Thread: For New guys

Originally Posted by guitstik

The one that I always stress is to find a mentor in your area. I am lucky because I had a Grandfather that taught me, I can only imagine what it is like trying to learn how to shave by video. A mentor can make the learning go just that much faster.

This is very true. My dad shaved with a DE when he was young but by time my brother and I started shaving it was disposables or cartridges. There was no learning how to shave with dad, it just was not necessary. Mentors can shorten the time one takes to learn but more importantly, help focus you on what is important. The shave!

+1 nicely put, nice detail of your learning curve

Very well put. There are lots of vendors out there that just want your money but SRD will help you. I believe Lynn is a part owner of that company so he won't mind if you pm him with what should you first start out with as a beginner. If you buy a razor from there, ask him to hone it for you. I'm willing to bet he does a lot of honing there, then when he gets home, he has more to hone! I just put in a good order awhile ago & noticed I forgot something but that's ok because I'll be making another order soon hopefully. This was a good article & I hope a lot of beginners see it! Good luck to all you new guys!

I just wanted to add: Go Slow! Whatever time you invest in your 1st 100 shaves, plan for an extra 10 minutes. Slow the process down and your shaves will get better. The bonus to this is that as you get better your shave will give that time back to you.

Well said Jim, as a newcomer it is easy to get caught up in all videos out there and all the things you have to choose from. I one thing that I did was set an amount of money I wanted to spend and try to get all the things I need with in that amount. Everyone can afford a different amount but as I told a guy at work onetime "the tools don't teach the man" you can have the best equipment money can buy and if you don't know how to use them your no better they the guy working with the cheap equipment.

Great advice from the OP. I am not new to wet shaving, nor new to SR's, but I tried SR inmthe past and failed miserably- the scars on my face(and big toe, don't ask) are a testament to my trials and errors. I'm jumping back in to straights, but definitely taking a different approach. I am determined to get it right this time. Like the OP, I am concentrating on WTG shaves and perhaps XTG, no ATG at this time. I'm setting my DE equipment aside and will not use it to "finish a shave" "touch up" etc. I'll use straights exclusively and not fall back on the DE razors as a crutch. I've got a member honing up some straights I've acquired and also,did get myself a Iwasaki Kamisori(from SRD) and have been using the kami exclusively. To help with technique, I'm only shaving every 3 days. Seems to be easier initially to shave with a few days growth.

Now I realize there are different techniques/methods/ways to use SR & kami's. I've been around enough to know this. But, what I've read is it's better to refine your kami skills, then work on SR skills. There will be pros/cons to each and pros/ cons to working on both at the same time. But this can be done and I'm going to get over the learning curve and succeed this time with straights.

I'm enjoying my shaves thus far with my kamisori. It sure gives a nice, close shaves and it a pleasure to use. There's just something to be said for shaving one's face with a piece of steel such as an Iwasaki Kamisori. It came from SRP super-sharp and I have to be careful while using, but it forces me to concentrate a bit more on my shave, moreso than when I use a DE razor. Sure, there's been a little bloodshed, but generally speaking, using the kamisori has been successful thus far.

As has been preached in the thread, practice, patience, and persistence.

Cheers,

Dan