March Madness!!
March 29 - The Eye of the Tiger
Razor - Parker SRX Shavette
Blade -
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Soap - Jeeves of Hudson Street Blood on Steel 30DC LE
Brush - Stirling 24mm Finest Badger
Post - Alum
Are you ready to RUMMMMMBBBBBLLLLLEEEE!!!!! It's Tiger shave night and it's all to acid-test a theory. As more of us have tried and even shifted to full time use of shavettes, there has been a growing awareness that DE blades that we might otherwise avoid become quite effective when used in a shavette. The reason? Most likely the fact that the blade is "unlocked" from the forced angle of the DE razor and therefore free to be adapted through technique to provide the optimal result. Blades that might otherwise seem dull and draggy suddenly become quite efficient tools to shave with. Even the Zorrik, which I used earlier this month, was improved considerably over three passes when in a shavette as opposed to a DE. So how far does this apply when considering "bad blades"? Well, one of the absolute worst is on trial tonight. The Tiger. It's a carbon blade, old style three hole, and it was a son of a gun to get snapped in half. But snap it in half I did. This is the blade that has never, in the history of the 30DC, given anything other than an absolutely horrid result. Can the shavette tame the Tiger?
Well, to give it its best shot I figured I'd use the soap that seems most appropriate for this shave anyway. Blood on Steel. Now, I've never cut myself with a Tiger, but who knows, right? Besides, the Jeeves soap is slick and very protective. I need all of that I can get just to avoid the potential irritation load. The Stirling badger brush made easy work of loading and lathering so no worries there. I chose the Parker shavette just because. I thought about the Luxor Pro, but I'm really not concerned about the corners of the Tiger. Besides, with this blade design the corners aren't as wicked as most.
So, lather done, and here we go. I grabbed the usual starting angle, stretched the skin as tight as I could get it and prepared to feel yanking, tugging, and all around misery. Only......I didn't. I can't say it was smooth, but it wasn't "Tiger rough" that I've always felt before. Ok, this is promising. A slight chuckle because I didn't expect to say anything positive and onward I went. I completed the right side and while I won't say it was a smooth shave it was far from horrible. On to the left I go. Finished that first pass on the left side with the same result. Yeah it's dragging, and yes I've had smoother, but I managed to finish a pass without wishing for death. That's an improvement.
Are you amazed yet? Surprised? Feel like the theory is vindicated? Well hold on for just a few more seconds. While the pass wasn't terribly uncomfortable it was also - shall we say - a waste of effort. Seriously, when I rinsed to lather again it felt like nothing on my face had changed from the start. Had I even reduced the beard at all? Hmmmmmmmm. I went for the second pass turning XTG. Still not smooth but not horrible, but I began to pay close attention to the lather as it came off of my face on the razor. Not one shred of evidence that there was any stubble removed. None. I even finished my right side neck without rinsing the blade, then scooped the lather off the razor to search for signs of beard stubble. Nothing. Well, maybe one or two specks, but that was it. And after half of an XTG pass I still couldn't feel any reduction. This dog isn't cutting the beard. Apparently it's just bending it over and moving on. So, enough of that. I grabbed my '47 Superspeed with a Sharp Star in it and did a quick two pass finish that netted a near-BBS along with one nick (talk about irony) from a bad setdown near my right ear.
So........it's more comfortable to use a Tiger with a shavette - but it's totally useless. Wow. I didn't really expect that result, but there you go. Now, I will say that I did see some signs of cutting, albeit few and far between, but to succeed in shaving with this blade in a shavette you'd need at least 8 hours by my estimate. And I'm pretty sure you'd only succeed by friction eventually wearing the beard away. Yep. The Tiger is the Tiger. It's a defective blade and not even a shavette can turn it into a useful object. Technique Trumps Tools! Unless the tools are defective!
Hope you have a great Saturday and a fantastic weekend! Two more days at work for me!
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