Picked up a few things at antique stores this week and I'm really pumped. The DE I got earlier this week but everything else I picked up yesterday. The DE is a 1969 Gillette Ball End Tech with an aluminum handle and the vendor supposedly has an adjustable she's going to call me about. I really didn't need it but I couldn't figure out if it was a 1944 or a 1969 till I got home. Yesterday a buddy and I hit several antique stores (on our way to Maggard Razors) looking for whatever we could find and we both ended up with some straights. The one pictured says "74 FERMARUD" on one side of the tang and "GEBR LANG / GOLDE ? MEDAILLEN / SOLINGEN" on the other side. I've got a question mark in there because the lettering is hard to make out and I'm not exactly sure what it says. I also picked up a very cool "FROG" straight that I forgot to take a picture of and I left it at Maggard's along with the one pictured below that I bought several weeks ago to have them made "shave ready". My buddy took his straights home (sorry, I forgot to take pictures of his stuff because I was so excited about mine) wanting to try his hand at honing but I thought I better leave it up to a professional since I plan to put them to my throat. I thought the Frog and my previously purchased Robeson were cooler than the one pictured above so the one in the picture will probably get cleaned up eventually but not right at the moment. The Kriss Kross stropper is in pretty good shape but I'll probably look into how to take it apart and clean it up and maybe even give it a try with a few blades. Finally, the Old Spice mug just seems to be something everybody ought to have in their den so I've wanted one for some time. Here's the Robeson that I left at Maggard's with the Frog that I didn't get a picture of. Okay, now for the stuff from Maggard Razors A 3" wide leather strop to go with my straights when I get them back. A sampler pack of Maggard's fine PSO to go in a PIF someday. A full bottle of Maggard's fabulous Cherry Sandalwood Vanilla PSO. A tub of TOBS Avocado SC that I'll probably share with the wife. A tub of LA Shave Soap Co's fabulous Woody Lavender soap and a sample of their new Topanga Fougere which smells fantastic. A tube of GFT Spanish Leather cream. A tube of Proraso Blue with aloe and vitamin E (this stuff is great). 2 tubes of Coates SC (sandalwood and tea tree) (which is no longer in production so buy it while you can). A big tin of Synergy Cavendish soap and finally my first badger brush, a Semogue Owners Club. Huge day for me and this is mostly going to get put away, wrapped up, and opened on Christmas. I can't say enough about Maggard's PSO especially the Cherry Sandalwood Vanilla scent. Same goes for the LA Shave Soap Co's products if you haven't tried them. I'd never heard of the Coate's product but the price was right and I was intrigued by the Tea Tree. I knew that the Synergy product was highly regarded but I didn't realize how huge the tins were. The tobacco smell of the Cavendish blew me away. I really like SRD's Opus X which smells like tobacco and I always pair it with Pinaud Clubman Special Reserve so I can't wait to use the Synergy soap and do the same thing. The brush. Okay, in the past several months I've accumulated a ton of soaps, cream, aftershaves, preshave oils (made my own), 60 different kinds of blades, several vintage razors, a scuttle,... but only 1 lonely VDH boar brush which I love. So now I have brush number two and it looks and feels terrific and I can't wait to use it (but not till Christmas). Thanks to everyone in the forum who through your postings helped me pick it out. And finally, the strop. I pull it out of the bag and the wife has a cow. She says "You are not, I repeat not, hanging that thing anywhere where anyone can see it unless you put a sign up explaining what it's for!" Apparently the black leather, the chrome and metal hardware and the paddle shaped handles are a bit too much to have hanging from a hook in the bathroom. I was so stoked last night when I got home that I could hardly sleep last night wanting to get up and shave and then inventory my stuff and post it in "The Haul". This hobby is like smoking crack!! I think I'm done buying stuff and then I just go on a binge and get high again. The plan is that hopefully the straights will be done before Christmas then New Year's Day I wake up early and (for the 1st time) shave with a straight (Kevin, are you reading this? 2014 shave with a straight). I've got some time over the holiday to read up on the how-to, watch a few videos (maybe several) and then shave like a man.
Picked up one of these bad boys. Merkur 41C 1904 Open Comb. Couldn't help myself. Always love the GEM 1906, but not a huge fan of the SE GEM due to it lack of maneuverability. This has the best of both worlds for me the maneuverability of a DE and the atheistic appeal of the GEM. Also I have never tried an open comb razor so I thought it would be cool to add one to my collection. Looking forward to getting acquainted to it.
You will love this razor my friend this is the only "new" razor i own and everytime i come around to using it i fall more in love with it! I used mine on Wednesday with a polsilver blade gave a great shave.
OK, after buying a "Chrome" Omega Boar brush and finding it is plastic, I did an ebay purchase from a Chinese store and got a less expensive and FAR MORE "Natural" Solid, Turned, Stainless Steel and Badger Hair brush. WOW. I love it already and I have not yet used it. I also got a tuck of "Viking Sword" DE razors from a new ebay seller from Australia (Oz_Razors_Online) and they were awesome !! Great price and service AND they threw in a couple of sample blades as a surprise. Huzzah for them.
"somehow".... .... a jar of SRD's "opus x" ss ended up in today's mail. Darn it smells good! And in soon to come haul: I just bought a jar (4 oz) of howtogrowamoustache's cavandish ss.
Just came in got the old knots out now I need to figure out what to fill them with. Also a good polishing
Peruse some of the brush restore threads and you'll get some good ideas of what to use to fill those nice handles!
Some 'new' den stuff arrived late yesterday. A 3" leather strop (slightly used); plus an assortment of DE blades. I've not tried a few of the brands (Blue Bird, Dorco, Sharks), but the Feathers alone made it worth picking up the whole lot of 30 blade packs for under $12.
I should clarify the $12 I paid was just for the blade assortment; not the strop. [Edited my initial post] If you keep your eyes peeled, you'll find folks who are emptying their dens—and sometimes the deals pop up. Buy, Sell & Trade on various forums, and sometimes on the local Craigslist. I wasn't actually looking for DE blades—I've plenty—but the price was too tempting for my weak will...
A partly broken in tube of this (er, that's small) Proraso red just arrived thanks to a trade with Jayaruh.
Shaving with my vintage GEM Featherweight is a heavenly experience. I can almost hear the angel choirs singing as the blade glides through the lather. Not to mention the aesthetic appeal of the razor.
