Cut-throats

A few months ago I was shaving and once again ran out of blades. And man, they're expensive over here. You've got to pay something like $15 for four Gillette Mach 3 Turbo blades. It's ridiculous. And it never ends...unless you go all Grizzly Adams and throw the thing away completely.

I started checking into whether or not there exists such a thing as a razor that never needs sharpening. After all, I figured, there are Ginsu knives that cut through cans, bottles, and engine blocks and then go on to make those picture perfect tomato slices. Surely there should be an answer to my no-sharpen blade mystery!

Well, no such luck. But my eyes were opened to the glory of "wet-shaving"...specifically old school shaving using straight razors (aka cut-throat razors) and shaving soaps (yes, applied in that old-timey way with a shaving brush).

This new world is crazy. You would just think that you could pickup a shiny new cut-throat somewhere...a brush...some special shaving soap and be done with it. And how nice would that be? No more replacement blades...better shave...less razor burn...less negative impact on the environment (not throwing away those blades or using aerosol creams/gels). But it's not that simple.

You see, this is really an art form. It's an art form that has the potential to turn a guy into a straight-razor swingin' man (or something like that). When you really get into this art you begin to learn that your three-piece combo set (razor, brush, soap) is the itty bitty tip of the iceberg. The real real men are out there using 3-4-5-7 different razors (you know, they have to rest at least 24 hours after you shave), 6 different shaving soaps (all in their very own shaving soap mugs), expensive badger hair shaving brushes (I have the badger hair part...just not the expensive part), different kinds of strops (yes strop, those strap thingees that barbers move the blade back and forth on to keep the blade flat), and different kinds of hones to get the razors "cut on".

I was just laughing at myself about all of this and thought I'd share. For any of you guys out there looking to make the transition to chest-thumpin' manhood, this is for you. It really is fun, seriously. How much do we men have that actually feels like we're doing something interesting that in a way pampers us (ok...that just downgraded the whole manly part...but you follow me)?