Thread: Economics

Originally Posted by Knife

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Now having said that, now that you know I'm in the middle between a person who wants the cheapest setup ever and one who wants all the frills (closer to the cheap side though, just starting) what is up with these five hundred dollar razors? My God, what could warrent that price tag? And why have more than five. I mean if your collecting them that's fine, but I've seen roll up bags that fit like seven it seemed and that's not the type of thing you would keep a collectable. So if it's not a collectable, is someone realy standing over a rolled out selection of razor and thinking which one do I want to shave with today? Or is there a reason for having that many to choose from?

Ok, the $500 razor ... the phrase "razors as art" should explain everything there. Hand made, custom designed pieces are always going to be expensive.
As for the reasons to have a selection, well for one it means your razors don't need to be honed nearly as often. Also it means that while one is out getting honed you have others to chose from.
As I understand it, "back in the day" a gentleman of means was expected to have more than one razor and considered to be an unfortunate soul if he didn't. working stiffs, if they had one at all, would be more likely to have just the one. I believe there was a lament over the Prussian Ambassador who, when the Arch Duke Ferdinanad was assasinated, took his own life with his only razor. The lament being that he had only the one razor. I could have that completely farce about ace too, so don't go including it in a history paper without checking properly.

I am not into collecting and got into shaving to save on the $4 cartridge blades so I have a modest setup. I got a $50 travel kit from aos that was brush, cream, pre-shave oil, and after shave. I got the strop and dovo best quality from srd and an all stainless from srd and a merkur DE to use while traveling. Then I got a nawania 12k, this setup set me back around $400 which from my calculations is about one years shave on cartridge razors. So after the first year you should break even and be set for life. I think the two razors might be a luxury but is nice when it comes time to sharpen you razor you can take your time.

Originally Posted by Knife

I mean if your collecting them that's fine, but I've seen roll up bags that fit like seven it seemed and that's not the type of thing you would keep a collectable. So if it's not a collectable, is someone realy standing over a rolled out selection of razor and thinking which one do I want to shave with today? Or is there a reason for having that many to choose from?

My understanding is that many will try to collect razor experience instead of razor themselves. So they buy, keep the one they like the most and sell. It's kinda a quest to the best razor that fit them. There was a thread that compared it to building a sport team.

Brand new razor have a big "not-new-anymore" penality when you resell them... but for used one, a few more shave won't make the price drop that much... so you can resell it for almost what you got it for.

"I mean if your collecting them that's fine, but I've seen roll up bags that fit like seven it seemed and that's not the type of thing you would keep a collectable. So if it's not a collectable, is someone realy standing over a rolled out selection of razor and thinking which one do I want to shave with today? Or is there a reason for having that many to choose from?"

You mean that poor guy has to choose from just seven razors? Oh, the humanity!

The 7-razor set is a tradition with the intent to have one razor per day. On that basis, each razor would be used approx. four times a month. If you started with a full set of shave-ready blades, sharpening and honing would have to occur far less frequently. So more than anything, it's practical. Several French and German makers continue to supply 7-day sets, often with each razor marked with the name of a different day. And... OMG, it's also fun!

One day I plan to have more than one shave ready razor. Currently I have one more I should be able to get there my self (simple hone jobs) and a couple that I'm definitely going to need professional help with (NOT simple. My Packwood wedge has both a smile and a frown and as much as I want to shave with it I refuse to ruin it from my lack of skills).

Originally Posted by pcg

On that basis, each razor would be used approx. four times a month. sharpening and honing would have to occur far less frequently.

Do you have an idea on how often one need to hone razor used 4 time a month like that ?
Hone the whole set each 3-6 month? A year ?

That would depend greatly on how you treat your razors, how you prep your beard before shaving, if you have acidic skin chemistry, how well you strop etc etc. I've seen 6 months to a year mentioned before, but it's so variable ...