Originally Posted by
gauvins
Interesting argument. At home I suppose that most would prefer a razor with some heft. From what I've seen, most chrome-plated razors are in the 70-100 grams (2.5 - 3.5 oz) range. If you search a bit, you should be able to find decent razors weighing less than 50g, and at the near end of the spectrum, there are disposable plastic safety razors weighing 5grs. I couldn't find interesting threads in the ultralight community, where the dominant doctrines are either (1) don't shave, or (2) purchase disposables at resupply and ditch them afterwards.
Another way to look at the question would be volume. Safety blades take essentially no space in your kit, compared to disposable razors/cartridges.
A third way to look at this would conclude that it is very unlikely to make a significant difference on the touring experience. We're talking about 40grs difference and it is very very unlikely that you'd need to carry more than one spare cartridge, so there essentially no reduction in volume. My question was triggered by the fact that I am ditching cartridge razors at home.
Regular soap works reasonably well. Shaving creams are available in small conditioning (ex: 3oz tubes) and single use envelopes.
Again,
for me, since I shave so little the weight to benefit becomes and issue. When I tour, I tend to tour for 4+ weeks at a time and tend to buy the cheapest razor out there, again, because I save maybe 80-90 times per year. A single disposable razor with its little blade shield weighs 9g so I could take a month's worth of razors for just 1oz. The shaving cream is a wash since I would use it regardless of the razor type (I don't like bath soap only). I have no idea what a decent safety razor weighs. Sake of argument it weights 5oz total for the razor, spare blades, and blade case. The 4oz difference does not sound like much but at 1/4 pound it does add up. I would guess the volume would be close to the same amount but could be wrong. For someone who shaves so little and with relatively thin whiskers at that, a decent safety razor does not make sense, However, for home use, I could possibly see doing it but the nicks and such as part of the learning curve have me having second thoughts.
But ultimately, my overall point in this thread is that I find safety razors fascinating in a way. Sort of like how a decent hand tool from decades ago is very nice to work with compared to today's cheap crappy tools.