Thread: Shaving while traveling

If you lather with bottled water, it will be more consistent. You can do a short shave of one or two passes in much less time. Face lathering is less equipment than bowl lathering. I go away for work quite a bit too. My short kit is two Henckels Friodurs, a strop, Noxema (for pre shave) a brush, and a soap in a plastic tub, and a small stainless bowl, which doubles as the bowl I use for my partial plate. Bottled water in the bowl, soak the brush, Noxema application, strop the razor, load the brush and face lather, shave, cleanup and go.

For travel, I found that a fairly stiff brush that i can keep in a container and a couple shaving sticks, Arco and many others make the shave a done deal in very little time. Your choice of razor/s. Time constraints make the adjustable DE or SE a winner. Have extra blades along.
Or, a paddle strop and at least two straights or a Kai, Feather, CJB, Sam Hong removable blade straight like folding or Kamisori fixed style longer blade Shavette make dull blade worries mute. An injector cartridge of twenty blades will last a looong time.
The stick is rubbed on your wet face over the bristles and then lathered by the hot wet brush and rubbed in by hand. Surprising amounts of later are produced that stay on the face and in the brush for more passes.
A shave cream can be applied the same way; without a mug and the brush will hold plenty of lather. No more cream than a thumbnail a matchstick thick is needed.
Time is the key.
I have shaved with many types of edged weapons and knives and a carefully broke piece of obsidian.
I prefer to take time with a straight but can have DFS in 6 minutes or less if I shave after a shower.
A pre-shave like Proraso can help your face survive hard water.
Every face is different and the humidity of the sleeping room will make a difference in the moisture of the facial skin.
My face holds moisture and so I can shave the nigh before if I wish and still be presentable the next day. Since I am now single, I hate to shave at night!
Have fun and you will find what works for your face and the area you drive through.
~Richard
PS Thanks for being a gentle man of the road. You guys are the glue that holds the country together. And...Damn good drivers!

Hart Straight razor
Small Trufitt and Hill travel brush in a plastic silver dollar coin tube
Roo strop
Tube shaving cream and face lather
After shave balm of choice

I just starting posting some videos on youtube this week. Oddly enough my second one is about travel gear. It's here: http://youtu.be/rJ60rj9-jgk

OTR Driving must present some unique challenges. My biggest challenge is the TSA.

Other people might have better suggestions, but when I travel, this is all I take:

• A stick of Arko. No bowl, less mess, and it lasts FOREVER. Plus has amazing lubrication for a soap. Wet your face, rub it on, then take a wet brush to it. If you've never used it before, it will surprise you how much lather explodes on your face once the brush hits it.
• Safety razor and a pack of feathers. Takes up much less space than a straight and a strop. Plus, when I'm traveling, I usually don't have time to prep/strop/shave/clean etc. like I want to when I shave with a straight.
• Rag
• Brush (there's actually some pretty cool ones out there just for travel.)
• Alum block
• Pinaud Clubman
• The smallest bag they'll fit in. There's some awesome ones made just for shaving that hold everything in place.
• A bowl (if it'll fit. but really not necessary when you use a stick of arko. but certainly nice to have though.)

Since you are not flying...
I would be in the Feather DX Folding, Pro or Kai PINK blades - camp.
Soap is a stick, Palmalove or Tabac.
Brush is a 1305 with paint chipping issues and a plastic holder.
Face lather, 2 pass max (N-S & S-N)

Takes a few carefull shaves to get the hang of the DX.
Very efficient - though they (for me at least) lack the Soul that a regular straight seems to bring.
Oh yeah, don't forget the wound care kit, that liquid bandage stuff can come in handy...

Smooth shaving...

Bare bones shave kit for travel for me would be a shave stick in a container, either Arko or Palmolive, a DE with spare blades and a synthetic shave brush. If you have water hardness trouble bottled water is handy. I also usually have an alum stick and aftershave too but they are not totally necessary for a good shave. Here is a good vid on using an Arko shave stick.

Bob

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z248xt0GciM

My travel-rig poem.

A little hone:



A little strop:



A door so razors:



Cannot drop:



With apologies to departed Chuckles the Clown we recall...

"A little song
A litte dance
A litte seltzer
Down your pants."

Good comments.... Recently I traveled to France and Belguim and took with me Valobra Stick which has first-rate skincare quality and excellent glide for both straight or safety razor use. Also I used Molinard Rasoline for both a pre-shave and for my primary shaving cream. Rasoline is a French made foam-less shaving cream but I find it very useful as a pre-shave foamless cream as well due to its mild scent and it's super slick foundation-- super slick and versatile in other words. One of my trusty straight blades accompanied me in my carry-on luggage and I carried my safety razor in my carry-on with DE blades in my check-on luggage. While in France I purchased some Martin De Candre which was a fringe benefit of course!!!