Glad to here it's not serious, on the bright side it appears straight razors are safer than wood working tools.

I'm glad you are enjoying the focus and finding it as helpful as I do. I think your idea for a blade focus is a good one. I was quick to dismiss the Astra sp last focus but the guys on here told me to persist as it was more than likely my technique. As always they were right and the Astra is now a great blade to use. Congrats on the progress

Hi guys - I'm back into focus. But it's a different one now ... I'll hope you'll take me back anyways.

Because my new Futur is such a fantastic shaver, I decided to focus on this razor for the rest of January. Explore the settings, try a few blades, improve my technique. I guess I will use a certain soap with it one week at a time and switch between my badger brushes every other day.



So today I used:

- RazoRock Mudder Focker
- WD 24mm High Mountain Badger
- Merkur Futur set to 4 (dialed it up after I took the picture )
- Sputnik blade (#2, used it once before in the R41)
- Tüff sensitiv Rasierwasser

At the risk of repeating myself: the Futur is an incredible razor. Today's shave confirmed my initial impressions

Did not shave yesterday because the R41 did such a good job on Saturday (after about 20 hours my face still felt like I just had a CCS). So today I set the Merkur on 4 and went to work.

I'm not sure how to describe how shaving with this razor feels like. Despite (or maybe because of) its weight it is pretty much effortless and I am never tempted to use any kind of pressure, since the weight of the head against my face seems to be sufficient to do all the work. It glides smoothly and at the same time you can feel (and hear) the blade doing its work. A great mixture of smoothness and efficiency. I had expected the razor to be much more aggressive on this setting, but it was very pleasant actually.

I did two passes WTG and A/XTG and did not bother dialing down for the second pass. Still much less rough than the ATG shave with the R41. A little touchup work at my right jawline (the area that always seems to need some extra work) and voila ... a very close to BBS shave without any trouble.

After the cold water rinse the Aftershave kept very quiet - almost no irritation. Just amazing.

Tomorrow I'll try the Merkur set to 6

Sorry to hear about your injury. Great to see you have turned it to be ever helpful for newbies hope you back on the straights soon.

@Bama Samurai I'm glad the injury was not to serious. I hope you have a full and speedy recovery.

I'm glad you continue to enjoy your futur I'm definitely giving one a try next month. I've only used short handled razors so it's time I try a longer handle and I think the futur looks stunning. I look forward to your reports on 6. How do you find the lack of grip?

I'm sorry to hear about the injury Chris. I hope that you're recovery is quick and you can get back to the things you enjoy. I expect that woodworking is one of those??

1/11/16

Phoenix Double OC
Rapira Super Stainless (1)
Vulfix Super Badger (660)
Mitchell's Wool Fat
Georgetown G12 Scuttle
Pinaud Clubman Original

First shave with my Phoenix DOC loaded with a Rapira Super Stainless.
2 full passes: Pass 1 XTG. Pass 2: ATG. Both with very good reduction. A cool water rinse and a light amount of touch up in a few of my trouble spots brought home the baby. The Pinaud Clubman stung a lot today, but settled down pretty quickly. The MWF left me with enough lather for at least another two passes.

A nice comfortable BBS from the Phoenix DOC and the Rapira Super Stainless. I paid close attention to angles and the DOC behaved very well.

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

You are doing well with the DOC I think you have hit bbs every time since the blade change, if I remember rightly. Great results

I'm glad it wasn't the Straight that bit you. I am looking forward to your shave report with a DE to see if your thoughts on them have changed due to using a straight.

01/11/2016
Razor – AlumiGoose with Triad Ti
Blade – Feather Super Pro (4)
Brush – Rubberset 400 with Omega 49 Boar Knot
Lather – Reef Point Dragon’s Blood
Post - Witch Hazel followed by Fine Platinum



Much smoother and more comfortable shave this morning. A great 3 pass shave this morning ending in a near BBS. Reef Point soap was easy to whip up into a very good slick lather. The jury is still out on the Dragon's Blood scent. Finished off with a splash of Fine Platinum. Hope everyone has a great Monday.

