Thread: An Army solution to travel-aftershave.

Anyone that's been in the Army since OIF kicked off knows that we have become a force obsessed with hand sanitizer. If you know a Soldier, call him/her up. Chances are he/she is within 10 feet of a bottle of purell right now, and if they're on duty, it's probably in their shoulder pocket.

When in the field, we tend to keep the hygiene kit to a bare minimum. Anybody who's served knows that you can go months with nothing but a steady supply of baby wipes, a toothbrush, and a shaving kit. There's nothing more brutal than a cartridge razor shave at 4 in the morning with nothing but ice cold canteen water to lube your face. Something my friends and I have discovered is that the high alcohol content and aloe moisturizers in purell make a dandy substitue for a proper aftershave. You already have a bottle on you, because it's always a mandatory part of the uniform, so why not use it on your face?

I can't say it's a substitue for a daily solution, but when you find yourself roughing it, a bottle of purell can go a long way to serve two purposes.

LOL. Iremember when they made it required, like having your earplug case hung from the pocket button of the old BDU's. Then some SGM thought it would be a great idea to put your unit crest on the case. Now I think units are required to carry it in one of the shoulder pockets. I don't know, I've not been in a regular unit for awhile. Purrell seems like it would work though and it is always available.

Purell aftershave and a water only shave with a cart is roughing it for sure!

How about an alum block? They're about the same size as a little box of matches and should last months if not years.

Our easy solution to the problem is...we don't have to shave on deployments lol

I remember one time when I had to renew my OC cert (Master at arms here) I shaved right before (real stupid and I wasn't thinking) and of course this was before my days of using a straight and I was a minimalist who would use the same cartridge for months. Lets just say OC is not a good aftershave.

Originally Posted by cosperryan

I remember one time when I had to renew my OC cert (Master at arms here) I shaved right before (real stupid and I wasn't thinking) and of course this was before my days of using a straight and I was a minimalist who would use the same cartridge for months. Lets just say OC is not a good aftershave.

Sweet mother of christ. Do you even HAVE a face anymore?

Yeah it grew back its been awhile now haha

That's a great trick. I'm going to have to try it next time I'm on the road.

Just tried it. It's an interesting feeling once you get past the initial burn.

I became so used to dry shaving with a cartridge razor that It no longer bothered me, I got home and found my shaving cream and gave it a shot and couldn't believe how great it felt! Never did use purell. I find it funny that you deemed it a mandatory part of the uniform! In the Corps all we needed on us was an ink stick, paper, an honor courage commitment card, and you CAC card. Shoot I didn't even wear skivies the whole time in country!