Razor: Shick G4
Blade: Proraso Injector
Brush: Vie-Long #13051M
Lather: Mike’s Natural Soaps Orange, Cedarwood & Black Pepper
Aftershave: BullDog Sensitive Aftershave Balm
Additional Care: Alum Block, BullDog Original Beard Balm, & Pereira Shavery Boomerang Beard Comb
Razor: Shick G4
Blade: Proraso Injector
Brush: Omega #10048
Lather: Nivea Mild
Aftershave: Nivea Cooling After Shave Balm
Additional Care: Alum Block, BullDog Original Beard Oil. & Pereira Shavery Boomerang Beard Comb
Razors shave better over stretched skin, which is why most of us do a bit of facial contortions as we have our moment of daily Zen.
Meyer Eugen, of Wurttemherg in Germany, had other ideas on how to achive the desired tightening of the skin… as he states in the patent he filed in 1961:
When shaving with a safety razor, the skin is usually tightened so as to raise up the hairs relative to the blade to permit them to be cut as closely as possible toward their roots, whereupon the remaining stubs will recede into the released skin. In order to attain this result, numerous designs of safety razors have already been proposed. Thus, for example, the comblike guard in front of the razor edge of earlier safety razors was replaced by a beaded friction bar which, however, was too smooth and exerted too little friction upon the skin.
I never figured the point of the safety bars or comb was to provide friction… I’ve always believed the point was to stop the blade digging into your cheek and taking off the outer layer of skin – along with the deeper layers, flesh and a surpricing amount of blood. I’m not saying Herr Eugen was wrong in his assertion, just that his view isn’t shared with most shavers. He does then go on to describe other failed – in his opinion – ways to provide friction, before revealing his brilliant idea:
It is an object of the present invention to provide a safety razor in which the friction bar produces a considerably improved skin-tightening and hair-raising effect so that the hairs will be cut more closely to the skin. This is attained according to the invention by providing the bottom plate of the razor with a friction bar of a curved shape as seen in cross section, which is divided into a plurality of serrations or teeth of an angle, the bisector of which is inclined away from the razor edge and toward the base of the friction bar so that the serrations have a shape similar to the teeth of a file or saw. The serrations may form a plurality of straight rows of teeth or series of individual teeth, scales, or the like which may be offset relative to each other. The longitudinal rows of teeth always extend transverse to the axis of the razor handle and therefore also transverse to the shaving direction of the razor. Thus, if the head of the razor extends at right angles to the axis of the handle, the serrations extend parallel to the edge of the razor blade and if it extends obliquely to the axis of the handle the serrations extend obliquely to the razor edge. In the latter case, the friction bars may be provided with additional serrations or grooves which extend in the shaving direction and exert a guiding effect.
In other words he wanted to turn the safety bar into a rasp or a file, which would hold onto and tug on the skin and stubble, holding onto hair and raising them up; there is a quite wordy technical description of how the undercut teeth on the safety would not only force the hairs upright, but also allow for easy detection of missed hairs.
The rest of his razor seems to be a fairly standard three piece razor, although the drawings also show a variation where the head is mounted at a 45° to the handle.
Given that modern razors don’t seem to be manufactured with the idea that the safety bar or comb should provide as much friction as possible in order to pull the skin tight when we’re shaving, I’ll leave it up the reader to assess how successful Herr Eugen’s patent were in the grand scheme of things.
Razor: Shick G4
Blade: Proraso Injector
Brush: Semogue TSN LE 2012
Pre-Shave: The Lavish Gentleman Natural Strength Oil Cleanser
Lather: Pereira Shavery Orange Blossom w/ activated charcoal
Aftershave: Myrsol Aqua De Limón
Additional Care: Alum Block, Gentlemen of Sweden Original Beard Oil, & Pereira Shavery Boomerang Beard Comb
Ralph E Thompson have quite a few razor related patents to his name, most of them assigned to Gillette Company… and one of them caught my eye. As the patent text says:
I have discovered that the capacity of such a safety razor is increased, that it is adapted or certain special uses and that its shaving efficiency is improved by providing, a series It of spaced connecting devices formed in the holderwhich may be employed selectively in attaching the handle thereto.
Or in simpler words; a razor where you can move the handle back and forth. Ralph depicted a razor with two studs in his patent drawing; one in the centre where one would expect to find one, and one towards the end of the razor head.
While I personally have no issues shaving near my ear as shown in the drawing, it is likely that the main idea was not to get a neater shave around your side burns but to more easily facilitate the “Gillette Slide” – a technique where you held the razor at about a 45° angle as you pulled it across your whiskers.
I can see a couple of issues with the design of Mr Thompson’s razor. One of the big ones is that if you move the handle to one end of the razor head, the clamping force at the far end of the blade is reduced, leading to potential blade chatter and uneven shaves.
Razor: Shick G4
Blade: Proraso Injector
Brush: Artesania Romera Manchurian Badger, imitation horn
Pre-Shave: The Lavish Gentleman Natural Strength Oil Cleanser
Lather: Mike’s Natural Soaps Pine & Cedarwood
Aftershave: Nivea Cooling After Shave Balm
Additional Care: Alum Block, BullDog Original Beard Oil, & Pereira Shavery Boomerang Beard Comb
Because good reasons. Will make tomorrows shave better!
