Friday, April 3, 2015

consuming to invest 14


CONSUMING TO INVEST 14

Razr Savr

The Razor Saver, shortened to the brand name Razr Savr for inexplicable reasons, is available from Lehman’s, the Amish-ish manual tool company ( recently, they have introduced a lot of plastic products I’m not overly fond of.  On the other hand, they do now have LED lights which to my mind are more eco friendly than petroleum fuel lanterns.  Although, why I’m equating Amish with Earth friendly is mystifying me.  Being 19th century tech doesn’t make on an environmentalist.  Although, organic growing might.  Anyway, I’m sure the Amish are as aghast about plastic as I am.  I’ll ask one if I ever get over that way-which, being in YankeeLand, will most likely never happen unless I get an HK armed farm owning  buxomly sugar momma sending me a lust letter.  And I’m flexible on the buxomly definition.  But not on the HK.  This is the Yankees we are talking about, after all ).  Now, I really like this thing.  Nothing more than a long piece of mirror glued to a plastic shell ( this being plastic doesn’t seem as obnoxious, probably since it is designed to elongate the life of other plastics ), you would think its asking price of $15 plus shipping is just another over-priced doodad from the company.  But their economics pencil out quite well.  If a plastic disposable razor lasted you two weeks before, and now lasts you two months, at twenty cents each ( you can still sometimes find them at ten cents each, but they are getting hard to locate ), the saver pays for itself in two years.  After that, you are in Fat City saving over fifty cents a month!  Wow, almost two cents a day!  Okay, not all investments pay well.  But they do pay, whereas other consumption just costs.

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A superb minion specimen sent me a real carbon steel straight razor after I had written an article on them, and I treasure it still ( those suckers are not cheap at nearing $100 ).  But I don’t use it.  I’m glad I have it, as I might one day need/want it ( those disposables might be too dear to not sell, one day )( see previous chapter on my I think shaving is more a requirement than an option ).  But I am still afraid of it and use disposable razors twice a week and an electric one the other three days of the workweek ( I hate the electric but it saves water ).  By using the razor saver I can get the blade to last months ( hint: if you wait two or three days to shave, use a wooden toothpick to keep the hair clumps out between the blades on a double razor-the only use I’ve found for recycling toothpicks you’ve used enough times to snap in half or break off an end ).  All the saver is is a way to keep the blades from dulling for much longer than usual by using the old World War Two GI trick ( probably learned in the Great Depression ).  On the Pacific islands, when supplies went too long in arriving, the guys would resharpen their blades by twirling then around the insides of a drinking glass ( the old school flat steel blades you put in the single edge razors- I used to use one but they just tore up my face so I went to disposables.  I did try this trick though and it works well ).  The saver is merely a strip of glass just wide enough that the two side pieces of plastic holding the blades fall off the sides.  Which is why you can’t just slide your razor against a wall mirror.  Those two pieces of plastic stick out past the metal.

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Now, you could simply measure the disposable razor, buy a glass cutter and a glass stone ( to grind down the cut edge to a non-cutting surface.  If you value your skin and blood supply ) and be in business yourself.  Supposedly, the plastic shell over the glass in the saver keeps the razor at the proper edge.  While I’m all for do-it-yourself, now that the 70’s have returned as far as lack of quality control for profit goes, I just simply deemed this one time purchase affordable enough and was done with it ( I’m also all for a SLOW return to do-it-yourself, since I still have a day job to go to ).  For half the price of a quality straight razor, I have thirty years worth of razors while using the saver ( at three times a week use of the disposables ), plus adding in the cost of the saver purchase.  I don’t think I’ll live long enough to use all of them, so, hey, enjoy your only inheritance, bitches!  I actually wanted the kids to live on my other lots I own, but they are Southern raised and cold to them is an evil.  So the razors it will have to be. 

END
 
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5 comments:

  1. “A superb minion specimen sent me a real carbon steel straight razor after I had written an article on them, and I treasure it still ( those suckers are not cheap at nearing $100 ).”

    Actually James. You can get a pretty decent carbon steel razor for around $45.00 should you wish to go this route. I got the Gold Dollar 208 in the link below for this price, and it comes shave ready, and with free lifetime sharpening - you only pay shipping. But you would want to learn to hone it yourself. The only drawback is the lower quality handle and scales, but it came very sharp. It was the only one that I saw that had good reviews in the lower price range. Otherwise you have to pay the extra money for the Dovo or the other high quality straight razors that will set you back even more.

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LWPWOVK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    You can also get the “Shavette” or stainless steel straight edge razors. These are the same configuration as a straight razor except that they use the disposable blades that can be switched out. You can hone the old blades and extend the life of them easy enough.

    http://www.amazon.com/Parker-SR1-Stainless-Straight-Razor/dp/B002PQZEHQ/ref=pd_sim_hpc_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=16S5P8TH5NPCH4E7PFRA

    Wayne

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, I needed an Amazon ad for today.

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    2. Same razor on eBay for $12.99 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gold-Dollar-208-Carbon-Steel-Shaving-Cut-Throat-Straight-Razor-Barber-Salon-6-8-/181620799632

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    3. Thanks for posting; awesome deal!

      I got mine on special for $30.00, so at least I feel a little less ripped off.

      Delete
  2. I checked out that ebay razor, and it's a good deal for sure. But this one doesn't appear to be "shave ready"? No big deal, but you will need to learn to hone it before using it.

    ReplyDelete

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