American Blend & The 37:

Today's shave was pretty good but not great and no it wasn't the soap. Today I went with Fine Accoutrements and their American Blend soap which is their take on YSL's Rive Gauche Pour Homme (2003) and to finish off today's shave, I went with the matching aftershave:

I should have switched out the blade before my shave even though I only had 1 shave on it. My shave was very uncomfortable. I ended up getting where I wanted to be in just 2 passes but the razor tugged and pulled a lot. So I am tossing out the blade and putting in a Gillette Nacet blade. I'm a little disappointed that the Wilkinson Sword blade was only good for one shave in my slant.

C.a.D. & The Slim:

Today's shave was great. Today I decided to go with Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements and their modern day classic "C.a.D." which is a much stronger version of a certain 1970's & 1980's "canned shave foam" scent. I can't mention the name because I don't want to get any "cease and desist" letters for mentioning their name which is what the company that makes the canned foam scent does. And to finish off today's shave, I went with the matching aftershave:

The Gillette Slim was perfect this morning. I started off with a setting of 7 for my 1st pass then I dialed down to 3 for my second pass and then down to 1 for my last pass. I ended up turning it back up to 3 and hitting my moustache area again because it wasn't close enough and 1 wasn't getting it done in that area. I believe that I'll be doing what I did the other day from now on when it comes to shaving. I also tossed the Wilkinson Sword blade out as well. 3 shaves is my limit with those blades. Others who don't have a tough beard like I do will more than likely get 5 to 6 shaves out of a blade give or take a little. They're extremely good blades but so far I'm loving the Gillette Nacet blades more.

C.O. Bigelow & The 42C:

Today's shave was great. Sorry for the delay ladies & gentlemen. I pretty much had to shower & shave and go out the door today. In fact I posted it on my Instagram page before shutting off my phone before leaving. Today I went with C.O. Bigelow and their Menthol & Eucalyptus scented cream. The matching cologne doesn't quite match the cream but it's pretty close:

And to finish off today's shave, I went with a nice healthy dose of Osage Rub:

The 42C was excellent. I ended up getting a really close shave in just 3 passes. I also did something a little different today in terms of my passes. I only went against the grain on my moustache area, my chin and the bottom of my chin. The rest was either with the grain or across the grain which made for an extremely comfortable shave today as well.

New Camera in The House!

This Christmas gift is awesome and was needed very badly. After 6+ years of abuse and an untold number photos taken, my old camera has seen its better days. My mom has surprised me this Christmas with a brand new Nikon B500 digital camera with built in wifi and I downloaded an app that syncs the camera with my smartphone which is pretty simple and easy to operate:

Since it is Christmas and me being a Christian, I thought it was best to take the 1st picture of the Nativity Scene which is the true meaning behind Christmas:

The Wifi & the app are awesome and make transferring pictures very easy. I now only have to take 1 photo or series of photos and can upload them to all forms of social media apart from this blog. I also just turned on the date stamp so that people can tell when the photo was taken. I also don't have to set the date & time because my smartphone does it automatically which is awesome:

Here's how I transferred my pictures directly from the camera to this blog. I have really missed doing this. My old camera use to be able to do this but for some reason, it no longer is able to do that and has been that way for nearly 3 years. Now I can simply turn on the camera and transfer my pictures to this blog. Before I was having to remove the memory card to upload them before:

This is my old digital camera which has seen 6+ years of abuse:

^ As you can the bottom plate is broken and I was having to hold it closed for the camera to even work. Transferring photos became a hassle. I had to remove the memory card for any and all uploads. The transfer cable quit working. And since the bottom plate no longer stays shut, I've been having to reset the date & time in the camera before each use. Plus this old camera didn't have wifi built in either which does make a huge difference. I've got my new one set to the VGA setting which allows the camera to take 9999 pictures on this specific setting with my 16 gig memory card. This goes down to 1604 photos on the 16 mm setting. Another feature that I really love is the fact that I can now turn the flash on full time instead of just off or on auto which made for interesting situations when photos didn't turn out good at all. I was having to take at least 4 if not more photos just to get one decent photo for mail calls & shave of the day photos. Getting some photos of a honing session was extremely difficult to the point where I had to stop taking photos of my progression and eventually I got to where I decided not to do honing posts as a result. So being able to leave the flash on full time instead of just having an auto setting is a huge help. Another thing I've noticed about new camera is the fact that it's 5 times faster than my old one shown above. Boom and it's done while my old one would take about a minute or longer to take a photo.

