Traveling Slant - Try Before You Buy

Had my first encounter with a slant this morning. I am intrigued by the possibility of adding this Merkur to my stable of razors. But, ...

Blade: Astral SP
Preshave oil
AOS sandalwood shaving cream
Alum block
Witch hazel & cold water splash
AOS post balm lotion, sandalwood
WTG, XTG, ATG passes

With the first two passes, this razor felt deceptively mild. I felt like I was shaving with my Gillette Tech. I could get this kind of shave from any of my razors.

As I finished the ATG pass, I knew the alum would light up my face, as it did. What I was pleasantly surprised to find was I required very little touch up on my problem areas. This razor was know looking good.

End result: a surprisingly BBS, even on my neck! I was left with some mild razor burn, but I feel that can be tamed with improved technique.

After a few more shaves, I should know if this razor is for me.

pbdc13 said:

End result: a surprisingly BBS, even on my neck! I was left with some mild razor burn, but I feel that can be tamed with improved technique.

After a few more shaves, I should know if this razor is for me.

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While the pass around was getting cranked up I actually had the razor for several weeks, and a number of shaves.

It absolutely does improve with technique. Maintaining blade contact angle is important.

I got tons of stuff out of reading through the B.O.S.S. thread. For anyone on the list waiting I strongly recommend reading through that thread as you're in queue. And like the rest of B&B the active participants there will gladly answer questions.

mrb7 said:

I got tons of stuff out of reading through the B.O.S.S. thread. For anyone on the list waiting I strongly recommend reading through that thread as you're in queue. And like the rest of B&B the active participants there will gladly answer questions.

Click to expand...

For anyone who doesn't want to dig to find it:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/317346-B-O-S-S-Brotherhood-of-Slant-Shavers

mrb7 said:

It absolutely does improve with technique. Maintaining blade contact angle is important.

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Had my third shave today with the slant. Still had some razor burn, but not as much. Concentrating on blade angle and pressure helped. Another shave tomorrow and I'll pass it on.

Wow slant came up faster than I thought. Any way I can slide down one slot? I have 12 days left on a 1 razor 1 blade challenge for the month of February.

CartridgesAreADrag said:

Wow slant came up faster than I thought. Any way I can slide down one slot? I have 12 days left on a 1 razor 1 blade challenge for the month of February.

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I'll send it to the next guy and move you down one. By the time you get it February will be over.

I had the pleasure of shaving with the traveling slant for the past week. It is an impressive razor with the weight of the handle just right for me.

My first few shaves with the slant were harsh. It left my face with razor burn and my neck with irritation. I wanted to give it up. But with advice from mrb7, I focused on technique and eased up on pressure. The last couple of shaves produced minimal razor burn, irritation and an improved opinion about the slant. My problem areas where no longer a problem - from the first shave to the last, the slant made waste of my beard. I was surprised that every shave left my face smooth, even if a little irritated.

Though initially aggressive and harsh, I found the slant to be a beast that can be tamed.

Will I buy it? Probably. Okay, yes I will. I like a challenge and the slant challenged my technique.

Just wanted to mention that the razor just got here, still in 1 piece. I'll have my first shave with it later today, thanks again!

Cacique said:

Just wanted to mention that the razor just got here, still in 1 piece. I'll have my first shave with it later today, thanks again!

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Hopefully its not just 1 piece...

Here's a quick update since I haven't posted since I got it.

That night I put a Personna Med in it and decided to do my 4 pass attempt at a BBS. I used Proraso white pre-shave cream, RR sensitive skin green tea soap, and the first 3 passes (WTG, XTG and GTX) went very smoothly and with no nicks, those all came on the 4th pass going ATG. I got some irritation and a few nicks, but nothing severe. I topped it off with some lavender Thayers.

For my 2nd shave I changed the soap to Proraso blue cream and decided to go for a 2 pass shave. This time it was a great, smooth shave, and I topped it off with some dollar store Old Spice clone. No burn, nicks or irritation. Unfortunately my beard is pretty dark and I had a visible shadow, but a nice SAS.

Today I'll try to go with a 3 pass shave and see how that goes. So far the razor is much easier to use than I expected, and it does seem a bit more efficient than my SC New, EJ89 or Tech. After today's shave I think I'll try to use a Feather in it and see how that goes.

I'm definitely in on this. I've always wanted to try a slant! Thanks everyone for lining this up. This is a great opportunity.

