December Focus
The Twelve Blades of December!
Hard to believe we've almost put this year to bed. Wow. Where did the time go? But, here we are and as a gift to everyone here I'm offering up my shaves with twelve blades that have never touched my face, randomly paired with twelve of my DE razors. Two shaves with each setup to finish on Xmas Eve. So, sit back, get the fire burning and enjoy what I hope is an enjoyable month of further proof Technique Trumps Tools. I hope for that....my expectations aren't as optimistic.
December 14
Razor - Rimei A2002
Blade -
![[IMG]](proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Ftheshaveden.com%2Fforums%2Fattachments%2Fvincent-vt300b-jpg.85688%2F&hash=f5df9dc3d5c4e84591909254b560940d)
(2)
Brush - BoS Omega 10066
Soap - Mitchell's Wool Fat
Post - Cold water, Alum, Nivea
Finally, it's the WEEKEND!! Wait, not for you? Sorry about that. I'll keep the celebrating down. Monday morning and it's my weekly head shave ahead of the main event. Last week's head shave didn't work too well as I somehow managed to slice myself behind the left ear. Going to pay a bit closer attention to that stroke around the ear to see if I can avoid that. Still wondering how I did that. Merkur 23c and Astra SP along with VDH Deluxe soap and boar brush as always. And, other than a nick in a rough spot it all went well. However, it took some doing so I'll be changing the blade for next week. I usually go 3 shaves on the blade but I'm stopping after 2 this time. I feel like maybe I got a dud as it just didn't work as well as normal for the Astra SP. It happens.
On to day two of the Remei A2001 and Vincent blade from China. The blade was good yesterday, but again it's made in China for an American company, Sewicob. BoSFat for the lather and it really exploded into life today. First pass felt very smooth and I went into the second pass with high hopes of a DFS. Found some touch up work needed after the second pass and thought I had the high DFS. Afterwards, though, I discovered as I worked with the alum and Nivea that I can't call it that. I would have needed a third pass to accomplish a good DFS. The result is a barely DFS if I'm a bit generous. Still not a horrible shave but not what I thought as I finished. I'm blaming that largely on the Remei, however. It is a mild razor even with the blade a bit straighter than most. Just takes more work to get where you want.
My overall impression of the Vincent is that it is a quality blade. If the shavepocalypse happened tomorrow and all I could find was a stash of Vincent blades I'd be perfectly happy. Not thrilled, but happy.
Now, for those who are bored or want to pretend they're interested, here are some observations I have made over the past 14 days and 7 blades. I know I have 5 to go, and a couple of them, well more than a couple, are probably going to be horrible. But, I have noticed that so far I really haven't had a horrible experience with the ones I've used. Even the Gentle Man, wherever the hell it's from, wasn't bad enough to throw away. And, the Cloud from Shanghai turned out to be usable. Certainly more than any other Chinese blade except perhaps the Rimei blade. Is the improvement based on the fact I'm on a better batch of blades or is it something else? We know that the 30DC started almost a year ago in the belief that Technique Trumps Tools. The 3 T's that are our mantra here. The proven theory that if your technique is strong enough you can use any tool (razor, blade, brush, soap) in any combination and still attain an acceptable shave.......unless a tool is defective. Blades that aren't sharpened evenly, razors with broken parts (or just made in the Soviet Union), soaps that won't lather and stink like bug spray (Williams) and brushes that would rather shed than lather are all examples of potentially defective tools.
After nearly a year of working technique with a variety of razors, both good and bad (and a few horrid) as well as too many blades to count, and a solid month on the Feather SS AC, I have noticed my technique has evolved considerably. Especially after the pain stick I notice myself making minute angle adjustments with DE razors now. If a blade tugs a bit I will add or subtract a fraction of angle to try and find a smoother spot. My theory is that because I worked with the pain stick and its potentially 180 degree range of angles, which traditional straights and kamisoris also provide, I developed the feel for a blade on my face and how it is performing at any given angle. I also developed the ability to adjust that angle by the tiniest of degrees. With a pain stick you do that to avoid cutting your throat while still getting a shave accomplished. With the DE's I find myself doing it to try to smooth out and get a more effective pass. So, technique in varied types of razors and systems does translate to other systems and razors and helps develop the skills to truly accomplish TTT!
My apparent lack of self-survival instincts in using so many potentially horrible setups has been a grand experiment to see how far the three T's can actually be effective. And, the question that now comes to mind is "how defective does a tool have to be to be beyond the reach of TTT?" The answer, through trial and discovery, may be closer than you think........stay tuned!
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