Resolution & The Doc:

Merry Christmas ladies & gentlemen. Today I got up and looked in the mirror and I needed a shave. So I grabbed Soap Commander and their fabulous "Resolution" scented soap which is the only Christmas like scent that I have in my shave cave. The scent is a fresh cut Frasier fir tree, some bitter but fresh mistletoe along with some really sweet Cranberries. And to finish off my Christmas Eve shave, I paired it with Aqua Velva ice blue aftershave splash:

The doc was fantastic. I was pretty much squeaky clean after performing 3 passes. I could have stopped after 2 but there was a few too many spots with stubble left behind so I went ahead and done my usual 3 passes with this razor. The Wilkinson Sword blade in the razor is on its last shave which is about normal because the doc razor is a bit of a blade eater. I had to stop before my last pass & strop the blade to finish the shave. So I'm going to go ahead and put a fresh Gillette Nacet blade in there to try. I'm really loving the Gillette Nacet blades.

Proraso Green & The 42C:

Man oh man what a great shave I had this morning, wow. Today I needed something that was refreshing & invigorating so I went with Proraso Green which has an incredible Menthol & Eucalyptus scent to it along with an epic post shave feel. And to add even more menthol to the post shave feel, I finished the shave off with Pinaud's Osage Rub which is like tripling the menthol effect:

The Merkur 42C (Classic Closed Comb) was perfect. I was squeaky clean after just 2.5 passes which is a sweet spot for me and these Gillette Nacet blades might just be my top choice of razor blades before long. They're even more comfortable & efficient than my Perma-Sharp blades are and that says a lot. I may have to change my top 5 blades after this, wow.

Confidence & The Fusion:

This morning's shave was great and since I have to be some where, it had to be fast as well. Today I went with Soap Commander their classic "confidence" scent which is fabulous. The scent is an overly sweet honey with musk & patchouli. The patchouli & musk still allow the honey to come through but calms the sweetness down to where the scents work well together. And to finish off the shave, I went with the matching aftershave balm which adds a touch of menthol to the already incredible post shave feel:

The Gillette Fusion was perfect. I was squeaky clean in just 2 passes. I really don't have a lot of time today so I grabbed my Fusion and I did make sure that it had a fresh blade.

Wilkinson Sword Blades Review:

8 days ago, I ordered a new brush and some blades to try out and these German made Wilkinson Sword Classic DE blades are fantastic. I've gotten consistent results each and every time I've used them and they're extremely smooth and comfortable with no pulling or tugging. These are perfect for those with extremely sensitive skin and after stropping them 2 times on both sides of the blade, they're perfect for my skin. This is how they're packaged which is pretty cool:

^ On the back of the package it states that these specific blades are made in Soligen, Germany which is extremely well known for having quality steel and some of the finest blades & razors on the market. This dispenser isn't too hot in terms of accessing the blades but other than that, these blades are fantastic. I'll more than likely be getting more of them as I go along:

In my humble opinion the best razors to use with these blades are the Merkur 38C, the Gillette Slim adjustable and RazoRock German 37 in that specific order:

The 38C was the best in terms of comfort and the German 37 was the closest with the Gillette slim being in the middle. The only thing I've not done is a longevity test but I really don't need to do that because unlike my cartridge blades these don't cost anything. So after 3 or 4 shaves, I'm tossing the blade out. No sense trying to stretch a blade when they're cheap enough and you have plenty of blades on hand.

Honor & The 38C:

Today's shave was excellent. Earlier today around noon or so, I went with Soap Commander and their fabulous "Honor" scented soap. The scent is a "Barbershop" type of scent that's some where between Phoenix Shaving's C.a.D. & Fine's American Blend. And to finish off today's shave, I went with the matching aftershave balm which adds a touch of menthol to the post shave feel:

The Merkur 38C is the cat's meow with a fresh Wilkinson Sword DE blade. This was the last razor I wanted to try one of these blades before I did a detailed review and gave you my picks on which razors worked best with the blades. Please note that results will vary. I was pretty much spot on after 3 passes. I could have done 1 more but I don't like to make more than 3 passes at the most.

