Krodor's year of the GD66

OK folks, I probably won't update this all that often as the setup is boring, but that is the point. Here's the deal...for a couple years, wife and I have kept separate bathrooms, but recent changes in life have meant that we are now sharing the same 3/4 bath (used to be mine). Nearly all of my shave stuff is now kept elsewhere, and it presented a neat challenge for me...kinda like "minimalist", kinda like "challenge", kinda like "sabbatical", but mainly kinda like "cheap"...

Go a year of shaves with just...

• a stock Gold Dollar 66 (ok, shoulders dremeled down and out of the way)
• one brush (SOC Boar)
• arkie progression cuz it fits in a small box (soft, hard black, surgical black)
• one strop (Big Daddy)
• just witch hazel (generic from Dollar General, will buy more through the year as needed), but will use up the rest of a jug of MBR and some dregs of Clubman as part of this.
• use my little brick of alum every now and then.
• see how far I can get burning through the 4.5 sticks of Arko I have left from a multi-pack plus some half-used tubes of bigelow and barbon. Might have to pick up some vdH a ways into it, but that will be it.

I would go with the coticule (one stone solution), but this GD was one that has never seen anything other than arks...yup, I bevel set a fresh GD with Arkansas stones, so seemed good to keep it going. I've done a stock GD the whole way on a coti before, but I wanted to give this a go. I've always said that once you can figure out honing, you really only need 1 razor and you could be happy with it being a GD 66...nothing wrong with the shaves. Now it's time to walk the talk.

Currently, I'm 12 days into it (I'm a daily shaver, started Dec. 1st), and it's doing fine. Give it 50 strokes or so on the SB every couple days, and the shaves are plenty good.

I love these experiments. Thanks for sharing it in the clinic. Subscribed.

Definitely subscribing to this one.

I see nothing wrong at all with using a single straight, darn good strop, wonderful brush and a fantastic soap for a whole year.

I'm watching too.

I think you will do great with it!

Come on, one more itsy bitsy $3 razor won't hurt anything, right? You will survive, sort of like the way Paris Hilton would survive if she had to go out in public with Tinkerbell in a cheap canvas eco- shopping bag instead of Louis Vitton. But oh, the deprivation! You simply MUST have another razor! Whatever will decent people say?

I figured I'd show off every little bit of shave stuff I plan to be using for the next year. More for my benefit than yours, though, as I'd like to see how much honing has adjusted the GD, how much the daily use of the SOC brush will change things, etc. Enjoy!



First, the software...bunch of witchhazel (~1.50 each), 4 sticks of arko (little over a buck apiece), 3 pucks of vDH (call it $1.50 / each). I've signed up for the 2014 sabbatical, so I've got a question out there if that's enough soap. I think another witch hazel run would bag me a couple more bottles, but would 7 soaps last a year? I think so, but open to comment.



next up is the super-fancy $3.86 (free shipping!) razor. Feast your eyes, guys...this is one hot mamma. The rubber bands are there to roll up on top of the blade to keep it closed...don't want it falling out of the box and onto the floor and hurting something.



Box? What box? This box...some arkie hones came in this box ($35 bux for set of three + oil + box). I've since taken out the whiteish hone and put in my SB ark that I got for $25 from Paco (where's he been, anyway?) awhile back. No, the SB isn't big enough to properly fit, but oh well. I'm keeping the greyish hone, the "hard black" and the SB as the hones for the year (reserve the right to hone other people's razors with other stuff though)


contents of the box


CCW from the left, grey hone (the pink is from some Smiths honing solution awhile back), the hard black, and the SB


yes, I worked hard to get that SB that shiny (though there is oil on it...)


strops....Big Daddy (40 bucks? I forget) in the front, an old strop ($9) from a Dewey, Oklahoma antique store in back. Note that the felt side of the Big Daddy is blackened...yeah, it's been used a bit. That's not honing powder or anything, that's discoloration from stropping.



here's a close up of that old one. I have dowsed it with loads of oil to bring it back to life...it was dried up and almost crispy. I think it says "Sunabank" or something. Made in Chicago who knows how many years ago. has a crack in it, but works fine.



trusty microscope (radio shack, 12 bucks?) for looking at the edges:


silicone-saturated sponge from Payless ($3?)...I give the straight a couple strops on this right before putting it away to give it a little protective coating (man that stuff stinks the first few weeks)


trusty coffee-mug I got at the thrift store for a dollar, holds the arko:


Tabac bowl for lather-building (this was a splurge when I got Tabac for the first time...was it $20?). Love how the SB Ark is showing you we have a burned-out light bulb in the reflection:


my Cherry SOC Boar that will be the workhorse for the year (Christmas gift last year):



some honing oil from Home Depot, along with oil that came with the hones:



chunk of styptic (a buck?):


and finally, DE's for backups in case I'm in a hurry (two old DE's from antique stores for <$10 total + Muhle R89):

You should be totally fine with those soaps. A stick of Arko lasts me ~3 months, so when you add in the VDH, I think you'll actually have a unused puck or two left over. Nice little stones you have there as well.... shiny goodness!

