Thread: Inspiration/pictures pre 1900 (?) straight travel kits for camping - help needed

Hi All, hopefully you can help me out!

I camp a fair bit and want to take along the straight. It's not a problem with the family camping plus car, but for hiking/bike and more lightweight stuff it is more of a challenge. I know, I know, just put up with the growth for a few days or take a *gasp* disposable...Of course I can just put my kit about my person, which works,but I have something else in mind I'd like inspiration for.

I'm guessing the old military <1900 used some sort of straight travel kits, canvas roll, leather cased, small mirror included? Does anyone have any pictures of this type of equipment I can take inspiration from? The material doesn't matter, must include strop though.

Ideally, I need to be able to hang the mirror from a tree or similar to enjoy a lovely morning shave in the woods.

Also, any recommendations for creams or soaps in such a kit - mug I have. Cup of tea first, then shave. Always in that order

Thanks in advance, I hope there is something out there for straights. Most of the stuff I have found so far is WW1 and 2 safety razor and not really what I'm after.

Best

Apis

For me personally...there's nothing better than heading off on a trip where I don't really have to shave, and then coming home to mow off the accumulated growth with a straight I've never actually seen any such compact travel kit for straights..but I'm sure something could come from Max's Micro Razors.

This probably would not be appropriate for backpacking but I am fascinated with George Washington's travel kit. I could not get the link to work but a quick search at the Mount Vernon website should bring results. Basically Washington used a box, very similar to a 7 day set, that held razors, whetstone, strop, soap, etc.

There's inspiration in this thread too.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/gener...lockhouse.html

So I did some browsing to see if I could find a WWI straight razor kit, and discovered the most of the kits were DE razors and very few were actual straights. but I found a website that had this showen:


Great War Militaria - Great War Militaria

It did not come with a strop, because it was more like a shavette, but you could easily add a small travel strop or make a small paddle strop to bring with you. as for the shaving cream I would just get a tube of Proraso to bring with you.

Hope this helps you.

Apis,

You're correct about that. Military officers did have canvas/leather shaving kits for travel in the early 20th century that were pretty compact.

I own one. The interior has a lengthy zip pocket where a straight razor can be stored--along with pockets to store other toiletries. Purchased it from a U. S. retailer awhile back. Unfortunately, they don't offer it for sale anymore.

Originally Posted by Frankenstein

There's inspiration in this thread too.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/gener...lockhouse.html

Experiencing this would definitely add to that indefineable meditative aspect of the shave.

I'll have to post up the pics of my Genco kit that was issued to GI's during WW1. It has a Genco SafeEdge razor (which I think may be NOS, given the way it was mowing down arm hairs like a Howitzer with no real usage marks), polished steel mirror, strop-backed barber hone and a canvas pouch for storage.

For those interested in a preview, do a google image search for "genco WW1"... the 2nd image to come up shows the picture from the auction.

I also have a vintage travel brush that is ~3/4" in diameter with a removable knot that stores in the handle. That, plus a small refillable bottle of shave cream and aftershave/witch hazel and I'm set.

I used this setup once in my bathroom as a trial run (except I used a different razor, as I wasn't sure I wanted to start using the SafeEdge yet) and it worked pretty great. I used two towels (one for wiping my spent lather on and one to dry everything off) and a bottle of water (splashing over the sink to avoid a mess), as well as a thumb tack to hang the mirror.

The conclusion was that this would be great for roughing it.

As promised, here is a shot of my genco kit.

I now have a puncture wound in my left butt cheek from a nail that was under some leaves I laid down on to take this shot... man, the things I do for you people.

1917 Advertisement from Genco.