DE shaving is not cheaper!!!

GollyMrScience · Post by **GollyMrScience** » Mon May 28, 2007 10:37 am

Anybody who got into cartridge reloading "to save money" knows the slippery slope we run on.

Hawkeye5 · Post by **Hawkeye5** » Mon May 28, 2007 2:38 pm

Hum, eccentric? The more I think about it, the more it seems true. We are a throw-back group of Luddites when all is said and done. I started playing around with DEs, but quickly moved backward in time to straights. Yes, eccentric seems to fit rather well.
Every morning I have a choice between a DE and a straight (several actually). More and more the straight wins.
What's next, napped flint?

drumana · Post by **drumana** » Mon May 28, 2007 2:46 pm

In the past two months I have spent several hundred dollars on shave gear. My buddies think I'm crazy (the ones I haven't converted at least - Muahahahahaha!!). I don't regret any of it. I have really been enjoying myself and so its worth it.

Shaving as a new hobby - several hundred dollars

Enjoying yourself - priceless

BrianP · Post by **BrianP** » Mon May 28, 2007 3:02 pm

Hawkeye5 wrote:...More and more the straight wins.
What's next, napped flint?

Mmmmmm.... flinty

custom410 · Post by **custom410** » Mon May 28, 2007 5:54 pm

Minstrel wrote:But for most of us, shaving is more than just removing stubble from the face and neck. It's a hobby. And it's ok to spend money on a hobby.

And there are WAY more expensive hobbies out there!!!

GollyMrScience · Post by **GollyMrScience** » Mon May 28, 2007 11:37 pm

Hawkeye5 wrote: What's next, napped flint?

I gave it a try with knapped obsidian. A fresh knapped flake. So sharp it was scary - more than scary. Compared to that flake shaving with a new Feather DE blade is like shaving with a baseball bat. Only a couple of passes to prove it could be done but just too hard to keep pressure and angle - let alone lips and chin.

CMur12 · Post by **CMur12** » Tue May 29, 2007 12:18 am

Wet-shaving can be very economical:

Used Gillette razor: $10.00 - $20.00
Personna razor blades: $1.62 at Wal-Mart
You can also get Dorco, IP/Crystal blades, and others, very inexpensively.
Williams Mug Shaving Soap: $1.00/puck (good soap, and it will last)
Proraso/Omega boar brush: $12.50 (possibly the best boar brush, and very competent)

You can't argue that this is expensive. If your reasons for wet-shaving are purely pragmatic, stop here. Others have.

The difference is that wet-shaving offers more options. From the starting point above, you can spend anywhere from a little bit more to a whole lot more, but it is your choice. If you move from "what works" to a quest for "perfection," it will become expensive. If you look for shaving luxury, it will cost you. But these are choices we all make.

Wet-shaving isn't inherently expensive. The quest for shaving perfection and the quest for shaving luxury are.

So, Chris, you've made your choices, and we know you love it!

- Murray

Hawkeye5 · Post by **Hawkeye5** » Wed May 30, 2007 4:02 pm

Well Tim, I might be game to try that.
I've only my lips to loose!!!
But, you know as well as I that some of our ancestors actually did this with some degree of success.

shavedhead · Post by **shavedhead** » Wed May 30, 2007 7:23 pm

Yes it does become addicting after awhile but can you ever go back to shaving with your disposables? I surely can not with after using my Merkur Vision

jpolaski · Post by **jpolaski** » Wed May 30, 2007 8:54 pm

I cut myself more times flint knapping than I care to think about. Fun though. and man is that stuff sharp!

Racso_MS · Post by **Racso_MS** » Thu May 31, 2007 5:02 am

I've never tried napping on flint, but I guess you would cut yourself if you rolled over the wrong way..... $\:D/$ $\:D/$ $\:D/$

GollyMrScience · Post by **GollyMrScience** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 7:59 am

Oscar, you've got THAT right.
Cuts are part of the fun of knapping. I have been fortunate in only getting small cuts but talk to a group of knappers and somebody will have a tale of a flake gone wrong and cutting themselves to the bone.

Pete_T · Post by **Pete_T** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 9:05 am

Wow, you shaved with an obsidian blade that you knapped yourself? Thats pretty high on the man scale, Id say it beats out shaving with a straight razor or bowie knife by a good number of points.

I remember I did a report on Aztec weapons for an anthropology class, the swords they used were basically just planks with knapped obsidian glued to the edges. They could cut the head off a horse with one swipe.

BrianP · Post by **BrianP** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 9:46 am

custom410 wrote:
Minstrel wrote:But for most of us, shaving is more than just removing stubble from the face and neck. It's a hobby. And it's ok to spend money on a hobby.
And there are WAY more expensive hobbies out there!!!

