Traveling?

So, with the Christmas Holiday. I spent several days away from my house visiting relatives, sadly no one lives close by. It's only a 2 hr drive but with the cost of travelling, I end up spending the night. I ended up taking along the old Norelco shaver.

So, what does everyone else who often travels do when it comes to Straight Razor Shaving?

I'm comfortable with my setup here at my home when it comes to stropping (have a hook for the strop in the cabinet) and shaving, I also have all the little accoutrements necessary here at hand. Not sure how confident I feel about taking all this along to an unfamiliar setting.

Airline travel aside, do you take your straight along or use other equipment?

I take a straight, and Boker combination paddle strop/hone, brush and soap...no problem...only caveat is the straight I take is one that I'm prepared to lose...i.e, an old Dovo Best Quality, easily replaceable.

Like you, I don't travel with str8s and gear. Just don't enjoy it. Away from home face scrapping is done with a DE or electric. Sometimes I'll shave with an electric just to remind myself what an incomplete shave is!

It really isn't that difficult . Brush , razor , wide latigo belt (worn) does double duty as a strop, a tube of TOBS sandalwood shave cream, my trusty stainless steel Coleman camp mug, ( never quite liked face lathering, I'm a traditionalist I guess) . Not a whole lot of kit to carry if you think about it. If I'm going extremely light just a razor a strop and cold water. It's all what you get used to.

For a while I traveled with a DE. I always bring a tub of soap with a brush. Never short cuts there. But I haven't up until recently traveled with straights. I don't have a paddle strop and didn't like the idea of traveling with my hanging strop. But the last few times I've traveled, I have pre-stropped my straights and taken them with me. I've collected enough razors now that I can take along the number of razors for each night stay and don't have to worry about traveling with a strop. Straights cannot be carried onto a plain so you must check your bag if taking them.

I use a DE when traveling with no regrets.

Bob

When I am flying myself, I take whatever razors I want. One for each day away, so no need for a strop. Small tube of CO Bigelow or TOBS cream tub. It just happens to fit well into a cut down margarine tub (travel bowl).

If I have to fly commercial, an Ever Ready SE. I think that is relatively TSA proof...Nah on second thought, nothing is safe. But I am not out a lot if I lose that.

This years 3 weeks interstate so brought
2 straights (a 6/8 old W&B and a 6/8 Genco both spike points full hollows), I keeps these in a DIY silicon gun sock dual sleeve,
my 3x25" DIY Roo strop,
my only brush I use ( a EJ best badger)
2 of the TOBS sample pots I keep for travelling
A stypic pencil for just in case
This all fits in a small bag I have specially for them

Already have an Alum block at the outlaws from last year still
And had a good hunch a Truefitt and Hill Freshman aftershave was in the Christmas stocking so didn't take any AS
And have claimed an old soup bowl for lathering in
Must admit using room temp water and lather have been 2 or 3 pass shaving and had some of the best shaves so far in the last year and a half,
with no tingling even from the Alum block,
very comfy shaves
I think the lack of heat and humidity here Are key factors also
Happy shaving and safe travels people

I travel with a a Dovo Master's, an Omega Brush, a Palmolive Stick and a replacement SRD hanging leather strop insert, which I have tied off with string, to make a travel strop. If I'm flying, everything is in the checked in, case.

I struggled with this a bit but I travel a lot and am usually pressed for space (can only pack so much on my Harley) so I have a Feather SS and a pack of pro blades. I find it convenient and easy to carry. I don't need to carry a strop since a sharp edge is a blade change away and I do not worry about damaging my good razors.

I have to admit since im a fan of light traveling for shaving equipment i take Muhle R41, travel size L'occitane gel, travel size L'occitane ASB and 2 Gilette razors for my Muhle R41. Found that Muhle gets me there the fastest way and its way easier to maintain...

If i feel there is a possibility to turn someone else over on that trip i usually bring my straight along!

When I worked I traveled slot but when you work 275 days a year and live in rvs I took everything like at home , now as to travel like normal I use my feather RG , most of my travel is by bike also so it works just fine , and a stick of Latoya and a travel brush ,,, good to go

If it's just for a weekend, I do a BBS shave Friday before I leave and pack a pre stropped razor. For longer stays I pack a paddle strop. If flying I usually pack a DE and pick up blades when I land. (In the future I will mail the blades ahead a time thanks to info I learned on this forum). I also pack a travel brush and small amount of soap. I use whatever coffee cup or water glass is available to mix the lather in.

