Tuesday, March 23, 2010

No longer a subject of King Gillette

"Give them the razor,sell them the blades" Gillette's dictum

The journey to become more self sufficient came from two things.
1 Reading a post apocalyptic book( Dies the fire, S.M. Sterling) that made me realize that most people would have no idea how to survive if society broke down.
2. Being broke. I mean REALLY broke.

One of the things that had to go were the Mach 3 blades I was using to shave. I have really coarse thick facial hair and the Mach 3 blades seemed to work the best. Unfortunately at almost 3 dollars apiece they got vetoed out of the budget.
I started buying disposable razors because of the cost, and tried to always get ones made is the US to help limit the miles they would travel. This helped the budget ,but left me slightly unsettled at the waste of it all.
I started experimenting with different things.
I found some strait razors.
There is a reason people don't use these anymore. The maintenance and skill level were beyond my capabilities.
Then enter the Rolls Razor.
A English made contraption that was kind of a mix of a strait razor and a safety razor. It looked cool but ultimately wasn't us to the challenge of the Brillo bad I like to grow on my face.
Then I read a blog post about the Retro Razor.














The Retro Razor has been raved about by the folks over at Ramshackle solid. I was sceptical but saved my pennies and was finally able to get one.
Almost as easy to use as a disposable razor, the only difference is that there is some maintenance involved. Plus when I am done with the blades I can just recycle them. Not bad, huh?

3 comments:

  1. Hey Ben,

    Chadd from RetroRazor! Glad you like the shave and I enjoy the site.

    Just a heads up on recycling; if your local recycling center uses hand sorting, blades could pose a bio-risk to the folks working there.

    Since there is 95%+ less waste than a regular razor, don't worry much about the impact. Here is more info: http://retrorazor.com/be-green-with-retrorazor/

    A taped up can (decorated with vintage shaving images?) with a slit dremeled on the side is perfect for keeping kids out, razors in. I have 4+ years of blades, and the can is 1/3 full! Mason jars are a no-go, as they make a mess if they fall!

    We are just building our raised beds now, and awaiting a few yards of fill - nothing like your 40 though! Tried raising ducks for eggs this spring - slight disaster!

    Chadd

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  2. Thanks for the comment, and info. I love the razor. Its also nice to know someone other than my local friends are reading the blog.

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