I have an old beater strop that functions as my main go-to piece of leather. Funny how well that works, isn't it.

This must be what it's like to join a monastery. Well, maybe not exactly like. Good luck!

lmarkow said:

This must be what it's like to join a monastery. Well, maybe not exactly like. Good luck!

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well, that's part of it, certainly. It's good for me. Self-discipline, sticking with the "needs" rather than "wants", focusing on what's important...all that.

Also, I stuck the thread here as a way to help validate to new or would-be straighties that, though there is drool-worthy stuff posted in these forums all the time, if you just need a wholesome, basic straight-shave, it can be done pleasurably without too much investment. I also figured the photos / costs covering pretty much every little thing I use might help some folks.

Thanks for the well-wishes. So far, so good, it's been two weeks now and things are clicking along nicely.

Great post Krodor ! I'm just getting started with straight razor shaving, ordered a GD 208 & strop from buca on Wednesday, still waiting for them to arrive. Anyway you have given me some good ideas on the stuff (stones, oil, the sponge and the microscope ) I will want / need going forward. I'll be watching....

Completely agree with TTO, I'm just starting up and seeing everything you have/need is really helpful. If you don't mind, could you explain a little more about that sponge? From my understanding it is basically a replacement for oil to protect the blade, but I wasn't sure, as well as how you use it. Thanks

Off you go. I went minimalist over a year ago and haven't looked back.

Not sure if I would choose a GD to take to the "desert island", but whatever. I did go with a unfancy razor, I guess, for most of the same reasons as you.

You only need one DE for backup. Three is too lavish.

lucdj3 said:

Completely agree with TTO, I'm just starting up and seeing everything you have/need is really helpful. If you don't mind, could you explain a little more about that sponge? From my understanding it is basically a replacement for oil to protect the blade, but I wasn't sure, as well as how you use it. Thanks

Click to expand...

The sponge...yeah, it's kinda off the norm for sure. I've tried a gun-flannel (9 bucks), which is a cloth spritzed with silicone, and I've seen folks talk about "silicone sleeves" to put your razors in (sounds like gun-flannel sewed up in the shape of a pocket), and I've seen people use sponges to wipe lather off their blades during their shave. While we were picking up shoes for the kids, I saw this sponge near the 'register and the label says "The silicone-impregnated sponge is contained in a durable, easy to use reusable travel pack." I figured, what the hey, give it a go.

Stinks like crazy, but yup, I rinse the last lather off the blade from the shave, crank the hottest water I can and let it run on the blade for 20 seconds or so. This heats the blade up quite well. I quickly grab a square of toilet paper, fold it over the spine, and pinch-dry / wipe off the blade to right up to the very edge, then carefully get the edge itself with a delicate stropping motion. I then set it aside and rinse off my face while the heat of the blade drys off any last bits of moisture.

After face is reassembled into something to show the world, I strop the razor a couple times on leather, then a couple times on the sponge, then put it away. It leaves a thin coating of whatever is in the sponge (silicone something I guess) that doesn't dry off. Next use of the blade, the normal 60 passes on the leather and I'm ready to shave.

Hope that helps.

@Krodor, That was actually really helpful, thank you. I am not sure whether or not I will get the sponge, but whatever I end up using for blade maintenance, having the process in which someone maintains their blade so spelled it is great. Also, did you havev a problem with the gun-flannel, or was the sponge just cheaper so you preferred it?

lucdj3 said:

@Krodor, That was actually really helpful, thank you. I am not sure whether or not I will get the sponge, but whatever I end up using for blade maintenance, having the process in which someone maintains their blade so spelled it is great. Also, did you havev a problem with the gun-flannel, or was the sponge just cheaper so you preferred it?

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Nothing wrong with it, works great. Still have it and use it to give a nice shine / remove fingerprints before taking photos. I just like to try things that are cheap and slightly off the beaten path. I don't often generate entirely new paths never traveled, but I tend to stray alongside the path when I can (except when hiking in real life, cuz messing up nature more than the blazed trail is just wrong). we are straight-shavers in a cartridge-world, after all...

One other thing: the flannel is kept in a ziplock bag to keep it from drying out too much. That's no big deal to open or anything. The sponge is glued to the inside bottom of the container, so it's just a one-handed operation to open and close the container, which is convenient.

@Krodor, Alright, thanks a lot

Hi Krodor,

Love your project.

How is it going?


The problem with these expressions of minimalism is that you run the risk of just fading away and being forgotten. Well, I haven't forgotten you, and decided to put you back on the front page where newbies can see how simple this all can be.

I just joined the 2014 soap buying sabbatical with, I think, just enough soap to make it. I may be down to Barbasol at the end!

Good luck

Just saw this thread. I admire your determination to minimalize.

I, on the other hand, after a 94% successful sabbatical, am more interested in acquiring. Specifically, something like that Arkie set you got there. Got a source for that, my google-fu is on the fritz today it seems.