How Many Passes Do You Take?

So every stroke half the blade is running on skin that was shaved and not relathered? That does not sound good.  Specially for newer shavers. Same with turning the angle of the head while shaving. That could end badly with a more sideways movement. A snow plough is not angled to make a better cut. It's angled to move the snow in a direction. Razors are not made to be used like that.

To your first point, it shouldn't be a problem if you're using a good soap that has good residual slickness. Ever heard of buffing? I do it all the time without relathering and rarely suffer any irritation. Use a good soap and make a good lather and it's not an issue.

To your second point, I agree that it could raise the odds of you accidentally moving the razor sideways, not good. But when you say "razors are not made to be used like that", how come Gillette used to give instructions on how to do it? Look up the "Gillette slide". I'd rather use a slant myself.

Two and a half passes for me. Pass 1, WTG.
Pass 2, XTG cheeks and chin, ATG neck. Half pass is XTG on my neck with a little j hooking on the lower right. Most days that yields a BBS or near BBS shave.

Fear not, Marko.

I am a firm believer in the old, tried and true techniques.
I use them for every shave.
But I am curious enough to try anything different that pops up.

So I will not debate my suggestions.

I will only say "TRY IT".

OK, I know that some people have strong feelings on either side of the slant debate. I like slants and I've also tried the technique you describe - its fairly easy to use a regular razor in a slant manner and a slant razor in a regular manner. Its all in the angle of the blade. I also understood your snow plow example and sure, its not exactly the same I think the point is easy to grasp. You could have made the comparison to the guillotine but most people have no real experience with that device (thankfully ) Or if you're a woodworker, you could have compared to a skew plane which is designed with the iron skewed at an angle so it cuts the wood much like a slant razor or a guillotine.

And there is an ordinary big chef's knife which is usually held on a slant when slicing anything.
Or a massive cruise ship which over 100 years ago had a bow that was vertical to the water's surface. Today the bows are always at extreme angles.

On to my half overlap stroke. I almost always use 3 passes and 1 touch up pass. My touch up is always done with a little splash of water. I never need to add more lather. The residue of lubricant, whatever it may be, works very well with the water. If, after my final rinse and my face has been dried I find a spot that needs further attention, plain water alone is not much good. A little lubricant, if only a dab of ordinary hand soap, is required.

I have yet to try the buffing but I will. I am a little nervous about a bouncing blade.
I will practice first with no blade then graduate to an adjustable razor, start at 1 and gradually work my way up to satisfaction or blood, whichever occurs first.

And there is an ordinary big chef's knife which is usually held on a slant when slicing anything.
Or a massive cruise ship which over 100 years ago had a bow that was vertical to the water's surface. Today the bows are always at extreme angles.

On to my half overlap stroke.  I almost always use 3 passes and 1 touch up pass. My touch up is always done with a little splash of water. I never need to add more lather. The residue of lubricant, whatever it may be, works very well with the water.  If, after my final rinse and my face has been dried I find a spot that needs further attention, plain water alone is not much good. A little lubricant, if only a dab of ordinary hand soap, is required.

I have yet to try the buffing but I will.  I am a little nervous about a bouncing blade.
I will practice first with no blade then graduate to an adjustable razor, start at 1 and gradually work my way up to satisfaction or blood, whichever occurs first.

If we're going to bring maritime references into the discussion, are you familiar with the bulbous nose bow of most large modern ships? Here is a link with some explanations and several excellent pictures further down the page.

https://www.marineinsight.com/naval-arch...lbous-bow/

Somehow I doubt that that particular configuration will ever find its way into traditional wet shaving.

Thank you Marko.
That was fascinating.
But bulbs do nothing to enhance the beauty of a ship.

Years ago I was a member and a proctor with The Canadian Power Squadrons.
In my 10 years with them bulbs were never even mentioned.
Had they been I might have tried to put one on my canoe.

Thank you Marko.
That was fascinating.
But bulbs do nothing to enhance the beauty of a ship.

Years ago I was a member and a proctor with The Canadian Power Squadrons.
In my 10 years with them bulbs were never even mentioned.
Had they been I might have tried to put one on my canoe.

I have to agree with you on that one Mickey Oberman . Apparently the bulb is effective within a narrow speed range so I'm not sure your canoe would have been enhanced.

Early on in my legal career I worked on the marketing and transportation of oil from offshore platforms. While I'm not an admiralty lawyer, I worked with several quite closely as well as charter party experts and naval architects. I found the world of shipping to be fascinating. The dollars are big and the prize is significant while disaster is never far off. Highly technical business not for the unsophisticated and they have all sorts of interesting and arcane terminology. My favourite was the "bitter end" which as we all know is the end of the ships anchor chain that isn't attached to the anchor. Thats where the phrase, "holding on to the bitter end" comes from.

Marko,

"Highly technical business not for the unsophisticated and they have all sorts of interesting and arcane terminology.  My favourite was the "bitter end" which as we all know is the end of the ships anchor chain that isn't attached to the anchor.  Thats where the phrase, "holding on to the bitter end" comes from."
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There were/are some words and phrases that seemed inappropriate and, often, funny.
One of the first classes when I joined CPS was on their use, meaning and origin.
HEAD always seemed so inappropriate. I guess it was all right for sailing ships but when power appeared it could be ???? out of place. It is still used though.

Usually two passes for me. It's very rare the third.

Two and a half passes for me. Pass 1, WTG.
Pass 2, XTG cheeks and chin, ATG neck. Half pass is XTG on my neck with a little j hooking on the lower right. Most days that yields a BBS or near BBS shave.

+1
This is what I'm up to.