Razor Passaround - dpm802's Diary of a Mad Wet-Shaver

I received the passaround box Wednesday night ... hurriedly unpacked it when I got home from work. Read through the instructions, opened up each razor and looked it over, then got to work.

I had grown out a 5-day stubble in anticipation of my first straight shave in about 40 years. The box got here just in time since I was itching like crazy, and the beard made me look a lot scruffier than I like to be in the middle of summer.

I chose the Gold Dollar for my first shave. Despite what the instructions said about "beard reduction" using a safety razor first, I decided to just plunge ahead and feed all 5 days worth of whiskers to the straight. Lathered up with a RazoRock Plissoft and Arko puck put on top of Proraso Pre-shave.

There was an awful lot of tugging. It was not a comfortable shave. The razor felt awkward and unwieldy no matter how I held it in my hand or how I positioned my face. Being that the straight razor is so much longer than a DE, I nicked a little off the side of my goatee, and totally missed a line of whiskers at the top of my cheekbone.

I used a lot of short strokes for the first pass. I was able to do longer strokes for the second pass. All were WTG, N2S.

There were a lot of missed spots, especially along the jawline. After I rinsed off the lather, I applied RazoRock Alum Stick wetted down with Thayers Original Witch Hazel.

Best of all, there were no nicks or weepers (knock on wood.) The alum stick didn't burn when I applied it, and it left my skin feeling nice and smooth after the WH dried down.

Aside from the tugging during the actual shave, my skin felt okay, but there was a lot of redness but no noticeable burning. I'd rate the shave as CCS+ aside from the missed spots. It was good enough to go to work or out shopping, but I wouldn't want to be out on a date looking like this.

My second shave went a little better, since I was only dealing with one day's stubble.

I did the same prep as yesterday. Put the razor to work and was able to control it a little better than the first time, but I still cut off a corner of my moustache unintentionally.

The tugging was still there, but nowhere near as bad as it was the first day. I got through 2 passes and still had a lot of missed spots, so I cleaned these up with a Merkur 34G with Derby(x2). I had intended to use something even milder, like a Fat Handle Tech with a fresh Derby blade, but the 34G was already loaded and ready to go, so I used that. I'll probably load up the Tech for the next shave.

When I put on the Alum stick and WH, there was some burning. It was noticeable but not painful. The redness was still prominent, though. It took several more hours before my skin color returned to normal. But again, no blood (knock on wood.)

Here it is the morning after, about 12 hours after the shave, and I still have a presentable face to take to work. I would even go out on a date like this. In other words, I think my technique is getting better.

George86 included a Whipped Dog "Poor Man's Strop" in the package, so I wrapped this over the towel-bar in the bathroom and tried it a few times. If I remember, I strop it before each pass, but I'm not 100% on this, since I'm learning new habits. Over the weekend, I may try laying it down on my desk so I can be assured of a flat surface.

I don't have any vaseline around the house, so I coated the blade with olive oil after I had rinsed and dried it. I might pick up some petroleum jelly today if I remember, but the olive oil seems to be doing a decent enough job. It is easy to apply and wipe off with just a piece of toilet paper.

There are some good vid's on YouTube for stropping. If the tugging is excessive the razor may be in need of a touch up. I generally only use a grease like petroleum jelly for long term storage. Between shaves I'll give a razor a light wipe with mineral oil.
No blood is a good shave! Slow and easy rules the day with a straight! =)

I'm on my second razor and third shave with the pass box ... A Landesfrary & Clark model, I would judge it to be a 4/8 half-hollow, but I might be guessing wrong.

I like this one a whole boatload better than the Gold Dollar. It feels more natural in my hand, and it shaves much smoother and more comfortably than my first two attempts with the GD.

I had taken 2 nights off and was shaving right after a shower. I put some Noxzema on my beard, and scrubbed my face with an Ayate cloth for extra exfoliation. I lathered up with a RazoRock Plissoft and Acca Kappa 1869 cream.

