Shaving on Samal

I don’t know if this classifies as a hobby, since it is also part of my daily grooming…but shaving took a change for me about 4 years ago. I got interested in the straight blade, I believe because I wanted to try to shave more precisely in a few areas. My experiment with the straight blade didn’t last too long. I couldn’t quite get the hang of it enough to get a close shave. Maybe it was the straight razor I had, but more likely it was my lack of patience to learn the skill.

While traveling along the path of the straight blade I met up with on old friend. Many of you are probably too young to remember shaving with a safety razor but I bet most of you have seen them. The safety razor came in many versions but the most popular was the double edge razor. The twist to open (TTO) version of the double edge is what most think of today when speaking of the safety razor.

Gillette, while not the inventor of the safety razor, was the first to introduce the disposal blade. Gillette is probably (by far) the most well known of the safety razor companies. They are my favorite brand and one of their models is what I use today.

When I first started to contemplate using a double edge, after my failed straight razor attempt, I bought a current model of Merkur. Merkur, unlike Gillette, still makes safety razors. This was not a TTO but is still a very fine razor. I still have that razor in my collection. Collection being the key word here. I’m afraid I began to want to try different models of razors looking for the holy grail. I won’t even get into all the various soaps and blades that are available, at least at this time.

Yes, I have quite a little collection now. That’s after selling and trading a bunch of them. You might be surprised how much some of the more rare razors go for. I once found an a rare Gillette 195 (fatboy adjustable prototype) that I sold for over $500 on eBay. Of course I’ve spent a lot getting the collection together, too. I didn’t intend to get a collection, it just sort of happened as I tried to find the ideal razor.

While I now have many razors, I’ve settled on just one for every day use. The Gillette President is my prize unit. The one I’m using is from 1955, though they were introduced a year or so earlier than that. I’ve got three of those (all 1955), one that I use every day, one that is really beat up but good for traveling AND one that is like new in the original case. I’ve got plans for that last one. I break that out the first day of my retired life on Samal Island. Now if I can only find my blades over there but that’s a post for another day