Gentlemen,

The shave den has been on a diet for a while and my straight razor collection trimmed to a comfortable plateau of nine. I had about 50 straights of various brands and sizes. The big and heavy Sheffields dominated. Since my banged up hands limit my straight shaving to mostly weekends and one pass with the grain, I found it hard to see full racks of razors with a forlorn look. Straight razors have feelings, too, you know?

The modest collection now includes five Le Grelot razors: in snake wood, black horn, ebony wood, black plastic and white plastic. I have always been fond of the Le Grelot, especially now for being the most comfortable for me. They are also fine shavers. The other straights in the slimmed down lineup include: Kropp, Herder, Joseph Rodgers, Widerstrahl and Rudi Schaaf. Let's not kid myself, if I come across a straight razor that makes the ticker do the fandango, I'll probably buy it. As I said, beauty is hard to resist.

The double edge razors do most of the work these days. Fortunately I have always been fond of my double edge razors. And I have some beauties: Joris in bone, Muhle "Sophist" in bone, Muhle 41R open comb, about a dozen Edwin Jaggers in a variety of models, the stainless steel Feather, Weber, half a dozen Merkurs, and so on. What can I say, I have a soft spot for beautiful things. "They grow like rabbits," says the dearly beloved.

These days, with a cluster of years years in tow, I believe anything I hear, and see — and that includes singing rabbits and dancing raccoons. Something else I believe: that people like me don't give up the straight razor, for it's a way of life.