Nice little mail call. These three waterstones expand me options. I only had 3k and 10k waterstones so far and i was curious about how a little more range and resolution would feel.

Also, this dull-like-a-butter-knife Thiers Issard frameback. It's my first frameback, and it was a bitch to hone (I did that two days ago). It just would not pass the packing peanut test off the stone. A real mystery to me. In my limited experience, I always manage to get the edge sharp on the stone without stropping, if I used a light enough touch and alternate the sides frequently, ending on leading edge strokes. But not with this guy. It wouldn't even shave arm hair without stropping.

In my mental model, this means that the steel is ductile and forms a burr, but I'll gladly be corrected by any Honemeister who actually knows what they're doing😅

Either way, I have up after it somewhat push cut into the packing peanut, but was a bit disheartened when I compared it to the pushing-into-a-cloud sharpness of other straights. We'll see how it goes. Either I'll figure it out or maybe the steel has lost its temper and is a paper weight now?

I had two new arrivals this week. First, a combination of Barrister and Mann and Spearhead goodies reached me:

Fleur de France is a favourite of mine and I was super lucky to get a backup tub and splash of this discontinued scent in the Spearhead anniversary giveaway. Added bonus, it's in my favourite base, 20.1. I also bought a backup frag, since it seems very unlikely to ever be made again.

I already have and like Nocturne in the Zslur version, but I'm uneasy using their ill-named products, so the recent BaM re-edition was the perfect opportunity to further dezingify my den.

The surprise star of this part of the mail call is Roam Two though! I have OG Roam in the Soft Hearts base (including the finger balm that's going iffy). I love its deep dirty grass scent. I first smelled it as a kid, maybe 11 or 12 years old, when I went on my first spring tent camp with my scout group (before that, I was a cub and the camps were in huts and houses, not in tents). We had set up our tents on a friendly farmer's pasture in the Jura mountains at the edge of the forest and near a little stream. I was in the team that built and maintained the kitchen tent, and after the second day it started raining and never stopped. Everything turned to mud, the wet grass between the tents got trampled down and its scent combined with the smoky tarp of the kitchen tent is OG Roam. I love the scent, but it's not the most wearable in an office setup. When I read that Roam Two is significantly different, I was both worried and hopeful. Worried it might have lost what triggers happy memories for me, hopeful it might be a more wearable fragrance. Well, Will knocked it out of the park! It still has that wonderful outdoorsy feel, but the smoke and dirt are less prominent. It now feels outdoorsy in a similar way as Shire or Valedictorian do. Yayy!

Second, I got this pretty Mühle Purist brush with an ebonite handle as a total blind buy:

I had been on the fence about this for a while and posted questions about Mühle badger experiences all around, but got no feedback. There are only very few users of these brushes in the forums I know. My first shave brush was a Mühle travel brush with a tiny synthetic knot and it was bad. As I went down the rabbit hole of wetshaving, I switched to bigger synths, badgers, boars, and horse knots and I haven't looked back. I often wondered how it was possible that Mühle kept selling these tiny knots. This particular badger knot has a 21 mm diameter, and they call that the "medium" size. And it's not like these are cheap, either. Apparently, there is a market for these somewhere. When this brush came on a big discount I threw caution to the wind and got it. Let's see whether there's something to tiny German badgers.

I'm curious about experiences, and if you have comparisons with other badger knots I might know (such as Declaration B3, B7, B16, Maggard SHD, Maggard Silvertip, Zenith Manchurian, AP Shave Co Gelousy), even better!

After months of relentless propaganda over on the sub, I ordered this set of D. R. Harris Marlborough.

Warm and woodsy, this smells pleasant enough

I think project Moarteen has made me impatient and when I found a new Böker 14er at a shockingly high discount, I cracked and ordered this beauty.

I've been playing with the idea of buying one for close to two years, but at its regular price of €350+ it's quite the indulgence for me, especially since I prefer utilitarian design over lavish decorations. Function over form.

Further, it's this in-between level of lavish. Yes, it's goldwashed, but a bit sloppily, yes, it has a decorated face and spine, but it's cheap laser engraving. It's the Trump brand kind of luxury. Shiny on the outside, but only at first glance. However: every Böker I've ever tried was just fantastic quality work where it counts: perfect geometry with no wobble and perfectly even bevels, best-in-class jimping (which sounds a bit funny to me every time I mention it, but it makes the shanks just so damn ergonomic, clear straight lines in the entire geometry, without imperfections ground and filed away and polished over like Henckels, Filarmónicas, W&B, etc, (not that this last bit matters for shave quality, but I appreciate attention to such details, and it gives me confidence that the manufacturer has the right priorities).

