High-end or nothing?

I run on a limited budget and it takes someone like me sometime months to decide and pull trigger on an expensive gear.

I categorize my razors and brushes differently though.

For me, look and feel is also an important factor while deciding on which razor to buy. My inclination is thus towards modern offerings more. If I could go back in time perhaps I would only buy a few chosen modern razors rather than 9-10 (vintage Gems, Merkur Progress and a few other DE's) I own at present.

What's happening actually is that Artisans are also evolving with time and with the help of 3D modelling, CNC and CAD/CAM tools they have started manufacturing razors that look cool and shave equally well if not better than a vintage . There is a mark up too for their efforts and offerings. I sometimes feel that pricing of some of the modern razors is way too high...well that's a debate for a different day...

Oh btw, on brush front, I think the best brushes that I own are a proraso boar, a Semogue SOC and a Razorock 400 Synthetic simply because they are equally capable and can give any high end brush a run for its money...

I am comfortable in the mid budget razors /brushes that I own and don't have any issues in posting my SOTD pics with them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalkq

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hand finished by naked vestal virgins on Mt. Olympus under a full moon
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I would pay a premium for this!

I actually learn a lot from the SOTD. For example, I never considered a boar brush because when someone is starting out, its logical to think that more expensive means that it is better. The high end badger brushes were more expensive therefore I thought they were better. Then I saw that so many people on SOTD were using boar brushes. But I still didn't buy one. Then I remembered that my father had bought 3 brushes in India and when I put them in storage, I didn't know the difference between boar brushes and badger brushes or any other brushes.
Because of the SOTD and seeing the boar brushes, I got those brushes out broke in one of them and now use it regularly. For me, its great to remember my late father(the best father anyone could ever have) while shaving with that brush.

So, I got a pm from a mod, no need to name him, saying that if I ever bait a person again, because I've done that again in the past, I will get banned and that I don't have the right to criticize a person who is a mod because as I said I could never be one, I don't have the forbearance (not my word) to be one.

My apologies to Marko. I must have made him feel bad/awkward/(name it) with my constant messages in this thread. Being 100% honest with you all, this was not actually my intention. I was astounded by the posts and I just couldn't help it. My mistake. Everyone has the right to express his thoughts and opinions on a matter and I respect that. Again, my apologies.

Last but not least, "threating" me with a ban means nothing to me. If I were banned from a forum, my actual life wouldn't change in a bit. I'm not a newbie, I have no questions to ask, I'm not looking to sale or trade anything, so BST is useless, I can find the friends I've made on other forums or through their emails etc. Really, zero change in my life. Someone would say that I could make a new account every day, with a different IP and email, if I had the time. So, if I wake up in the morning and I'm banned from every forum, that won't make any difference. My life goes on and it's certainly not dependable on a forum participation. I'm not retired, so my life is pretty full, there are days I don't even have the time to shave. I was participating more lately because of the quarantine, but there are too many things to occupy myself. I had deleted my threads and hundreds of posts but some threads were restored shortly, the posts are gone. Some more spare time this evening.

Anyways, the only reason I participated and continue to participate in forums is for having fun and a bit of a good and constructive dialogue with fellow hobbyists. I could live without forums. I will always have my personal blog where I can say/share whatever I want and interact with friends.

Hopefully this post won't get deleted as I really don't insult or bait anyone. It's a few honest thoughts straight from my heart.

Cheers.

So, I got a pm from a mod, no need to name him, saying that if I ever bait a person again, because I've done that again in the past, I will get banned and that I don't have the right to criticize a person who is a mod because as I said I could never be one, I don't have the forbearance (not my word) to be one.

My apologies to Marko. I must have made him feel bad/awkward/(name it) with my constant messages in this thread. Being 100% honest with you all, this was not actually my intention. I was astounded by the posts and I just couldn't help it. My mistake. Everyone has the right to express his thoughts and opinions on a matter and I respect that. Again, my apologies.

Last but not least, "threating" me with a ban means nothing to me. If I were banned from a forum, my actual life wouldn't change in a bit. I'm not a newbie, I have no questions to ask, I'm not looking to sale or trade anything, so BST is useless, I can find the friends I've made on other forums or through their emails etc. Really, zero change in my life. Someone would say that I could make a new account every day, with a different IP and email, if I had the time. So, if I wake up in the morning and I'm banned from every forum, that won't make any difference. My life goes on and it's certainly not dependable on a forum participation. I'm not retired, so my life is pretty full, there are days I don't even have the time to shave. I was participating more lately because of the quarantine, but there are too many things to occupy myself. I had deleted my threads and hundreds of posts but some threads were restored shortly, the posts are gone. Some more spare time this evening.