Straights Focus January 11:

Homemade PS Oil
Stirling Synthetic Brush
Stirling British Leather SS
Ralf Aust 5/8
Stirling Unscented PSB
Stirling British Leather AS

I worked this razor on the pasted balsa board yesterday, and I noticed a big improvement. It just wiped through the whiskers. It was a nice, enjoyable shave this morning. My face got a DFS, while my neck is closer to CCS. As an added bonus,you wife happened to be up and told me a smelled nice on my way out.

SOTD
January 11, 2016
Prep: Hot Shower. Axe Energizing Face Wash Boost
Razor: Gillette Aristocrat Junior #49
Blade: Personna Lab Blue
Lather: Route 66-Retro Spice
Brush: Oscar11 28mm Silvertip
Post: Thayers Cucumber WH. Gold Bond Ultimate
Aftershave: Brut Dominant
Fantastic shave. I'm what I'd call a Bobcat kind of lather-er, 20 swirls and done. Ready to go. If I need to work a soap much longer it's not worth it, for me. Route66 is incredible and so easy to use, If you don't have at least one jar on Route 66 in your rotation get one. Today. Excellent customer service. Excellent ingredients. Excellent soap. Excellent skincare. You get the idea.
I noticed this morning that my British made Gillette Aristocrat TTO seemed to work smoother than the American version, so I picked up my British Rocket and the same thing was true. They seem better built, a tad more aggressive and smoother. Just an observation.
Day 2 of Brut.. Dominant was a tad bit better than Attitude, I'll try a generic version of the original Brut tomorrow. Macho!
Never let the things you WANT
Make you forget the things you HAVE!

Oh Chris!! Get better buddy! Go Bama!

1/11/16

Prep: warm wash
Lather: C.O. Bigelow cream
Brush: Omega 10066
Razor: Blackland Blackbird
Blade: Persona blue (5)
Post: Old Spice

I changed up my normal routine regarding passes today. The Blackbird gives me an instinctive shaving angle when I am shaving downwards but has not been as easy to catch on an upwards stroke, so I decided to make my 2 passes both from top to bottom. And the results are great! I'll try it again tomorrow!

The handle is smooth, but not slippery. I haven't had any problems so far, not even with soapy hands. I normally prefer shorter handles as well - I think the iKon bulldog and the standard Mühle ones are almost perfect. But I really like the Futur's ... maybe because of the shape...

Thank you much! It is definitely the nicest razor I have in my den.

Exactly what first came to my mind! Glad it was not a serious injury Chris (@Bama Samurai)! Speedy recovery getting back to those straights!

January 2016 Focus -- Blade search for the 1958 Executive

January 11

Razor: Gillette 1958 Executive adjustable
Blade: Ladas (3)
Brush: Stirling Kong
Soap: Stirling MITA
Post: Cold water rinse, Witch Hazel M-bombed, Fine Snake Bite


Menthol Monday shave today after not shaving yesterday. Today is the last day with the Ladas, which was again an excellent blade. Day 3 was no exception. The first pass was nice and smooth, set on 7 to get good reduction on the beard growth. Did an excellent job. The ATG second pass set on 6 also felt very nice and smooth. A little touch up (maybe a tad more than the last two days) on the Adam's apple area and the chin and I was good to go. A DFS+ shave with no irritation.

Loved the menthol today on a nice cool morning. I basically shaved, splashed on the AS which had some good menthol bite (not the irritation kind of bite fortunately) and then walked outside with the dog. Wooo that felt good and definitely woke me up! Nothing like menthol and below freezing temperatures!

The blade for tomorrow will be . . . picked later today because I forgot to this morning.

Oh and ROLLLLLL TIDE!!!!!!

Is that Brut reformulated somewhat from the kind Joe Willie Namath liked?