This shave was very easy compared to the first two with the GD. I was able to take longer strokes and didn't feel any tugging. I had better control this time and avoided slicing into my goatee and moustache like before. I only did one pass and cleaned up the missed spots (again, mostly along the jaw line,) with Merkur 34G.

I did suffer a very small cut under my right ear. I thought I felt it when it happened, but it wasn't until the end of the shave and I wiped off the razor with a tissue that I noticed a tiny bit of blood in the lather. No big deal. When I rinsed my face and applied Alum+WH, it didn't sting or anything. And there is no redness this time.

Faceturbating as I write this, I find there is still a tiny bit of stubble in some places, so I would rate this as CCS+ ... I'm sure if I had gone back and done a second pass, I would have gotten it all and I'd be rocking a DFS at least. I'm certainly looking good enough to face any social situation, including Date Night.

My next shave will probably be Monday night, giving this stubble about 36 hours to grow back out.

Sometimes folks have an easier time starting out with a bit narrower blades in the 5/8 range. The bigger blades are somewhat less maneuverable and there is a temptation to add pressure to the natural force of the heavier blade, resulting in irritation. It's sometimes tough to attain 'the touch' with heavier blades.

Trial and error. Some razors work better than others. It is a very high YMMV thing. I am glad it is working out for you. One thing I would suggest that helped me out is don't touch up with a DE to see how your progression is going.

Also Doc's advice regarding a very shallow angle helps out a bit with shaving and minimizing the cuts/nicks. Stretching is key too. When I first started, I kept on figuring out different ways to stretch the skin to get a closer, comfortable pass.

Take your time and enjoy it. When you speed things up, stop and slow down again. False confidence left me some scars.

Sounds like you are off to a good start. I'll be excited to keep reading!

I took a couple days off from shaving with a Straight.
My last two shaves have been with DE razors. First a Progress, then an English Ball-end Tech.

The next razor I'm going to use (probably tomorrow night) is labeled "Unknown."
It has this mark on the blade.

so I've been taking a couple of days off from shaving ... just been too busy with other things.

The shaves that I did get to were done with DE razors, just for the sake of speed and erogonomics of the moment.

I took a few pictures of the logo on that Unknown razor,
but as usual, I can't find it in the cloud.
I really need to get that fixed.
When I find it I'll upload it here.

In the meantime, it looks like a Caduceus (that medical services symbol with two snakes),
but there is only one snake coiling around the sword. Above the sword is a crown.

Anybody know what this symbol connects to?

I'll probably pull off a StraightRazor shave Saturday night after work.

dpm802 said:

In the meantime, it looks like a Caduceus (that medical services symbol with two snakes),
but there is only one snake coiling around the sword. Above the sword is a crown.

Anybody know what this symbol connects to?

I'll probably pull off a StraightRazor shave Saturday night after work.

Click to expand...

The rod of Asclepius, with one snake, was actually the traditional medical symbol, but the US adopted the Caduceus in the mid 1800s.

Does it look like a flamel?

What about the Aesculap logo?

There are photos of a possible Aseculap over in this thread

Some Googling turns up some additional Aesculap razors photos and details of the modern company. There is a US arm, and the German arm now makes electrical clippers for surgical prep, barbers, and pet grooming.

In the meantime, it looks like a Caduceus (that medical services symbol with two snakes),
but there is only one snake coiling around the sword. Above the sword is a crown.

Click to expand...

Off chance, maybe ERN. ERN used snakes, crowns, swords, and eagles in their logos. But there again the shank would be clearly stamped ERN... Find the pic! =)

ciderguy said:

The rod of Asclepius, with one snake, was actually the traditional medical symbol, but the US adopted the Caduceus in the mid 1800s.

Does it look like a flamel?

Spoiler

View attachment 684531

What about the Aesculap logo?
View attachment 684530
There are photos of a possible Aseculap over in this thread

Some Googling turns up some additional Aesculap razors photos and details of the modern company. There is a US arm, and the German arm now makes electrical clippers for surgical prep, barbers, and pet grooming.