Anyways, the only reason I participated and continue to participate in forums is for having fun and a bit of a good and constructive dialogue with fellow hobbyists. I could live without them. I always have my personal forum and I can say/share whatever I want and interact with friends.

Hopefully this post won't get deleted as I really don't insult or bait anyone. It's a few honest thoughts straight from my heart.

Cheers.

that's actually not what the PM said and you know it....

So, I got a pm from a mod, no need to name him, saying that if I ever bait a person again, because I've done that again in the past, I will get banned and that I don't have the right to criticize a person who is a mod because as I said I could never be one, I don't have the forbearance (not my word) to be one.

My apologies to Marko. I must have made him feel bad/awkward/(name it) with my constant messages in this thread. Being 100% honest with you all, this was not actually my intention. I was astounded by the posts and I just couldn't help it. My mistake. Everyone has the right to express his thoughts and opinions on a matter and I respect that. Again, my apologies.

Last but not least, "threating" me with a ban means nothing to me. If I were banned from a forum, my actual life wouldn't change in a bit. I'm not a newbie, I have no questions to ask, I'm not looking to sale or trade anything, so BST is useless, I can find the friends I've made on other forums or through their emails etc. Really, zero change in my life. Someone would say that I could make a new account every day, with a different IP and email, if I had the time. So, if I wake up in the morning and I'm banned from every forum, that won't make any difference. My life goes on and it's certainly not dependable on a forum participation. I'm not retired, so my life is pretty full, there are days I don't even have the time to shave. I was participating more lately because of the quarantine, but there are too many things to occupy myself. I had deleted my threads and hundreds of posts but some threads were restored shortly, the posts are gone. Some more spare time this evening.

Anyways, the only reason I participated and continue to participate in forums is for having fun and a bit of a good and constructive dialogue with fellow hobbyists. I could live without them. I always have my personal forum and I can say/share whatever I want and interact with friends.

Hopefully this post won't get deleted as I really don't insult or bait anyone. It's a few honest thoughts straight from my heart.

Cheers.

that's actually not what the PM said and you know it....

Well, this is what it says.

The only thing I skipped is that the ban will last 30 days, but a ban is a ban. All the other are 100% true. No reason to lie. I've taken multiple screenshots as well.

"Nikos,

Stop your baiting or you will be given a 30 day ban.  Please do not even attempt to say that is not what you are doing:

(a screenshot of my post)

Stating we don't have to agree on everything and then arguing with someone who disagrees is baiting that person to continue arguing with you.

Stating you were being critical because you hate cocky comments and then finishing off with "I'm more surprised that Marko chose not to say anything on this, but he was desperately looking for a defender it seems.  Gladly he found one or two.  End of story." is both cocky and baiting.

Stating you didn't ask for opinions and then giving your opinion on what is disrespectful, as far as someone who is both a member and a moderator, is allowing only yourself to opine while shutting down anyone else's opinion.  That is baiting.

You have done this type of thing in the past and even admit you could not be a moderator because of your temper ("If I were a mod, I'd never be one because I lose my temper easily...").  Therefore, you have no right to criticize someone who shows much more forbearance than you seem to be capable of.

While many of the threads you post are intriguing and generate responses, you must accept that those responses will be varied and you may not like them all.  There are ways to state something without baiting another member, no matter who that may be.

Again, if you do not stop then I shall put in place a 30 day ban while bringing it up with the entire moderation team."

So, I got a pm from a mod, no need to name him, saying that if I ever bait a person again, because I've done that again in the past, I will get banned and that I don't have the right to criticize a person who is a mod because as I said I could never be one, I don't have the forbearance (not my word) to be one.

My apologies to Marko. I must have made him feel bad/awkward/(name it) with my constant messages in this thread. Being 100% honest with you all, this was not actually my intention. I was astounded by the posts and I just couldn't help it. My mistake. Everyone has the right to express his thoughts and opinions on a matter and I respect that. Again, my apologies.

Last but not least, "threating" me with a ban means nothing to me. If I were banned from a forum, my actual life wouldn't change in a bit. I'm not a newbie, I have no questions to ask, I'm not looking to sale or trade anything, so BST is useless, I can find the friends I've made on other forums or through their emails etc. Really, zero change in my life. Someone would say that I could make a new account every day, with a different IP and email, if I had the time. So, if I wake up in the morning and I'm banned from every forum, that won't make any difference. My life goes on and it's certainly not dependable on a forum participation. I'm not retired, so my life is pretty full, there are days I don't even have the time to shave. I was participating more lately because of the quarantine, but there are too many things to occupy myself. I had deleted my threads and hundreds of posts but some threads were restored shortly, the posts are gone. Some more spare time this evening.

