I'm not sure where I saw this (it might well haev been here on SRP) but this quote was always at teh back of my mind when I was buying another batch of DE blades on line, and always wondering if I COULD shave with a straight razor:

If you teach a poor young man to shave himself, and keep his razor in order, you may contribute more to the happiness of his life than in giving him a thousand guineas. This sum may be soon spent, the regret only remaining of having foolishly consumed it; but in the other case, he escapes the frequent vexation of waiting for barbers, and of their sometimes dirty fingers, offensive breaths, and dull razors.
Benjamin Franklin (1886)

The idea of self-sufficiency that this hobby promises really appeals to me. As a child of the Cold War, growing up with the threat of nuclear holocaust hanging over us, things one coudl learn to do 'after the apocalypse' have always appealed to me: cooking, baking, knitting, coffee roasting, wood turning, carpentry, and now, maintaining a razor.

This way, I can be torn to pieces by radioactive zombies in a nice sweater, drinking a coffe, while eating a sandwich of home made bread out of a hand-turned wooden bowl, with a wonderfully clean shave....

Barry