Thanks to the newly acquired logging capacity of sotd.el (the oldest SOTD plugin for any reasonable^TM^ editor I am aware of), I've been logging every shave this year, and I thought: why not inflict the data on you?
I shaved 231 times in 2024 (roughly every 1.5 days). The move from reddit to lemmy coincides with a switch to straights – straight razors dominated my routine in 2024 (64.5%), though I still used my DE razors (22.5%) [though mostly when not at home], and occasionally I used GEM (9.5%) or AC (3.5%). If this continues, I will never again have to buy new blades. My brush collection splits between horse (45%), boar (32%), and synthetic (22.9%).
Let's go into the details, shall we?
Razors
| Razor | Frequency |
|---|---|
| Thiers-Issard 188 7/8 'Coq et Renard' - Straight | 40 |
| Parker Straight Razor - Straight | 29 |
| River Razors Kamisori - Straight | 22 |
| Koraat 14.2 Straight Razor - Straight | 21 |
| Ertan Süer L'Ours Russe (7/8th) - Straight | 20 |
| King C. Gillette DE Razor - DE | 14 |
| Edwin Jagger DE89 - DE | 12 |
| Greencult GC 2.0 II - DE | 12 |
| Dovo Barbarossa Stainless - Straight | 11 |
| Mühle R41 (3-piece) - DE | 9 |
| Star 1912 Type Razor - GEM | 9 |
| GEM MMOC - GEM | 9 |
| Feather Artist Club SS Kamisori - AC | 5 |
| J.A. Henckels Friodur 72 - Straight | 4 |
| GEM Flying Wing - GEM | 4 |
| Tedalus Essence - AC | 3 |
| Karve CB Brass C Plate CC - DE | 3 |
| Soviet Straight Razor Raketa - Straight | 2 |
| Merkur 34C - DE | 2 |
My top five razors are straights, and it appears that I have somewhere a Friodur that I've forgotten to use.
Brushes
| Brush | Frequency |
|---|---|
| Semogue C3 Galahad Horse 🐎 | 70 |
| Muninn Woodworks Gloire de France with Zenith 505BC Boar 🐗 | 36 |
| Zenith 506U XS Horse 🐎 | 34 |
| Semogue Owner's Club Boar 🐗 'Taj' | 30 |
| Chisel & Hound Blaireau de la République with 24mm G5 Synthetic | 23 |
| Yaqi 24mm Synthetic Panda | 14 |
| Semogue 610 Boar 🐗 | 8 |
| Yaqi Aqua 24mm Synthetic | 6 |
| Yaqi 28mm Synthetic Rock | 6 |
| Benny's 21mm Synthetic | 4 |
2024 was once again dominated by the Semogue C3 horse brush. Greatly recommended!
Lather
| Soap | Frequency |
|---|---|
| Southern Witchcraft Autumn Ash | 33 |
| Abbate y la Mantia Ishtar | 18 |
| Haslinger Schafmilch 🐑 | 18 |
| Le Père Lucien Narcisse | 16 |
| Stirling Electric Sheep 🐑 | 14 |
| Abbate y La Mantia Marduk | 13 |
| Haslinger Algae | 13 |
| The Goodfellas Smile Amber Fougère | 12 |
| Wholly Kaw Entropy Man | 11 |
| HAGS Megalodon | 11 |
| Zingari Man Mousse Illuminée | 9 |
| Zingari Man Bon Monsieur | 9 |
| MacDuffs Old Strathcona | 8 |
| Zingari Man The Watchman | 8 |
| Stirling Arcadia | 8 |
| Barrister & Mann Le Grand Chypre | 5 |
| Cella Aloe Vera | 5 |
| Chiseled Face Midnight Stag | 5 |
| Barrister & Mann Death | 4 |
| Barrister & Mann Plague | 4 |
| Barbury's Shaving Soap | 1 |
| Meissner Tremonia Mint Ice Menthol | 1 |
| Spearhead Spiced | 1 |
| Stirling Oro Valley | 1 |
| Abbate y La Mantia Don José | 1 |
| Barrister & Mann Famine | 1 |
| House of Mammoth You and I (Will Die) | 1 |
Trivia
I had Claude explain the chi-squared test to me and apply it to my data. It turns out that the Blaireau de la République has become dedicated to Zingari Man soaps (a value of 100.40 with one degree of freedom, highly significant, p>>0.001).
I killed three soaps (Autumn Ash, Schafmilch and Marduk), and bought three others – which is net neutral overall (yay!). I unfortunately was less disciplined with razor purchases.
The BVWSC shaves allowed me to get to know several artisans that were unknown to me, and some impressed me highly. I did not yet jump the gun, though, and my thoughts for purchases are rather geared towards what I could possibly propose as not-so-well-known soaps for the club.
In 2025, one aim is to improve my honing skills – which yield as of yet rather unpredictable outcomes.
Thank you for attending my TED Talk!
Sounds like a successful year!
This Lemmy group certainly has some straight razor thrill. I don't know if I'm looking forward to getting one in the group buy or not 🤣. Mostly it's the honing I'm not quite ready to tackle. I have a Maggard GC that'll cover part of a synthetic stone, but obviously one needs more than one stone (or one could send their razor to a professional).
I wonder if the straight razor thrill here has anything to do with the level of nerdiness that's inherently required to be on Lemmy.
A single combination stone like the Naniwa 3k/10k is totally sufficient to set bevels and finish edges (i.e., everything). Indefinitely.
So less investment required than you fear right now.
Good question
Hmmm, my internet sleuthing has yet to come up with a place to buy a 3k/10k combination. The Naniwa website doesn't list any model numbers for them, it just mentions that they exist in different combinations.
The closest I can find is a kit like this, which is on backorder https://www.knivesandtools.co.uk/en/pt/-naniwa-super-stone-sharpening-kit-grain-1000-5000-and-10000.htm
I bought mine here: https://grandiliutai.com/en/sharpening/1247-naniwa-combination-stone-super-stone-s1-grit-300010000.html
I can confidently recommend it, it's what I learned to hone on, and it gets me great results.
You could get the same grits cheaper in two stones, though: https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/collections/naniwa-advance-super-stones/products/naniwa-s1-advance-super-stone
Cool, thanks for the links.