OCtober Focus Day 28:

Homemade PS Oil
Stirling Synthetic Brush
TSD Lanolin Egyptian Spice
Gillette New LC
Stirling Unscented PSB
Clubman Vanilla AS

After reading all the comments on riding the cap, I decided I would really focus on that this morning. I can say that I was able to get my neck smoother than I ever have with a DE. I definitely learned something this morning. I thought I had my angles down, but now I see I had some room for improvement. This is why I like this thread so much.

+1

10/29/2015
Razor – Wolfman OC with Hempel Ti
Blade – Feather (3)
Brush – Romera Olivewood Synthetic
Lather – B&M Seville
Post - Witch Hazel & Myrsol F/Extra



I get consistently great to fantastic shaves with the Wolfman/Feather combo and this morning was more of the same. The combo is most comfortable and efficient DE set up that I have. I have transferred the remainder of the B&M Seville to a shave stick. This is proving very easy to use for face lathering. Finished off with the usual witch hazel with menthol followed by a splash of Myrsol F/Extra. Hope everyone has a great day.

30 day focus - Day 29
Fat Boy set to 9
Dorco 301 Blade
MDC Face Lathered
3 passes

I decided to finish off this 30 day focus with a Dorco 301 blade. The more I use this, the more I like it.

For a frame of reference, what are some of your other favorite blades?

Druida's 24mm Manchurian is a premium knot. Extremely soft, good density with remarkable backbone, it generates lather quickly. It has excellent flow through yet holds an incredible amount of lather.

Thank you. My Manchurian knot is on the way to Doug to get a worthy handle.

Side: A 'Singing Vintage'

No problem! What will be the loft of your new Dougie?

I will firm it up with Doug but somewhere between 48-50 mm.

Nice! I'm partial to '49. My birth year. Geeeezer!

OCtober - Trick or TREET
October 29

Razor - Gillette New LC
Blade - (1)
Brush - Vie Long 12601 The Pony
Soap - Tabac
Post - Cold Water, Alum, Nivea Original

Well here we are, the final three days of the month and the final Treet blade. It's the 7days Platinum and it is totally new to me. Didn't even know it existed until a month or so ago. The Treet Platinum in the orange and white wrapper...that one I know and it performed very well. Which begs the question, why add another Platinum to the line up? I suppose Treet could be trying to freshen up their look and line up, or the 7days may be a claim that this blade is good for 7 days. I don't know about that but we'll try 3.

The Pony and Tabac to day for the great lather. The scent helped me get moving a bit better. One of those lazy mornings. And, the Gillette New LC finished OCtober with an open comb. I made one change to the razor, swapping out the Contract Tech handle it came with for the fat handle from my post-war Tech. The difference in feel and balance was awesome. I may leave the fat handle on it.

First pass was really very impressive. Smooth, a bit more audible feedback than most stainless blades but I don't mind, and the result was great. Second pass was XTG and again smooth, nice, nothing to complain about at all. In fact, I ended the second pass DFS and very nearly quit there. As it turns out, that would have been wise. The third ATG pass followed by Gillette Slides on the neck was still smooth but I opened one weeper on my left neck. Plus, the redness of a nice irritated shave showed up. Alum confirmed the neck being very unhappy with me and my face wasn't very happy either. Still, I could call it a BBS except for the weeper so we'll stay DFS.

Platinum blades have sometimes been a problem for me, especially the Gillette's from St. Petersburg. Indian platinums usually treet me very well so we'll see how the Pakistani Treet works over three days. Again, the original Treet Platinum doesn't phase me at all.

Have a great day!

Today was day three with the GSB.

I learned a lesson today. Don't try and improve on a routine that works. All month I have been doing two pass shaves with touch up on my jawline and neck for consistent BBS. I have a late flight today and had some extra time this morning so I decided to do an extra pass. I ended up with irritation and a couple of weepers. The worse part is the shave was no better. I don't blame the blade. In fact GSB is still one of my favorites.
SOTD
Arko
AoS badger brush
EJ DE 89
GSB (3)
Have fun!

Well their chance is only as good as their next starting pitcher, but yes it is doable.

