt ask for a more civil group of enthusiests.

    Another excellent fourm is The Shaving Cadre, ran by Chris Lindsay the man behind CBL Soaps. Even though he also makes soaps it is far from being a shill site whatsoever. it is a smaller crowd but many of the people are also menbers of other fourms. Cannot recommend them enough as it is a great fourm and despite the many options there are only a few that are really great places to frequent.


    I am also on several other fourms but do not particapate nearly as much as i do with these 2. Some fourms look down on people unless you have the best of the best $1,000 razor or brush, that is not what this hobby is about, rather its about finding what works best for you as we are all different with different needs and tastes (YMMV).
     
  13. BlueShaver

    BlueShaver Premature Latheration Sufferer

    B&B has quite the worst moderation to be found on the Internet.
     
  14. Chuck Naill

    Chuck Naill Well-Known Member

    Honestly, who needs the drama from folk with a high degree of self endowed importance?
     
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  15. Ron R

    Ron R Well-Known Member

    Personally I have been disciplined at B&B (for using none Vender ok'd product site posting )and when I look back I did not follow some of the standard rules( I was new and don't always read rules) and I have to agree politics are so disdaining now a days it's good that Politics are frowned on these forums and who needs a lot of swearing . So some moderating is good IMO.
    So have some good shaves and K.I.S.S (keep it simple shaving) IMO with a few other topics of interest on the forums.
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2019
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  16. Enrico

    Enrico Popcorn

    My son has shown interest in joining a shave site, so he asked my opinion on a few of them. I told him the good and the bad of ones I've joined. I told him The Shave Nook is very nice and great people, but isn't as active as I like. I told him about B&B that it has a lot of information and interesting people, but to treat it like a library; keep you mouth shut don't draw attention to yourself or you may be booted out.

    He finally ask where I like to spend time, so I told him about TSD ....... friendly knowledgeable people, lots of fun, and if you keep you content clean and respectful; you'll never have a problem. When is doubt .... ask a moderator .... they're good people.

    :eatdrink013:
     
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  17. Kilgore Trout

    Kilgore Trout The Smart Bunny

    Methuselah's Beard Forum is the oldest I know, but exchanging stone tablets via donkey was a real bear. So I joined here.
     
  18. Alex7

    Alex7 Active Member

    Updated list on the oldest wet shaving forums and Facebook groups:

    1.Sharprazorpalace forum(the old straightrazorplace forum)

    2.Shavemyface forum

    3.Badger and blade forum

    4.The shave den forum(was created in 2007)

    5.Theshavingroom.co.uk forum(was created in 2009)

    6.Subreddit wicked_edge(was created in 2010)

    7.Romanian forum forum.barbieritdelux.ro(was created in 2011) I am Romanian, that's why I've listed it

    8.Shavenook forum(was created in 2012)

    9.Damnfineshave forum the second incarnation(was created in 2015)

    10.Atgshaving forum(was created in 2016)

    11.The Facebook group Straight Razor Place Facebook(was created on 1 March 2018)

    12.Theshavingcadre forum(was created on 14 March 2018)

    13. The new straightrazorplace.com forum(created July 2019).

    14. Romanian Facebook group RomanianWetShaving(created on 22 November 2019).
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2020
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  19. gssixgun

    gssixgun At this point in time...

    Supporting Vendor
  20. Chuck Naill

    Chuck Naill Well-Known Member

    Don't do FB or other Dramapopolis'. :duel:
     
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