Thread: Paying it Forward and the cost incurred.

I'll start off by saying this: I lent out a razor and half way through the shave, the loanee dropped and broke the blade on m SFK stamped Wapi.....Paying it forward: the concept of asking the beneficiary of a good deed to repay it to others instead of to the original benefactor.My buddy Matt (Ironsidegnr) went to Italy for a tour with the Royal Canadian Air Force in support of the Libya mission.

While there, he got into shaving with a straight razor. Returning home, he started to mention how nice of a shave it was. I ignored him. After a while, he started doing light restorations and custom scale work; mostly simple wood work, traditional designs, but solidly built and quality work. Matt lent me a Morley and Sons Clover brand razor that provided me with my first, eye-opening, shaving experience. The blade stayed in my hands for about a month before I sourced my very own razor.

This whole time I made every effort to treat it as my own, maintain it and clean it thoroughly after every use; I never put it away wet. I suppose Matt was lucky to have lent something to someone like me, who takes pride in their posessions and treats them as such. I however was not so lucky with my experience in getting someone interested in shaving. By not fault of the individual I lent the razor to, other than, maybe, a little complacency and a rushed approach to wanting to get into SR shaving.

Needless to say, one of my favourite razors, a stamped, NOS, SFK Wapienica is ruined and I'm left stuck between a rock and a hard place. Part of me just wants the money it cost me to source this. I ordered it from a guy in Bulgaria and paid $60 which included shipping. The other part of me wants to have the razor replaced. These seem to be few and far between these days and the ones I have seen in NOS (can't find any right now) are fetching, in cases, a larger sum of money than what it cost me to purchase one.

Everything set aside, the guy I lent the razor to had a good shave out of the blade and doesn't want to give up trying. The next razor I lend him will be one I consider a 'junker', you know, an e-bay special! He'll get something that I shave with in my rotation that I've put an awesome edge on but won't cost me an arm and a leg to replace!

Funny... Same thing happened to me.. I loaned a noew dovo to a interested fellow and he dropped it cracking the heel.. Cost to me was about 90$ bucks and for some reason he thought it was now big deal.. I go on the same policy now.. If I do lend a newb a razor it is a cheapo.. Some people..

I guess I am a cheap a$$ because I offer to loan to new guys frequently, but never offer up a blade I have more than 10-20 bucks invested in. I hone them all to an edge I am happy to shave with, but for a beginner, I see no compelling reason to start with a $$$ razor over a $$ one.

If I ever get to know anyone that is a veteran and for some reason wants to try my gear, I would have no problem loaning out my best (except for my heirloom)...but I think it would be understood by a veteran that there is obligation to replace what is damaged/destroyed unless otherwise stated

I did forget to mention one thing: the guy who broke the razor did offer to replace it once I find a comparable Wapi

Simple solution.I would NEVER,lend anybody,even my son,any of my blades

Fortunately, I've never been asked. Many of my friends know I shave with a straight, but none are interested. I recently found out one of my Manager's shaves with a DE, and uses a brush and mug. I turned him onto TOBS Sandalwood and gave him a sample. He loves it. He was using Omega. I didn't want to overload him right off the bat

The only thing I loaned out to a friend/x member was a Coticule, which he did not want to return. I offered to sell it to him at cost, and he still wasn't interested. It was a really nice 6x2 combo. He wanted it for free. The bad thing is, the friendship went south after that. So, I guess I'm with Pixelfixed, I don't loan anything out. It's a nice gesture, but it doesn't always go well....

I've been lucky. I loaned a coticule, an expensive one, to a friend and got it back with no problem. I am reluctant to say that I've never dropped a razor because as soon as I say that I'll sure enough drop one. Brooksie, they made a lot of those. When you find one, and you will, let your buddy foot the bill if he is willing. Probably make him feel better. When a friend screws up he is always feeling guilty and letting him make things right is good on both sides. IMHO.

Any friend willing to make good for his mistakes is a good friend. It's the right thing to do.

Sorry to hear about your Wapi.

My policy on loaning things is to avoid loaning things to people for whom my respect and affection is not proportional to the value I place on the item.

Wow. Is that ever a tortured sentence. Late-night election watching is not conducive to clear prose...

What I mean is if it is someone to whom I am close and whom I trust, then I would loan the good stuff. For an acquaintance I would stick to things I could accept losing or having damaged. So if my Dad or bro-in-law wanted to try a straight (the cowards haven't bitten yet!) I'd send them a selection to try out, including some of my best. If it was someone I didn't know well or whom I didn't trust, then the value I place on the blade(s) lent would be adjusted accordingly.

My rationale is that I value my relationship with my Dad and bro-in-law more than I do any of my razors - yes, even my FBU - and so if they managed to destroy it, I'd be a bit pissed off but it wouldn't be the end of the relationship. I also know them well enough to know that they would handle it with respect, most likely not damage it in the first place, and take responsibility if they did. If it was just some guy I was acquainted with, I'd happily lend a nice, sharp, totally usable blade, but it wouldn't come from my regular rotation. And it would be one whose loss or damage I could accept.

Caveat commodator.

I don't lend out razors to people but giving away is different.

When my brother got interested, I had him visit and went over all the basics of stropping, lathering, shaving, and honing then I linked him some reading and bought him a very nice Helje MK30 with ivory scales and got it honed for him.

I don't think I'd spend that kind of money on just anyone but I think it's better this way because I don't expect to get it back so it's on him if he breaks it.