C.a.D. & The Tech:

Today's shave was great. Today I went with Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements and their modern day classic, C.a.D. scent. The scent is a much stronger version of a certain 1970's & 80's "canned shave foam" scent which has to be kept nameless so the pricks won't press a lawsuit against me like they do with everyone else. And to finish off this shave, I went with the matching aftershave splash which has a nice slight cooling factor to it:

The Vintage Gillette Tech was really good today. I ended up getting a pretty close shave after 3 passes. I thought this was the last razor I had before doing a detailed review on the blades but I forgot about my 38C which is milder than what I used today. I will map out the details for each razor as best as I can but I've pretty much have already formed my opinion about these blades.

Mountain Man & The German 37:

Today's shave was fantastic. After a nice hot shower, I went with Stirling Soaps and their "Mountain Man" scented soap which is Stirling's take on Creed's Silver Mountain Water cologne. And to finish off today's shave I paired it with good old Pinaud's Clubman:

I also decided to break out my shave scuttle today. Right now it's snowing and we have every bit of a 30 mph wind gust so a hot lather shave was definitely needed today:

The Wilkinson Sword DE blades are great in a slant. I also got a much better shave after stropping the blade 2 times on each side using the smooth leather side of my strop. It was more efficient & much more comfortable after stropping the blade which I didn't do with the other razors. One more shave and I'll be able to do a detailed review on these blades.

Turkish Bath & The Doc:

Today's shave was great. Today I went with Jeeves of Hudson Street and their Turkish Bath/Barbershop scented soap. And to finish off today's shave, I paired it with Stirling Soaps and their fabulous Barbershop scented splash:

The doc was great. These Wilkinson Sword DE blades are pretty good in the doc razor. I managed to get a squeaky clean post shave feel in my usual 3 passes. So far I'm liking these Wilkinson Sword blades. I've just got a couple more razors to try them in before I can do a detailed review about them.

Reflection & the Slim:

Tonight's shave was extremely blissful to say the least. Good old Soap Commander and their fabulous Reflection scent which pairs extremely well with Skin Bracer which is what I finished off tonight's shave with:

The Gillette slim was extremely good tonight & these German Wilkinson Sword blades are fabulous. Smooth & comfortable shave yet 5 days worth of beard growth disappeared like nothing. Now I know why people like these blades. Very comfortable blades.

Mail Call: New Brush & Blades:

Today's mail call is from good old Maggard Razors. I bought a new Omega 10019 S Brush & some blades that I've not tried before apart from the Gillette Silver Blues which use to be my "go to" blades at one point. So they will be a somewhat new but familiar experience to me:

New Items & Reviews Coming:

Earlier today, I placed an order for a new brush & some DE blades. I see these DE blades often but to the best of my knowledge, I've only tried one of these blades before and that would be the Gillette Silver Blue DE blades. I also have Wilkinson Sword (German Version) coming along with Gillette Nacet & Gillette Rubie DE blades.

The brush I ordered was an Omega 10019-S synthetic boar brush. I've always loved the feel of a boar brush but loved the speed & practicality of a synthetic brush. Now I have the best of both worlds in a shaving brush. The real deal boar & badger brushes are great but they tend to absorb my lather pretty quickly and my silver tipped badger brushes shed like crazy. I'm happy to say that I've NOT had any of these issues since switching to synthetic brushes on a full time basis. Another thing is the amount of drying time or lack there of that's needed for the brush to dry. In 2 to 3 hours my synthetic brush is dry. With my other brushes, I need at least 24 to 48 hours and that's if it's warm outside. If it's cold outside like it is now, then it can take even longer for them to dry.

C.a.D. & The Shield:

This morning's shave was great. Sorry for the delay ladies & gentlemen. I pretty much had to shave and run out the door which is why you see the razor that you do in the photo. Today I needed a Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements fix so I grabbed my all time favorite scent that they have in their product line, C.a.D. which is a much stronger version of a certain canned shave foam which will remain nameless. The reason I won't mention their name is because they force artisans to change the names & labels of their products which is very uncool on their part:

The Gillette Shield was excellent if not perfect this morning. I was squeaky clean in just 2 passes and it was extremely comfortable. Even though I've been getting very good and comfortable shaves with my DE safety razors, these cartridge razors are still my favorite specifically the Gillette Fusion & this razor. I didn't have to worry about getting the correct angle and the post shave feel that I have was and is exactly what I'm looking for in a shave. 2 comfortable passes and a black ice post shave feel.

