Hear that sound? Like a quiet clink...clink...clink...it's the sound of a thousand blades dropping into blade banks...The heartbeat of our forum. Most forums have a common trend, something that binds them together. It's usually a narrow focus, like BMW motorcycles, cooking, politics, etc. Our forum starts off that way... We all share a common focus. Wet shaving. But from there we all branch out in a million directions. Modern, Vintage. Double Edge, Single Edge, Injectors, Straights, crazy one-of-a-kind razors that don't fit into any category. Boar, Horse, Badger, and Synthetic brushes all find their way into our collections. Blades from every corner of the globe-Russia, Japan, Turkey, Germany, the United States and more are all used by us. Soaps...and creams. I think just about every country in the world has at least one soap or cream worth trying. Just like our shaving products, our members are just as culturally diverse, followers of different religions, creeds and races. Here at The Shave Den we become a homogeneous whole. This place is a melting pot for wet shavers. Is there friction? Of course there is. There is also a camaraderie here, and a genuine sense of caring and sharing. The golden rule here is YMMV. Your Mileage May Vary is the whole of the Law. It's almost Holy Writ around here. For the most part it is true. There's a thread around here called "Shave Products Best Avoided." Even that thread has some YMMV stuff in it. If you are new here, and some respected member of the forum tells you, "This is how it is..." feel free to tell him or her that "YMMV." We won't get offended. We all have opinions and advice, but we are not you. We are here to help and encourage one another... It's one of the reasons we have a freebies section in this forum. At any given time there is at least one PIF (Pay It Forward) thread going on, with free stuff in the offering, It's not really because we are "paying it forward" but because we like to give and share. Stingraysrock does not come around very much anymore, but a large part of what this forum is, has been influenced by his generous nature. Many of us carry that tradition forward. Some share shaving goodies, others share advice, tips, tricks and experience. We don't live in a vacuum. There are other good shaving forums out there, and I encourage new wet shavers to try them all. We are by no means the only source of "Shaving Knowledge" on the planet. Many members here are also members "over there" in one or more of the other forums. The difference between us and them is tiny, but important. There you are a member...here, you are family. That's my opinion, of course. YMMV.
Great write-up, Ryan! I feel the same way about The Den. We're all family over here, with the same love: wet shaving!
Someone recently left (kind of) this forum because he was noticing a growing trend in the forum to move away from YMMV. I decided to write this to remind myself and everyone else why we embraced the YMMV "motto" in the first place.
Indeed, that's why this is my shaving home. Feels like I'm talking to close friends rather than fellow members.
Although I am a part of other sites, this place is the one I call home. There is just something special here. I would hope that others feel this as well. Everyone, from the moderators to the newest members seem able to have fun and even poke some fun at others without"crossing the line". The people here are genuine and caring. Yes, we all have different views but respect is not lost. There are different levels of experience but no one talks down to anyone. What a great place!
It's happened before. I misunderstood what a member posted one time, and was chewed up one side and down the other by that member. I apologized, and shortly afterwards a member of the mod team ripped into the original poster and locked the thread. Shortly after that the thread was deleted. I've had stuff that I've posted taken the wrong way by members, and the mod team steps in and deletes posts left and right to keep things from escalating. They work very hard behind the scenes to keep this forum civil and organized. I've noticed on rare occasions a member gets bent out of shape about something and four or five members will step in and settle things down. I've only seen the ban hammer used once on a legitimate member (not a spammer), and that was due to a deliberate act of fraud in the marketplace. Well said. On the whole, I agree with this. There is a level of teasing that goes on here, but it's not malicious. A person would have to have the soul of a stump to not wind up with some sort of sense of humor after being here for a few months.
Which is one of the biggest reasons why I switched and stayed after frequenting some of the other shave sites. Life's way too short not to goof off and have a bit of fun every once and a while.
The site has its moments. TSD would not be what it is without its moderators. The much lauded atmosphere is the result of an intentional decision and lots of hard work. Have you hugged a mod today?
Ryan excellent write-up. Everyone here is family, what works for me might not work for some one else and vice versa. There is no reason to become upset.
very well writing and so true in any group be it a sport or a club or a group of people who shave using similar methods there sound be a sense of familyness vs just being a member and never really knowing or helping those others :') brings a tear of joy to my eye to hear such things
I'm not registered on any of the other shaving forums. When I was looking into traditional shaving, I checked all of them out and they do have some great info but nowhere else do you find the vibe you get here. I dig it and I do appreciate the effort the mods go to keeping it this way.
Im with you. I signed up on a different forum at first, but never even logged back on. This is where all the cool kids hang out!