Shaving...

I got tired of the King Gillette model - which, with my beard, costs a good deal of money.

"My beard?" Yeah. I can't use an electric - it would hurt less to get my face waxed, or even pluck it clean with a pair of tweezers one whisker at a time. So, that's out (tweezers are cheaper than an electric.) I could probably scrub pots with my chin, if I thought I needed to (and if I needed something more aggressive than Scotch-Brite or Brillo pads...)

I used to use a cartridge blade razor - but those cartridges are spendy. And, I can only do about a one-inch pass before I've clogged the blades and have to clean them out (usually with a toothbrush.) Yes, I shave in hot water, and I try to soften things up first.

I got to pillaging around looking for something else, and managed to find a straight razor handle that took a replacable blade. In fact, it takes a half of a blade - you take a conventional double-edged safety razor blade, snap it in half, and insert one half into a slide-out carrier. Change the blade by sliding out the carrier and using the other half of the blade.

Seven bucks for the razor, and it came with a box of ten blades (total of twenty, once you snap them in half.)

Now, I'd used a Gillette Mach 3 - and only shaved on Fridays, weddings, funerals, and court. Considering I could only use a cartridge about twice before it was shot, and throwing away a cartridge for that razor amounts to throwing away about four dollars, it was getting old rather quickly (I got the Mach 3 as a sample - just as I did the Sensor Excel, and a couple of razors before it.) I hadn't used a straight razor in a number of years, so it took a little bit of practise - mainly to avoid gouging myself.

But, I've noticed something: shaving has become less of "an onerous task" and more "something I enjoy." I don't shave every day, but I now shave on Mondays and Fridays - plus weddings, court, and funerals.

Why? There are a couple of things I can think of:

1) While it did take some practise (a couple weeks' worth) to get back into using the thing, I find it easier to use than a cartridge razor. Hell, I can clear-cut a full beard with a straight, if I feel like it! Yeah, I sometimes snag moles and blemishes, but that can be handled.

2) I don't get shaving bumps anywhere near as badly with the straight than I did with the Mach 3. The Derby blades I'd gotten with the straight were OK, but the Lord blades I'd bought to replace it (stainless ground in Egypt) are much better! The Middle East and Northern Africa really understand blades - almost as well as the Japanese.

3) It's a return to an old-fashioned, purely physical skill. That, more than anything else, is probably why I enjoy it so much.

You see, when I was a kid in Indiana, one of the greatest joys I ever had was learning yet another purely physical skill. Little involvement of the brain - it was just there in a supervisory role, and could pop off for lunch if it wanted to without interfering with what was going on, most times. Yah, some things it had to stay around to watch - but it could think about other things (usually several other things) while it was watching what the body was doing. This is what I mean by "purely physical." Sharpening a knife is a purely physical skill. Whittling is, most times, a physical skill. Riding a bicycle, roller skating, and the like are all physical skills.

And shaving, using a single bare blade, is a physical skill. And, using the single bare blade is more comfortable all around than using a cartridge blade, believe me! I'd honestly suggest that any man who doesn't have palsy at least try a straight razor - what you find out may surprise you!

I'll probably eventually assemble a "real" straight razor kit - good hollow-ground Solingen blade perhaps, strop, brush, shave cup, and the like - but this will work for the moment (and it got me set up to save a bunch of money on shaving for an initial outlay of about ten bucks.) I get one shave out of a half-blade, but I don't throw them away (they're stainless, they go in the cannister for recycled stainless steel...) and they're only about seven cents a shave anyhow. I pay half as much for fifty double-edge blades (of better quality!) than I did for four cartridges.

And, I don't dread shaving anymore. Sounds pretty win-win to me!

I'll have to see what other skills I can renew that are considered "old-fashioned." I can already navigate effectively using a map and compass (on-road or off,) and resolve my position closer than can be done with a GPS device - typical CEP (Circular Error Probable) with a GPS is something around fifteen metres, while I can usually nail myself down to within a half-metre. All by knowing how to read a variety of maps, being able to use a compass, and knowing the length of my pace... Map reading is becoming a lost art - but it's bloody useful! The batteries in a GPS can go flat on you. In your head? Not so much. And, a compass doesn't use batteries in the first place!