Lemon Chill & The German 37:

This morning's shave was great. Today I needed a little menthol fix so I went with Stirling Soaps and their Lemon Chill scent. The scent is basically a lemon meringue pie type of scent that's not too sweet but you still get some sweetness from the lemon. And to finish off this shave, I went with Stirling Soap's Glacial Lemon Chill aftershave balm:

The German 37 was great. I got pretty close in just 2.5 passes but for some reason my neck area didn't get cleaned up enough but it's still socially acceptable. That's what I love about using cartridges instead of DE safety razors. You are pretty much guaranteed a BBS shave with a cartridge razor while you may or may not get one with a DE safety razor. But this shave was much more comfortable than I expected it to be. My next shave will be with a cartridge razor.

American Blend & The 42C:

Today's shave was great. Today I went with Fine Accoutrements and their American Blend scent which is their take on YSL's Rive Gauche Pour Homme (2003). And to finish off today's shave, I went with the matching aftershave splash which adds a touch of menthol to the post shave feel. I got zero burn today from the aftershave:

The Merkur 42C (1904 classic closed comb) was perfect today. I got a really nice and close shave in just 2.5 passes. I could have done another half pass on my neck area but I decided not to in order to keep from getting irritated. My next shave will be interesting because I will be trying my German 37 slant. The main reason is that my neck area gives me some serious issues when shaving. I don't know why either because I do stretch the skin while I shave.

Proraso Green, Osage Rub & The 38C:

Today's shave was amazing. After a nice hot shower, I went with a modern day classic Proraso green which has an epic Menthol & Eucalyptus scent. And to top off today's shave, I went with a nice healthy double dose of Pinaud's Osage Rub which puts the cooling factor over the top:

The Merkur 38C Barber pole handle razor was good. I was pretty clean & squeaky in some spots after just 3 passes. This specific razor is perfect for beginners or people like me who have extremely sensitive skin and need to shave without having to deal with extreme irritation. It's also very good for a quick shave when you need to be somewhere and are in a rush. I could have easily made another pass and gotten away with it but my experience has taught me that less is more.

TTFFC by Maria Arman Is Back!

This is awesome! Maria Arman & her husband done an excellent job at putting together a new website for Through The Fire Fine Craft. Here's the link: https://www.ttffcraft.com/ . Her old website was extremely hard to use and at times it was down and you couldn't even access it. Plus she also had a really hard time at adding products which are phenomenal so it was definitely time for a new website. Maria is also fast to ship. In fact she often beats the tracking number in terms of speed. I've actually had product in my hand that I had ordered from her & the tracker showing it to be delivered the next day. That's how fast she is. She still has the logo seen below but she has changed the formula & the names of the scents:

This looks amazing. Her old website was a Yahoo! website:

She has added sections and is still working on it at the moment but it's still 10 times easier to use which is a really good thing:

Right now all she has listed at the moment is shave soaps:

Here's the new labels for the soaps and she did change the names but she still left the old names below so they can be identified and I love the classic car theme on the labels:

The new base sounds exceptional. They used a coconut, tallow, soy & Abyssinian oil soap base which sounds extremely good:

The Armans have also been very generous in donating to local causes to help their community out. They provide Hospice Care for The Little Traverse Bay Humane Society which is a NO KILL animal rescue shelter in Harbor Springs, MI:

Here's more info on the local animal shelter they're helping out which is listed on their website and has more details:

They did set up to where you can donate in addition to the Limited Edition soap & aftershave set which will ship on November 30, 2017 when they return. The scent on the L.E. soap is a blend of cedar, orange, lemon, lavender, leather, violet, vetiver, bourbon, tobacco & a little hint of creosote which sounds extremely bold:

This scent really caught my eye. My uncle has a 1966 Mustang which he gave to his son, my cousin Paul and it was a really nice ride. But it's one of the most popular antique cars of all time: 

The scent sounds extremely rich which is a blend of hard cider,  cedar, with a hint of black pepper and incense. Basically it's an adult version of the classic candy apple scent which is an all time classic and it's perfect for the Holidays in my opinion:

Her husband makes custom straight razors. At one time he was building them for Hart Steel which tells me he has exceptional quality. By the way I have NOT given up on straight razors just yet but it will be a while before my next purchase though:

I couldn't be more excited to see Maria back online because I'm dangerously low on her soap and I'm itching to try her new formula which sounds like it's a power house.

