Shaving

[lostsheep]

Just curious.
Anyone else here ever had, or currently shave with a straight razor?
I shave regularly with one, and find it waaay better than the disposable multi-blade things out there. I paid about $80 for my straight, $40 for a strop. I'll never need to replace either in my lifetime. Once a year or so, it needs to be honed, and I'm lucky to have a good hone. Usually, having a razor honed is about $10 or so. Some folks do it for nothing.

Electric shavers, well, they just don't do well for me. A good straight shave will last me 3-4 days before I get a shadow.

If you haven't ever had a straight razor shave, or have a husband/boyfriend/girlfriend etc., there are some places that will do them. For a man, it like 'spa-day'. Hot towels on the face, a good massage, hot lather, and a shave that make your face feel like a million. And some nice stink-um afterwards to close the pores and attract appreciative members of the opposite sex....

Oh, yes, there are some women that enjoy HAVING their legs shaved with a straight razor. Actually, shaving legs would be easier, I think, as the 'field' is less convoluted.

Rooks in Portland, OR shaves with a straight,by appt.

Very nice gift for the men folk....Christmas is coming.....nice stocking stuffer......new straight razor..... real shaving soap and a badger brush and mug........unique and different......Bay Rum cologne......

[Zanshin]

I shave with a straight-razor. I have several which I rotate but aboard I have 2 stainless steel DOVO razors and the shave is far superior to disposable, particularly if one shaves after swimming when the skin/hair is softer. Even for those who prefer to remain with their Gillette or whichever dispsable, using real shaving cream and a brush is better.
I use shaving cream from a company called "Truefitt & Hill" but the stuff imported by the U.S. "The art of shaving" is just as good.

[Sandero]

I use an electric shaver plus a throw away and no shaving cream.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by lostsheep

. A good straight shave will last me 3-4 days before I get a shadow.

I would have to cut the hair off 1/8" below my skin! Sounds painful to do on a moving boat

[K_V_B]

I don't shave. I do trim my beard about every two weeks though. (with the same trimmer I use for my hair...)
Works perfectly, and GF likes the look.

[ReMetau]

I used to shave with my straight razors on board. My favorite is a Dubl Duck Goldenedge. I switched back to disposable blades more for the speed and ease, but I still use my Mama Bear's shaving soaps and badger hair brush. I may switch back to the straight razors again before long.

[siryaksalot]

I switched from disposables to double edge shaving recently, straight razor in the future.

1) financially, once set up, DE can cost $10/year, disposable $120/year, SR less if one sharpens their own.

2) Pollution is less with DE shaving as the metal blades are the only thing tossed, vs the plastic bits in disposables. Soaps can be made with tallow (rendered beef fat), bought castile (less chem's), and aftershave can be made with edible/somewhat edible items (look up Bay Rum recipes).

3) there is something manly about DE/SR shaving. Perhaps because men have been shaving this way for years before those "convenient" plastic thingies were made. Perhaps the image of the cowboy shaving using the scrap of mirror tacked to a tree stirs something. Perhaps there is a little more skill involved, a new thing to be learned. . . mastered.

4) I enjoy taking the time and enjoying the ritual involved.

This last fall, a radio article discussed men shaving "dirty" i.e. every few days rather than every day. The disposable razor companies were loosing significant money! Which meant we were throwing less stuff in the trash, and saving significant money!

So, aboard; cup, bowl, scuttle, solar or stove top heated water, salt water, a mirror on a bright day, the window, by feel?

SYA

[Jim Cate]

Guess you manly straight razor folks don't shave on passage... or do you have a death wish?

Jim

[roverhi]

Have a strange love affair with my jugular vein. Will leave the straight razor for slitting other peoples throats. No razor will get me more than a day without shaving unless I want that male model look. Should just give up on razors and grow a beard. Unfotunately my wife doesn't like me with a beard and it's too expensive to replace her.

[senormechanico]

I've had a full beard since around 1980.
Shaved it all off a couple of times, but grew it right back.
Wife prefers it to shaving.
A few years ago, last time I shaved it off, I shaved my head as well.
Wife (in horror) said I looked "like a cancer survivor".
I'll not do THAT again !

[Suijin]

Full beard. One less thing to worry about taking care of. If shaving takes three minutes per day, I figure I've saved 550 hours over the past three decades. What a waste of time.

Of course, the average person spends three months of their life sitting at red lights, so compared to that I guess a few weeks shaving ain't so bad.

[curiousmonkey]

Yep. Beard all the way. Huge time and money saver. I've had the same $40 electric trimmer for about 10 years and use that for haircuts as well. I figure I've saved thousands of dollars in haircuts and razors over the years. Who know how much time. A lot.

Plus, I get bristly fast, so the wife prefers a well groomed beard to being clean shaven anyway. By bed time I'm like sandpaper, which has, um, immeasurable negative consequences for all parties involved...

Senormechanico, the secret is to trim the hair, not to shave it off. Every couple of weeks trim the edges and mow it back to 3/8" to 1/2". That's maintenance free, but doesn't look quite as intimidating or extreme and still gives enough protection from the sun. The wife would prefer longer hair, but tolerates it when I remind her of the money we save or suggest that she cut my hair.

[HopCar]

I recently started to add a few drops of peppermint oil to my shave cream. It really helps me get started in the morning. I'm not a morning person and I need all the help I can get.

[Lepke]

I was in the navy and only in Vietnam could I get away without shaving. After the navy I continued to shave. Habit, I guess.
Now I'm retired and quit shaving a couple years ago. I may never shave again. It's much more comfortable in cool weather and I don't go where it's hot. I'm always as neat as I'm gonna get. No shadow, no stubble.
Now I'm having trouble with hair cuts.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by HopCar

I recently started to add a few drops of peppermint oil to my shave cream. It really helps me get started in the morning. I'm not a morning person and I need all the help I can get.

Hey Hoppie... sounds kinda cool (hee,hee). When that starts to bore you, how about adding a few drops of Habenero oil? Ya know, the old fire and ice thing! A step short of self-immolation, but attention getting none the less!

Jim