OCtober - Trick or TREET
October 16

Razor - Gillette 1959 Ball End Tech
Blade - (3)
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - TSD Lanolin Bay Rum
Post - Cold water, Alum, Nivea Original

Well here we are. Today is supposed to be the final shave with the Treet Falcon. Yesterday this blade went south as fast as geese with a blizzard behind them. Maybe even faster than a retired couple from Michigan in an RV in October! From a very nice first pass to bloody remains by the end. Sanity demands that I call it what it is and move on without giving it that third chance. After all, there's only so far you can push a blade until it just becomes an exercise in futility and pain. Well, I don't think I've gone that far yet and I never claimed to be sane. Not 100% anyway. So, here we go. The only concession was to have the Aristocrat loaded with a Voskhod and at the ready in case things went even further south. As in I see the equator from here south.

The Pro 48 and TSD are great together. Lots of great smelling bay rum lather. Hey, if things go totally bad at least that will be the final aroma as I pass out from lack of blood. Happy thoughts. I did remove the blade and hand strop it this morning. No sign of any rust so that is a positive. So, lathered up and off we go. First pass WTG and I could feel the dullness. Just a nagging feeling of drag that wasn't really cutting well. On my face it wasn't too bad, though the result was disappointing. On my neck it might as well have been the razor without the blade. That ineffective. It created a nice overall sense of irritation though which was pleasant. I rinsed and took a good look and feel and realized that it would be at least 4 if not 5 passes to get that knocked down with the Falcon. Clearly this bird has crashed and burned. That's enough for me. Grabbed the Russian rescue and did another full pass with some touch up. Got to a near DFS and called it good. The irritation from yesterday and that single pass this morning was already on the rise so no reason to make it worse.

So, the Treet Falcon is not a treat. The first day it seemed like it would take over the top of the carbon list but only if it's a one and done blade. I will say that if someone is wanting to try carbon and has no experience the Falcon might, and I mean might, be a good blade to get for one shave. Just to get that audio effect and the feel of carbon. But I wouldn't give it a second chance. It's deceptive after that first day because it appears to be working when it's really just falling out of the sky. Must be something about bird named blades. Flying Eagle, Treet Falcon. Neither one will make it into my collection.

Well it was bound to happen.....that's a TRICK!


You couldn't even use this blade to finish shaving a dead cat!!!



Enjoy your Friday everyone!

It was the "Shaving Gods" just messing with you. Congrats on the BBS.

I will guess you have used 12 grams.

Welcome to the 30-Day Crew!
A great bunch of Denizens here will most always be around with great advice on shaving!
(not to mention - shenanigans!)

Cheers!
RT

divide by 3

4.87 grams in 16 days = 0.304375 grams / day

No break through learning?! That's because you're an Experienced Shaver, Charlie Danger!

So now that you've spent some quality time with the refurbished LC - blades and all else being equal, where would you rank it in your eventual rotation of razors?
(YMMV of course, but I appreciate your expertise, as well as everyone else's here...and don't sugarcoat your response because of how the razor came to you in the first place.)

I love the F/extra too. My son describes it as: Smells like they shoved an old man into a bottle. Perfect that's just what I was looking for. The polar opposite of his obnoxious Axe body spray.

That's amazing. Just eyeballing mine, I always thought I would go over 200 shaves with the 200 gr jar. However, I never hoped for over 2 years of shaves with one jar. Sure makes it a great value.

October 16, 2015

OC October - This month I'll introduce myself to OC razors.
Gillette New LC
Gillette Goodwill
Standard Safety Razor OC
Schick Type C1 OC

Morning shave
Hot Shower
Soap: La Toya stick
Brush: Vintage Rubberset Travel Brush
Razor: Schick Type C1 OC
Blade: Schick (China) (4)
TSD Witch Hazel
Aftershave: Vintage Old Spice



This was probably the last shave of the focus with this razor and my travel gear setup. I had consistent, solid shaves this week.

My travel gear needs to provide a consistent, reliable and most times, a quicker shave than my usual morning shave at home. This set-up provides it.

The La Toya produces a quick, easy and rich lather with just enough of a spice, tobacco and barbershop scent to linger awhile, while being subtle. When using the Arko stick, I get approximately the same result, except for the scent so I’ll be able to interchange these two for variety.

The C1 razor and Schick (Chinese) blade provides a very clean, consistent shave and will be reliable that way - as long as I ditch the blade after about three - four shaves. (Today’s 4th was still good but not as sharp as the first.) I’ll use this kit about once a week, so it will provide me an easy blade-changeout-schedule of once a month.

I’m happy to have found some vintage products that not only provides a solid shave while being extremely compact, but are also aesthetically pleasing as well.

Cheers!
RT

Few areas of technique have more of a YMMV Factor than skin stretching....I pretty much honed my current mode of Stretching while getting my Shavette technique together...Personally I don't suffer from ingrowns except rarely...Maybe when I was using my Slim on #9....

