March into Artist Club Blades
March 21
Razor - Feather SS
Blade -
View attachment 97303
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Brush - BoS Omega 10066
Soap - Proraso
Post - Cold water, Alum, Nivea
Everyone who thinks trying a Dorco blade in a pain stick is a truly terrible idea raise your hand? Yeah, lots. Everyone who thinks watching ME try a Dorco blade in a pain stick is better than trying it themselves? Everyone. Got it.
A quick note on the setup for this week. We are in mega-pack mode to get ready to move so a lot of the shaving gear is safely stored, including my Tabac and all brushes except the Omega 10066. So, this week's lather will be courtesy of the ProBoS, if you will. I also have my 1959 Gillette Superspeed available along with the pain stick.
Prep was as usual. Head shave first since it's Monday, get the water good and hot and go for the lather. Proraso always produces a great lather, slick, lots of cushion, and I figured I'd need it on this shave. When I loaded the blade up last night I could tell from handling it that it doesn't have the edge on it that a Feather Pro does. It may not even have a Kai Mild edge, but we'll find out soon enough. Lathered up, checked the blade one more time for proper placement and went to work on the right side. Remember - I owe @
Keithmax pictures of the blood that he and I both assume will soon be running all over the place.
First stroke - surprisingly it's smooth with no tugging or pulling. Checked to make sure I had the blade on the face! Yep, it's definitely a nice smooth feel for a first pass. Continued on the right side and got to my chin up against the goatee. Yep, this is where the bloodletting begins. Even the best blades tend to nick here. Uh......nope. Nothing. Just a nice close run around the goatee and even the XTG up the jaw line didn't produce any problems. Wow. I'm surprised.
Well, we know that my weaker left hand will do the butchery with this dog of a blade. So, on to that side and again, no pulling, tugging, nothing around the goatee, worked the neck down fine, felt as smooth as I've ever felt a pain stick shave and.....none of that near harsh feel of a Feather Pro or even Kai Original. Trying to determine if it's a close feel to the Kai Mild and I would have to say yes.
Well, I'm not done yet. Let's do XTG all the way. Gotta be some butchery involved with that. Went mouth to ear both sides and came ATG on the neck. Nothing, nada. Just a nice DFS shave. And, no burn yet from any obvious irritation.
I rinsed with cold water, grabbed the alum, dug my feet in to scream my lungs out as the burn filled my soul and.........hmmmmmmmmmm. You call that a burn? Barely anything. A couple of spots on the neck I may have been heavy handed on but that's it. Seriously?
That look on my face is one of curious confusion. Not sure what just happened here. I took a blade that should, by all rights, be horrible, or at least really bad, and is designed for one of the most unforgiving razors in the world, and got a really nice DFS shave with no blood, irritation or other problems. How is that even possible? Two reasons, I think. Number one, the blade is not really as terrible as we may think. Is it the sharpest blade for AC shaving out there? Certainly not. Not even close. May even be the least sharp. But.....with the pain stick......that extra level of forgiveness from a duller blade can help tame the beast. The Kai Mild proves that too. So, while we hiss and boo at Dorco for even producing a blade for this razor, they may not have done all that bad. Not great, but definitely not off the scale horrible. Second, I would like to think we have another example of TTT........Technique Triumphs Tools. I"ve spend three solid weeks working on pain stick, and I've spent a lot of time with it previously. And I've learned to adjust to different blade feels to allow for the closest pass with the least risk. Not saying I'm perfect at it, and I know this razor can reach out and slice a critical artery in a heartbeat, but clearly the learning process and concentration on getting these shaves right has helped. I'm not sure I would have had this kind of result with this blade when I first started out. Either that or the forgiveness level would have suckered me into making a stupid mistake.
I'll give it another go tomorrow to see if the result duplicates. For now, enjoy your Monday. It's of to stick more stuff in boxes around here! Oh, and by the way @
Bama Samurai , grab a copy of the BOPS logo....you've joined the brotherhood!
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