January 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pic&Discussion Thread

Michael, it's nice to have you with us on the focus! You're off to a great start, and you deserve the night off after getting your wisdom teeth removed today.

 

nice pic Doug

 

I'm 200 posts in and still have over 400 more to read but here is a series of photos telling what I have done in the last 5 days.


Alum quiet, DFS


Nicked my neck because of blade flexation when it hit a thick stubborn hair. Clubman burned there but quiet everywhere else. Near BBS.


Spent some time with the new hones I was sent at the end of last month and it looks promising. Purple slurry on the green stone after the King 1k/6k. CroOx and FeOx on Balsa followed by leather. Cut my strop, Oops, its not too bad above my normal stroke. Did it while flipping and distracted by cat crashing through the house.


Tested the unmarked razor. Smooth so smooth. I like thicker grinds and wider blades. 3 pass with touchups went too far and had irritation at the corners of my jaw. Clubman punished me. DFS+


Today's shave! I didn't want to skip a day of straights so I used my 2 Rolls blades on my cheeks for the first pass. They will go back to the hones. French Faux Frameback for the rest of the shave. I chased the baby and got burnt. The Citrus Musk taught me the error of my ways with a burning explosion of pain similer to Tunguska or Mount Saint Helens. I cooled it with Axe Shield and ended with . . . the baby. Redness and burn left me between 30 and 45 min later.

The soap in the Old Spice mug is Mama Bears Black Code and the plastic dish is Mystic Waters Lime. I'm going to try using a brush for a week at a time and rotating out. I'm hoping to use one straight per month for the next 3. I got in some shaves last month with the Our Leader straight so I don't feel bad about the 2 days I used shave testing so far.

Until I get internet back I'll be posting once or twice a week when I go to the grocery and or the library with the kids. I have alot of reading to catch up on.

 

Glad to hear you are off and running with your straights and hones!

 

Thanks Tom! Yes, it does leave lather behind, although I’m thinking that the blade angle is better when there is just a hint of lather left after a stroke. Still plenty for buffing though. I really like this razor!

 

Thanks William! Yes, the GSB pairs well with the DOC - at least for me. I'm interested in how the other blades on the agenda will do. The Rapira Super Stainless, and the Feather. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the GSB.

 

Thanks, they are very well built. Its not as heavy as my Mongoose..

 

Thanks

 

I'm glad you decided to make the switch early Marverel! I agree with you on the angle. It seems to me that if the angle is such that I leave a lot of lather on my face it isn't as close. But I don't want to ride the cap to the point where I don't cut anything! The razor is so smooth and the MWF so slick, that I'm trying to keep the angle consistently just barely leaving a trail of lather behind. Seemed to work this morning.

I agree with you about the handle. It does feel pretty rough around the edges, but I sure don't have any problem holding on to it! I don't mind the length. Initially, I thought I'd like the longer handle razors, but I've found that sometimes I end up choking up on the handle of some of them for better control, so I'm not planning to swap out any handles for a while.

Glad you had a good shave! Here's to many more!

 

Thanks Clint. I had heard comments of it being hard to hold on to but I found it well balanced and nice to shave with. The head is small compared the Mongoose.

 

I'm not really new to straight razors I'm just several years out of practice. The honing is new to me but it fun. Way easier then I thought it would be. If it gets easier with a regular progression of synthetic stones then I'll always have perfect razors.

I just got done reading. I'm glad the new to Straights bunch are mostly unharmed so far. The blood letting happens when you thick you have it down pat. The razors like slapping down over-confidence.

 

Glad you had a nice lather and a string of fantastic shaves Charlie! Here's to many more!

 

Congratulations on 2020 posts Vince! A ton of likes too! You're just a very likeable guy! Seriously, I love all those shenanigans too.

 

Thanks Bill. I've been admiring your fantastic lathers, and you have encouraged me to work harder on mine!

 

Congrats on 2000! It has been a lot of fun with you here! I've greatly enjoyed reading your posts.

 

Just a quick rant. When discussing super speed razors, remember:
This is flare.

This is flair.

That is all. Continue with the shenanigans.

 

SOTD January 6, 2016
Focus Day 3

Pre: Warm shower
Blade: Rapira Swedish Supersteel (3)
Razor: Wet Shave Club 3-piece
Brush: Satin Tip 'The Purest' synthetic
Lather: Proraso White
Post: Witch hazel splash, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, touch-up

Continued good shaves with this combination. I'm really trying to not push the amount of passes so that I don't shave too much. I'm shaving in the early morning on the weekdays and don't have the luxury of time as I would on a weekend. So I'm going with a WTG pass followed by touch-up. The touch-up is a little misleading as I'm generally doing a full XTG pass on my neck. I'm trying to do just the one pass with touch-up on my upper face. This still results in a good CCS.

My technique seems to be improving because my nick/weeper rate has dramatically decreased. I had one tiny little nick on my neck near the Adam's apple this morning, but it was really tiny. That's a good improvement from the past couple of weeks where I had a few more spots.

Proraso White is a great soap for me and the Rapira blade works really well too. I will use this set-up again tomorrow before changing the soap and brush for this weekend. Then I'll return to this combination again on Monday.

Have a great day!

 

Thanks!

 

I learned the hard way about over confidence while using the Feather SS. So my attitude with the Rabbit remains humble.

 

Well I am giving you two likes for the price of one right now for letting me use the Mongoose.