BradWorld's Shave Journal

[BradWorld]

Shave number two with the OG white box platinum. Not great. Not bad. Solid DFS. A little neck irritation. Not much. With the light blue box Platinum there would have been a DFS+ or BBS result, and no irritation if I did everything by the book.

The CG copper is just awesome.

And Passiflora is amazing stuff. Sad my tub is nearly empty. Maybe 3 or 4 more shaves left.

And the Wald speaks for itself.

Nice shave.

 

[BradWorld]

Today's shave was a wee bit special. Not very special. But it was one of those shaves that hit home a bit.

My wife was at a family function last week while I was on the road. Her older brother happened to mention he was having trouble shaving with carts. Irritation. Ingrowns. High cost. Etc. She told him to call me. Which he did. We talked a bit. We agreed that I would make him up a DE kit. He apparently uses a brush and soap. So he is partly there already. But I'll make him up a full kit anyway, and deliver it on Christmas eve, at our annual family holiday gathering.

The challenge is that I am in the process of moving to a minimalist nomadic lifestyle. Moving a thousand miles away. And as such, we have been going back and forth between NJ and Florida for the past 6 months. Each trip down, we relocate a batch of stuff. So the vast majority of my razor collection is down in FL. We are in NJ, and we be here until after Christmas. D'oh!

So I debated the best course of action for this razor. Soap, brush, aftershave, blades... all easy. I have a small batch of all those things staged to give away before we leave. But all razors slated for downsizing have been sold or given away already. What to do?

So I was going through my remaining NJ stash. And there was a little Holy Black branded bag. Don't remember what originally came in that bag. It's been around for years and years. What was inside? A Pelican mint tin. Same size and shape as an Altoids tin! I opened it up, and inside was a nice 3d printed insert that I found online and printed. And in that improvised case was a late 40's English Tech. Perfection!

So today I shaved with that late 40's British Tech razor. It is a very nice user grade razor, with a close and comfortable shave. It's a bit more efficient than its USA counterpart. With a new light blue box Platinum, the shave was excellent. Of course not Wolfman/Blackbird close. But definitely good enough. And very enjoyable.

Why did I have this kit put together and stashed away for a half dozen years or more? I made this kit for my 3 week trip to the huge national Boy Scout Jamboree in West Virginia. 35,000 Boy Scouts and leaders living in an expansive camping facility with minimal accommodations, in tents. This kit served me well for that adventure, and then fell to the back of my razor cabinet. Buried behind hundreds of other razors. Wrapped up in its case and bag. Out of sight, out of mind. The poor thing.

So it's a fitting solution to gift this 1940s British Tech to my brother-in-law. It will breath new life into an otherwise forgotten razor. And I had one last shave with it. Priceless.

 

[BradWorld]

Mixing it up today. Vintage Personna BBS-0 with a CG Bishop in brass. Handles really well with the extra weight. Platinum blade did the cutting duties. Passiflora soap and splash. Leo Frilot custom brush. Excellent shave. Not the closest shave, but very smooth and very enjoyable.

 

[Balin]

Merry Christmas Brad!

 

[BradWorld]

Merry Christmas Brad!

Thank you. And same to you!

 

[BradWorld]

Christmas Day Shave. All of my cool holiday soaps are in florida at our new place. Especially my beloved B&M Dickens Revisted, which is my usual Christmas soap. So for my last shave in our NJ place, I continued with my effort to 3017 the B&M Passiflora. It didnt work. Still some left. And this stuff is too amazing to toss even though there is only a little bit left in the tub. So its coming south with us.

I thought it would be appropriate for me to use a really old razor today. I happened to have a 105 year old OLD Type sitting on my razor shelf. One of the last vintages I have here. So that got the call to duty. Gillette did so well on their first DE model. But as good as it is, there is a lack of refinement there. Its not so smooth. And with the Platinum blade (light blue box with white letters) the additional sharpness meant a couple of very small weepers on the lower neck region and under the chin. Nothing major. Gone before the cold water splash was towel dried off my face. But still, with a Wolf, CG, or Blackland, the shave would have been smooth as silk, completely drama free, and quite a bit closer than this OLD Type shave. Still... 105 year old razor. Awesome.

Honorable mention goes to the Wolf Whiskers one-off custom Tuxedo brush. What a marvel this brush can be. A lather monster of the highest order. And what a looker!

Merry Christmas to all that celebrate it. And everyone have a happy and healthy holiday season!