Like that plank in your avatar?

ead · Post by **ead** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 1:00 am

Zaniix wrote:Sure it seems cheap at first a used razor for 15$, blades for pennies each, shaving soap that lasts forever, a boar hair brush is all you really need right?

You get drawn in because it all makes so much sense and then you want to try other razors and differant blades and new soaps and creams. Maybe that boar hair isnt enough so you upgrade to a badger, but maybe super is not good enough, maybe you would rather have a finest.

This is not a way of shaving, it is an addiction that has no cure!!!
Yet I still love this place!

Haa

Well
If I am enjoy it, what's bad?
Any thing worth doing is worth over doing

NiksaNovovic · Post by **NiksaNovovic** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 7:37 am

I do have to agree with what the rest of you gentlemen are saying! I have been at this for about a month now and I already have all of the stuff mentioned in this thread http://www.shavemyface.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19312, with some more additions that I'm going to have to disclose! Man I wouldn't change it for the world tough! The shave I'm getting are great, not in that they are smooth, but that they are irritation FREE! During my cartridge days my face would look pretty good after shaving and the next day it would be a mess or red bumps and spots!

I really didn't like shaving. And now I can't wait! Is is worth the money invested to get an irritation free and eventually extremely BBS shave! Most definitely! Well that's the excuse that I plan to use is SWMBO gets upset at my newest hobby!

!

Warmest regards, Niksa

NiksaNovovic · Post by **NiksaNovovic** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 7:39 am

I do have to agree with what the rest of you gentlemen are saying! I have been at this for about a month now and I already have all of the stuff mentioned in this thread http://www.shavemyface.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19312, with some more additions that I'm going to have to disclose! Man I wouldn't change it for the world tough! The shave I'm getting are great, not in that they are smooth, but that they are irritation FREE! During my cartridge days my face would look pretty good after shaving and the next day it would be a mess or red bumps and spots!

I really didn't like shaving. And now I can't wait! Is is worth the money invested to get an irritation free and eventually extremely BBS shave! Most definitely! Well that's the excuse that I plan to use is SWMBO gets upset at my newest hobby!

!

Warmest regards, Niksa

edit: sorry for the double post. I got a server error message and assumed that my original post didn't go through! This duplicate can be deleted! Thanks!

jblackmd · Post by **jblackmd** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 7:48 pm

I was wasn't drawn to the glamour of the wetshaving event so much as I was pushed away by the obscene prices of Fusion blades. One day I was in the market and bought a few things, one of which was an 8 pack of Fusion blades. When I was at checkout, the girl looks at what I spent and she's saying "wait a minute, you only have a few things, I must have made a mistake....oh wait, you bought razor blades." And it dawned on me that I was a sucker for spending that much to shave. The fact that the majority of people that use a blade in this country are suckers too didn't make me any less of one. The Equaline double edge blades that were a few shelves down from the Fusions were $1.50 for ten, so I thought it would be worth a try to save some money on an essential part of daily grooming.

I have to admit, it is addictive. I never cared about how close I got with the Fusion, but now every day I try to get it a little closer. I don't see getting a really expensive handle or even a brush for that matter, so it stays cheap for me. The fact that the shave itself is so superior to what you get with the so-called "modern" systems is the best kept secret around, and I'm sure Gillette and Shick hope it stays that way.

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 12:00 am

jblackmd wrote:I don't see getting a really expensive handle or even a brush for that matter, so it stays cheap for me.

You can improve your shaves greatly, with a good quality brush for under fifteen bucks. Here you go. Click on Proraso down the left side, and go to the last item in the Proraso list. You're welcome.

Hearing you keep saying you're not getting a brush is like watching a man whack golf balls with his hand - he says he isn't interested in getting clubs, that he just wants to play golf.

rtaylor61 · Post by **rtaylor61** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 12:55 am

In reality, DE shaving is MUCH cheaper. It is the lack of self control and curiosity that are expensive. I pulled the plug on spending, and within a few weeks had the cash on hand to buy three GFT soaps and the Merkur 38C. I could have kept the money in my pocket, but these were items I really wanted.

It's all about willpower. Before you spend, back off and wait 24 hours. When you do this, a couple of things happen. If the item is in the BST forum, it will be sold. If it is from a vendor, you will have had time to decide if it is something you really want.

FWIW, I could be happy with my C&E Best badger, Williams soap and Old spice. I choose to buy other items. But I don't have to do so.

Randy

SMF

DE shaving is not cheaper!!!

Re: DE shaving is not cheaper!!!