This business of multiple passes being unnecessary brings back the first time I heard of it. The friend who introduced me to shaving forums on the internet was describing his 3 pass shave. I looked at him like he was from another planet. I had been shaving for 45 years, beginning with DEs, going to Gillette 'Good News' for the majority of the time, with the one pass and call it good, my daily ritual.

So I went back to the DE for a time and then to the straight razors. I took up the multiple pass method and found it better, for me, than the one pass had been. Before all this I zipped through the daily chore of shaving without a lot of analysis of the quality or the shave. Results wise I mean. I didn't feel my face/neck to see that I had gotten the stubble to BBS.

Six + years into this I can say that in my individual case I don't need to use multiple passes on my cheeks but I absolutely do on my chin and neck below the jawline. That is to say, that if I only do one pass on the tougher areas I will probably have a good enough result to go out in the world but I'll have stubble I can feel, if not see. To get a close , and a smooth shave, in my individual case I need at least two passes with some extra attention to a few areas.

YMMV ..........