Shaving notes of the MaineYooper

In general MaineYooper shave news, a "new" brush has been made!



This is the Stirling Mixed badger/boar brush! More specifically, it is the classic looking Stirling handle with the 24mm apshavecoLuxury mixed badger/boar knot. 

Also, I am thinking about something I read in another neighborhood. A guy there is wanting to go the month of April shaving only with razors, both SE and DE, made up to and including 1970. I may play the home version, as I really like my GEM and injector SEs, and my vintage Gillettes don't see enough use. However, the Overlander and the Vector cannot not be used! I know Dave does this year-round, so not a problem for him! But for me, with a handful each of GEM and injectors that give great shaves, it may be a nice change. I can rediscover some gear that has been neglected for months. Just a thought bouncing around in my head. No reason I can't do this anytime I want, I know, but it seems fun when joining in the banter and experiences with others!

That is an interesting choice of mascot for a school to adopt.

From the Oxford English Dictionary:

flivver, n.
slang (originally U.S.).
1. A cheap motor car or aeroplane. Also, ‘a destroyer of 750 tons or less’ ( Funk's Stand. Dict. 1928).
1910  W. A. Fraser Red Meekins (1921) 22  You stick to me an' you'll be travellin' 'round the country in a flivver.
1919  F. Hurst Humoresque 296  Was his little Sid fool enough to beat it all the way over here in a flivver for eight bucks the round trip?
1920  Glasgow Herald 21 July 9  May be I will disguise the Shamrock as a ‘flivver’ (as the Ford car is known here).
1924  ‘Digit’ Confessions 20th Cent. Hobo 11  Flivver, Ford automobile.
1924  W. M. Raine Troubled Waters vi. 58  Rowan McCoy drove his new car—it was a flivver, though they did not call it that in those days.
1926  Ladies' Home Jrnl. Apr. 39  Won't it be amusing when we can..step into our little up-shooting flivvers at the back door?
1927  Punch 2 Feb. 135/1  He has successfully fought the villain Trust; his workmen all own ‘flivvers’; there has never been a strike.
1936  Beaver Mar. 9/1  So-called ‘flea’ or ‘flivver’ types [of aeroplanes].
1956  S. Bellow Seize the Day (1957) i. 22  He had driven a painted flivver.

2. A person or thing that has a damaging or deleterious influence; a failure.
1915  H. L. Wilson Ruggles of Red Gap (1917) xiii. 230  That Jackson lad has offered me about ten thousand of them vegetable cigarettes, but I'll have to throw him down. He's the human flivver. Put him in a car of dressed beef and he'd freeze it between here and Spokane.
1915  Dial. Notes 4 233  Flivver, a hoax; also, a failure.

Isn't that interesting?! Yeah, the car was known for its problems. I don't know if it was the Ford plant there in Kingsford (converted from Woodie wagons to making gliders during WWII), but I suspect it was. I know growing up, Flivvers and jalopies were almost synonymous, and looked on fondly even if a "junk" car!

Somehow puts me in mind of a t-shirt I would often see people wearing back in the groovy '70s.

Brush looks GREAT and sounds like a fun April for you!

In general MaineYooper shave news, a "new" brush has been made!



This is the Stirling Mixed badger/boar brush! More specifically, it is the classic looking Stirling handle with the 24mm apshavecoLuxury mixed badger/boar knot. 

Also, I am thinking about something I read in another neighborhood. A guy there is wanting to go the month of April shaving only with razors, both SE and DE, made up to and including 1970. I may play the home version, as I really like my GEM and injector SEs, and my vintage Gillettes don't see enough use. However, the Overlander and the Vector cannot not be used! I know Dave does this year-round, so not a problem for him! But for me, with a handful each of GEM and injectors that give great shaves, it may be a nice change. I can rediscover some gear that has been neglected for months. Just a thought bouncing around in my head. No reason I can't do this anytime I want, I know, but it seems fun when joining in the banter and experiences with others!

Wonderful! Have you had a chance to try the knot yet?

Wonderful work shave this morning, with the new mixed badger/boar knot. I didn't do any test lathers and counted a dozen lost hairs! (for Marko, I am referring to the brush, to be clear!  ) I will keep an eye on this, but my other two lost very few

The AC Razors Comparison Shaves

Baseline Razor: the titanium Vector
Schick Proline (1)
Stirling brush with mixed badger/boar knot 
Hub City Birthday Suit soap 



An outstanding shave! Absolutely no irritation, but I managed to nick/poke myself, totally me. Easily achieved my favorite RCS and refreshed! Tomorrow I will report on the longevity of the shave. And no hairs lost this morning! 

RCS is a term that I read in a post many moons ago I took it for myself. It is a Really Comfortable Shave. That is my goal, instead of chasing baby all around the bathroom!

I will be comparing the Ti Vector to the General V2 and the Hawk v3. The General and the Hawk gave me the shaves I wanted, daily and without drama, versus the SS Vector. I could not shave consecutively with that version, and it was was frequently a white knuckle event no matter what blade was used.

Thanks for reading!

AC Razor Comparisons, The General



The General, v2 SS head on a titanium Timeless handle
New Proline to compare to the Ti Vector yesterday
Same soap and brush, as shown

Wow, another stupendous shave. This is why I decided to give up on the SS Vector, I remembered this morning. A smooth, efficient, and drama-free shave. No sweats, no jitters, just a relaxing shave! At the moment, I cannot pick a winner between the titanium Vector, which delivered a similar experience (so unlike its SS sibling!).

Yesterday's shave had great longevity, feeling smooth right into evening. Even at bedtime, the flatter parts of my face (cheeks, although they seem to be getting big and my clothes seem to have shrunk!) still felt stubble-free. The areas like chin and neck had stubble but not the aggravating, pokey kind I often get from a too mild or a 1-pass shave.

This will make it difficult to pick a winner, but in the name of Science I will persevere 

At the moment, I am happy to have both razors! They are different, but they delivered the same results this morning. Yes, the Vector can be more maneuverable, but the General, on that titanium handle, feels solid and familiar in hand, being heavier, than the Vector.

Hope we all have a great weekend!

Great thoughts Eric !

AC Comparison Shaves, the Ti Vector



Schick Proline (2)
Same soap as shown
Fangorn with 2BED knot

The first thing I noted this morning is that the titanium Vector pulls a lot of lather off with first swipe. Unlike the SS version, I can get another swipe or three in without irritation. But, the lightness of titanium, I think, after using a heavier razor yesterday, makes it too easy to poke or nick myself. It is like I am moving the razor too fast to the next location, and the angle isn't right on by the time I "touch down" again, resulting in a nick. This happened on the first pass, and I made an effort to be more deliberate. No more nicks. This could be a crap hypothesis and I am just unskilled! But I don't think so. It could also be just due to switching razors every day, with the Vector being too different in use than the General or the GEM Jr I was using earlier this week. But the fact is that I haven't nicked myself in a similar fashion with the other razors. 

The shave, even with the nick, was great. This razor is so fun to use, if that makes sense. I liked yesterday's shave with the General, but the head seems so larger compared to the Vector's slim head. I took a tip from Dave and loaded for around a minute and had a great lather. Judiciously adding water while lathering up gave plenty of great lather for several more passes than what I needed. 

Tomorrow, I will try the Hawk V3 with the Proline blade on from the General. Prior notes state that I found the Hawk to be slightly less efficient than the General, but very comfortable. Sounds good for a Sunday shave!

Have a great weekend, folks!