Most Used Gear for 2023

Another year and another analysis of the spreadsheet!  The results weren't overwhelming as most were expected.  In 2023, I did my best to use only a few soaps/splashes/hardware.  But around April or so, I couldn't resist the variety lurking in those stowed away boxes.  And soon after, the den shelves were full once again.  The bad news for 2023 was the number of "No Shave" days increased to 86...nearly 3 months worth of no shaving!  It's simply unacceptable, especially when I have 40 years worth of shave gear

Here's a breakdown of the most used gear in 2023:

Aftershave Brand:  Chatillon Lux - the 2nd most used brand wasn't even close

Aftershave Scent:  PAA Atmotic - I kept a small bottle of this in my dopp kit and that is a big reason why it came in #1.  A very close 2nd was Wholly Kaw Fern Concerto (and yes, it would've been #1 if I hadn't counted my travel shaves in the total)

Brush:  AP Shave Co 30mm Cashmere - just a huge pillow of softness!

Razor:  Wow!  This is the first year since I started wet-shaving where the Rockwell 6S was NOT the most used razor.  The Karve Overlander finally did what no other razor over the past 7 years has been capable of doing and it became the most-used razor for the year.  The Overlander was used 107 times and the Rockwell 6S was used 100.  Coming in 3rd was the Blackland Lite (63 times).  Only two other DEs were used in 2024.  And believe it or not, I'm ok with that.

Soap Brand:  54 brands were used throughout the year.  But the most-used was Stirling - 2nd year in a row too!  The 2nd-most used brand was Oaken Labs...makes sense because I spend a lot of shaves finishing off a tub of Far Afield.

Soap Scent:  No surprise...it was Oaken Lab Far Afield.  The 2nd-most used "non-travel" soap was Black Tie Razor Co Sandalwood

Discovery of the Year:  this was the year I realized that 1 and 2-pass shaves can be awesome!  I don't chase BBS anymore.  Sure, if there is a special occasion or it's date night, I'll do a 3-pass with clean-up to get that BBS shave.  Otherwise, I just no longer feel the need to go for anything other than a DFS

Goals for 2024:  I'm sure I've said it before, but I really want to limit the soap purchases this coming year.  I need to use the soaps already in the den.  If I can hold out til Black Friday 2024, it will be a miracle!



So what was some of your most used gear for 2024?  And any shaving-related goals for 2024?

2023 Shave Results

Razor: The Karve Overlander brand: 76 shaves. The break down is stainless steel 43, brass 21, aluminum 12. This was followed by the Tatara Masamune at 51 shaves, and the Vector at 39 shaves. 
Blade: Personna Platinum Chrome 94, Schick injector 61, and Personna PTFE GEM 39
Soap: I decided to use up some tubs purchased in 2021, so Mike's Natural Unscented had 66 shaves and Stirling Unscented with Beeswax had 57 shaves
Brush: Trotter Supernova with an APSCo Independent 24mm fan was used 28 times, followed by an Ever-Ready 836 with a Shave Forge 22mm High Mountain White badger knot.

I so need to learn to make a spreadsheet and work with them...

I so need to learn to make a spreadsheet and work with them...

If you're in the Google world (i.e., you have a Google or Gmail account), I may have just the tool for you! It is a nifty little file that teacher types use for quizzes. Essentially, every day I use it to record what I did by using simple drop down menus. The only writing I do is in a Notes section. When finished, I "submit" the form and it tallies it in a Google spread sheet. And that original file makes colored graphs or tracks all the stats automatically! 

Here is what the submitted form looks like:


After submitting, it sends the answers to a spread sheet, and they all get their own column.


Here is what the main response page looks like


And here is a sample of an individual category



Bottom line: you only set up the "front" page of categories you want to track! It does all the rest. Here is my front page (well, only part, but you get the idea!)


Anyone interested in this, PM me and I'll share the template. And to be open, another wet shaver made this and shared it a few years ago, either here or in another forum, I don't recall now. So none of this is original from me!

Found the thread, it was one of our members that made it available. Here is the original thread.

https://damnfineshave.com/thread-daily-s...oogle-form

I so need to learn to make a spreadsheet and work with them...

