Thread: Shaving in the Field

I camp in the Rockies frequently since it's my back yard, and just for kicks I took along some shaving supplies this past summer just to see how it might work. Normally I wouldn't dream of shaving while camping but curiosity got the best of me.

I found that making lather is a luxury when camping. If you can swing it, pick up some Crema Cream (it's lather-less shave cream - and VERY good). A hand held mirror works but I use my extra hand a lot when shaving (puling skin, etc) so I found various ways to angle the mirror in a tree, on rocks, and other places. As far as a strop, a paddle strop is a must. You can take your hanging strop but why risk dinging it on a tree? Using a bench strop is OK too. Finally, do NOT take your best razor. Things happen in the field so take a blade you won't mind dinging up too much. As someone mentioned Wapis were made specifically for military use and probably will handle the abuse very well - stainless scales are pretty tough!

As an aside, you CAN simply use olive oil as a shave cream in a pinch. Even heard about someone using peanut butter but I have my doubts about that. Experiment with things around the house that you can use as shaving cream that don't require hot water to make work well. It will likely have to contain mostly oil though. Finally, since you may not have ready access to hot or freezing cold water you'll still need an after shave balm at least. Otherwise the next few hours are a little uncomfortable. Any old skin balm will probably work. Aftershave will work but you may not want to walk around the bush emitting a scent that strong.

Experiment around the house for a few days. From face preparation to after the shave including preparing as well as cleaning up afterward. You'll probably find a home-brew kit that you can put together easily as well as make compact.

There may be some "kit" designed for the field but I haven't found one yet. If you locate one please post about it here! I'm still trying to perfect my camping setup just in case I feel the need to shave when living out of a tent.

While there are lots of things you could do, I take special note of the fact that you have not yet had even your first shave with a straight, or at least I presume that because you say you have not yet bought one. Unless you're going to have a good 4-6 months of straight shaving experience before you go into the field, then I would say you should go with a DE while in the field. It's a challenge for even experienced shavers to use a straight in the field, even if you're only going camping and are "your own boss" in terms of schedule and facilities.

Things may be different now (and in the Australian army as opposed to the US), but when I went through basic training 45 years ago, my shaving with a straight got a LOT of unwanted attention from the powers that be. The Army wants everyone to be UNIFORM, they hate anything that's different or attracts attention. They were also concerned about the potential use of the razor as a weapon in the barracks. (Yes, they're training you to practice killing people, but they don't want you to have weapons in your footlocker.) When they got to the point of making a strong "request" that I let the DI store it for me and watch me while I shaved, I got the hint and shipped it home.

I periodically shave in my car, using hand lotion as the shaving cream. It works excellent. I strop the razor on my pants.

Originally Posted by cotdt

I periodically shave in my car, using hand lotion as the shaving cream. It works excellent. I strop the razor on my pants.

Do you steer with your knees? Watch out for those potholes!

Go to Walmart, buy their Shave Secret (I think is the name) shave oil for around $3. Before going to straights, I had switched from shaving creams and gels to this shave oil. If I were going into rustic conditions, that's what I would do.

One tip for this shave oil use: apply, and if it starts to dry out, just splash water on your face, and it is as slippery as ever.

I know I'm still new to straight razor shaving, but this I have experience with (US Army). If you have a stainless steel canteen cup (take two-one to wash out of and one to drink coffee, soup, etc from; coffee works great as a substitute for hot water). This is similar to what I used to use for cartridge shaving just with straights and different gear.

Razors: Take two stainless steel razors (something always happens to one of them), the high carbon will definitely start getting little black marks unless you carry oil and lots of little things make one big heavy thing in your rucksack.

Gear: I use an unscented shaving soap, my brush (in a travel container with holes for drying), a pasted hanging strop (cheap, for example, RupRazor - The Filly ), and a towel specifically dedicated to shaving, no mirror and no aftershave. All total less than three pounds (less than 1.5 kilos).

