Strolling Men: August 2015

Monday 31 August 2015

Top 5 Toiletries Every Bearded Gentleman Should Own.

Every bearded gent should have a set of helpful toiletries to help care for him self and his fuzz(This is not a girly post, promise)(not that there is anything wrong with being a girl).

I have got together my top 5 toiletries that I use on a daily basis and would recommend them to any man.

VO5 Surf Style Paste.

I use this on a daily basis and it is much better than any wax or gel I have used(I know this isn't technically for beards but go with it).

It isn't sticky and feels exactly the same as if your hair had been in the sea it works really well and controls you hair without looking fake(no i'm not being paid to do this, I genuinely use this).

Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood Shaving Cream.

For those men who do touch up their cheeks and neck, this shaving cream is super hydrating and stops nearly all razor burn and smells amazing as well as having classic looking packaging.

Champneys Face Wash.

Champneys is a spa chain who also sell some of their products, I use their face wash every night to get all of the oil and crap off my face(It does not damage your pride to take care of yourself).

It is slightly exfoliating which is good for getting into the outskirts of your beard to prevent any spots that might become visible, it also smells great and it is really cheap.

The Audacious Beard Co.'s Beard Oil

I have used the Audacious Beard Co.'s beard oil for a while now and have done a few posts on them(I finally got the complete set). This has to make my number two because of how amazing they smell and how great they make your beard feel. Soft as silk. Any bearded man would do well to own one or all of these beard oils for the scent and the beard benefits.

The Audacious Beard Co.'s Beard Shampoo Bar.

This has to make number one as my favourite 'Bearded Mans Toiletry'.

Ever since I received this bar I have used it every night. It cleans you face and beard so much better than you can imagine. The way your face feels after wards is an indescribable feeling. For any one who hasn't got one of these yet. You are SERIOUSLY missing out. Mine is very worn already but I know I will be ordering another bar the moment I run out.

I hope this guide helps you in keeping clean and sharp in the bathroom. Click any of the names to go to the website for them.

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And my Instagram: @strollingmenblog

- Stay Clean And Stay Sharp -

- Louis -

Thursday 27 August 2015

Mad Max Paracord Bracelet.

I loved the film Mad Max: Fury Road, partially because it was a brilliant film, partially because I love Tom Hardy.

I noticed the bracelet he wears throughout the film and wanted to make one. After looking at several videos I figured out a way to make them.

Apologies for the less than average photos I don't really know what was going on today.

You Will Need:

About 4 arm lengths of paracord(roughly, hold one end, measure to shoulder and repeat).

I used my swiss army knife to cut the ends but you will also need some kind of small stick. The thick end of the tooth pick works really well with that.

A means to melt the end, I used my stove.

Firstly, get your paracord and find the middle point. Bend that in half and from the bend measure it around your wrist. Pinch the length you want it to be the reduce it by about an inch.

From that point, bend each end of the cord to each side like shown.

Then move the left side over and pull the right cord so it is on top.

Put the right cord behind and back up through the left loop.

Then pull it not completely tight as you need to go through this one later on. Every knot after these are to be tight however.

It is VERY important to remember that the same cord always make the loop first. It is the cord that always crosses over the top.

I'll put an uninterrupted sequence here and just repeat it till you get close to the bottom remembering to keep the lead cord as the first loop, always over the top.

Pull tight each time.

Continue the tying until you get down to a point where it is very difficult to keep going but you have enough room to easily still do at least one more knot.

This point is when you will need your little stick or pokey thing to get the cord through the hole at the very bottom.

Now I must admit I am faintly confused by these photos, I was getting angry with my camera and probably should have made these clearer.

You need to put the main cord(that main loopy one) through first then push the opposite one through(It's very possible you bracelet at this point might be the other way round just reverse the instructions). You need to make sure the main loop is on top of the other one and pull each of the cords tight THROUGH the opposing ones loop once you've done that you will have tied the stopper knot.

If you don't tie a stopper knot you can easily pull every single knot off the bracelet taking it back to a massive stretch of paracord.

Once you've loosened the first two loops at the top of the bracelet use your stick like thing to push each cord through to the correct loop.

From here, you need to put the bracelet on and note where you want to knot to be on the ropes so you can still get it on and off(do it a little tighter than you think as the rope it slightly stretchy and the knots on the bracelet will adjust).

This stopper knot is similar to the knots on the bracelet. Start it like you did on the first knot and place one cord over the top and another under the bottom.

The cord on the top is then going to go round the back and go through itself, and the cord on the bottom is going to go over the top to go through itself.

It sounds more confusing than it is.

Pull it tight and it should look like this.

Trim off any extra cords.

Use some kind of fire to melt the tips so they can't become undone.

And there you have it. Your own Mad Max bracelet made with nothing but paracord.

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And Instagram: @strollingmenblog

- Don't Go Mad -

- Louis -

Sunday 23 August 2015

How To Clean Up A Old Knife.

Every now and again, you might find something knocking around in your attic or garage. Most of the time its junk. But sometimes you get something that has potential to be great.

My dad found a old scout knife and as it was rusted and dull he had no use for it and gave it to me.

The blade is sheffield steel with a brass guard around the top with leather coating the handle and it was covered in rust and paint.

In this post I will teach you how to(roughly) bring a knife back up to scratch.

It's actually much easier than you might think.

Your going to need...

Rough sand paper(I was using part of a old power sander belt)

The knife(Duh!)

At least one whet stone(i'd say for the best effects, get a 300 and 600 grit, then maybe a 1000 grit if you want it razor sharp?)

Some kind of good knife sharpener(I used my Gerber ceramic pocket sharpener)

Right, on with the instruction!

Firstly here is the knife.

As you can see its pretty grim. There's paint on the handle and the blade and end are rusty and dull. The blade was a lot more rusty but I had a go at it before I started photographing it.

1. Sand Paper.

This section is the one that will cause the most obvious difference. Your going to want to be somewhere you don't mind getting covered in rust so outside is great.

Rub all of the blade and any other metal sections till they shiny like sunlight(Can take a very long time especially if the blade has grooves in it).

The handle on this knife was leather and I decided I didn't care if it got a bit scuffed as long as there wasn't any paint on it anymore so I sanded that a bit as well.

Here's the knife after. And just for comparison here's the before again.

2. Whet Stone.

So this part your going to need a whet stone. I only had one old one to use but I've suggested the grit that you would need to make your restoration better.

Soak you whet stone in water for about 10 minutes, then using the full length of the stone and moving the blade so all of it makes contact throughout the strokes, drag the knife backwards and forwards at the angle you want you edge to be(that was as technical as I could make it I'm sorry).

Do this for about 15 minutes or so swapping the sides util you can feel more of an edge on it then move up to the next grit and repeat.