I started pulling my skin around to find flat areas for skin that is normally not flat, like chin etc...But with the shavette, I noticed with the right amount of skin pulling the hairs that normally lay down would stand up and offer enough resistance to the blade for a clean cut...Like a snap cut....

I continued using this tech. when using a safety razor and got equally closer shaves...For example,on my XTG pass, my cheek area is flat, but the hairs lay down close to the skin. If I pull tightly in the opposite direction as the stroke and puff at the sametime the hairs stand up rigid which allows them to be sliced off quite effectively...But like I said, I don't suffer from ingrowns, so everyone must find their degree of stretching through experimentation and trial and error, unfortunately....Hopfully not so much error....}8^))

Also along my jaw line, both XTG and ATG passes I pull til the hairs stand at attention, and chasing the baby becomes infinitely easier....and any former tugging is alleviated and has dissappered...

If there is any concern that stretching the skin will result in future loose sagging skin....adopting daily usage of alum and witch hazel will surely remove any fear of this occuring...

Let us know, your various pull excentricities, I'm sure some will identify and hopfully discover answers...

I'm with you William - I'll explore using other blades in my core razors, but I need to keep a good stock of my top, solid blades.

I'm keen to push the envelope from time-to-time, but I'll probably never rocket out of the atmosphere like our resident blade astronaut - @NCoxSTL !

That is the best way I have heard to describe this!

My shave kit early this morning....
.
The Schick G8 is like a Lamborgini....So fast and agile, and very intuitive....I can't help but race around my face with reackless abandom...I did get results as close as my best shaver (The Schick Simplified Automatic) albet, like with the E2....maybe a little more sting with the AS...ha,ha....Yep not quite as face spoiling as my C3...But very close and effortless...and Fast!

Thanks, my man...

I had previously used MDC in a couple of 30 day focuses. I was completely amazed at how little I was using. So, I decided to figure it out scientifically. I have a digital scale that reads down to .01 grams with which I have been measuring. I have also been measuring the usage every day and it varies only slightly, with a high of 0.32 grams and a low of 0.27 grams

So, I have used 4.87 grams in 16 days. I still have over 15 grams of the original 20 grams left over.
That means I have been using 0.31 grams / day (rounded up)
A jar of MDC is 200 grams. 200/0.31 = 645
Therefore, a jar should last me 645 days (rounded down), which is 92 weeks or 1.76 years
A jar costs about $75.00 delivered, and actually, I think it is now closer to $65.00 with the current exchange rate
So, $75/645 days = $0.12 / day (rounded up).

For me, MDC is absolutely worth 12 cents / day.

Searched high and low today for a block to no avail. But got a block of osma on the way.
Thanks for the tip on riding the doors of the razor, I'll be trying to be conscious of that on the next shave

I found a Mongoose in my mailbox this afternoon and immediately put it to work. I know it's OCtober, but I've waited 13 weeks for this, and besides, I also said my focus this month was to use previously untried blades, and I've never used any of the artist club blades so . I started with a hot shower using Stirling South Padre soap. I used the Kong to face lather some Soap Commander Connection, loaded in a Feather ProGuard at the advice of @Darkbulb and did a WTG pass. First impressions are this razor is huge and heavy but very smooth. The blade angle is just short of automatic and the audio feedback is ice and loud. I vas very impressed with the amount of reduction in one pass. Second pass, XTG was equally smooth and effective. Could have stopped there for a DFS+, but that's not my style. Third pass, ATG still smooth. Did a little touch up, but not as much as I usually have to do and finished up BBS. Only the slightest irritation along my jawline, probably due to operator error. All in all a great shave and a definite keeper in the razor arsenal.

You found the Mongoose on your mailbox? Wait, I think that was supposed to go to MY mailbox...

Oh well, glad you enjoyed it!

OCTOBER FOCUS - OLD TYPE

I've had two shaves with my late 20's Old Type after two weeks with my 1907 Single Ring. This Old Type, with its slightly thicker 102a cap, is a different animal than the Single Ring with its thinner cap. I'm finding that getting the proper angle is more difficult. My two shaves have been OK, but only CCS close. Although both shaves have been under duress since my alarm clock is on the fritz. But I'm loving this focus stuff. So now I've got get back to focusing.

Razor: Gillette Black Tip (X3) 1952
Blade: Voskhod Teflon Coated (4)
Brush: Omega 10066 Boar
Soap: RazoRock Don Donato
A/S: Old Spice Lime Cologne
Day 16

Great shave tonight. A BBS. One little weeper as I hadn't tightened the TTO enough. A good shave soap and an excellent A/S.


Had a few Wild Turkeys in the back yard this afternoon. Looked out front and there where another 14 I counted. Usually happens this time of year.