Anyway, enough rationalisation of my impulse buy. I cracked and this pretty goldwashed modern 14 is the result:

I hadn't seen on the pictures that the scales are actually dark blurple, rather than black and I like it a lot. Note that the goldwash is uneven around the shank and even missing on a spot under the "14". The shiny decorated face and the little tree inlay in the scales look even better in person, but I didn't have the patience to fiddle with the photo setup to capture them right.

The shank shows what I mean when I say that Böker has the best geometric tolerances among all mass-producing straight razor manufacturers I know: The spine and tail are rounded for comfort, but the curvature flows into the perfectly rectangular cross section of the shank that makes Brad Maggard get all dreamy saying "there's just this nice, big, flat spot for you to put your thumb and fingers on". The transition is perfectly symmetric viewed from the top (should have taken that picture too, but oh well). You can already kinda see it in this picture, but the jimping is perfectly regular on both the top and bottom of the shank.

Here's a better view on it:

See it? Isn't that just the nicest grip you've ever seen on a mass-produced razor? BTW, It's the same quality on my vintage Böker S.S. Paris wins which I described in some details during last year's TabOKtoberfest, the pretty Abalone, and on VisceralWatch's Böker that I test-shaved recently. The QA in this company seems consistently good where it counts (i.e., not the goldwash 😅).

The spine is also prettily decorated similarly to a 472/472½ Friodur. Nice if you're into that kinda thing.

Finally, it wouldn't be a fancy Böker without the deadly point 💀

I'm looking forward to giving this new 14 a wirl. I'm also curious about the factory edge on this.

This is not a drill! Operation Moarteen proceeds and the next step is you signing up.

What happens next?

1) Sign-up

You fill out this form with your name, address, reddit user name, email address (You need to specify the email address linked to your paypal account, so we can link you to your payment.)

Why do we need all that information?

We use your reddit user name do determine your priority in case we need to set up a wait list (more on this later).

We use your email address linked to your paypal so we can request payment from you.

We communicate your shipping address to Ulrik together with your email address, so he can ship your Moarteen and send you tracking info.

2) Prioritisation

In the unlikely event that we hit the limit of 50 razors we will prioritise members based on how active they've been in this last inter-sub-exclusive interval. (Measured by (a) the number of sub-exclusive hardware group buys they've organised and (b) the number of comments posted between the announcement of Moar Boar on Fri Aug 5, 2022, 10:51:31 UTC and the announcement of Moarteen on Fri Sep 20, 2024, 06:26:15 UTC). This seemed fairer than a first-come-first-served list which would favour some time zones over others. Note that this prioritisation scheme automatically allocates the highest priority to the three members of the Project Moarteen Organising Committee (PMOC/OCPM), I hope that isn't surprising to anyone)

People who don't make in into the top 50 get put on a wait list for any spots that might open up.

3) Confirmation with Ulrik

Once we have a number, we make the final confirmation with Ulrik of Koraat and get a formal offer where we and he commit to the price. At this point, we will also know whether Ulrik managed to source the exact colour of the Moar Boar handle for the scales.

4) Down payment

Once you've made it on the list and Ulrik has confirmed, we will ask you for a down payment of EUR 25. The goal here is to avoid flakes like we had with Operation Moar Boar my forcing you to have some skin in the game when taking up a spot.

5) Production

Ulrik produces the razors. The estimated timeline is by end of the first quarter of 2025, but Ulrik said that it could be longer if we order closer to the end of this year.

6) Final invoice

Once Ulrik is done with the razors, he will invoice us. At this point, we will request payment from all of you for the remaining cost of the razor, shipping and the 5% flake buffer mentioned in the announcement.

7) Shipping and ensuing happiness

Ulrik ships the razors and wetshavedom rejoices.

Please put your questions, suggestions, and complaints in the comments here and we'll address them. If any changes to the procedure outlined here should become necessary, we will try to stick to their intent and meaning as well as we can and communicate proactively.

Alright, it's been a minute since the last sub-exclusive hardware announcement, and it's time for a new project. We all have our sub-exclusive Moar Boars, and they're clamouring for a matching sub-exclusive razor. But it can't be just any razor. In sub-exclusive hardware tradition, it has to be the very best razor of its class at an affordable price.

