Thread: military and shaving

being in the military I have to remain clean shaven. This isn't normally a problem except out in the field, I don't have the resources to available to me to use my straight, and I don't want to use a disposable. Can anyone think of any other options? I was thinking a double edged safety razor, but then I run into the same problems as with the straight.

What resources are you missing? Hot water and lather are optional, after all. If all you have to work with is a splash of cold water from the canteen and some hand soap from the MRE then an injector should work nicely. A straight would work as well in that situation, but carrying a strop into the field is too much to ask, so I'd go with the injector. Keep in mind that the DE didn't become popular until it was issued as a field razor during WWI when being "clean shaven" suddenly became a life-or-death matter, but it did work well in that environment.

Originally Posted by mparker762

Keep in mind that the DE didn't become popular until it was issued as a field razor during WWI when being "clean shaven" suddenly became a life-or-death matter, but it did work well in that environment.

What do you mean when you say it was a life-or-death matter?

Gas masks have to seal around your face to be effective, with excess stuble there, they don't seal well.

Originally Posted by jimmyray

What do you mean when you say it was a life-or-death matter?

Ah, of course. Thanks for clearing that up.

Originally Posted by mikwat

Gas masks have to seal around your face to be effective, with excess stuble there, they don't seal well.

What he said.

King Gillette went bankrupt many times trying to market his newfangled razor to a skeptical public; it wasn't until WWI that the circumstances were right for success, and Uncle Sam bought his safety razor by the millions to issue to the troops crossing the pond. I love my straight, but if I had to shave twice a day while standing up to my knees in mud, even through a multi-day bombardment, I think I'd be reaching for the DE too. We've all seen the pictures of Josh after his attempt to shave through a fireworks show. Unfortunately for our beloved razor, when those boys came home and went shopping for a razor it was generally the newly-tried-and-true DE that they plunked down the cash for.

Another option would be using the AC. No honing or stropping required, the blades are good for 2 weeks of shaving and you can at least imagine that you're shaving with a real straight.

I've sent many DE's to our troops in Afghanistan & Kuwait and they are pretty well received. There are travel models available that collapse into virtually nothing. Blades are plenty cheap and the quality of shaves is great to boot. You can use regular soap for lather, or use one of the brushless creams like ARKO.

A DE is the route trooper. The shave is good but technigue is a little diferent. so practice in garison at first. WHOOAA.

Phil

Thanks alot everybody. I got a DE that I'm going to try out.