SMF

This was previously posted a few years ago, I didn't see it at the time, but if one isn't familiar with the gentleman and hasn't had the benefit of his innovations in shaving, well, . . . you be the judge, but you've just got to see this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsmosylgY1A

I didn't watch it all the way through - was afraid he was moving so fast he was going to slice his face off and not realize it.

He was moving right along, wasn't he! He's just down the road from you, in Austin. Have you ever been in his brick and mortar?

Well, no, I haven't.

In truth - I wasn't aware of him. There are other folks I would rather deal with, and I don't think I like the idea of a "shave cloth" which looks suspiciously like a piece of "burlap".

Yes I have, several times, remarkable fellow.

My general impression is that Charles Roberts over-complicates shaving.

I'm amazed how fast he shaves. It is undoubtedly a combination of skill and tough skin. My skin would never tolerate a going-over like that.

On these forums we are enamored of brushes, so a shaving cloth has little appeal. On the other hand, Mr Roberts demonstrates clearly that one really doesn't need to purchase a brush to produce good lather. I have to give him credit for that as I continue to use and enjoy my brushes.

- Murray

I think he pushes the speed of his shave to demonstrate the effectiveness of his product. It looks very dangerous and something no one should do. I remember going to home show where someone demonstrated a "Little Giant" all-purpose metal ladder. The demonstrator whipped it all around into different configurations like it was easily handled. It turned out to be very heavy and not so easy. Charles Roberts does have a video advocating the new Jagger silvertip fibre brushes because his product won't harm them like badger. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w39fsSBFSQM

I prefer to languish in ignorance and enjoy what I do.

I agree Wendell. There's something basically just wrong about that whole silly circus of a video. Looks like someone's life is at risk and the only way to save them is to shave as soon as possible. The part that stuck with me is seeing him jerking the razor down his cheeks while rapidly chanting against the grain 15 times as fast as possible.I call this disturbing.

I didn't get much more than 3 minutes into it. I'll never get those wasted minutes of my life back.

Primer, quadrants? SSDD. Just jargon to create some sort of demand. Again, I'll pass and just keep on doing what I do.

I'd absolutely love to see him do that with an '11 R41.

Think of all the burlap bags that must have been spared a one way trip to the city dump. Does this establishment now qualify as "green"?

jww wrote:I prefer to languish in ignorance and enjoy what I do.

That always works for me.

I hate to seem cynical but I wonder if the camera was on fast forward when he was shaving and/or he had a blade or a blank in his razor. I simply don't believe anyone can shave that fast. I know that if I tried I would have the Band Aid people working overtime and I am not a person prone to nicks or weepers, etc. From work experience I know quite a bit about how commercials are created and I think this clip was created using a lot of the same techniques. Having said that, I add that I would not spend that much time preparing my lather using any system. I am now 83 and I don't know how much time I have left but I do know I ain't going to spend it soaping a rag.

You might and if you enjoy it, more power to you. I assure you I wouldn't.

Bob

Ah yes!...Charles Roberts....indeed. What many of you newer members may not realize is that this is the same chap who started this whole business of traditional wet shaving forums. Yup...in 2003. Of course, his motive at the time was mainly to increase sales at his shop. At the time there were no proprietary products and certainly no shave rags. None of it; what he sold was Simpson brushes ( he was perhaps their biggest US retailer at the time ), and Trumper, D R Harris, and Coate's shave creams, soaps, and scents. Well, when members of 'his' forum started posting about other sources to get some of this stuff from he, with no warning, closed the forum down one Sunday morning in November 2003. This led some of the members to create two new shave forums on MSN and from them, eventually came SMF and later B&B and the others. So there you are. What's more, and this might unsettle some more recent SMF members, this fellow was considered by many to be THE authority or guru on the subject of wetshaving at the time. Scary ain't it ( chuckle ). Fortunately for me, by the time these forums started up I already knew a good deal about the subject so, I wasn't so easily....er....misled ( used in place of a cruder expression ).
Regards,
Gordon

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Gordon, of course you would know and good that you do. I knew he was not the guy who pushed Vegematic or several other "wonderful" devices that would work marvels for him but wouldn't when I tried them (my wife, who is quite mechanically talented had no better luck) but I had no idea who he is or was and now don't much care anyway. Still, I guess I/we owe him a debt of some gratitude because it led to sites like this. Perhaps they wouldn't have happened if he had not started the ball rolling. What I try to take from SMF are things that work for me that I didn't know about ... the Moss Scuttle is a prime example and I would not be without one ... things I thought were out of fashion ... straights, for example ... and the wisdom to know I will never try one.

bob

One of the defining principles of SMF is that the forum has NO commercial interest in any product or vendor. I imagine that this goes back to Charles Roberts and his forum.

- Murray

Chaz at it again, eh? Jeez, I haven't heard of this guy in a long time. Always pushing something new to drive sales. Ah well.

Chris

This type of obviously staged activity in a video with all of this rushing and chanting would appear to decrease interest and credibility, rather than adding them. The video says: "laugh at this and move on".

Yes, he has a blade in there, I know the guy and this is how he shaves . . . and talks.

OK, Squire, I'll believe you but I don't want to. But only because it's you.

bob