Project Moarteen Organising Committee (PMOC/OCPM), what is this about?

I'm glad you asked! One of the best straight razor formats in the world is the 14. You know it, I know it, deep down even Pudding and Infernal with their paddles know it. There are lots of great razors, but the 14 stands out as universally loved: the big size makes it run calm like a near wedge, the extra hollow grind makes it flexible and gentle as a feather, the square point with the slightly rounded point makes it forgiving. It's the best of all worlds for beginners and aficionados alike.

Yes, PMOC, but 14s are super expensive, aren't they?

You're right, good modern 14s like the Böker 14er, Koraat 14-2.0 or River Razors 14 are pricey.

But could I not just buy a vintage 14? I hear those are great!

Yes, you could! But mint or NOS vintage 14s like the Filarmónica, the Henckels, the Iberia, the Frio, etc, cost a lot too, plus probably need to be honed.

That's terrible! How will we get 14 goodness to the masses?

I have an idea: 1) The Koraat Sparschweinchen is an excellent and very affordable straight razor with a roughly similar shape as the 14. It has a thicker grind and a round (yet surprisingly pointy) point, so it doesn't feel like a 14 at all. But 2) Ulrik, one of the artisans behind Koraat, also makes the Koraat 14-2.0, a highly acclaimed 14 razor.

🤔 1) + 2) = 💡

We could ask Ulrik of Koraat to make us a 14 razor with the finish of a Sparschweinchen!

PMOC?

Yes?

You already asked Ulrik, didn't you?

Yes, we did! And he's all in!

Ulrik agrees to make a sub-exclusive Moarteen version of the 14-2.0 with the following modifications:

• Instead of the 14-2.0 stamp, these will be stamped with lathersnoo, a simplified version of the Moar Boar logo to mark them as our sub-exclusive.
• The contours (spine, tang, tail), will have the raw forged finish like the Sparschweinchen.
• The scales will have a simpler, turned spacer to simplify assembly.
• The scales colour will be RAL 6035, i.e., the exact colour of the Moar Boar handle (in J33p's voice: matchy matchy 💅).

PMOC, that sounds like all of the points that make the 14 a great format are still there‽

Why yes! It's a real 14 razor. It's 15/16" wide, has a full hollow grind, thin belly, and square point with slightly rounded corner.

Oh, but how much will it cost?

This is the great part! In this configuration, Ulrik is willing to make them at the Sparschweinchen price, EUR 165 a piece, as long as we order no more than 50 razors.

That's a great price! How about shipping?

All shipping is handled by Ulrik, and he only sends tracked and insured parcels.

Prices are in three tiers:

1. EU: EUR 18, but EU group members will also have to pay 20% Austrian VAT.
2. Near EU (E.g., Switzerland, UK, Norway): EUR 17, no VAT.
3. Worldwide (excluding China and North Korea): EUR 25 - 30

That sounds fair, what's the timeline on this?

If we commit to an order in early October, Ulrik estimates that we'll have them in hand in Q1 2025.

How would we order this? Who would we pay?

It is a group buy, and we will reuse the Moar Boar infrastructure. If you commit to ordering a Moarteen, you will be asked to pay your part by Paypal to rwetshavingsubexclusives@gmail.com like last time. Our treasurer gcgallant will hound the stragglers.

Important: From experience with the Moar Boar, we should expect that there will be some people who change their mind and ghost us after having committed. Some of the organisers ended up a couple hundred EUR short (Ok, it was me). We would like to spread that risk among all of us this time by raising the price of each individual razor by 5% (or EUR 8.25). If no one flakes, we simply leave the extra cash in the paypal account for the next sub exclusive project, and if too many flake and the 5% turn out to be insufficient, gcgallant and I will carry that financial risk.

Ok, where do we go from here?

We will publish a sign-up post soon™, but we wanted to make this pre-announcement to get some feedback in case we overlooked a major detail and to answer questions you might have.

I had my mail held back during our vacation and I went to fetch it all this morning. My tub of No Scrub made it me 🎉.

I also got a pristine NOS Friodur 17 that I'm excited about, and finally a regular sized Tabac EdC and a comically large Tabac splash. If only it wasn't Austere August 😅

I see some honing and second luxury shaves in my near future.

Episode link

The last 9 days ~~up nort'~~ of the 10th annual Lather Games have come and passed and you must be eagerly awaiting your dose of of gossip, shenanigans, rankings, champions taking victory laps, and inside baseball.

