Tims straight shave diary

Well, I've taken the leap and ordered my first straight razor. Actually I have an old one but it's not shave ready at this point and I've never used it beyond practising stropping.

Anyway, Larry at WhippedDog has just sent out my beginner kit including strop and barber hone. He really is a great guy to deal with, highly recommended.

I've been DE shaving for some time now, but the idea of maintaining a blade sharp enough to shave with really appeals to me so here I go...

I'll be posting my progress or lack thereof here. Wish me luck!



(and yes, everyone I've mentioned this venture to thinks I'm nuts. Especially my wife who asked "why can't you find a hobby that doesn't involve sharp blades on your throat?")

I don't think you're nuts!

Good luck with your adventure. I'm a newbie too so if you have questions, ask away.

How did I know you were Canadian?

This does feel like a bit of an homage to my Grandpa, a true Victorian Englishman (born 1895) who never had any use for the new-fangled safety razors that came out in his lifetime. He swore that when he could no longer safely wield his cutthroat he'd grow a beard. I remember the beard but have no idea where his shaving kit ended up, I'm sure it's long gone.

Good luck with your first shave.

Always good to see some more fellow Canadians taking up the straight. Cheers!

My wife also questions my sanity.

Good luck and tell your wife that shave your throat with dull blades is even worse.

Good luck, please post your first shave!

dakotaev said:

Always good to see some more fellow Canadians taking up the straight. Cheers!

My wife also questions my sanity.

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Shouldn't that "cheers" be an "eh?"?
My wife stopped questioning my sanity years ago

My biggest challenge, has been working out how to strop . Apparently when I get that working, the rest will be easy

The shaves, certainly were easy enough going, the maintenance - not so much.

I have a butter knife in the bathroom and an old belt looped through a towel rack to practice with. I think I'm getting the hang of stropping but I won't know until I do it for real.
This is fun, it really feels like it's been a while since I acquired a whole new skill.

Good luck Tim, soon you'll be getting closer shaves than with your trusted DE

So, my kit arrived today! Looking forward to the morning and my first tentative steps into this new experience.

Any pictures?

My setup is nothing fancy, just a beginner kit from Larry at WhippedDog with a basic strop, balsa hone and a barbers hone. Probably not much to be of interest photographically.
I gave it a shot this morning and it was an interesting sensation to be sure. I'm a little raw here and there, and I nicked my earlobe (the razor is spiked).
It will definitely take a while to get a good feel for the straight shave, but I will persist when my face lets me know it's ready to try again. I did enjoy the feel of slicing stubble in such a primal way but my DE slim felt quite luxurious in comparison.
I have another razor on the way that I hope is rounded and perhaps better for a newbie.

Congrats dude! A small nicked earlobe is no big deal for your first, although a spike is probably harder to start out with for sure.

Keep posting results and let us know how it goes!

Well done on your first shave. I too enjoy the mowing down of stubble feeling. In between strokes I wipe my razor off on a damp towel and it always gives me tremendous satisfaction when the lather is completely blackened by stubble.

Shave #2 this morning, better but it will take a while to feel natural...
No cuts but a bit raw feeling. Clearly lots of things to work on; stropping, angle, grip, etc.
I'll keep plugging away trusting I'll get the feel for it in the not too distant future.

Timbit said:

Shave #2 this morning, better but it will take a while to feel natural...
No cuts but a bit raw feeling. Clearly lots of things to work on; stropping, angle, grip, etc.
I'll keep plugging away trusting I'll get the feel for it in the not too distant future.

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Thats the spirit...keep it up!

Got a couple of pretty impressive cuts this morning. It's the spike point that's the problem, damn thing is razor sharp!
As I said to a friend, if I cut myself like that with a Bic disposable it would be truly embarrassing, but doing it with a vintage spike point straight razor I can live with. I really am looking forward to getting my rounded tip razor back from honing, I think I'll be a lot kinder to my face with it.

Timbit said:

Got a couple of pretty impressive cuts this morning. It's the spike point that's the problem, damn thing is razor sharp!
As I said to a friend, if I cut myself like that with a Bic disposable it would be truly embarrassing, but doing it with a vintage spike point straight razor I can live with. I really am looking forward to getting my rounded tip razor back from honing, I think I'll be a lot kinder to my face with it.

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The spike can bite if you apply a bit of pressure toward the tip. If you don't want it to look like you were in a fight with a cat, I would recommend focusing on the heel of the blade for now.