Anyways, the only reason I participated and continue to participate in forums is for having fun and a bit of a good and constructive dialogue with fellow hobbyists. I could live without them. I always have my personal forum and I can say/share whatever I want and interact with friends.

Hopefully this post won't get deleted as I really don't insult or bait anyone. It's a few honest thoughts straight from my heart.

Cheers.

that's actually not what the PM said and you know it....

Well, this is what it says.

The only thing I skipped is that the ban will last 30 days, but a ban is a ban. All the other are 100% true. No reason to lie. I've taken multiple screenshots as well.

"Nikos,

Stop your baiting or you will be given a 30 day ban.  Please do not even attempt to say that is not what you are doing:

(a screenshot of my post)

Stating we don't have to agree on everything and then arguing with someone who disagrees is baiting that person to continue arguing with you.

Stating you were being critical because you hate cocky comments and then finishing off with "I'm more surprised that Marko chose not to say anything on this, but he was desperately looking for a defender it seems.  Gladly he found one or two.  End of story." is both cocky and baiting.

Stating you didn't ask for opinions and then giving your opinion on what is disrespectful, as far as someone who is both a member and a moderator, is allowing only yourself to opine while shutting down anyone else's opinion.  That is baiting.

You have done this type of thing in the past and even admit you could not be a moderator because of your temper ("If I were a mod, I'd never be one because I lose my temper easily...").  Therefore, you have no right to criticize someone who shows much more forbearance than you seem to be capable of.

While many of the threads you post are intriguing and generate responses, you must accept that those responses will be varied and you may not like them all.  There are ways to state something without baiting another member, no matter who that may be.

Again, if you do not stop then I shall put in place a 30 day ban while bringing it up with the entire moderation team."

where did it say you can't disagree with a mod?

So, I got a pm from a mod, no need to name him, saying that if I ever bait a person again, because I've done that again in the past, I will get banned and that I don't have the right to criticize a person who is a mod because as I said I could never be one, I don't have the forbearance (not my word) to be one.

"You have done this type of thing in the past and even admit you could not be a moderator because of your temper ("If I were a mod, I'd never be one because I lose my temper easily..."). Therefore, you have no right to criticize someone who shows much more forbearance than you seem to be capable of.

where did it say you can't disagree with a mod?

I used the word criticize, the same is used in the pm I got. I don't have the right to do so because I said I could never be a mod due to what I said about my temper.

I didn't use the word disagree.

@"nikos.a", why are you derailing your own thread?  You have taken your perfectly good idea for a thread and turned it into something it should not be.  When I sent that PM to you (and yes, I take ownership of it though I thank you for your discretion by choosing not to mention which of the moderators sent it) it was so the thread itself would not be derailed and if you believed what I wrote was wrong you could have PMd back to me.  That is one of the uses of the PM.

I stand by everything I wrote.  Even your complaints here have twisted the intent of my PM and I'm sure you were hoping for a response.  Well, now you have it.  I also stated that many of your threads are intriguing and I meant that.  They are thought provoking and that always makes for an interesting thread.  That does not mean you will like every post in your thread.  To put other people down for their thoughts is just wrong.  If you disagree with a comment then there are many ways to state that without insulting,

One last thing.  I sent that PM to you before I consulted with the other moderators.  Marko and the others had no idea I did this until I copied the PM to them.  Had a majority of them believed I was out of bounds then the threat of a ban would have had no standing.  However, I have the backing of the majority of the moderators.  As the owner and administrator of the site, andrewjs18 is the only one who can override a decision from one or all of the other moderators and I have never known him to do that.  We work as a team.

We can move on from this and let the thread get back to what was intended or you may PM me if you have other concerns.

Freddy

Wrong, I was never hoping for a response, I was actually waiting for a ban. I didn't need a response, Freddy.

I also stand by my comments and thoughts. I've made up my mind.

I don't want to like every post in my threads. I don't want to agree with everyone. That's false. I disagree with my best friends in many, much more serious things and we've never destroyed our friendship. The main and huge difference is the type of communicating, verbal vs written. If someone expresses an opinion that it's too difficult to digest, he will get the answer I think appropriate. If you insult by what you're saying/implying a whole group of shavers, I will certainly reply because I feel the need to defend them, especially if I'm in this group too. You can learn many things from intense dialogues as long as you don't insult anyone. I don't think I insulted anyone here by expressing what I believe. Waiting/Hoping for an answer, hoping that you'll get a reply from someone to explain further what he said, it doesn't necessarily have to be baiting the way you meant it. Maybe you misundrestood him and want more info to take what you said back. Have you thought of that?

If you want to ban me, if you think it can make this forum a better, more relaxing place with no arguments etc., please do so. As I said in my post above, it won't make any difference to me. I explained the reasons. I will not be posting more new threads anyway, thought provoking or not.