Come join Chief Podcast Djustice OnionMiasma as he guides the honourable Lather Games and side contest djudges through this retrospective and celebration.

So, there is some contradictory information about Friodur razors floating around the interwebs. For instance, according to the text of German Wikipedia (English Wikipedia, the ice-hardening process for hardening stainless steel was invented in 1939 and patented in 1951, but according to the time table in the same article, it was patented in 1939 but the name Friodur was only introduced with the first ice-hardened blades in 1951.

But then I saw a mysterious 7/8 Friodur 50 on eBay with a patent stamp D. R. PAT 41-DL4678.

Now I can't find that patent document, but it seems to be a patent stamp from the patent office of the German Reich (presumably of the third kind given that the Friodur name appeared in at the earliest 1939 and the Reich Patent Office was dissolved after the allied victory). So it seems that this is a 1941 Friodur model.

It's also the only Friodur I've ever seen to have etchings on both sides of the blade. Here's the usually blank back side with a big sweeping Friodur logo:

It seems like the early Friodurs made a really big deal of being Friodurs. Must have been expensive razors.

The front side has the typical shank markings of earlier carbon steel Henckels straights (Later Friodurs have the swirly Friodur logo in addition to the Zwilling (twin) logo):

But the really interesting part is the decoration etched into the front face of the blade. First, there's what looks like the double-headed eagle of the Scottish rite of Freemasonry.

A big Eye of Providence:

A Freemason's Star (apparently not really a star of David, but a geometric regularization of the square-and-compass symbol of the Freemasons

And finally this image I couldn't find information on that doesn't make me want to put on a tinfoil hat. Supposedly a scythe and a winged hourglass symbolising time as the destroyer of humankind's institutions. I will not link to my fishy sources.

Here's the whole thing! I'm not sure yet whether I think it's pretty, but it's sure interesting!

I'm going to hone this puppy to get it ready for Austere August, $FriodomRiders, and $Honemeisterschaft

Has anyone tried this new AYLM scent? I'm curious to hear opinions

Are you a straight shaver? Do you hate rust? Do you like great razors? This is for you!

This is about leveraging the only meaningful innovation in straight razor manufacture in the last 75 years for a relaxed Austere August without worrying about your precious razor rusting while you enjoy your summer.

This is about Friodom! (from rust)

TL/DR:

1. Get yourself a Friodur, Inox, Eisgehärtet, Edelstahl (or any differently named stainless steel) straight razor.
2. Participate in AA with it.
3. Profit!

What do I need?

A stainless steel razor (If you don't have one and are tempted by this challenge, I strongly suggest getting a Friodur 5/8 or larger, they are all very good, and typically in can be found in great condition on eBay).

Can I combine $FriodomRiders with other challenges?

Yes! $FriodomRiders is compatible with $headless, $RawHoggin, $Honemeisterschaft and all the software challenges.

How do I participate?

Include the character string "$FriodomRiders" in your SOTD posts. (Yes, that's a Dollar sign $, not a hashtag #. If I never have to talk about hashtags in SOTD posts again, it's still too soon 😅)

What do I get?

The honour of displaying the 🗽FriodomRider🏇 flair.

Backstory

The heyday of straight razors is the late 19th century, and a 130 year old full hollow ground Böker looks exactly like one made this year. Even modern razors who try new design languages are typically made exactly like a century ago: A blank of carbon steel is forged, tempered, ground, and scaled.

After an initial learning curve, a good straight razor delivers fantastic shaves for a lifetime if properly cared for, and here lies the rub. Most straight razors rust. You need to keep them dry and oiled between uses, or they will turn into expensive red powder.

We're not really used to things rusting any more in our lives. Our cutlery, pots, pans, and most kitchen knives are made from stainless steel, so why aren't razors?

The first stainless steel knives appeared in 1914, and they weren't a success, but known as "the knife that would not cut". The ice-hardening process for quality blades in stainless steel was only invented in 1939 and patented by Zwilling in 1951 under the name Friodur (pseudo latin for cold-hard). This means that good stainless steel came about only after the straight razors fell out of fashion.

Zwilling (Friodur), Weltmeister (eisgehärtet), Thiers Issard and Dovo (Inox), Ralf Aust (Edelstahl) all produced or still produce stainless steel razors.

I'm convinced that good stainless steal razors are on par with good carbon steel razors, and they have an undeservedly bad reputation. Join me in shining light on the best straight razors ever made.