XTG on neck: how?

Discussion in 'Shave School' started by Chuck F, Sep 14, 2013.

  1. Chuck F

    Chuck F Cheesy! Big Curd style

    I am having some trouble figuring this out. Necks (or my neck, at least) are curved enough that you can't get the razor head flat against the skin when going west to east or east to west. I usually go at an angle, NW to SE on the left and vice versa on the right. Still doesn't seem satisfactory, though, leaves a lot more stubble on my neck than face for the ATG pass.

    Any tips on this? Is it a common dilemma or is it just me?

    Thanks,
    -Chuck
     
  2. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    Hold you chin up and off to the left (for the right side of your neck) as you can. Use the hand not holding the razor to pull down and stretch the skin as much as you can. To get a better grip stretching the skin, wet your fingers then rub them on an alum block - instant grip.

    You can also try the "bullfrog" - tuck you chin down and into your neck as much as you can. This will cause your neck to bulge out a bit, similar to a croaking bullfrog, hence the name.
     
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  3. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    Oh, and just so you know, there are many of us who have trouble spot along the adams apple or just under the jaw line that are real boogers to get BBS. We have also learned to just do the best we can - sometimes we get the BBS, sometimes we don't. But I will tell you this, chase the Baby and you will get burned, literally. We've just learned to settle for a darn fine irritation/burn free shave and wait for the Baby to come to us.
     
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  4. Chuck F

    Chuck F Cheesy! Big Curd style

    Never thought of doing this. Sounds like it'd help a lot. Will also try the bullfrog.

    Yeah, I am not too concerned with getting BBS. But cannot seem to get an acceptable shave without an ATG pass.
     
  5. feeltheburn

    feeltheburn Well-Known Member

    My whiskers swirl around on my neck so much that WTG, XTG and ATG have very little practical meaning. I've found that a North to South pass and then a South to North pass do pretty well for me. That ends up being more or less XTG both ways. On my 3rd pass, I'll usually do a diagonal from the bottom center toward my ears which is sorta between XTG and ATG. If I go straight ATG on my neck, I'll usually get ingrowns so I live with slightly less than BBS on my neck. A tiny bit of stubble is much less noticeable than a bunch of red bumps.
     
  6. Jasman

    Jasman Well-Known Member

    Mapping the growth pattern on your neck as best you can, can go a long way toward improving the closeness of the shave, particularly when trying to go XTG. I know that, for myself, I have at least three spots on my neck and under my chin where the hair grows against the grain of the growth around it, so I have to consciously choose to reverse direction in those spots if I want them as smooth as I can get them (before irritation or nicks set in).
     
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  7. Chuck F

    Chuck F Cheesy! Big Curd style

    Yeah, I have a couple patches like that, too, that I've become aware of since starting wet shaving. I *think* I've got it pretty well mapped at this point.
     
  8. Sparkfly88

    Sparkfly88 plain

    At least your neck hair doesn't grow to the right and only to the right..... My neck is like a shark... Smooth one way, rough the other.

    Even using cartridges I have issues.
     
  9. Mr. Oldschool

    Mr. Oldschool Johnny Dangerously

    Yeah, my chin to adam's apple area looks like an eastward flowing stream that is being joined by a tributary. I have upward growing wiskers at the bottom of my left side of my neck that meet downward growing wiskers in the middle where they head to my right straight across my chin and then head all downward on my right side. I have to come at the left side from the two directions just get the WTG pass. Then I end up doing all north to south for a pass, all south to north for a pass, and a diagonal set of passes from my lower right toward the tip of my chin, and then continuing the same diagonal direction around my neck. The neck is the main reason my shaves take 30 minutes...
     
  10. Leo K.

    Leo K. Well-Known Member

    On the chin and neck I pretend I'm shaving the cream off the skin, using short light strokes.
     
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  11. Tdmsu

    Tdmsu Well-Known Member

    My neck is my only issue with shaving... I can get a great shave on my cheeks with any combination of gear.
    My beard seems to grow adams apple out, then down at an angle. I'm still looking for the best way to shave it... my biggest problem has been remembering not to chase the baby.
     
  12. DLreno

    DLreno Well-Known Member

    I used to try to go with my beard's map, which was all over the place, but now I rarely bother. With an aggressive razor (r41), sharp blade (Polsilver), and a light touch, one N-S and one E-W on the neck gets me a DFS. For me, this is the main advantage of migrating to higher levels of aggressiveness. With most other razor/blade combos, a 3rd diagonal neck pass (SE-NW) is usually necessary. With these 3 passes (N-S, E-W, and SE-NW) I can eliminate the S-N 4th pass and get about the same reduction, which for me is good since that 4th pass is what usually gets me in trouble.
     
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