Shaving machines, expensive cutting heads

[Forskaren]

I noticed that shaving heads like the ones below in the image, cost almost as much as some of the new shaving machines using it. Feels like a bit of a rip-off.

[El Duderino]

Have you seen this?

[BRUTE]

safety razor for the win. brute is still using blades from a pack he bought almost 10 years ago for something like $10. best shave possible outside of straight razor at the barber's, basically free, almost no cuts (1 in the last year or so).

a high quality safety razor handle costs $20-50, and the blades are <10c a piece. shaving soap and badger brush are optional but fun.

[JamesR]

I completely gave up on close shaving some 10+ years ago, due to getting a razor burn/rash almost every single time.

So I shave with regular electric hair trimmer - the kind for shaving your head. About $16 to buy one, lasts many years.

[KevinW]

safety razor +1

[Riggerjack]

Beard. Cost is nearly zero. And now that I've quit trimming it, it takes even less time!

[Ego]

Gotta love China. $1.39 with free shipping

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-3-Set-Shaver- ... 1388964152

[Gilberto de Piento]

I get the bag of 10 generic orange single blade plastic razors for a few dollars. They seem to last about a month each. I shave every other day or so.

[BRUTE]

Beard. Cost is nearly zero. And now that I've quit trimming it, it takes even less time!

Riggerjack has been randomly selected for additional screening.

[vexed87]

Another safety blade user here.

$0.08 each:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-RAPIRA-SUPE ... SwpDdVGW9v

I also buy these on offer (~$0.14) for travelling because my DE Safety Razor has sentimental value and don't want to risk losing it.

[Sclass]

My dad bought me two of these from a close out sale in 1990. These can last a very long time. Literally out of a crate in a dusty warehouse. Payer of Austria brand. Mine was in a Boots box which was odd to find in Los Angeles.

https://goo.gl/images/sBYhbe

The batteries went dead after five years and I went to the radio control car shop and bought new ones to replace them. I never changed the foils up to that point. Then a girlfriend dropped one while shaving her armpits one day

Cracked foil. I used the other a year. I found myself in Austria and a shop sold me a foil. Impossible to get in the US. It did cut better than the old one but not that much better. It was still quite useable.

Well, I guess I've been shaving with those two electric razors for 26 years. A few months ago I upgraded to an entry level Braun from Walmart which works just as well. I stashed the old Payers in a bottom drawer.

Oddly they still worked. Same foils. Yes, they didn't shave as well as new but they worked well enough for me to use everyday for 26 years.

I've already replaced the Walmart Braun shaver foil because it lost cutting performance. Yes, I paid $23 for a $30 shaver's foil.

Anyone else have experience for very long life shaver foils? Payer has changed hands so many times I bet it's useless to track one down.

[TopHatFox]

I like the "universal man trimming" machine, otherwise known as a clipper. I bought one for $30 five years ago and have yet to have someone else give me any kind of hair cut. A handful of guards and a pair of scissors and one can trim everything from facial hair, to scalp, to underarms, to nether regions, to even legs--if you have the patience and care to do that. I sometimes wonder why backpackers don't at least carry a travel-sized, battery-powered clipper. Unkempt appearance is often sadly an indicator that the adventurer is un-deliberately homeless IMHO, and might make said adventurer even (more) smelly.

[bryan]

I also buy these on offer (~$0.14) for travelling because my DE Safety Razor has sentimental value and don't want to risk losing it.

I get through TSA about 80% of the time with my safety razor with a fresh blade inside. If they pull you to the side they just take the blade out and give you the razor back. Where do you buy those though? It may be more convenient for the 20% of the times (avoid finding a pack of blades while travelling).

[OTCW]

I have a full beard but shave my neck regularly, 5 or 6 days a week. I've had the same blade in my safety razor all year. The keys is to remove it, wipe it clean, dry it, clean and wipe the razor dry, reinstall and it's good to go.

[vexed87]

@bryan, those disposable shavers are available in most drug stores or supermarkets, I think I may have picked some up at Costco once too. I use them at home sometimes too, particularly if I'm feeling lazy and can't be bothered focusing on the shave, they are much more forgiving than a DE safety razor, but not quite as effective.

[BRUTE]

I also buy these on offer (~$0.14) for travelling because my DE Safety Razor has sentimental value and don't want to risk losing it.

I get through TSA about 80% of the time with my safety razor with a fresh blade inside. If they pull you to the side they just take the blade out and give you the razor back. Where do you buy those though? It may be more convenient for the 20% of the times (avoid finding a pack of blades while travelling).

as far as brute knows, safety blades are even allowed by TSA rules. some of the personnel just doesn't seem to know this, and some foreign countries are also skeptical. brute has gotten 100 blades at a time through security many times, other times, the single blade in the razor was confiscated.

the problem is that not all blades are created equal. most brands brute has tried are pretty shitty, so brute is pretty particular about which brands he uses. so if those get confiscated, the safety razor is worthless until brute gets a refill of Personna Red blades (best brute has ever used). so while blades are sold almost everywhere, most of them are unusable.

[bryan]

the problem is that not all blades are created equal. most brands brute has tried are pretty shitty, so brute is pretty particular about which brands he uses. so if those get confiscated, the safety razor is worthless until brute gets a refill of Personna Red blades (best brute has ever used). so while blades are sold almost everywhere, most of them are unusable.

I went through a whole sampler pack when I first started, but somehow mixed up the ones I liked the most with some other make/model. Ended up with a pack of 100 mediocre blades (Gillette 7 o'clock) I've been using for a while... not sure what I was thinking not being more diligent about recording which blades performed the best.. I may have to buy another sampler unless someone can just recommend some good options (I do remember I hated BiC and was not a fan of feather).

[BRUTE]

many humans like feather, but brute found them very irritating to the skin. brute by far prefers Personna Red.

[C40]

I find this subject quite interesting. Shaving technology reached maturity a long time ago (50+ years) with the safety razor, but industry and human nature has forced unnessecary "progress" which has only resulted in waste. It gives me some faith in humanity to see that whenever someone asks a question about shaving on the internet (I'm referring other parts of the internet) like it has been here, the consensus answer is the right one - safety razors

[Solvent]

I've been using a safety razor for years now and I appreciate the low cost, but it cuts my face up way more than the mach 3. Either I've got crappy neck skin or I'm bad at shaving. Maybe both. As a result I try to only shave twice a week.

I went through a sampler with a bunch of different branded blades. There were none I was particularly happy with. Where I live now, the blades are actually hard to find so I don't have much choice.