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I just got back from three weeks traveling out of the country, in Israel. It was my first time away since I abandoned canned shave cream and disposables. I found I had to pack differently, and began to see my "shaving kit" differently as well.
I'd love to hear how the travelers on the group handle extended travel. Do you have a separate "travel strop?" Keep a separate bag ready to go?
I hope this is the right part of the board for this question!
I travel with a travel strop - a new old stock Le Grelot paddle strop. It works very well, although it uses vegetable tanned leather like the modern TI ones. I use a small 18mm Art of Shaving pure badger shaving brush and normally take either a tube of Prorasso cream or a tub of Prorasso soap.
Most importantly the razor. I take a plastic handled Dovo and another plastic handled vintage Wapienica. These are great razors and while they are relatively cheap, they are easily replaceable should I happen to lose or damage them. I never travel with my expensive or rare razors.
Ps, I go to Israel at least once a year, great place.
i take my DE.. and don't pack blades.. that way i can take everything on carryon.. i pack the wee scot in a prescription pill bottle.. small tube of c.o. bigelow and my aftershave is poured into a 2 ounce spray bottle.. my entire shaving setup can be carried in one hand.. the rest of my hygiene kit all fits in the small pouch of my backpack.. just a small tube of toothpaste, toothbrush, comb, nail clippers, and a 2 ounce bottle of dr. bronners soap.. used for both shampoo and body wash.. i just need to find a smaller tube of brylcreem now.
Facing 3 weeks of absence made me think a lot. Here's what I ended up with:
- Combination Barber Hone ("The Winner")
- Tin Mug (lighter than ceramic)
- Melted 2 pucks of VDH Deluxe and poured them into the mug
- My Illinois 127 strop
- 7 Razors in the SRD 7 Day leather pack
- Nivea AS Balm with SPF 20 sunscreen
- Travel Brush with a stand that fits in the tube the brush comes in
This worked okay, but I never really felt organized because my shaving bag, which formerly only held a disposable and a little can of shave cream, just wasn't up to the challenge. I have a new toiletries bag that I think will be a better choice. I also plan to make a short strop for trips. Probably I could have left the barber hone at home. With 7 razors, even if I dinged a couple, I could make it with the others. Or bring the hone and just 2-3 razors.
Going DE for trips is an idea too. I hate it that I can't take my straights in my carry on, but that's life!
Scipio--what takes you to Israel every year?
I always worry about travelling with straight razors and how easily I could get it out of shave readiness by dinging it on a sink I am not used to using, or getting one stolen in a hotel room. I always travel with a DE razor because of the convenience, but I always think about how I would travel with straights. Maybe next time I will try bringing both and see how it goes.
Indeed, a straight can be damaged, but you can also ruin a DE razor by dropping it even from a very short distance. Once the DE is dinged, nothing will make it work right. You can carry more than one straight and have a back-up.
Gentlemen:
I have a British military-style roll up wet pack that holds everything. Here's the menu:
1. I take two straights. One is a Wostenholm 4/8" hollow point and a great little shaver. My second straight is either a Dovo "Pearlex" 5/8" round point or a Boker "King Cutter," which is an okay shaver.
2. My backup is Merkur travel double edge that breaks apart and fits in a leather pouch small enough to hold in one's palm. I have changed the shave head to a Muhle-Pinsel, which I prefer to Merkur. The blades are either Feather or Gillette 7 O'Clock yellow pack.
3. The strop is a Tony Miller short 2-inch, and a good one. The leather lace works quite well for hanging on the door knob. The strop is packed with my luggage and not in the wet pack. I lay it on top so that it is not bent or rolled.
4. For brush, I have an Edwin Jagger pure badger 19 mm. with its own travel tube for storage.
5. I have a good supply of topnotch sample shaving creams and balms from various companies. When I run out of them, my standby shaving creams are Pre de Provence or Institute Karite in tubes.
6. My wife found me a tiny plastic pin box, smaller than a matchbox, and it holds my Edwin Jagger alum block perfectly.
7. Several aftershaves go into miniature bottles.
8. The rest of the toiletries are tucked in their own pockets in the wet pack.
Well, what can I say? I might as well travel like a gentlemen. In three weeks I head out to California for a week of some stage work and the wet pack is anxious to get on the road.
Regards,
Obie
I have a bag, which fits in a case or in my rucksack, it has a zippy bit at the front which has nail clippers, nail scissors, teazers, mirror, comb and toothbrush, everything else fits in the main section, a single razor in a leather case, my plastic bowl I got from my barber, a tube of palmolive, skinfood, toothpaste, alum block and an assortment of little bottles containing smelly concoctions :)
The strop doesn't fit, a neil miller paddle, that does fit in my rucksack and in a case.
Geek
I am often on the road. I like to keep it simple, and travel light.
- one razor
- one (small) barber hone
- one block of alumin
- one strop
- one bar of shaving soap
- one small bottle of Tabac
I never found I needed anything else. And if I did, I could probably find it wherever I was at the time.
I have the typical toiletry bag that goes into the travel bag, inside the toiletry bag goes the shave gear; 1 Antoni Tadross 6/8, puck soap in a dish, bay rum in a bottle, 1 strop coiled with the leather on the outside of the coil and a barbers hone of choice.