 

[BradWorld]

This is a late post. In more ways than one. Me and the misses have been through the rigors of moving. To make matters more complex and difficult, we are moving to the next step in our downsizing plan, which is into our RV full time. So we had to pack, sell, dispose, give away or donate everything we own. The physical move was one-thousand miles. Add the fact that we decided to do this during the holidays makes it even crazier. In the mix of all this was my birthday on Friday, which was the first full day at our new RV home base down n Florida. In an effort to take some time for relaxation amid the chaos, the yearly birthday shave got delayed by 24 hours. Then in the midst of all the unloading, and returning the uhaul trailer, this posting of the shave got delayed another 24 hours. But I got the shave done. And now I am posting the journal entry. The hard work is done, and we now need to settle in, organize our stuff, and continue to downsize. This downsizing will include a lot of shave stuff, and tons of razors that must be liquidated. As we get more and more settled into this minimalist and nomadic way of life, it has become more obvious how little stuff we should have in our possession. So keep an eye on the bst if you want some great vintage razors.

I have a good selection of M-4 brith year/quarter razors. And even one or two that are just the birth year representatives, as M-4 specimens have not yet been found. (Anyone with an M-4 Lady Starburst razor, hit me up!). But my main birthday razor is my M-4 SLIM that I had refinished in orange and black by Northshore Razors in Hawaii. What a great outfit to work with. BRG is the guy for vintage replating. But if you want to refinish your razor in cool or funky colors, reach out to Northshore. Great work.

To round out the orange theme, I used the 2023 B&B Paladin 28 mm in Ancient Orange. And an orange wrapped Gillette London Bridge blade. I started off by whipping up a lather with Nordost. You can’t get more a more orange soap than that. But since a lot of my soaps are still packed, I only had the Excelsior version handy. And the resulting lather was not luxurious enough for this great shave. So I nixed it and pulled out a tub of Fougere Gothique in Omnibus, which is awesome stuff! Finished up with some LGC splash, which features a top note of Bergamot, which is a citrus fruit classified as a type of orange, and features a very sweet orange scent.

Now it’s New Years Eve. I hope everyone has a happy and healthy 2024!

 

[thombrogan]

Belated happy birthday, Brad! Please have a happy New Year!

 

[BradWorld]

Belated happy birthday, Brad! Please have a happy New Year!

Thank you Thom. And happy new year to you as well!

 

[huck1680]

All the best!

 

[Guido75]

Happy belated birthday Brad! And hope you settle in nicely. Have a great 2024 in good health and spirit!

Cheers,

Guido

 

[BradWorld]

Happy belated birthday Brad! And hope you settle in nicely. Have a great 2024 in good health and spirit!

Cheers,

Guido

Thank you my friend. And a happy new year to you and yours!

 

[BradWorld]

Charcoal Goods Gen 2 Level 2 in Stainless. Mmm. Good stuff.

KCG blade. Rudy Vey STF. 42 soap and splash.

Great shave.

 

[BradWorld]

This shave is from Saturday morning. It was a busy weekend, so sorry for the late post. This shave was nearly the same as the last one before this. Except I swapped out the CG for a Wolfman WR2 1.15. This razor is quite a bit smoother than the CG. But no less efficient. This is what makes the 1.15 the top dog in my den for the last few years! It’s combo of smoothness and efficiency is unrivaled.

Everything else was the same. All top tier bits of kit. 42 has been my number one soap for many years. It was about to be dethroned, or at least equaled by Passiflora. But alas, the Passiflora was a one time release. And when I asked will if it’s coming back, he said he hasn’t planned that far ahead. So just by the nature that the Pf is almost out, and I can’t get more, eliminates it from the top of the rotation. So 42 remains the top dog soap. They are so close in performance and scent satisfaction anyways. Like I said, they may have been equals if they were both readily available. I have maybe two shaves left in my tub of PF. Maybe two or three years of 42 on hand. So there’s that.

The Rudy STF is my best synth brush. Unrivaled in my den. It’s amazing. Slays the Wald A1. It’s that good. Top dog too.

And the KCG blade is really one of the best blades. But it’s cost does eliminate it from being a regular in the rotation. It’s unfortunate. About $50 for 100. At least four times the cost that it should be. Bummer. It’s a sharp and smooth blade. And it lasts super long. I can get 3 shaves from a new Platinum in the light blue box. I can get 7 to 9 from a KCG. Similar overall shave performance. The one thing that puzzles me with the KCG is that my last two shaves there was some minor tugging around the mustache and soul patch areas. I need to investigate that further. I did have a few extra days growth with each of the last two shaves though. That may be the cause. So I need to wait four days, then shave with a Plat to see if the same thing occurs. Otherwise the KCG has been wonderful. I really like them since my first time trying one.