Pumpkin 3.14 & The Slim:

Today's shave was outstanding. Since it's officially Black Friday today which is the day after Thanksgiving for us here in the U.S. for my readers that are overseas who don't know and/or celebrate it, I went with Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements and their seasonal classic, Pumpkin 3.14 which is a hearty pumpkin pie scent with notes of pumpkin, cinnamon & clove. And to finish off today's shave I went with Autumn Factory aftershave with is a much sweeter version of the soap listed above & it burns so good. Today it was epic but a smooth consistent burn:

The Gillette Slim is my new favorite DE safety razor because I got as close as a cartridge with it today in just 3 passes. I started with it on the number 4 setting for my with the grain pass which knocked it down pretty good but I could definitely tell that I needed to crank it up on my next pass. For my against the grain pass I cranked it up to number 7 which was perfect for about 80% of what was left of my beard which also cleaned out my trouble spots really good. I still had a tiny bit of stubble left in a few spots here & there so for my 3rd and final pass which was across the grain, I turned it all the way down to setting number 1 which finished off everything. I almost could NOT tell if there was a blade in it on setting number 1. So if you guys are in the market for an adjustable razor, grab a Gillette Slim. They're excellent and very simple to use.

Influence & The DE 89:

Man that shave felt really good. Happy Thanksgiving to all of those who took the time to read this blog post. I had nearly 4 days worth of beard growth & it was starting to itch so it had to go. And since I needed a Soap Commander fix, I went with their soap and their classic "Influence" scent which is a rich sweet cherry, premium pipe tobacco & a full bodied black tea scent. And I finished it off with the matching aftershave balm which adds a touch of menthol to the post shave feel:

The Edwin Jagger DE 89 was excellent. I was squeaky clean after 2.5 passes that and I also used my hot lather shave scuttle tonight. It was like my beard melted off. I have to use the handle off my R41 because something went wrong with the original handle to where it won't tighten up to hold the blade in place. Thankfully it worked or I was going to have to purchase another DE 89.

I'm Good To Go:

Well that takes care of all of the razors I'm planning on using in my rotation. Besides the razors you see below which are my Merkur 38C & Merkur 42C classic closed comb, I will also be using my Edwin Jagger DE 89, Gillette Ball End Tech, Gillette Slim & the Doc razor from Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements. I have decided NOT to take any chances with my German 37 from RazoRock. My skin is just too sensitive for that razor and it's just best to keep it in cold storage. These razors has also been stropped 2 times on each side of the blade using the smooth leather side on my strop. This takes away the harshness of the 1st shave that you get with just about ANY DE blade and this is the ONLY time that I strop a DE blade. They're much more affordable than my Gillette Fusion & Shield razors are in terms of costs and I can afford to toss these out when they're dull:

The Feather blades are also out. Even though I can strop them to take the harshness away which helps out a lot in terms of comfort, they're still too sharp for my sensitive skin. I'm also considering trying other blades again to see which ones I can use but these Perma-Sharps have clearly won in terms of comfort. And in the Edwin Jagger DE 89 that title goes to the Gillette Platinum Plus blades hands down. It was like there was no blade in the razor and yet my beard disappeared with those blades but that was in my DE 89 only. I didn't get too good of results in the other razors with them like I did in the DE 89. Quite the opposite in fact.

TTFFC Mixed & The Doc:

Today's shave was awesome. If you have not tried Through The Fire Fine Craft by Maria Arman then shame on you. She also makes Maggard Razors brand of soaps as well which are also awesome. This is my mixed soap container which has several scents but the dominating scent is her "Play it again Sam" scent which is a Lime & Ginger ale scent. And to finish off today's shave, I paired it with good old Pinaud's Clubman original which pairs perfectly with this soap:

The doc was great. I did forget to strop it before the 1st use which resulted in a few weepers but other than that I pretty much had a black ice type of post shave feel after 3 passes. Douglas Smythe if you are reading this, you need to keep the original doc razor bro. It's possibly your best razor that you've ever released from Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements in my humble opinion. I do know that you have other versions but the original is still the best in my opinion.