The sharp eyed reader no doubt spotted my alternative choice of lather yesterday… and for those who didn’t, here is a reminder:
While it was a spur of the moment thing to do it yesterday – not enough coffee and all that – shaving with oil in general and olive oil in particular is something I’ve been pondering for quite a long time. The logic is reasonable simple:
…and…
So having tried it, what do I think about using olive oil for shaving? Well, here is my micro-revies of olive oil as a shave oil.
After applying it, and washing my hands so I could safely grip my razor, the shave itself wasn’t bad at all despite the complete lack of cushion. I got no cuts, nicks or razor burns. Uins olive oil certainly gave a much better result than shaving using just water, and better than I recall using regular bath soap too. And unlike the canned goo and gel I ditched years ago, my skin wasn’t dry or itchy afterwards.
One might think that smearing oil over the skin would result in clogged pores, zits and all sort of problems, I must report aht at least my ugly mug don’t have any of those right now.
Downsides were the somewhat messy sink and razorhead, but nothing that hot water and a soft wash cloth didn’t fix. My goatee was also pretty greasy from the oil running along my skin, but since I shave before my morning shower that was pretty much a non-issue – I have to wash lather out of my beard after shaving regardless.
Was the experiment a success, in that I proved to my own satisfaction that olive oil is a viable alternative if there is no proper lather around? Oh yes, and a better alternative in my opinion than plain water or bath soap.
Will I repeat the olive oil shave? Probably not unless I had to; the lack of cushion and having to wash my hands before reaching for the razor makes it way less than ideal in my eyes.
Olive oil. It works, so don’t knock it unless you’ve tried it. Probably works better for legs and armpits than a well chiseled face though 😛
Razor: Merkur 39C Slant
Blade: Treet Platinum
Brush: N/A
Lather: Uhm… yeah… about that…
Aftershave: BullDog Sensitive Aftershave Balm
Additional Care: Alum Block, BullDog Original Beard Oil, & Pereira Shavery Boomerang Beard Comb
Note: It seemed a good idea at the time, as many things do when still half asleep and not properly caffeinated. The shave wasn’t bad though, but olive oil have no cushion at all.
Bottom line up front? If you need a small, unobtrusive case for your razor and some blades, the only real competition to the Spearhead Case is the original Khaki Kit – and they are getting harder to find in good condition.
This short review requires a little bit of backstory.
A few years ago I bought one of the original US Army issue Khaki Kit via my favourite forum, and I’ve used ever since whenever I’m travelling either privately or for work. As such, it’s had showed up regularly in my Shave Of the Day, which is where a fellow shaver (Dennis, aka Ironbeard on twitter) spotted it and got interested in it.
In fact, he got interested enough to try to recreate it.
So much to my surprise and pleasure, he asked earlier this year if I would like one of his new cases. It arrived promptly and I’ve used it a fair bit the last few weeks, and I must say he got it pretty much spot on.
The case is about 5cm by 10cm – 2″ by 4″, same as the old Khaki Kit, and is of a more grey-green material than the old kit.
This is where I should have written a few paragraphs on how the new case is in use, but honestly there isn’t much to say.. it just works as intended, and takes almost no space in my GoBag – same as the old Khaki Kit. Simple, unobtrusive and reliable. Would easily fit in one of the pockets on my uniform if I needed to go really lightweight, although in such a case I might not have time to shave.
The old Khaki Kit was made from cotton weave, as was much of what we today would call the load bearing gear of the time. Keeping in the spirit of that, the Spearhead case is made from 1000D MilSpec nylon, much like modern load bearing gear is. The material certainly feels stronger than the old cotton do, but we’ll have to wait a century to see if it’s as durable as the original as well.
There is – apart from the materials – two noticeable changes from the old Khaki Kit to the modern Spearhead case: The straps for holding everything in is elastic bands instead of cotton straps, and there are two straps for holding the razor head instead of just one. Both changes are for the better; elastic straps means the case will hold a wider range of razors – and I suspect that Gillette would have used them in the original if they were cheaply available in 1917 – and the two straps keeps the head in much more securely since the threaded stud sticks up between the two bands, as can be seen in the photos
To me the Spearhead case is a perfect match for any shavers who wants or needs a convenient, neat, unobtrusive and reliable way to carry a three piece safety razor and a tuck of blades – be it military, law enforcement, first responders, blue collar or businessmen (or ladies; a safety razor works greats on legs too). If you carry your shaving gear, the Spearhead will keep it safe for you.
You can pick up one for yourself at spearheadshaving.com, for a quite reasonable price too, either by itself (25$) or along with a Parker 91R three piece razor (50$). Dennis don’t ship outside the US yet – international shipping is a hassle as I’m very well aware – but Maggard also stock the cases and will ship abroad. I would recommend buying direct from Dennis if you live in the US though, I’ve always preferred buying my supplies from as close to the source as I can.
For me the Spearhead case is a worthy heir to the Khaki Kit. It only took a century, but it turns out the best replacement is a recreation in modern materials… so now my original Khaki Kit will be reserved for more formal occasions and private travels, while the Spearhead Case will be on active duty.