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MMM discovered himself, feeding the "Gillette Marketing machine" becomes quite expensive. Just like inkjet printers and heroin, your initial foray into modern shaving implement is just the tip of the monetary iceberg.
Take my local grocery for example - a packet of 8 Gillette refill blades costs $34 dollars or more. Including tax, that's roughly $4.50 per blade. My wife starts complaining about my "Manly Stubble" within days of a shave which means I have to re-shave every other day or so. I found that I went through a blade nearly every 7 days! Adjusting for any rounding errors and not shaving as much while on vacation, that's roughly $200 a year in razor blades. Inconceivable!
Normally, just the monetary grievance alone would be enough to get me to make some sort of change, but there's more. I found, and later backed it up by reading on the internet, that the number of red, itchy, annoying red bumps that resulted from a shave was directly proportionate to the number of times a blade moved over a given patch of skin. "No problem" I thought, "I only hit each spot on my face a couple times". Then I flipped the razor over and counted the number of blades. Mine had 3, but I've seen other types selling with 4 or even 5 blades per razor head! No wonder I always looked like I had some horrible disease after shaving. I vowed to find a way to shave that didn't involve recurring tax going to Gillette. I found two options: get an electrical shaving implement which is what MMM did, or start kicking it old school with a straight blade.
Unlike MMM, my face still broke out with the electric shaver, and my wife still complained about my stubble. Fortunately, I found that I was quite adept at using a straight blade. No only that, but it truly does give a baby's-butt-smooth shave. A straight blade does come with some drawbacks however:
- There is a sizable investment if buying new: ~$100 for the blade itself and ~$100 for the strop and hone.
- Shaving with a straight blade does take some practice. I did cut myself several times in the beginning*.
- You have to strop the blade every time before you shave.
- You have to hone the blade ever 6-12 months.
Shaving with a straight blade does have many advantages:
- No more Gillette tax. A savings of ~$200/year.
- A very happy wife when I do shave.
- My wife has started using my straight blade to shave her legs so there's a double savings.
- I learned how to hone a blade which comes in handy when my wood planes get dull.
- I only hit each part of my face once or twice. With a single blade. No more red bumps!!!
I've been shaving with a straight blade for about 18 months now. It paid for itself in the first year. If you want to develop sizable 'stash, shave it off with a straight blade!
* Cutting yourself with a straight blade is nearly painless due to it's sharpness and, contrary to my experience, difficult to do when used properly. Invest in some stipdick just in case.