Thread: New user: military advice

Thanks for the info gents. Hunting for the supplies. Got two months to go.

Just got the blades in the mail! Thoughts? They are whippeddog shave ready.

One is electric cutlery
The other is the Jr. Torrey CO

My plan start on these and then jump to a DOVO 5/8 or Art of Shaving Blade.

Ralf Aust seems to get very good reviews. Or maybe classifieds here for a tasty vintage or two.

I have a large travel cigar box called a travel buddy. It was a gift from my buddy Raol. It works well for keeping a bunch of stuff organized, dry, and safe. It is too small for your strop but I can get everything else for a short trip in there.

You know of Larry's site maybe a travel strop or a poormans strop. They are inexpensive and the poorman's strop I have is small enough to roll up in a shallow butter tub or sour cream tub to protect it. Any hard soap would work in the same sized tub. or get a shaving stick or fashion a puck into a shaving stick. I face lather so I never use a lather bowl. Synthetic brushes dry fast, work well and the RazoRock plissoft can be had for $10. I have one and its a great brush. A large pill bottle from the Pharmacy would hold it safe. Just bring the brush you want to travel with and ask at the pharmacy desk about a pill bottle that it would fit in. I've gotten bottles like that before. When I was in Basic I used hand sanitizer and hand lotion as aftershave so if all else fails. . .All joking aside any softer plastic travel bottle should work well enough for aftershave. 3 oz last awhile and who says you only get to bring one? Pack a few and then if you do have a break then you haven't lost everything. If you get one with a spray top it lets you use it with less waste so you would need less. I don't have a case for my brush yet but my travel kit right now has a Schick B3 or a parker style shavette and blades, A stick of Arko, and a travel spray bottle of Pinaud's Citrus Musk. My travel brush is a WD 20mm synthetic but I haven't been traveling since I got it. I used to use neutrogena shave cream since its brushless and worked well for me.

I've thought of packing a real straight but I'm too afraid of it getting lost. The Parker style cost me less than $2 on eBay so its my go to travel razor. The B3 stays home most days but I got it to use as a travel razor.

Electric Cutlery and Torrey's are both good steels, some of the better ones to be exact. You did good. Those two razors could last you the rest of your life.

Welcome and enjoy your journey here and abroad.
Thank you for your service to our great nation.
And best of wishes to you and your family this holiday season.

Hi and welcome. Good luck figuring out a travel kit. I just lay my strop on top in my bag. A bit of pvc pipe works for protecting your brush.

Thanks guys for all the advice. Have shaved twice so far with the straight. Not too sure I'm enjoying it yet. Not comfortable at all lot of tugging no cuts burns or anything like that. Just during the shave it self very harsh even with out barely any pressure.

Unless you're going to be bunking in a hotel and/or have a good amount of spare time in the mornings, I would advise using a safety razor. You'll have to pack less kit, and you'll accomplish the shave quicker. If you drop your straight and ding the edge, it has to be re sharpened, with a safety, just simply change the blade. Also, if you're shaving in an area with a bunch of other guys moving around you, I surely wouldn't want to use a straight. Myself, I would use a cartridge (gasp!), but with wetshaving prep, a brush and soap, and beard reduction technique. Thank you for serving your country.

At the beginning would advise laying the razor flat on your face, lift the spine a tiny one, and try a short stroke. Easy mistake is too steep an angle at the beginning.