Struggling to get a comfortable shave

[justino_14]

Wow thank you everyone for all of the advise! I'm going to have to read over everything again to decide on a few tweaks to make to my routine. I usually shave before I shower, so I will try shaving after a shower.

 

[Dagabose]

I would start with just shaving your cheeks for a bit, and finish up with another razor. It will help you become more familiar with using a straight. Then your can move to other areas as you feel more comfortable.

 

[Staggers and Jags]

ive just honed up my razor very well the best i ever have. my issue wans there was some bouncing and skipping. for me to get a comnfortable no tug shave the blkade has to be half a spine width or less to cut the hair without tugging. feels almost like a DE on my face but a lot more comfortable. is it my technique causing this. i dont think its the razor. while it cant tree top it blew through my chest hair with no tugging

 

[rbscebu]

ive just honed up my razor very well the best i ever have. my issue wans there was some bouncing and skipping. for me to get a comnfortable no tug shave the blkade has to be half a spine width or less to cut the hair without tugging. feels almost like a DE on my face but a lot more comfortable. is it my technique causing this. i dont think its the razor. while it cant tree top it blew through my chest hair with no tugging

I have found the same. With a very well finished edge, I can reduce the shave angle down to about ¼ spine thickness and get a noticeably smoother glide over my skin. I love that feeling.

 

[Seelector]

My SR shaves have recently become even more comfortable after plateauing for a while. I remapped the beard on my neck and found a patch where the grain is at a completely different angle than the surrounding area. What I thought was WTG was actually somewhere between XTG and ATG. No wonder this spot was always red and bumpy!

Now that I actually shave this spot WTG the irritation has almost completely disappeared. Also, don't think you have to shave everywhere with 3 passes WTG-XTG-ATG. I shave most of my neck WTG-WTG-WTG. Sometimes WTG-WTG-XTG. Sometimes WTG-XTG-ATG if my shave is really clicking and i'm starting out with no irritation.

Aim for comfort rather than a BBS shave.

 

[Biltong & Boerewors]

What I thought was WTG was actually somewhere between XTG and ATG. No wonder this spot was always red and bumpy!

Sounds like what you discovered was very similar to my experience as discussed in this thread:

If you suffer from irritation on your neck, read this.

I often read that a lot of my fellow shavers suffer from the same complaint that made my shaving experience bearable at best, hell at worst. It only took me 35 years to solve the problem that has been annoying me, and I would love to claim that I solved it myself, but the truth is I saw it...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[Seelector]

Sounds like what you discovered was very similar to my experience as discussed in this thread:

If you suffer from irritation on your neck, read this.

I often read that a lot of my fellow shavers suffer from the same complaint that made my shaving experience bearable at best, hell at worst. It only took me 35 years to solve the problem that has been annoying me, and I would love to claim that I solved it myself, but the truth is I saw it...

www.badgerandblade.com

Wow that thread describes my neck almost exactly. Downward growth from the chin down to the last couple inches where it does a 180 degree change. Except there is one spot on the right side of my neck where it grows from the middle outwards that I didn't realize until I had another look at it.

Moral of the story? Even if you've mapped your beard, do it again paying close attention to the trouble spots. I found that standing in the shower feeling the growth direction with my fingers was the best way to map it. ATG really stands out as the prickliest direction, and WTG is the opposit direction.