I travel with a Muhle DE, a pack of blades, an Arko stick and. Muhle travel brush. I find I can get by if I pay attention and get decent shaves. When I fly, I never check luggage so I go disposable 3 blade BIC, because I've found there is no way you can count on easy buying of DE blades, and they will not pass TSA scrutiny.

I had my first stay with friends for the holidays since I started SR shaving as well. I looked for a paddle strop for about a month but couldn't settle on one in time, so after I was done packing I packed my regular strop on top of everything else, stretched out along the bag, wrapped in a few plastic bags. I was worried about the time I would be taking in the bathroom to shave, so I decided to wait until everyone else that was sharing that bathroom was done, before I went in. There was no place to hang the strop, but there was plenty of counter space, so I laid the strop along the counter and did the stropping there. I think it's definitely doable to take your equipment with you. It may require a bit of planning, but definitely doable.

Feather AC DX

Follows me closely wherever I travel.

No stropping or sharpening tools required, the blades take very little space (a single blade takes less space than a DE blade) and with its heft and balance it comes very close to a straight razor.

With the blade is removed from the razor, it has (so far) never raised fallen foul of airport security.


But just in case, I still carry a dismantled 3-piece DE razor.

For a brush, I carry a Mühle Silvertip Fibre XL.
The brush works very well for me even at home and when traveling I can dry it on the spot with a towel.
Hence no need for me to compromise with a travel brush that is too small for my liking.


B.

my future plans for a travel set/ pack

Attachment 189535

The strap I bought came with a Velcro loop that can be attached to the towel rack if no other option is available.

I travel overnight 2-3 times a week for work. I carry with me 2 straights (a Hart 7/8 & a TI 6/8), a tub of soap (SRD West Indies Bay) and I just face lather, a travel brush (Thater 21mm silver tip), a small bottle of pre-shave oil (Maggard Razors cherry sandlewood), and a full sized latigo hanging strop.

Believe it or not, all these things, aside from the strop, fit neatly in my toiletry bag. I carry a medium sized duffel bag with the bare minimum, so there isn't room enough to lay my strop straight across, so I turn it on its side and it curves all the way up one side and across the back of my bag. As long as it isn't folded sharply it will be fine, but, if I think it's a little too curvy (for lack of a better term), I just lay it on a flat surface overnight and it is fine. I've been doing this for a couple years without incident.

Of coarse you'll need counter space wherever you'll be shaving. If I won't have a minimum amount of space, regretfully I think I would prefer a plastic disposable over dropping one of my straights and breaking it (yes, I have done this)!!

Safe travels,

Jim

Travel - Fly - Carry on - Brush (current travel brush is a 1305 with chipping paint) stick of Palmolive or a small container of cream and the Cart. (Harry's these days)

Driving, checking or going to the same place week after week and have a safe place to stash? Feather DX or SS folding. The Feather is in a standard toothbrush holder (so far of no interest to either the bag police or the handlers) and I take a blade pack that only has 2-3 blades.
Very small and brutally efficient kit, make sure you pack a styptic pencil...or two.

I travel weekly for work, but it's mostly 1 or 2 day driving trips so:

-1 straight (I'm not above stropping on newspaper)
-Whipped dog badger brush - 20mm
-tub of Arko l (very compact)
-Alum block
-AS balm or face lotion.

Because the alum and the Arko will take months or years Before needing replacement, this is a low maintainence setup- just how I like it. Driving or flying I try to pack as light and simply as possible. I'm not above stropping on newspaper if necessary also.

http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/a...E08752A8FB.jpg

I travel M-TH for work by plane. Currently, in a Dopp bag, I have: a Gillette Tech travel razor, spare DE blades, 4 straights (usually a GD 200, a 208 and a couple no name / inexpensive vintage blades), a small Alum Block (use it for deodorant also), L'Occitan Synthetic brush, Omega Synthetic High Brush , CO Bigelow cream, Arco 90 gram soap, Nivea balm & Pinaud clubman aftershave, a tooth brush, and some tooth paste. Separately I have a WhippedDog hone (2" x 4" C12K), a roll of electrical tape, a small loupe, and a 2.5" Leather / Canvas strop (marked Bismark). One side of canvas has green paste.
I check my bag on the first trip to a new location and leave a small roll aboard bag at the front desk over weekends with the Dopp bag and other stuff I dont want to drag back and forth. I swap stuff out occasionally, as I buy new things or get bored with what I have. I've done this for over 15 years, well before I started wet shaving.
I like to travel with other things that are not welcome on the plane too, so this has been a long standing practice.