If you're in the Google world (i.e., you have a Google or Gmail account), I may have just the tool for you! It is a nifty little file that teacher types use for quizzes. Essentially, every day I use it to record what I did by using simple drop down menus. The only writing I do is in a Notes section. When finished, I "submit" the form and it tallies it in a Google spread sheet. And that original file makes colored graphs or tracks all the stats automatically! 

Here is what the submitted form looks like:


After submitting, it sends the answers to a spread sheet, and they all get their own column.


Here is what the main response page looks like


And here is a sample of an individual category



Bottom line: you only set up the "front" page of categories you want to track! It does all the rest. Here is my front page (well, only part, but you get the idea!)


Anyone interested in this, PM me and I'll share the template. And to be open, another wet shaver made this and shared it a few years ago, either here or in another forum, I don't recall now. So none of this is original from me!

I think I remember this when it was originally posted. The daunting part to me is trying to list all of my razors etc. It would take me F O R E V E R But thanks Eric

I only started getting serious about tracking shave sessions in April so these statistics are for 3 quarters of 2023:

Top Usage for 2023

Razor:              Atelier Durdan La Faulx [30% of shaves]
Razor Format: Single Edge [61% of shaves]
Blade Type:     Artist Club [30% of shaves]
Razor Era:       [78% Modern  / 22% Vintage]
Soap Brand:    Ethos Grooming [47% of shaves]
Soap Scent:     Ethos Sandalo Artistico [17% of shaves]
Post Brand:     Ethos Grooming [43% of shaves]
Post Scent:     Ethos Sandalo Artistico [18% of shaves]
Brush Fiber:    Synthetic [78% of shaves]
Brush Knot:     Wald A1 [53% of shaves]

2023 Highlights

There are too many gear highlights to capture but a few include: Atelier Durdan La Faulx and Vestige, Schick Type O, Ethos Grooming, MacDuff’s., Wald A1, and Declaration Grooming B14.  Overall, this was simply my personal best year of shaving, and I experienced gains that are not likely possible again, on a relative basis. A good amount of that can be attributed to Damn Fine Shave and forum members who helped me throughout the year. Thank You!

2024 Outlook

On the razor front, my focus is now becoming more selective. Besides a Paradigm Ti Diamondback in process, I will continue to monitor what Andy has in the pipeline. I am also curious to see what Backland develops for a second generation Sabre and anything new from Augustin / Atelier Durdan. There are a few vintage GEM format razors I am on the lookout for as well. And a Wolfman WR3 keeps re-surfacing on my list of potential purchases. On the whole, I have reverted back to a focus on SE format razors, which have always offered the best shaves for my beard profile.

While RAD has diminished, a recent acquisition of a DG B14 has re-kindled interest in natural hair offerings, as I finally go down that rabbit hole.

Soaps and scents are interesting as Ethos and MacDuff’s continue to offer high quality and unique offerings that I envision will remain a large percentage of my rotation. But I am curious about a few others out there and will probably sample several throughout the coming year.

Wishing everyone pleasant shaves in 2024.

I don't have a tracker, so this is my best guess...

Aftershave: Derby City Winter Reserve
Soap brand: not sure, either Mike's, Ethos, or PAA
Soap scent: PAA Rabid Banana (CK-6)
Razor: Blackland Blackbird SB (SS and Ti)
Blade: Gillette Platinum (literally 100%)
Brush: PAA Switchback 400 w/ 26mm AP Cashmere synthetic knot

Same gear for many years, now:

Razor = Blackbirds, Ti mainly
Blade = Wizamet Iridium Supers
Soap = Stirling & Mystic Water
Unrefined Shea Butter most of the year, but in hot summer weather Thayer's Unscented Witch Hazel
Brush = Various, but mainly 2-Bands

Found the thread, it was one of our members that made it available. Here is the original thread.

https://damnfineshave.com/thread-daily-s...oogle-form

Glad to see you’ve gotten good use out of this!

I actually stopped tracking this year, but maybe I’ll give it a go for 2024. Data can be so much fun!