straight razors on vacation

Hi all,

I have started shaving with a straight razor (a sight unseen deal from WhippedDog) far about a month now and my shaves are getting to the point of being acceptable with no more irritation then using cartridges.
Now, I'll be going away on holiday in mid april and I'd like to bring my razor with me. I will be flying with Emirates from the Netherlands to Dubai (I'll stay there one day) to Japan, where I'll be staying for four weeks. I will then continue to Thailand, from where I'll travel through Cambodja to Vietnam in order to fly back to the Netherlands.
I'm not sure how strict airport security is, nor am I familiar with the laws in said countries regarding cutthroat razors, so I would like to know if my razor might be taken from me by security/police personnel, rf whether I could get in trouble having one in my suitcase while traveling.
Does anyone have any experience with transporting a razor in their check-in luggage or with carrying a razor in the countries I'll be visiting?

Any additional tips on razor transportation would also be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!
alfeo

P.S. I'm not sure if this is the right subforum for this thread, so if I made a mistake, I apologise.

I had no problem taking knives overseas in my luggage. Just do not try to carry it on, and accept the fact that ANYTHING can be taken out of your suitcase at ANY time. If you are not ok with that risk, do not bring it!

I figured as much and I'm still not sure what I'll do. I'm also a bit worried about central Asia. Does anyone know whether I could get in trouble for transporting and using such a razor?

We're no experts here. If you are traveling and want to know call the consulate in your country and ask them. Then you'll know.

Not sure what the local laws are, but can't see a razor being contraband. Just pack it well in your suitcase and don't worry about it. Thats what I would do.

Don't bring it in your carry on.

If you ask the embassy, for liability reasons they will say do not bring it. You are going to spend all that time abroad, just realize they can make your life difficult if they want, whether or not you have a straight razor packed in your suitcase is not going to be the cause of it. Maybe someone has been to the specific countries mentioned and can elaborate.

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Originally Posted by Vova

I had no problem taking knives overseas in my luggage. Just do not try to carry it on, and accept the fact that ANYTHING can be taken out of your suitcase at ANY time. If you are not ok with that risk, do not bring it!

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Originally Posted by jeffegg2

Not sure what the local laws are, but can't see a razor being contraband. Just pack it well in your suitcase and don't worry about it. Thats what I would do.

Don't bring it in your carry on.

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Ditto to the above. It's not a weapon, it's a piece of personal grooming equipment. So long as you're not waving the thing around in public, I would think no one would give a damn. Put in in you check in luggage and with some airport approved luggage locks (not that that will prevent theft, but it means that only airport personnel will be able to open the locks without having to break them to steal you stuff.) I have never had anything stolen from my luggage, but I may have just been lucky who knows. Theft would be my biggest concern over the legalities of my razor in a foreign country.
As was stated already, we're no experts here.

Mick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vova

Just do not try to carry it on, and accept the fact that ANYTHING can be taken out of your suitcase at ANY time. If you are not ok with that risk, do not bring it!

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+1. Probably a big reason why I have no problem taking a DE with me on my travels instead of my straights.

Thanks for the insights! I guess I'll just risk it. I don't want to go back to a cartridge for two months after having shaved straight for three.

I don't know what the laws are but common sense says if it's in a case with shaving soap and brush that you're carrying it as a tool and not a weapon. At least it gives a plausible reason to have it. The question is do customs officers have common sense? :)

That's why they make DEs my freind... Just as fun and less hassle. Opens a whole new door of fun.

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Originally Posted by thuktunflishithy

I don't know what the laws are but common sense says if it's in a case with shaving soap and brush that you're carrying it as a tool and not a weapon. At least it gives a plausible reason to have it. The question is do customs officers have common sense? :)

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That's what I figured, but you put it very nicely, do customs officers have common sense? I will be going through customs at least four times and I would like to go through each time without any trouble.

Still, they probably won't even check my bag, so I guess the risk of it even being found is not that great.

I travel a lot,

Never experienced a problem with a straight razor packed in checked luggage. However, I guess there's always a first time. Baggage does also go astray from time to time. If it's a short stay of a few days, I take a DE. If it's a longer stay, I take one of my less expensive straights.

My uncle, one of the people that got me into this, has been straight shaving for decades. He also travels alot for work and brings a blade along all the time, this was one of the things he warned me about. He has actually been asked by customs to unpack his luggage to show it a few times, however it was never a problem since it is indeed a tool as mentioned before.

Only once it got confiscated, he was traveling from Tanzania back to Holland carrying a TI with imitiation ivory and the customs couldn't figure out if it was real or not :D Very shameful since it was a beautiful blade though.

So unless it's any exotic material or if you pack it with heroin I suppose you should be fine!

Sounds like an opportunity to court trouble to me, simply because it's a blade, and you're in a foreign country. Might avoid a lot of hassle to just take a basic DE or carts for an overseas trip...

If you wanna bring 'em, go ahead.
I do quite a bit of travel with mine, no worries at all.
I've showed them to customs officers on several occasions, and no-one has any problems with that yet:)

It appears to me the only reasonable solution would be to buy a new straight in every country and mail it back to your self before leave the country?

Mdtn has the best solution by far!

It's the best excuse I can think of for owning a well honed Gold Dollar straight razor!! If they steal it, so what?? Still better than a DE!

Enjoy!
Jeff.

One Thing I can tell you for certain,DO NOT take an ivory scaled blade into Canada,customs sees it,you will watch it be physically destroyed before your very eyes,than never to be seen again:(

Look, it is no different than anything else you bring along. It could cause trouble at any point, and it could get confiscated for no reason at any point. If you are not comfortable with that you have one real solution, do not go. No two people are going to have the same experience, and it all depends on the people involved.

I had a harder time getting through London than I did Moscow, and mind you, I flew out about a week after a suicide bombing at their airport. Others had the exact opposite experience.