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Whom Do You Admire?

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Who do you think are the most trusted, authoritative experts in the traditional wet shaving community?  The ones you would not miss a blog post, forum comment, or youtube video from?

  • Leisureguy?
  • Geofatboy?
  • drmoss_ca (SMF)?
  • Johnny (Shavenook)?
  • Ouch (B&B)?
  • Gary Carrington?
  • Betelgeux (Reddit)?

These are just examples–the door is wide open.  (Just don’t say mantic59.  This is not an ego boost post!)


Author

Shave tutor and co-founder of sharpologist. I have been advocating old-school shaving for over 20 years and have been featured in major media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Lifehacker. Also check out my content on Youtube, X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!View Author posts

25 thoughts on “Whom Do You Admire?”

  1. In terms of providing an all-in-one-place point of reference for newbies — or, at least, as close to one as you’re going to find in the hobby — I think “LeisureGuy’s Guide to Gourmet Shaving” is honestly still pretty hard to beat.
    As for videos . . . well, I first ran across GeoFatBoy’s channel and found him to be a great resource, though I think I ultimately learned more from your own channel, Mantic. That said, I’m going to throw a bit of a curve ball in by nominating Michael Freedberg here. He’s been pumping out shave videos where he reviews different products every Sunday, and has kept to this schedule for long enough now that I feel he deserves a mention. I really like his personable style, and if he doesn’t like a product, his critiques always tend to be constructive.

  2. Here are the experts I have found particularly helpful, influential and informative:
    Mantic59 – Mantic’s wetshaving videos are an outstanding resource, an unparalleled, straightforward and illustrative wealth of information.
    Leisureguy – Leisureguy’s Guide to Gourmet Shaving book, now in its sixth edition, is a very useful reference for new and experienced wetshavers alike. The shaving posts on his Later On blog are also quite interesting and informative.
    Bruce Everiss – His Bruce On Shaving blog is well written, enlightening, direct and to the point. Although no longer updated on a regular basis, it remains one of the most informative wetshaving sites on the Internet.
    Lynn Abrams – A very knowledgeable and influential proponent of straight razor shaving, Lynn also started one of the first online wetshaving communities to help spread the word.

    1. Tbone, I must agree with you, about Bruce Everiss and revise my list:
      Apart from the champion called Mantic59 who will not be named, I favour Leisureguy, Geofatboy, Bruce Everiss, Betelgeux (Reddit), and Lynn Abrams in that order. I only discovered Betelgeux because of this forum, and his videos are great. I am a novice at straight razor shaving.
      The hardest parts of the face to shave are the chin and above the lip area, and for this reason, the videos of the champion and Geofatboy are especially good.

  3. Leisureguy, whose entertaining book gave me a basic education, but Palpz for making it fun–I look forward to each review, no, I think I’m addicted.

  4. Mantic’s videos are super. Although not listed here, I would put Lynn Abrams at the top also. Lynn has introduced a whole generation of men into straight razor shaving (curse him) the same as Mantic as done with double edge shaving.

  5. I’m not sure what lead to me to the videos, but Mantic59’s YouTube channel lead me to buy my EJ89 and get into wetshaving last October.
    While I waited for my razor to arrive in the mail, I watched all of Mantic59’s and Geofatboy’s videos multiple times. I was definitely prepared for my first shave.
    I check B&B almost every day, and visit Sharpologist once or twice a week.

  6. I follow Mantic59 and check the homepage of Sharpologist every morning.
    I appreciate Leisureguy’s book and occasionally visit the Shaving section of his blog.
    Geofatboy is amusing and while, I don’t follow him regularly, I catch up on his videos every few months.
    The articles G.D. Carrington wrote for Sharpologist were fantastic!
    I don’t visit forums as much as I used to in ’08-’11, unless I’m looking for a specific review or researching something.
    I visit ItalianBarber religiously to discover new products; love what RazoRock is doing.
    I’d mention my own blog and videos, but they’ve been neglected since February due to a permanent, new demanding work schedule.
    Al Raz’s articles and blog are always interesting too.
    I enjoy and regularly visit Palpz Shaving Soap reviews and blog.

      1. Agreed. Marco on B&B offers solid advice and his lathering technique with italian soaps really improved my lather.

  7. Mantic59,
    Sorry, I read the articles and watch videos you post. Your videos started me back to traditional wet shaving in 2009. This is not an ego boost post, just the truth.

  8. Reddit?!?! If you’re pro-socialist, pro-gay, pro-abortion and pro-Marx/Lenin, and anti-America, sure.

  9. I learned a lot from many people back in the day, but Ouch was the one who kept me in line and turned me on to the wonderful Strops from Tony Miller, for which I am ever grateful.

  10. The only names I am familiar with here are Leisureguy, Geofatboy, Ouch, Gary C and, of course, our host mantic59.
    I have learned from all of them. I like particularly Geo’s and mantic’s vids and appreciate Ouch for the way he runs B&B (and for his great sense of humor). But I probably get the most information from the posts of Gary Carrington.
    I’m not sure ranking/voting for them serves anyone’s interest, though.

  11. I suspect all are decent, interesting characters; I wouldn’t mind speaking with any of them and have learned from all. However, “authoritative expert” might be the wrong term for safety razor gurus. Safety razors are designed for ease of use and one can become accomplished within weeks, skillful within months because there just aren’t that many required skills.
    Straight razors require more skills and errors are costlier. If I was to be introduced to a straight razor, I’d like Geofatboy or drmoss to facilitate that introduction. If nothing else they could help staple the results of an error back together.

  12. This sort of discussion can be useful for some people.
    Apart from the champion who will not be named, I favour Leisureguy and Geofatboy in that order. Carrington would be at the bottom of my list, and B and B would be second last. YMMV.

  13. What is the point of this article?
    Since Fall last year I have noticed a significant deterioration in the quality of the articles on Sharpologist, especially the soap/cream reviews. Lately my visits to this site have become much less frequent.
    This wasn’t meant to be insult but more of observation.

    1. This article was meant to stimulate discussion. What would you like to see different with soap/cream reviews?

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