I’ve wanted a 3D printer for years, so I finally ordered one from Prusa. It should be delivered in the coming week and then I’ll have 2 or 3 nights of assembly before I can print anything.

I have a ski trip planned with 6 other people. It’ll be just us – no spouses or kids. 2 days of driving and 2 days of skiing in northern Vermont. We did the same thing last year and it’s so much fun.

I’ve had a solar shed for a while, with some small panels that charge a 300Ah LiFePo4 12v battery which can power a 1000w inverter. It serves me well, but Lithium batteries have a limitation of getting damaged if you charge them below freezing. The battery has a built in temperature sensor to prevent such damage, and in the winter months the capacity gets drawn down as I’m unable to charge… until now! I bought some heating pads to put under the battery that I can switch on and off remotely. If the battery gets too cold I switch them on for a few hours and the battery warms up nicely and starts charging.

I’ve been in a similar chamber (Hypobaric instead of nitrogen). I remember everything because I was a chicken and put my mask back on at the very first sign something was off. One of the other participants couldn’t /wouldn’t put their own mask back on. It’s interesting to witness.

January 22nd, 2026

• Brush: Semogue - 610 Boar
• Razor: Geneva Cutlery Co. (Genco) Straight Razor (3)
• Lather: M�urer & Wirtz - Tabac - Tallow - Soap
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Incorporeal - Toner
• Post Shave: Declaration Grooming, House of Mammoth - Cerberus - Liniment
• Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co. - Friends to the End - EdT

I really love this little Genco razor. I’d like to get new scales for it at some point. 5/8 seems to be a good pick for me – two of my favorite razors are around that size. Not to say something like the Koraat Moarteen isn’t nice to use, but at this point in my straight razor career I’m enjoying the nimbleness of narrow razors.

A friend of mine is interested in trying straight razors so I’ve been trying to come up with a good answer on what to get first. After my experience with this razor and the good availability of them on eBay, I told him to search and see what he can find.

No makeup

January 21st, 2026: BVWSC

• Brush: AP Shave Co. - w/Maggard SHD 26mm Badger
• Razor: EldrormR Industries MM24
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (5)
• Lather: M�urer & Wirtz - Tabac - Tallow - Soap
• Post Shave: M�urer & Wirtz - Tabac - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Friends to the End - Balm

Very nice shave, indeed. I’m not convinced this is actually a Maggard SHD Badger knot – it feels a lot different than my other ones.

Today’s meeting of the Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club meant using Tabac. Often called “divisive” or “not good”, I love the scent of Tabac.

I also use PieFed almost exclusively, but run both instances. That community is only viewable from Lemmy, unfortunately. I think about half of our users have switched to PieFed, so eventually we’ll have to come up with a different system I think.

Keep an eye out for the monthly nomination thread (sort of posted at random when one of us remembers to) and nominate a soap. Then join https://sub.wetshaving.social/c/bvwsc to participate in the voting.

That community is local only, so you’ll have to make an account on that instance… sort of a pain but that’s how we decided to keep random people out of the voting system.

The users on c/wetshaving are a pretty tight knit group, and every month we vote on a shave soap which will get sent around the world (well, North America and Europe) so we can use it on the same day in sort of a “group shave”.

We call it the Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club (BVWSC).

January 20th, 2026

• Brush: Summer Break Soaps - w/Maggard Silvertip 28mm Badger
• Razor: Koraat 15/16 Full Hollow - Sub Exclusive ‘Moarteen’ (8)
• Lather: Zingari Man - The Stargazer - Soap
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - I, Rich Moose - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Zingari Man - The Stargazer - Aftershave Serum

Quite a nice shave. Northern Lights have been forecast as “possible” last night and tonight, so this soap fits that theme. This lather is pretty neat. I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite, but it stays slick basically no matter how much water I add. The lather was running down the razor quite a bit which some might say is an annoyance for straight razor shaving.

I’m reading opinions that the open comb version is even milder.

I think I’ve also heard there is a bit of variation from razor to razor.

Closed

January 19th, 2026

• Brush: Summer Break Soaps - w/Maggard Silvertip 28mm Badger
• Razor: GEM Damaskeene
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (4)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Lavender Sage - Soap
• Post Shave: London Razors - Mountain Laurel - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Zingari Man - The Stargazer - Aftershave Serum
• Fragrance: London Razors - Mountain Laurel - EdP

I do love this Damaskeene! It’s the mildest GEM I’ve ever used, but still shaves nice and close as long as you’re willing to do some buffing.

January 18th, 2026

• Brush: Stirling Soap Co. 24mm Synthetic
• Blade: Personna White Handle Disposable (7)
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Ubrique - Soap
• Post Shave: Brut - Brut - Splash On
• Post Shave: Goodfellow & Co. - Kelp & Sea Mineral - Lotion

Nice lather.

These Personna things are a great option if you’re looking for something to put in your carry on when flying.

Well… fillabuster.

January 17th, 2026

• Brush: Stirling Soap Co. 24mm Synthetic
• Blade: Personna White Handle Disposable (6)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Waves of Grain - Soap
• Post Shave: Brut - Brut - Splash On
• Post Shave: Goodfellow & Co. - Kelp & Sea Mineral - Lotion

Nice results from this Personna disposable from Kodiak Shaving.

A few have come across my desk. My favorite is the Classic Testina Gentile in Chrome.

Classic refers to the handle, and Gentile (Gentle) refers to the head. There’s also a slant Gentile I think, and maybe some other handle options.

I don’t know what Testina means. https://www.fatip.it/en/the-razor/

The Gentile head is mild-medium blade feel with above average efficiency. Brass construction.

Fatip threading is smaller than the standard, so Fatip handles won’t fit most other heads, but Fatip heads will fit other handles provided the threads are deep enough. Same as Gillette razors, but the threads are longer/deeper.

January 16th, 2026

• Brush: L’Occitane Plisson Synthetic
• Razor: GEM Micromatic Clog-Pruf
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (3)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Lavender Sage - Soap
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Friends to the End - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Friends to the End - Balm

Excellent quick shave early this morning. Almost stopped after 2 passes but figured what’s another couple minutes?

January 15th, 2026

• Brush: L’Occitane Plisson Synthetic
• Razor: Gold Dollar Straight Razor - 7/8 Half Hollow (3)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Lavender Sage - Soap
• Post Shave: Pinaud - Clubman Special Reserve - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Declaration Grooming, House of Mammoth - Cerberus - Liniment
• Fragrance: Cross/Cut - Warm Woods - EdC

Pretty good and comfortable, and closeness is good. This razor was my learning razor in regards to honing. First I chipped the blade trying to cut a zip tie with it (doh!), then I tried pretty successfully to fix the chip, and now here we are. The edge on it is only 600 diamond plate straight to 10k. Surprisingly it works, but now that I own more synthetic stones I’m looking forward to seeing how it is after a full progression.

It says Donations Paused at the moment.

January 14th, 2026

• Brush: AP Shave Co. - Synbad 24mm Synthetic
• Razor: Worcester Razor Co. Straight - 6/8 Hollow (2)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Lavender Sage - Soap
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Varen - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Friends to the End - Balm
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Lavanille - EdP

Decent results. The razor bit me in a weird way, though. Usually a straight will bite parallel to the edge, usually as a result of accidental movement in that direction. This bite was a shallow slice perpendicular to the blade, in the direction of travel. At first I thought maybe it was the square toe that dug in a bit, but the location doesn’t make sense… A bit of a mystery.

Either way, happy with the shave! Closeness is good enough. The razor had a nice soft feel.