I've given this a lot of thought since I've been shaving this way (Oct 2007) and although there are components that I can identify that are appealing/rewarding (pursuing the mastery of this art, the challenge, the great shaves, the slower pace, etc) , there is still a lot of the allure for me that I can't really put my finger on and can only say that in some ways I think it satisfies a base level desire to manipulate something that really shouldn't be handled (razor sharp piece of potentially dangerous steel). The blade really does command respect and some level of awe. Like fire in a way. You just can't get that with any other type of shaver. I've said it before (pre-crash) that every time I bring the blade up to my cheek just prior to the first pass, there's the little rush. I can't say there are any other daily routine activities that give me that consistently.

Cool stuff.

Chris L