In fact, not that this makes it so, but...

The last time they won in 1986 they lost the first game by one run and then lost the second game by a score of 7-1.
Coincidence? Perhaps?

But then this was the famous Red Sox collapse of the next four straight for the win.
It is possible.

(However, from a baseball purist perspective - the Force is quite strong with KC)

On Feather...

After over a year of DE, I finally tried. I took the consensus advice that Feather is not a good blade for learning, so until this point, I purposefully avoided the tuck I had in my blade stash. Lately, @mrchick and @wristwatchb had encouraged me to try, and extolled the virtue of these blades. It seems that Feather blades might be slightly thinner than the GSB I love so much, but I believe the Feather is a bit sharper. The notorious harshness didn't show itself in my first shave. Now about performance...the blade had nice glide, this means it's quite sharp. I really tried to work in all the techniques, like stretching and buffing, and was able to get a shave so smooth--that 16 hours later I still look clean shaven. I can feel slight rough stubble, but WOW, this shave was really close. The Alum didn't burn any more than on an average day with GSB. The blade sees day two later. I expect great results again!

My conclusion:

There are no "good" or "bad" blades for learning. I think Feather has earned it's reputation much the same way Derby has earned it's reputation. New shavers try Feather, and the muscle memory from cart shaving causes the blade to scrape their faces badly. Just like Derby...

Feather may be one of the finest blades available, but my experience showed me that indeed, "techniques trump tools", and that statement works both ways. I could tell that had I tried these blades when new, my face would have been really torn up. So, I suppose that telling brand new shavers to try something else first isn't a bad idea, it will save them some pain. However, the reality remains that poor technique results is disappointing results, no matter the quality of the equipment. It is shaves like these, and the earlier posts about blade angle that have me wondering if shaving's orthodox advice results in new shavers learning less than optimal technique...thoughts?

I agree with you. I tried Feather as part of a sample pack when I was new to wet shaving and butchered my face. I came back to Feather after about six months and got wonderful shaves. They are now one of my favorites!

I have yet to try feather because of the stories of how sharp it is and the fact it is not "recommended" for newbies (except by @PLANofMAN I believe). I am starting to think it is time to give the feather a try myself and see for myself.

I think having a newbie use feather could turn them away if it does butcher their face and they are not the type to stick to something and really give it a chance before deciding it is not for them. Would using feather earlier teach better technique quicker, maybe. Would you possibly have more drop out and go back to cartridge etc, maybe.

I think it really has to be a person's personal comfort. I think it is important for them to have the information that it is an incredibly sharp blade and see the experiences of others like @mrchick who used it early and had bad results, but now uses it and loves it. I think the new shaver just has to decide the risk they are willing to take in order to learn. Personally, I was not willing to start with Feathers and instead worked my way through some of the standards like Astra SP, GSB, etc. As always YMMV!

I think shaving is a lot like other activities such as motorcycle riding or shooting. Each require the new user to spend the time developing basic skills and to continue honing those skills until they are ingrained in ones muscle memory. All three of the activities listed have huge choices in equipment to use. Many times this works against new users. They spend their time and money in search of the perfect tool to achieve the results when all that is required is solid practice.

For new shavers I believe sampling 5 or 6 blades is more than enough. Pick one and start to practice on the technique. Perfect can be the enemy of good enough. Your taste in blades will change as your skill improves anyway. The same with razors. Just pick one and practice. After getting the technique down, you'll know better what you want in the razor.

The other similarity in the activities noted above is for participants to get caught up in the smallest details, be it tire pressure, blade choice or the bullet weight/powder combo. This level of detail can overwhelm people new to the skill. While all these details do matter, they matter less to the new user. The small details matter most only after you have the basic technique down. Then you can appreciate and recognize the small changes producing the results you desire. Plus you have a solid baseline in case experimenting does not produce positive results. For me, I know I have fully mastered a skill when I no longer overthink what I am doing, but just do it. It becomes more Zen like and I can just enjoy the experience.

...and while we're at it let's break out the Ouija Board!

Desperate times call for desperate measures!