"Carl's Lounge" (Off-Topic Discussion, Traditional Knife "Tales & Vignettes")

meako said:
Any of you guys ever actually used a cutthroat razor? I did once...Once.
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I shave with a straight razor my wife gifted me when I finished school. It's one of my most treasured possessions, maybe more so than any of my knives. While I've been gifted many knives over the years, I've only been presented with the one razor which I've been using for over two decades now.

Wet shaving with a soap and brush is an indulgence, but worth it because of the pleasurable experience. It also results in a superior shave. The biggest factor in getting a superior shave is the preparation. The best time to do so is immediately after you have taken a shower. Your skin should be nice and supple and the facial hair softened. Wet your shave brush (badger is best, although boar's hair is perfectly usable) with hot water and work up a nice lather with your shaving soap. Making sure that your face is still wet (which you need to maintain with hot water), you then apply the lather to your face with the brush. You then shave with your chosen instrument (whether straight or DE). Go with the grain at first. If all you want to do is look presentable, this should suffice and you can stop right here. However if you want a really close shave you'll have to relather and shave against the grain. Just make sure you re-wet your face with hot water as well as re-wet your brush and make some additional lather before you shave against.

The preparation I mentioned above will improve any shave, it doesn't matter if it's a straight razor, a Merkur DE, or a Gillette ProGlide. You'll figure out what you do and don't like and sooner or later you'll have your own method. Just remember to be patient and take your time, it'll take a while for your face to get used to the shaving process. Once you get in the groove you'll have yourself a nice little ritual in the morning to help you focus and start the day.
 
meako said:
But my facial skin is soft and delicate..like the petals of fresh peach blossom....not some Badgers ( insert toughest part of badgers anatomy)...I could use a hypoallergenic super sensitive triple foil Ladyshaver and still get a rash.🥹
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Let's face it. You're awkward, that's all.

Dan.
 
A funny story,the wife and her fellow employees who share the same office building went to start their vehicles which were plugged in being that the temperature was -45c with the wind chill,but much to everyone's surprise they wouldn't start,turns out some thief stripped the copper out of the cable servicing the block heater chords.but there are alot of coper thief stories lol.
 
Oldy said:
A funny story,the wife and her fellow employees who share the same office building went to start their vehicles which were plugged in being that the temperature was -45c with the wind chill,but much to everyone's surprise they wouldn't start,turns out some thief stripped the copper out of the cable servicing the block heater chords.but there are alot of coper thief stories lol.
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A couple of decades ago, I was working a project at one of our sites located in North Dakota in February. The warmest it got for the week I was there was -15F. The factory didn't have plugs for the employees vehicles. So they would all go out to one of the building exits at lunch and use their remote starters to start their vehicles for about 20 minutes to keep the cars from freezing. As a So Cal boy, this activity was a new one on me. But I bet it would still work for your wife and her friends.
 
knarfeng said:
A couple of decades ago, I was working a project at one of our sites located in North Dakota in February. The warmest it got for the week I was there was -15F. The factory didn't have plugs for the employees vehicles. So they would all go out to one of the building exits at lunch and use their remote starters to start their vehicles for about 20 minutes to keep the cars from freezing. As a So Cal boy, this activity was a new one on me. But I bet it would still work for your wife and her friends.
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An old trick we used working In the bush was build a good fire and then use the coals to put into a hub cap placed under the truck oil pan,we would bank vehicle with snow to keep warmth in,and if battery was frozen put jumpers to starter if you have access to another battery, can't remember how we it did with the 24 volt cat battery,but pulling and warming the battery usually gave you enough juice.
 
Oldy said:
An old trick we used working In the bush was build a good fire and then use the coals to put into a hub cap placed under the truck oil pan,we would bank vehicle with snow to keep warmth in,and if battery was frozen put jumpers to starter if you have access to another battery, can't remember how we it did with the 24 volt cat battery,but pulling and warming the battery usually gave you enough juice.
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Chatting with my brother today (he's in NY!!) !! He went to school in Minnesota, and said they had many devices to protect your vehicle there;
Block heaters with cabin heaters in line (deluxe); oil pan heaters (magnetic); and a dipstick with a heating coil in it!!
 
Use to be, in the 1950s when our family traveled the Pennsylvania Turnpike to visit relatives in Chicago, you'd see lit "smudge pots" (a vessel containing diesel fuel) under the fuel tanks and oil pans of semi-trailer trucks in the various truck stops

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knarfeng said:
A couple of decades ago, I was working a project at one of our sites located in North Dakota in February. The warmest it got for the week I was there was -15F. The factory didn't have plugs for the employees vehicles. So they would all go out to one of the building exits at lunch and use their remote starters to start their vehicles for about 20 minutes to keep the cars from freezing. As a So Cal boy, this activity was a new one on me. But I bet it would still work for your wife and her friends.
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Back in late 1970s I lived in New Hampshire. We'd get days of below-zero weather and many a night I'd be starting my car in the wee hours. No remote starters then. I finally got a dip stick heater and ran an extension cord to the car. I was finally back to getting a good night's sleep!
 
Peregrin said:
Back in late 1970s I lived in New Hampshire. We'd get days of below-zero weather and many a night I'd be starting my car in the wee hours. No remote starters then. I finally got a dip stick heater and ran an extension cord to the car. I was finally back to getting a good night's sleep!
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Those dipsticks must do the job then!!!❄️❄️
 
waynorth said:
I wonder if many fires ensued???? 😲
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Didnt hear it from me but i heard if you had a number of d8 or 9 cats it was always astonishing how very early in the job one caught fire from the tiger torch starting some brush caught in the skid plate below the oil pan,now you conveniently have a fire extinguisher around to prevent the fire from totally destroying the dozer,now insurance pays you for an inoperable machine that now becomes a great parts provider in a remote place that may cost you over a few thousand in delivery fees alone,so yup fires happened lol.
 
Peregrin said:
It did for me. I do remember being told that the block heaters worked better, but my car started in the morning, so I was happy with what I had.
It's going to be a cold one tonight!
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Was out last night with the wife for wings night and at closing a lady was giving these 2 old ladies a ride home because it was -40+,problem was she took her car to a car wash that day so I had to pry her back hatch door with an ice scrapper and climbed over the seat to push open the back doors,I needed my legs that's how much ice was between her door and frame,moral of the story is take a towel to the car wash and wipe the water away inside your door frames.
 
Oldy said:
Was out last night with the wife for wings night and at closing a lady was giving these 2 old ladies a ride home because it was -40+,problem was she took her car to a car wash that day so I had to pry her back hatch door with an ice scrapper and climbed over the seat to push open the back doors,I needed my legs that's how much ice was between her door and frame,moral of the story is take a towel to the car wash and wipe the water away inside your door frames.
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If it gets to - 40 this old boy isn't going anywhere! 🥶
 
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