WetShaving
This is a community of enthusiasts, hobbyists and artisans who enjoy a traditional wet shave: brush, soap, and safety or straight razor. We are a part of the WetShaving community found on Reddit, Discord, and IRC.
New subscribers welcome!
Please visit our wiki, which is always and forever a work in progress.
๐ช Check out these alternative front-ends for this server:
https://gem.wetshaving.social/ - a nice modern interface
https://old.wetshaving.social/ - designed to look like old.reddit.com
Our sister Mastodon instance is https://wetshaving.social/.
๐ช Track the uptime of our various services here:
https://uptime.splettnet.com/status/wetshaving
๐ช Community Rules
Rule 1 - Behaviour and Etiquette
-
Be Respectful. Do not bully, flame, or harass others.
-
Malicious comments are not allowed but heated discussion and salty banter is okay.
-
Low effort replies and complaints about content will be removed.
Rule 2 - Content Guidelines
-
Mail Calls, Simple Questions, and SOTD posts belong in the recurring weekly threads.
-
Posts must have sufficient content to generate a meaningful discussion.
-
Images, links, or videos must include additional text that summarizes the topic.
Rule 3 - Reviews and Disclosure
-
Use [First Impressions] in the title if your experience with the product is limited.
-
Use the [Review] in the title if you can provide comprehensive details with enough familiarity to answer follow-up questions.
-
Disclose how the product being reviewed was acquired (e.g., PIF, loan, or purchase). If the product was provided to you directly by the maker or vendor free of charge or at a discount, you must disclose this fact even if the item will later be returned to the maker or vendor.
Rule 4 - Advertising
-
Vendors are to keep marketing within the biweekly Deals/New Products threads.
-
Non-vendors may post topics about products if it will foster a compelling discussion.
-
Do not solicit donations or share fundraisers without mod approval.
Rule 5 - Inappropriate Content
-
All NSFW/L content must request mod approval and be flaired appropriately.
-
Non-shaving related NSFW/L content is not allowed.
Rule 10 - Moderator Discretion
- The rules may not apply perfectly to every situation. The mods have final discretion.
view the rest of the comments
GEM Days 8a/14: GEM Micromatic Flying Wing โ Stunning Beauty โ Sun 24 Nov 2024
This is shave 15 of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-style razors, and I have reached the prettiest vintage safety razor of all times, the GEM Micromatic Flying Wing. The American Safety Razor seems to have hired a designer or two because this and the next razor (the legendary Streamline/Jewel/Ambassador to come out of the factory are absolutely stunning.
The Flying Wing/Bullet Tip
The Flying Wing is an update to the Micromatics with the same exact same twist-to-open mechanism as the MMOCs and Clog-Prufs, but with a redesigned head, a true safety bar and a reduced bullet tip-shaped knob. The top cap is now flat, and the modern safety bar and its geometry have roughly settled for the remainder of ASR razor history with the exception of the Jewel (more on this tomorrow).
For the first year, the Flying Wing came with the so-called "Guiding Eye", a gimmick that's supposed to encourage the right shaving angle like the "HOLD FLAT AGAINST FACE" engraving on some MMOCs.
The original version with the Guiding Eye came in the chrome-plated version I'm using today which shipped in cardboard packaging, and a gold-plated version in a see-through display case visible in the background of the SOTD pic.
A later version replaced the brass twist knob by a plastic knob.
The Flying Wing is the mildest of the Micromatics, and because of the flat top cap feels significantly different than the MMOCs and Clog-Prufs, but it is still an efficient razor, and had seen significant use on the sub, particularly during a brief phase when Micromatic Mammoth Monday Formation Flights (MMMMFFs) where a regular thing.
The shave
I love the scent of 1889, but get a tingling from the frag, so I use it rarely. I limited myself to two passes today, and I managed to get a great shave before the tingling reached unpleasant levels. Success. The Flying Wing consistently gives great shaves, and today was no exception.
I have a guiding eye on my Flying Wing. Complete gimmick. Would love to have been in the room to hear the discussion when they added that to the cap. Or, I wonder if it is actually a manufacturing error and a bug was promoted as a feature?
I dunno, these razors are pretty flawless otherwise. Looks like they had a tight QA? But yeah, it's so comically pointless that I wonder what whey were thinking :)