I'd like to join also.

1. Heron
2.
3. pbdc13
4. CartridgesAreADrag
5. Cacique
6. SyntheticEvil13
7. OKAllen
8. Efaden
9. BubblesTGB
10. Guzziknight
11. Stol3n
12. Tacticalpanda
13. 76GTFan
14. captaincaveman
15. Ender78
16. Shamful7
17. lmill999
18. texasAUtiger

Feel free to correct if I have the order wrong (missed someone).

Hey guys, I broke down and bought a new Merkur slant, so I'm gonna go ahead and move myself off the list. New list should be like this:

1. Heron
2. pbdc13
3. CartridgesAreADrag
4. Cacique
5. SyntheticEvil13
6. OKAllen
7. Efaden
8. BubblesTGB
9. Guzziknight
10. Stol3n
11. 76GTFan
12. captaincaveman
13. Ender78
14. Shamful7
15. lmill999
16. texasAUtiger

Thanks for the opportunity anyways!

TacticalPanda said:

Hey guys, I broke down and bought a new Merkur slant, so I'm gonna go ahead and move myself off the list. New list should be like this:

1. Heron
2. pbdc13
3. CartridgesAreADrag
4. Cacique
5. SyntheticEvil13
6. OKAllen
7. Efaden
8. BubblesTGB
9. Guzziknight
10. Stol3n
11. 76GTFan
12. captaincaveman
13. Ender78
14. Shamful7
15. lmill999
16. texasAUtiger

Thanks for the opportunity anyways!

Click to expand...

Be sure to let us know how you like it!

Count me in!

1. Heron[/COLOR]
2. pbdc13
3. CartridgesAreADrag
4. Cacique
5. SyntheticEvil13
6. OKAllen
7. Efaden
8. BubblesTGB
9. Guzziknight
10. Stol3n
11. 76GTFan
12. captaincaveman
13. Ender78
14. Shamful7
15. lmill999
16. texasAUtiger
17. Joshf128

Well, I'm glad to see that this is moving along.

One piece of advice, before you get the razor do a little reading. I got a lot out of the http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/317346-B-O-S-S-Brotherhood-of-Slant-Shavers thread.

What learned in my time with the razor is that it can be smooth as silk or an aggressive beast. It depends on your technique and keeping the blade angle correct.

I used it with IP reds and with Astra SPs. My regular goto blade is the IP reds (in a vintage Gillette, a Weishi, and a Mergress), but with the slant I found the Astra SP delivered a superior shave to the Reds. Exactly backwards from my experience with non-slant razors. I have no good explanation. YMMV.

Well guys, I got my 37 today and got a BBS shave easy. It's kind of scary how "boring" the razor feels on my face. It just glides through tough spots and I can't really feel any blade, it feels really mild to me. I think most people would really like the slant, I don't know where the aggressive label came from. Good luck guys!

TacticalPanda said:

Well guys, I got my 37 today and got a BBS shave easy. It's kind of scary how "boring" the razor feels on my face. It just glides through tough spots and I can't really feel any blade, it feels really mild to me. I think most people would really like the slant, I don't know where the aggressive label came from. Good luck guys!

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Glad it went well. I'm really excited to try the slant. I've been eyeing up the 37c recently so this traveling slant is just perfect. I just hope I can resist buying one... at least for a little bit

TacticalPanda said:

Well guys, I got my 37 today and got a BBS shave easy. It's kind of scary how "boring" the razor feels on my face. It just glides through tough spots and I can't really feel any blade, it feels really mild to me. I think most people would really like the slant, I don't know where the aggressive label came from. Good luck guys!

Click to expand...

My take on it is that the label really means "irritating" instead of aggressive.

If you keep the handle too close to your face, so the blade is moving towards a scraping rather than a slicing motion, the blade presents a very sharp corner protruding.

If you hold the handle out, so that the blade engages in a slicing motion, then it's very smooth.

mrb7 said:

My take on it is that the label really means "irritating" instead of aggressive.

If you keep the handle too close to your face, so the blade is moving towards a scraping rather than a slicing motion, the blade presents a very sharp corner protruding.

If you hold the handle out, so that the blade engages in a slicing motion, then it's very smooth.

Click to expand...

I found this to be true. My first couple of shaves with the traveling slant left my skin irritated. The last shave was much better. I had to adjust my technique to reduce the irritation.