Stay smooth gents!

 

[BradWorld]

Another catch up post. Been ridiculously busy lately. So here goes. Some great shaves were had. So you get a 2-fer on this post! I hope you read it all.

Wed 1/10:

Wolfman WR2 1.15 Bronze OC Wide-Scallop
KCG (3)
42 Soap and Splash
Rudy Vey 2022 Contributors Brush 25 mm STF

Great shave. This WR2 is a beast. It is much more aggressive than my stainless solid bar 1.15. Dont know why. But contrary to reports from others, it is. Did Wolfman make a mistake when making it? Is it really a 1.15? Or is it accidentally a higher gap? I really doubt it. More likely the OC and the wide-Scallops changed the shaving dynamics just enough to bump it up in aggressiveness and efficiency. Still a wonderful hyper efficient razor.

Today, Sunday 1/14:

Timeless Polished 68 with smooth cap and scalloped plate.
KCG (4)
42 Soap and Splash
Rudy Vey 2022 Contributors Brush 25 mm STF

I have not used this Timeless in a long time. Before I got into Wolfman and Charcoal Goods, I was a Timeless fan. A big one. Had as many as four Timeless razors at one time. But alas, things change and I focused my attention on newer shinier toys. This 68 was the best of the bunch. It has the best combo of efficiency and smoothness. But it can not compete with the WR2 1.15. It never will. So in my efforts to downsize due to my new minimalist lifestyle, I am looking more closely at parting with razors and other gear that I love, but doesnt make it to the top of the rotation. This is one of them. So I gave this one a shave opportunity with the best top shelf soap and blade. Gave it every chance to provide a great shave. And it did! I got a wonderful shave. Ridiculously smooth. Very close. But not as smooth as a WR2. Not as efficient as a WR2. But still amazing. So sorry, this one has to go. Not sure when it will hit the BST. But it will. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe a few weeks from now. This one is going to be hard to sell.

 

[BradWorld]

Continuing with the similar theme.

Wolfman WR1 .80 OC
KCG (5)
Rudy STF
42 Soap & Splash

Great shave. Still the best OC razor of all time. No drama. Near BBS results. Very enjoyable.

The 42 is great stuff. My favorite for years. Trying to finish up this really old bottle of 42 Splash. I have a new one on deck. Looking forward to seeing how it differs. The bottle I’m using right now is from the Glissant era. I have two bottles of the Excelsior Splash. And a bottle of the 42 Omnibus Balm. Which is more like a lotion. Just need to get some omnibus splash next release. Good stuff.

 

[BradWorld]

Saturday morning shave. Went with the king of the hill today. The greatest razor I have. The Wolfman WR2 1.15.

Never lets me down. Always smooth and close. It it’s quite the looker as well.

Loaded with a Nacet, this razor made short work of three days of stubble. Not sure I’ve used a Nacet in this razor before. But it felt right at home. No drama. Near BBS results.

Been sticking with the 42 soap and splash, and the Rudy STF lately. More top of the rotation items.

Excellent way to start the weekend.

 

[Phoenixkh]

Saturday morning shave. Went with the king of the hill today. The greatest razor I have. The Wolfman WR2 1.15.

Never lets me down. Always smooth and close. It it’s quite the looker as well.

Loaded with a Nacet, this razor made short work of three days of stubble. Not sure I’ve used a Nacet in this razor before. But it felt right at home. No drama. Near BBS results.

Been sticking with the 42 soap and splash, and the Rudy STF lately. More top of the rotation items.

Excellent way to start the weekend.

View attachment 1783050

Are you finally here in Florida for good or are you still making trips back up North?

 

[BradWorld]

Are you finally here in Florida for good or are you still making trips back up North?

Since we are living in an RV, we are not going to be anywhere for good. At least not for a long time. But we have completely divested ourselves of our northern life. Except for our son. He is still up there. But yes, we are living at our new home base, and no longer maintain a residence up north.

It’s quite freeing to be location independent, and go where the wind takes us. We should be down here mostly until the end of May. Then we escape the heat and go on a nomad adventure for a few months.

I thought about you last night. I was in Gainesville playing at an open mic, and thought about our PM thread. I should have reached out. But it was too late by the time that thought arrived in my tired brain. Next time.

 

[huck1680]

It’s quite freeing to be location independent, and go where the wind takes us.

Interesting. So are you guys going to stay in the RV and not have a conventional house at all? It does sound like an attractive lifestyle.