Legalities of Str8 shaving

I am leaving for Army basic training in April and was begining to wonder about how that will effect my shaving? Odd thought I know, seeing as how it's supposed to be a life changing event... But my question is this; Does anyone here straight shave in the military? And are there any legal or permissive issues with holding a knife to your throat every day? I am fully aware that I will be bic-ing things through basic, but afterward I would like to continue to shave like a real bloke. Any ideas fellas? Is this one of those things that you just dont mention to your superiors? Are there any officers in the group? Does the Commision change anything versus Enlisted?

The GI shaving out of his upturned helmet, with a straight, is one of those iconic images that always comes to mind when someone mentions shaving in the army. Hopefully that's still allowed.

I don't think you're going to have the time to shave properly, let alone enjoy it, with R. Lee Ermey breathing down your neck.

When i was in basic training in 90's we had about five minutes for 30 of us to share three sinks and get shaved..they didnt say what we could or couldnt use.

The first night there we all had to shave and it looked like a blood bath, keep in mind as fast as your moving the louder and closer their in your face yelling to hurry up.

Ya, I'm fully in the know with the boot camp thing. I mean to say that I know that I wont have a spare second to shave there nor would they let a recruit hold a knife in his room, what with all the late suicides these days. I was really more concerned with a rumor I came by that said that straights are not allowed with ANY mil personel. Since you might injur yourself.

Solemnsaint said:

Ya, I'm fully in the know with the boot camp thing. I mean to say that I know that I wont have a spare second to shave there nor would they let a recruit hold a knife in his room, what with all the late suicides these days. I was really more concerned with a rumor I came by that said that straights are not allowed with ANY mil personel. Since you might injur yourself.

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I cannot believe that to be the case, otherwise they wouldn't let them have rifles (and bayonettes)

I know it seems odd, but it makes a modicum of twisted sense. Saftey is the buzzword these days. Firearms and expolosives are a nessecery evil while straight shaving is not. And the Military just started a new "Recruit Suicide Board" responcible for investigating the reasons behind the rising mortallity rate in training. The worlds getting wierd.

Well, there are plenty of Active Duty types here, so it won't take long before we get the word from someone in the know.

I am in the Marine Corps but for purposes on this discussion there should be no distinction between the services - you will be fine with SR shaving past bootcamp (and possibly your MOS school). Shaving in the field is actually pretty easy with a SR once you figure out how to overcome no mirror and hot water (try it out before you need it). However if some other Private grabs hold of your razor and ends up lopping off his finger (or half his head) your First Sergeant may not be too pleased with you - therefore be selective as to who has access to your razors.

Enjoy bootcamp.

Convert said:

I am in the Marine Corps but for purposes on this discussion there should be no distinction between the services - you will be fine with SR shaving past bootcamp (and possibly your MOS school). Shaving in the field is actually pretty easy with a SR once you figure out how to overcome no mirror and hot water (try it out before you need it). However if some other Private grabs hold of your razor and ends up lopping off his finger (or half his head) your First Sergeant may not be too pleased with you - therefore be selective as to who has access to your razors.

Enjoy bootcamp.

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Damn this made me laugh! Too true all of it! And if that Private lops off his finger...the paperwork will be intense. You'll have to fill out high risk activity forms, Letters of Counseling etc

Just kidding...you should be fine bro. May want to let folks know depending on where you live after you're done with boot. Some dorm managers in the AF get concerned when a young Airman has blades in his room...once you show the First Shirt that they're shaving tools...you should be good.

Thank you for your future service young man!

God speed.

Wonderful! That is the exact reassurance that I needed. And that shaving in the field bit is pretty interesting. I would assume then that stropping is overlooked? Or maybe improvised with some smaller stropping surface? But thanks guys, I wanted to hear that exact assuance. And I'll be sure to warn folks not to touch my tools.
And I'm sure that training will be some sort of fun, even if I have to relearn my own definition of fun. But really I was born for this and I cant wait to just get it out of the way instead of it looming ahead.

Mentioning straight shaving in the field makse me laugh.

Think of it this way though, If you have time to shave in the first place, you'll have time to shave with whatever you want.

Past basic, anything that you want to bring into the field that is extra from the required gear is up to you to find space for in your pack.

Honestly though now-a-days, I cant see why you wouldn't buy a AA battery powered electric for the field just to save on space (terrible shave be-damned). you'll most likely have cold nasty water out of your canteens to shave with anyway, why even bother if you know it's already going to suck.

A private who can handle far more dangerous weapons but no straight razor should be instantly dismissed.

Convert said:

I am in the Marine Corps but for purposes on this discussion there should be no distinction between the services - you will be fine with SR shaving past bootcamp (and possibly your MOS school). Shaving in the field is actually pretty easy with a SR once you figure out how to overcome no mirror and hot water (try it out before you need it). However if some other Private grabs hold of your razor and ends up lopping off his finger (or half his head) your First Sergeant may not be too pleased with you - therefore be selective as to who has access to your razors.

Enjoy bootcamp.

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Kees said:

A private who can handle far more dangerous weapons but no straight razor should be instantly dismissed.

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Just a guess, but I don't think that private would be given access to anything truly dangerous without training and supervision, while a straight is an accident waiting to happen.

After basic training you'll be just fine using whatever you like. On my last deployment I had a couple of DEs in my kit. I just started to dabble with a straight and fully intend to take it overseas.

Depends on the area of deployment and your operational assigment. If you are going to be somewhere near Herat, I suggest you start getting used to something AA-powered. Personally, I wore a beard.

I am prior enlisted and now an officer. The only advantage that an officer would have over enlisted is that he would not live in the dorms and as such he would not have his things gone through by a First Sergeant.

Gary, thanks for that bit of enlightenment. It seems all the same to me. As far as actually shaving in a foreign war zone, I dont know if I would care about grooming so greatly that I would bother with a full shave kit. Practical aspects would be of more concern and an electric doo-hicky would serve those needs. And after hearing from a few active duty badges I feel completely sure that my fears were empty. This is good. Thanks fellas for your info. And good luck to all of you.