Thanks, Joe.

Thanks, Danny!

Thanks, Patrick.

Thanks, Jim.

I don't know Tim. I'll pull some fresh ones out and see how they do.

a warning for EVERYONE-if you get a popup of a leather bag with the words "Beautiful Leather", IGNORE IT. I clicked, and suddenly heard a loud noise and the message that my server needed my name and password. I simply unplugged my computer, turned it back on in a few seconds....but I saw the leather bag again. This time I pretended there was no bag there, and went right on as normal.

3/2 Shave #10 was the best yet! The edge I had built on this razor was the best I’ve felt in my limited experience. Really, I think what’s been missing is the wisdom of benchmarking my apexes. More to follow on this through Shaves #11-12.

From the 1st stroke- I had the sense of confidence + pride in the edge that I had a really smooth ride (for me), through my new WTG, WTG, ATG progression. Experimenting with some new skin stretches: mainly opening the mouth, puffing cheeks, tongue jams, and ear tugs.

Ended with 4-5 weepers: 2-3 chin and lip, 1 neck, 1 high cheek. Cleaned up perfectly though my skin needed a 24+hr break/rehab at this point.



3/4 Shave #11 was bad. I spent a long time between shaves reading scienceofsharp and I went at the hones when I should not have. I introduced an irresponsible variable and this caused bad results. Lesson learned, though I thought I was making improvements... I was fooling myself. I could feel sharpness fade rapidly through the 1st pass and knew this one was a “punt.” I took it back to the strops and called the shave after the 2nd WTG pass.


3/5 Shave #12 was my “rebound” shave. I went back to my adapted honing progression. Added a few compulsory tweaks, and ended up back in fine fashion as Shave #10. I noticed in this shave, that I’m finding a bit of a groove. My process may be forever comparatively chaotic (just how I like most tasks... interesting), but that may end up acceptable in the end. I’m not deciding that now and I’m keeping all options open. As I transition, I feel much more confident and realize I’m not pre-meditating stroke by stroke. I’m calling that progress. Results and comfort show improvements and that’s keeping me slap happy.

Further Thoughts

• Thursday night I was feeling feverish. This carried into Friday and I finally realized I was not feeling the ultra-hyped and dreaded COVID-19; but rather some complications from a recent surgery. I ended up in the hospital, where I now sit, awaiting a final procedure in the morning and anticipating discharge on Wednesday. I mention this to explain my lack of activity/contribution of late.
  
• I have a lot of catching-up to do! I tend to disengage from pleasurable and positive things in troubled times, so as not to create any unwanted negative associations between the “good” and the “bad.”
• Trying to adjust my so-proclaimed great edge from Shave #10 was a mistake. I mean I totally drank the SOS Kool-Aid and fouled my edge. Conceptually, I think there’s some benefit but I’m too green to tinker so often. This may be a bit of a setback and I’m hoping that being aware of the situation will keep it under control.
  
• I won’t see another opportunity to shave before Wednesday night so I have something nice to look forward to! I’ll be plotting my software carefully until then.
  
• I’m still focused on improving comfort around the mouth. I think I have some work to do here. My guess is that I’m using too much pressure and employing skin stretches sub-optimally. I’ll need more reps, some experimentation, and some advice I think. I’ll work on describing the input-output better as I continue to drill into my perceived issues in this area.
  
• Experimenting with some new AS treatments has been fun! I’m enjoying the products selected so far. Glad to have the flexibility here. No regrets in my brush-soap-razor selection. The soap scent I find to be of mild and pleasantly “clean” aroma, which fades quickly and has clashed with nothing so far.
• It could be that lather is related to comfort. I think my lather game is strong. I’m hyper aware of the consistency, slickness, and time invested in my lather. More likely, I think over-tweaking my edges is a culprit in this area. But ever mindful of the lather I remain!

I'd ask why but I know the answer already. Nice shave Terry! I'm glad the blood thinners are working well... and you didn't test how much styptic powder it would take to stop any mishaps. Have a great day my friend!

Great shave, Evan.

Thank You Tim for your generosity for sending in some wet shaving gear that I can give to my friend to start out with! I'm also going to throw in my Van der Hagen razor, and a pack of astra blades also. I'll give a report back here to tell you guys how he feels about wet shaving. This will be his first time evertrying this hobby out. Like I stated before i'm gonna teach him how to shave with these properly, so he doesn't cut him self up. Once again thank you! @timabababaluka

Thank you, Patrick!

Sometime soon hopefully, I will be doing a PIF at some point. I'll make a Thread post about it, so if anyone is interested, go check it out when I upload it.

Excellent picture, Jeff!

Wonderful report, Andrew!
Wishing the best and looking forward to hearing about Wednesday's shave.

Thank you, Andrew!

Awesome picture, Andrew!

Thank you, Master Tim!

Now, there is a thought. Have you ever gun koted anything?

Nice shaves, Andrew!

Excellent insights on your shaves Andrew! If you hone properly, then you should have a sharp blade for many shaves before you need to refresh with chromium oxide on the fabric side of your strop. Get well ASAP!