Thread: Nation Geographic documentary on the history of shaving...

Really good video. I liked the conclusion, though Thanx for the link...


Nenad

That video was fascinating. One thing I found really interesting is that it does seem like the major razor companies go to a lot of trouble testing their products. It's amazing that after $1 billion, computer anaysis, high-tech cameras, and years of research and testing they still can't beat a straight razor.

There were some interesting little technical things I noticed: Someone mentioned the stropping already, but did you catch the circular honing on the 8000 grit side of the Norton? Yikes.

I also got a kick out of the video clip that "proved" how hairs that escape the first four blades of the Fusion get caught by the fifth. There was a hair that rode along the first four blades, and it did get snagged by the fifth. But it got cut in half, nowhere near the surface of the skin. So you'd need a second pass against the grain, and I shudder to think of dragging that monstrosity against the grain for a second pass. That's like a 10-pass shave with my DE.

Josh

Originally Posted by joshearl

I also got a kick out of the video clip that "proved" how hairs that escape the first four blades of the Fusion get caught by the fifth. There was a hair that rode along the first four blades, and it did get snagged by the fifth. But it got cut in half, nowhere near the surface of the skin. So you'd need a second pass against the grain, and I shudder to think of dragging that monstrosity against the grain for a second pass. That's like a 10-pass shave with my DE.

Josh

Just proves the point that Safety Razor invention was not that good after all. A hair cannot escape like that from straight razor, but it easily gets bent from the safety bar, or those ridiculous rubber bars on the Mocks...

Nenad

Thanks for the link...I loved it. Looking at the way the rotary electric's work I likened them closer to lawn mowers than razors!!!

Another thing I found interesting was when they were talking about a disposable cartridge (such as a mach 3) only had to stay sharp for at most 30 days. I don't know about you guys, but I neve got one of those things to last a week (generally 2 per week, minimum). Perhaps I just like a nice sharp blade and can't stand it when they begin to go dull.

The conclusion was about all I needed to see to validate that I recently made the right decision to go "back to basics" and get a straight razor.

Mike

Great Find... I'm converting it into quicktime now and then I'll watch it over the weekend...

Originally Posted by superfly

Just proves the point that Safety Razor invention was not that good after all. A hair cannot escape like that from straight razor, but it easily gets bent from the safety bar, or those ridiculous rubber bars on the Mocks...

Nenad

Yeah, but it was never their intention to make a better razor. The intention was to make $$$ and if you can afford to spend 1$ billion on perfecting something, I think you've succeeded at the real objective. LOL.

I was talking to one of the owners of a metallurgical company who found that Freeze treating Bic razors, they would last 30 times longer. According to him, they got shown the door because the don't WANT their disposable products to last longer.

I was talking to my dad about customer service in big company's...we came to the conclusion that big companies misunderstand the term...instead of giving service to the customers the expect their customers to do them a service....give them money. I think that example is a good one for proving that.

Originally Posted by PapaBull

I was talking to one of the owners of a metallurgical company who found that Freeze treating Bic razors, they would last 30 times longer. According to him, they got shown the door because the don't WANT their disposable products to last longer.

Of course not... it would decrease the revenu stream that they enjoy currently. If a company's business model is based upon a disposable product that the customer keeps buying then why would they want their product to last longer.... that just decreases their revenues. Just like how the music industry wants people to buy the CD version and then pay them again for a digital version in an attempt to double their profits, same goes for the MPAA and how they don't want individuals to only buy a DVD and then make copies of it so they can watch it on their iPods and computers. Consumers should have to buy multiple copies of the same product in order to enjoy it as they see fit....

I say companies should strive to cut their profits in half to help out the little guy

Originally Posted by Flounder

I say companies should strive to cut their profits in half to help out the little guy

If they did that, they wouldn't stay in business very long, would they? And they certainly wouldn't have any shareholders, and the ones they did have would be filing derivative suits like crazy. Though that's different from whether they should be good corporate citizens.

If you think a product is no good - like disposable razors - don't buy it. Find some alternative way. Like shaving with a straight razor.