Shaving (Hot to Temperate Weather): I shave everyday (maneuvers permitting) before going to sleep (day or night). If you're not getting as much sleep as you usually do you're not going to shave well when you wake up, besides priorities of work are hygiene before sleep. I face lather with cold water or hot coffee, strop, lather up again on top of what's on my face and I only do one pass WTG. I wipe the lather off onto the towel as I am shaving (barbers do it). When I am done I rinse my face from the canteen cup and wipe my face off with a relatively clean portion of the towel. I squeeze out the lather from my brush, swirl it in the canteen cup to get it soaked and residual lather out and then flick off the excess moisture and put it back in it's container. I tie the towel to the top of my rucksack so it can dry while I sleep and I don't lose it if I have to wake up quickly and run, i.e., simulated indirect fire or attack. Even if you have to shave everyday usually no one's too particular with the closeness of the shave in the field as long as it's passable.

Shaving (Freezing and below): I don't have any experience straight shaving in the extreme cold, yet...so some of this is hypothetical. Since shaving removes the natural oils on the face it makes you more susceptible to frostbite, however, one has to shave because those same natural oils on your face are also on your beard. Those oils will get into your clothes and reduce their insulating properties. So, we shave about every half week to ten days and again only if you're going to be in a warming tent or building. Soaps are good, but if you have a shaving cream you have to wait for it to thaw out. Canned gel or foam takes on the ambient temperature so if it's below freezing so is your goo, wait for it to warm up as well. DO NOT put it on your hands or face unless you like contact frostbite. Saw it happen to one of my soldiers, not pretty and painful, and I had to answer to my battalion commander why one of my soldiers got frostbite. Now we are getting into the hypothetical: A straight razor with metal, bone, horn, or wood (provided it has time to dry) scales would be your best bet as plastic gets really brittle in the cold. Again let your razor warm up (dip it in water, if it's liquid it should be above freezing ) Squeeze out and dry your brush as much as possible after shaving and before going back into the cold. The water in the brush will freeze and damage the hairs. Your strop should be fine, but try not to get it wet, coil it too tightly, or contort it before it's had a chance to warm up, the leather could possibly crack, it's skin, but I don't know this is just a thought. Your towel will be fine I actually encourage putting it out in the cold because the water and lather will freeze. Once it's frozen knock the frost off and you have a cleanish dry towel.

Okay I think I'm done and

Hope you're just kidding there brother! That's wrong on so many levels! Isn't CA giving tickets for cell phone use while driving? Aside from the distraction - the potential to be spurting copious amount of blood all over your car is pretty high when putting a 3 inch long razor edge on your throat while driving.

Originally Posted by cotdt

I periodically shave in my car, using hand lotion as the shaving cream. It works excellent. I strop the razor on my pants.

Originally Posted by AirColorado

Hope you're just kidding there brother! That's wrong on so many levels! Isn't CA giving tickets for cell phone use while driving? Aside from the distraction - the potential to be spurting copious amount of blood all over your car is pretty high when putting a 3 inch long razor edge on your throat while driving.

Oh no, the car isn't moving when I shave in my car!

I too have enjoyed the challenge of shaving without a mirror, but if you have a small one with a loop or handle of some sort, you can simply hang it from any "natural" hitch, like a tree branch broken near the trunk of a tree, or a protruding snag in a rock, etc. by using a small piece of twine, shoelace or leather ... if you're in the field it is likely you will have one of these anyway. I have done my share of shaving with a straight at various rustic boy scout events, and always get interest, questions and conversations. I've also done so occassionally in longer Appalachian Trail hikes. I, as others noted above, enjoy the ritual especially in the woods where there is plenty of time to get back to your roots. Also, you can do it as often or as diligently as you prefer ... no one's going to critique you much in that environment.

Being in a service myself i use old Merkur DE or Rolls when at work. You might get into situation where no mirror is available (unless you carry one with you), and using DE without a mirror or shaving in some moving vehicle/ship is much more easier than with the straight (at least for me). Also with the straight you have to carry a strop with you = takes more space than just DE and blades. Just my humble opinion based on my own experience.

There are few good reasons to miss back home when on service. Straight shave is one of these.