Click to expand...

I think that's it. I took pics but they got misplaced in the #cloud.
I'm not near the razor right now but AFAIK I think you nailed it.

Thanks ... I'll be ready for my next shave maybe Tuesday night.

Monday night. On vaca at my sister's house. Had a really nice whirlpool bath and long soak in epsom salts yesterday, rocked it out with an all-Nivea shave. EJ89L & AstraSPx1. DFS++ in one pass. Superb all the way around.

I'm going to do another whirlpool bath tomorrow night.
And then set up with the Unkown razor,
which now seems to have more identity, thanks to your detective work.

And for tomorrow night, I think I'll still be rocking the Nivea line.
I really like their ENERGY shave-gel. I want to get more from the ENERGY line.

still at my sister's house.

Lathered up with Nivea ENERGY gel and a Plissoft brush. Put the UNKNOWN razor to work.

I found this one awkward to hold. I couldn't get all parts of my beard and I didn't even try. I found myself using short, choppy strokes, but by careful placement I seemed to get good whisker reduction across the cheek.

Doing the neck was easier. I'd normally go NS with a DE, but this razor seemed to lend itself to SN strokes. That's ATG on the first pass, but it felt fine.

I think I'd like this razor more if I were shaving someone else. It is not very user-friendly for the self-shaver, but I could see myself doing OK with another face to shave. I believe this was in some way more of a medical razor rather than for shaving in the field.

That insignia has a cool history though. I'm not sure where the tie-in to razors came about, though. I get the feeling that shaving was not its inteded purpose.

So how long am I allowed to keep this box?

I've had it about 2 weeks I think? Been through 3 razors and 4 shaves. I'd like to go through it faster but this is not the right time for that.

I've been through 3 razors and used the Gold Dollar twice. I'd like to get 2 shaves in on all these razors, but at the rate I'm going that might take a while.

So is there any deadline for when I have to send it off to the next guy?

doc47 said:

You may keep them this week, but if you would mail them on next Monday that would be perfect. Thanks.

Click to expand...

Thanks ... I can try the other razors at least once or twice in that time grame.

Who is the next guy?

I used the Blue Diamond razor last night.

Quickie prep with Nivea Moisturizing Face Wash followed by ARKO/Nivea gel Superlather. CB-QCV splash to finish it off.

This razor was very sharp. Had to use lots of short strokes, but I got BBS in one pass ... at least on those areas where the razor went to work. Some parts of my face were inaccessible, like I always seem to have a lot of trouble with the jawline. I touched up those with a Progress/AstraSP. This razor seemed awkward and hard to hold, but it did a good job, at least on the parts of my face that it worked on.

I've got one more razor to try, and then the quintet will be sent off to the next guy.

Speaking of which ... WHO IS THE NEXT GUY?
PM me with an address so I can get the box prepped and sent off on Monday.

I had my last shave with the Torrey razor just now.

I was going to just send it off without trying this one, but I'm glad I waited.
This razor is by far my favorite out of the 5.

I'm just guessing, but I think its a 6/8 Full Hollow.
It is extremely well balanced and I couldn't ask for a sharper edge.
The scales were the best looking out of all 5, also.

I washed and pre-shaved with Nivea Moisturizing Face Wash,
SuperLathered on top of that with Spieck stick and cream.
No brush, I just fixed it all up by hand.

The Torrey took down a 3 day beard in 2x WTG passes,
I even tried it going ATG under my chin, and it passed that step with flying colors.
I was even able to hold it in my left hand and it felt comfortable and natural there, as well.

Followed up by doing touchups with a Merkur Progress with IKon knob,
AstraSP on shave 4(?), Progress set on 1.
Finished with a good hot rinse and cold rinse and Nivea Sensitive ASB.
This may not be True 100% BBS, but its closer than I've been in a long time.
I'll be Faceturbating clear through to Monday morning, I think.

I really, really like this Torrey razor.
Out of all 5, this is the one that would make it into my regular rotation,
even if I only used it once a month or so.