Thread: Shaving while traveling

I drive truck over the road for a living, usually spend 6-8 weeks away from home before I get a chance to spend about a week home, to make matters more interesting I am also a team driver and don't usually have a lot of time to shave and will frequently have to skip shaves in order to meet our companies strict pickup and delivery times. I have been working on assembling different equipment that is useful both at home when I have time, and for when I am on the road and in a hurry but certainly wouldn't mind suggestions from others who frequently travel. The other thing I have had quite the rude awakening with is water hardness, never knowing where I will be next makes it an interesting challenge to get things like preshave and lather conditions optimal, any advice, tips, tricks or recommendations would be truly appreciated.

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.

My minimum shaving kit consists of
- Feather AC DX
- Spare Feather AC Professional blade
- Shaving stick
- Synthetic Brush in plastic storage tube

Latest generation synthetic brushes have improved to the point that I use them now even at home, but away from home their main advantage over natural brushes is is that they dry in a cinch and I do not need to worry about residual moisture damaging the brush.

The Feather AC does not have quite the same feel as a traditional straight, but comes close and - except for spare blades - requires no additional gear.
If I take traditional straights along, for weight and space reasons I carry in my suitcase a 2" wide strop and small (leak resistant) tupperware container with SRD oil applicator for the blade. On longer trips and when weight is not an issue, I may take a 3" strop from home, which makes stropping more convenient than a 2" strop.

For air travel, a three-piece safety razor is easy to carry, fits disassembled in my electric toothbrush container and does not arouse interest when passing through airport security. A safety razor may also come handy when there is absolutely no time for a straight shave.

Shaving creams appear ideal, but on repeated trips the metal tubes may get squashed and may start oozing shaving cream on your gear. If not a shaving stick; soaps work well, although en route I prefer the ones where the lid is secure and does not come off.

I work as an airline pilot, have had no unpleasant surprises regarding water quality so far and would find it difficult to carry around a bottle of water just for shaving. But then again, I don't know the water hardness in some of the smaller towns where you may have to stay overnight, and bottled water can usually be purchased locally.
In that case there may be the problem of heating the water.
If the hotel room does not have a suitable kettle you may need to bring along a portable one or an immersion water heater.

In a nutshell, with a bit of ingenuity it is not that difficult to manage when away from home and one can still get a decent shave.



B.

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