Buyer's Remorse: Anemometer:

Well I can officially say that this Tacklite anemometer is junk. The reviews on Amazon were mixed so it was a 50/50 chance that it would either work or it wouldn't and for a brief time it did. The problem is that it's not even close to being accurate. I took it outside & the vanes inside the anemometer were spinning like crazy and yet it was not registering the wind speed at all and it's gusting to every bit of 15+ mph. Another problem is the temperature is not accurate either. In fact it's not even close. Today it read 62 degrees F. and it's much warmer than that easy:

The main reason I bought this anemometer is for long range target shooting & hunting but what good is it when it's not even close to being accurate. To make long range shots of 1200 plus yards or meters, you have to extremely accurate. Being slightly off in your calculations in any way can cause you to significantly miss the target which is bad news if you are hunting because it's usually just 1 shot, 1 kill. Very rare that you get make more than that. So I will be saving up my funds to get a Kestrel which is more accurate & has a much better quality. I don't need one with a balistics calculator because I can download an app that does that for me.

Back To DE Safety Razors!

After today's excellent & comfortable shave, I have decided to return to using DE safety Razors but I will be sticking to certain ones and staying away from stupid aggressive safety razors & blades. My vintage ball end tech was a pure joy to use today. Even though I could have gotten my chin and goatee area better, I stopped myself from doing a full 3rd pass and only did a half pass on my neck area which is almost always a problem area for me no matter what I use:

These are the razors I'll be using in addition to the Tech shown above. I do have many more that are not seen such as my Merkur 38C barberpole & the 42C classic closed comb. Those are also going to be used as well since they are mild enough and won't damage or upset my sensitive skin:

My Gillette Slim gets as close as my Gillette Fusion & Shield razors do and is also a pure joy to use. I also will be using Phoenix Artisan Accoutrement's original double open comb razor which is mild & a joy to use and also gets as close as my Gillette Fusion & Shield razors. I'm not sure about using the German 37 slant razor at all. It might be too much for my skin to handle at the moment but there's really only one way to find out. My Edwin Jagger DE 89 that you see in the box above is using the handle off of my Muhle R41 since the original handle took a crap after nearly 4 years of use. It will also be used since I've gotten excellent shaves with it. I will also be sticking with Perma-Sharp DE blades and I might try the Gillette blades that are available. The Muhle R41 & straight razors are out. My hands draw up & shake too much to use straight razors & my sensitive skin can't handle the aggressive nature of the R41 even though it is one gorgeous razor with an excellent fit & finish. My Hawk & GEM SE razors will NOT be used either.

Turkish Bath & The Tech:

Today's shave was at least 10,000 times better than the last one. After a nice & relaxing shower, I went with Jeeves of Hudson Street and their fabulous Turkish Bath scented soap which is a 1920's Barbershop style scent. They have since renamed it "barbershop" and now have a matching aftershave. And to finish off today's shave, I went with Stirling Soaps and their classic barbershop aftershave splash which adds a touch of sweetness to the scent:

The Vintage Gillette Tech was nothing short of phenomenal and I know exactly what I did to get these great results with the 1st shave on these blades. I stropped the razor 2 times on each side on the smooth leather side of my strop to take the harshness of the first shave off of the blade. Think of doing a quick palm stropping with a GEM SE razor blade before the 1st use. I was squeaky clean just after 2.5 passes which is just about where I want it in terms of post shave comfort. Too many passes equals severe irritation & razor burn and my limit is 3 passes or less.

C.a.D. & The Tech:

Today's shave didn't go very well at all & was bloody. I can assure you that it was NOT me, my technique or the soap because I've gotten many good shaves out of them. The problem was the Feather blade & razor choice. More on that in a moment. PAA's C.a.D. is a phenomenal scent and is my favorite from PAA hands down. The matching aftershave burned like there was no tomorrow:

This was after the first pass. Did I mention that it was bloody?

I'll give the Vintage Gillette Tech another chance but with a different blade. The ironic thing is about a year ago, I thought Feather blades was it for me and kept recommending them. Now here I am about to toss them out. I'll just use the plastic cases they come in for disposing blades:

^ I put a Perma-Sharp in the tech and I will try it again in about 3 to 4 days but it's definitely not looking good in terms of me returning to DE safety razors. The Tech also left a lot behind. I'm just glad I didn't use my Muhle R41 which would have been past being ugly.