Straights to the Finish Line!!!!
December 28 - It's Soviet Day!!!!!
Razor - This thing -
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No, I didn't force it to look like that....it actually folds through itself to provide an opportunity slice and dice before you even open it! This is mainly due to the lack of a spine on the razor. As @
Drygulch warned me when he sent it, it can "bite you" if you don't pay attention. Unfortunately I read that AFTER removing it the first time.
Brush - BoS - Omega 10066 - After all, the "Brush of Shame" is appropriate for two reasons. It provides the absolute surest lather with the soap I'm using, and it's pretty much ashamed to be seen with this razor.
Soap - Mitchell's Wool Fat. I debated going Tabac but MWF is usually a bit slicker for me, especially if I add a bit of extra water. I'll take all the help I can get.
Post - Cold Water, Alum, Nivea
I know this razor has a name but I don't care. It has become the Soyuz 1. I was using that name for a Soviet DE I have that is horrid, but this one deserves it more. The Soyuz 1, if you recall, was launched in spite of having over 200 known safety issues, all potentially fatal, and resulted in the death of Cosmonaut Colonel Vladimir Komarov in spectacular fashion. Basically it landed at full speed after burning through the atmosphere, smashing the capsule (and Colonel Komarov) into a metal pancake before exploding. They found a recognizable ankle bone from the Colonel. Or at least that's that they said the burned hunk of ash was. I figure this razor has about as many problems in proportion to its size, so the name seems fitting.
@
HolyRollah honed this thing, and I do NOT hold him responsible for the result. I think he was about ready to send it into a terminal landing as well given the quality, or lack thereof, of the blade. I'm just thankful he did the honing as I don't know if anyone else could have even given it a chance.
Head shave was today as well so a bit of time to contemplate how to make this thing work. And, once the dome was chrome, it was time. Whipped up a really rich Fat lather, added lots of water to my face, and lathered it up. Right side only as I figure this will take a bit of time. Picked up the red beast and went for the first stroke. And missed. Yes, I missed. I was trying to set the angle by observing the spine, which it doesn't have. Which made me go too shallow and literally just graze the lather. After a brief stare into the mirror to show my derision I reset and went again. Added angle, touched down lightly and started the shave. Let's see....what word best describes it. Rough. That's a good one. Tuggy. That's another. Pulling. Well, not too bad. Totally ineffective.....yeah that's the combination.
Finished the pass on the right side and realized that I hadn't really reduced the beard at all. Visually it looked like the left side, and it felt the same. Really? All that and nothing? Reached for my coffee as I shook my head, took a quick swig and......I'm not making this up......spit out the "coffee" gagging. I had grabbed my "N" mug instead of the coffee cup and taken a nice swing of brush soak water. Mmmmmmmmmm good. Nothing like a Mitchell's lukewarm soapy water rinse to make the day brighter. Fortunately I had only dipped the tips while lathering, and more importantly it wasn't Williams. No need to call poison control. Gagged, spit again, rinsed with water, got the actual coffee, settled back down and lathered up again.
Went another pass on the right side. Changed angle. Shallow, steep, in the middle, went WTG, XTG, ATG. Felt a couple of slips that would have been bloody messes with the pain stick and most likely the Rabbit. No cuts, just the general feeling of disbelief that I couldn't seem to make a difference. Finally put the razor down, rinsed off good and.....VOILA!!! I could find a "smooth spot or three on that side, and my neck was clearly a bit smoother. Now we're on to something!
Lathered the left and spent an equal amount of time working it down from full beard to something that seemed better. I am not kidding when I say it was about 5 passes total. And the result? Ok, I shaved. MAYBE the worst CCS possible. Definitely not close to anything like a real shave. However, I did get reduction and I could have gone to work with that much of a shave if I had no other option. Decided to do one more pass on the whole face. Lathered, went for a solid WTG and called it a day. Cold water rinse, grabbed the alum and baby did it burn. Not as badly as I expected but sheesh.....apparently my face was tired of having this thing run across it over and over and over and over and over.
Now, for the result. First of all, one weeper along the goatee line. I think it was more of a friction burn than a weeper actually. No other blood or anything like that. Honestly, the only way I could have injured myself was if I had gotten frustrated with so many passes and attempted to slit my wrists to end the misery. However, I'm not sure it would have been a fatal cut. Probably an irritating scratch.
The result WAS a shave that I COULD accept if I had NO other options. In other words, if this was the last razor in the world and I had to get a shave that would allow me to be acceptable in public it could be done. Does that mean that Technique trumped even this thing? I'm going Mythbusters on this answer.
I'm not willing to say that Technique won this one totally, but I am willing to say that perhaps with enough practice or just plain luck it is POSSIBLE to get a shave even a touch better than the one I ended up with. So, while not confirming the result as confirming TTT over this razor, I'm calling it PLAUSIBLE. Hopefully I would always have another option. Sharp rock, tin can, something. But in the worst case scenario, technique can make this work at least once.
As for another shave out of it I have one major concern. With no spine figuring out the strop on this thing will be challenging. It either won't strop at all or the edge will roll because I can't hold the angle right. Either way we'll see tomorrow. I will strop it and try it again to see if it makes a difference.
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