I have a small Rowallan leather wash bag when i travel. I takes everything essential i need for 1-4 week travel, excluding my strop, which i keep on the bottom of my bag.
While traveling with a car or by flying, i can easily have everything i need with me. I'm sort of a minimalist what it comes to travel gear. When traveling with my motorcycle there's no much extra space at all, so i have to watch out very closely what to take with and what to buy there where i'm going (this part is difficult for my wife). I've always had the room enough to take my wash bag and strop.
In my wash bag i have:
- brush in a steel tube
- one straight razor in its own box (or DE with enough blades)
- shaving cream in a tube or soap in a small can (like the ones that Olivia sells)
- small bottle of aftershave
- tar soap in a small army soap box
- toothbrush and paste
I'm in the Navy and had this deployment coming up. I took up SR shaving a few months prior to this trip and the question at the back of my mind was always 'Should I take my Straights and all the gear or just revert back to my old neglected cartridge razor for the 3 months?'
I ended up going for the latter because of the limited space I have on the ship and the price difference in the equipment in case anything breaks. I am regretting minute of that decision. Almost as soon as i started on the old Mach 3 I was getting ingrown hars and razor rash again. My only saving grace was not being required to be clean shaven while we were at sea.
I'm about half way through the trip and have finally got my wife to go through my gear and post me a few things through the Defence mail.
I'm not too sure where i'm going to store it all yet because it's pretty humid in our washspace where im keeping my shave gear.
So in 2 weeks I should be expecting to see my
Simmons 5/8 Barber's Pet
Russian leather 18" strop
1200grit hone
and the latest GQ magazine
I've got another brush coming from Melbourne through e-bay.
I've already got a tube of cream and i'll just 'borrow' a mug from the mess to tie me over.
Definitely looking forward to having a proper shave again. I just have to be careful of rough weather...
Haven't had to fly anywhere yet - so haven't had to deal with that issue yet.
As for other travel:
Storage:
Smiggle zippable semi-hardshell pencil case
Plastic box
- Razor (can fit 3 but only need to take one)
- Styptic pencil
- Barber hone (if I really want to)
- Small mirror (haven't put one in yet - but there is room)
-for my shaving brush
Other:
All the best,
- Shaving cream - in its own container
- Handkerchief for cleaning cloth - dries quickly
- Strop - regular strop, stored somewhere flat
Michael
I'm on my first trip since I picked up SR shaving. It's a two week trip to Wisconsin, and I flew (but checked my baggage).
I packed two SRs in their boxes. I chose a 5/8 Case barber's notch (not my favorite but figured if it gets lost/damaged I'll survive) and a 5/8 Rex Eskilstuna. For Lather I packed a tube of Penhaligon's BB and a Proraso Soap. I bought a SRD modular strop for travel use (great option with the ability to pack the diamond sprayed wool felt and the scrub leather option as well to replace the linen) and brought a small barber's hone just in case. My witchhazel, ASB, and glycerin all went into small PTFE travel bottles...
So far, so good. My only regret is I miss the variety I have at home!
I do not have a travel kit per se. For extended travel, I pack my regular strop, several of my shaving soaps and all of my aftershaves. The soaps and aftershaves are all in screw lid containers so I just tighten them down to prevent leaking. I always carry all six of my razors in their regular case. I put the shaving brush and stand in a ziplock back along with my toothbrush, toothpaste a travel bottle of witch hazel and a travel bottle of cleansing oil.
What i have been using is the following:
1) Razor..duh. Usually something i wont be heartbroken about if something happens.
2) Brush, my el cheapo tweezerman
3) Shave stick
4) Aftershave Splash/Balm - i fill some small 3oz containers
5) Strop. I have a vintage Juchten Streichriemen paddle strop. One side leather, other side balsa with CrO
When I travel, I prefer a DE. No strop, no stones, less care required. I can shave with water only, too, so all i need is some balm or splash (and I don't even need that.
Though I have only started straights, I do travel with a kit once a weekend usually, either camping or to my partners sisters home in the country.
I carry in one little bag.
Metal mirror
6 identical 30ml tubs
1) Shampoo
2) Conditioner
3) Facial scrub
4) Facial moisturiser with tea tree and witch hazel
5) Shower gel
6) changes
Shaving stick in container same size as tubs
Brush in the bottom cut off, of a tub slightly larger than other tubs
Sisal scrubbing matt.
Two Mach 3 blades placed between tubs.
Toothbrush cut down
Sometimes the handle for the mach, usually not these days, If I use the mach blade at all now it's for chin touch ups...
One still in bad condition straight which shaves well enough so far.
Seperately I carry a strop on my pack anytime I go out with my camp knife...
The bag is about 9 inches long, 3.5 inches wide and 1.5 inches thick.
I can use smaller bottles and kit bringing the size down again, but this lot is enough for a week with showers and hair every other day.
Hi,
My travel kit consists of:
1) Dovo EnVogue stainless razor
2) Double sided paddle strop, one side with CrOx, the other plain latigo
3) Gillette #88 DE + blades
4) Tube of Musgo Real shaving cream
5) Vulfix nylon shaving brush
6) 100 mL Plastic bottle of distilled witch hazel.
7) 25 mL glass bottle containing Musgo Real after-shave or DR Harris Sandalwood aftershave.
Apart from the strop, all this fits into a small wash-bag.
Have fun !
Best regards
Russ