Thread: Aloha from balmy FOB Salerno, Afghanistan

With my impending 40th birthday, which I get to celebrate while deployed to Afghanistan... I have finally bit the bullet and purchased my first straight razor; A Hart Steel 6/8, Polished Finish, Square Point Straight Razor. I ended up picking up a few different types of soaps and creams... but most imporantly, I printed off the entire wiki here in order to read up before my Hart Steel gets here.
At any rate, thanks for all the help here on the forums. It's been extremely helpful in my purchase, and especially with my prep for the next evolution in shaving!

C.A.D.

Wellcome to SRP.Thx for your service,Enjoy the ride.

Welcome. Salerno's the best thing going in Afghanistan. Everything you need except one-on-one honing/stropping/shaving mentorship is here for you until you get back, then you can go to a meet and get that.

God bless you chief. Come home safe and whole.

Regards - Walt

Welcome to SRP. Congrats on converting to a straight, you will really enjoy the tranquility of the experience.

Thank you for your service and all your sacrifices.

Adam

Welcome to the forum Chief and thank you for your service. I hope the most exciting event of your tour is mastering straight razor shaving. Please let us know how the wet shaving goes or if you need anything.
God's speed. Happy Birthday.

Thanks for all the kind words. We're doing pretty good over here at FOB Salerno. We've got hot water and some semblance of food along with some AC so we can't complain. What I haven't figured out yet is where to strop. I am thinking about setting it up in my hooch for now, using the strop before I walk (126 steps... grrr) to the nearest shower, and then once I return.
Speaking of mentorship, where are these meets \ events posted so I can try to attend?
Thanks again, and I am sure I will be back with eleventy questions down the road. I picked up an additional blade off the classified section here, so the addiction has definitely begun!

Welcome Chief!
I'm at Bagram right now but headin home in about a week. I've only spent time on the runway and hammerhead there at Salerno, always with engines running.

I'm new to this as well, been straight shaving for just over a month out here.
I think the hardest thing about straight shaving out here is being able to get a good pre-shave prep. The latrines here aren't exactly places you want to spend a lot of time in.

I strop in the hooch currently. I just carabiner it to the top bunk rails and go to it. Of course I have to time it when the other crew isn't sleeping because it does make a bit of noise. You may want to go ahead and order a hone too. I found that my rookie stropping led to a quickly diminished blade and I needed a refresh.
Anyway, I've found straight shaving pretty relaxing out here and definitely helps pass the time.

Stay safe out there Chief.

You can find the meetings here: Forum - The Parlour - General Razor / Shaving Related Discussion - Get Togethers and Meetings. Feel free to PM if you have any questions (click on a name then Private Message).

Welcome, my son is over there with you traveling all over providing security while bases are being closed down. He's with the 101st airborne. You've found a great group of guys with a wealth of information on this site. Think the world of all of you who are deployed. Stay safe.