DE Leave of Absence

Eh, not for good.. I enjoy it too much aside from hacking up my chin but come time I will get use to it.

Though my question is. What would be a good razor to use? My Superspeed it out of the question I leave for the Air Force in two weeks and I have been putting too much thought in the shaving portion of this. Currently I have my mind set on the Hydro3 though I do have a Proglide Power but I'd be stupid to use that again.

From what I understand is I will no longer have 20 minutes to shave and must use something that is fast and efficient. Came across a Hydro5 with I think 6 blades and the Hydro Gel for $9.99 at Walmart. It's reccomended to bring a 4-5 blade razor

Any suggestions?

I have no idea if the Air Force dictates what you shave with, but if you get a choice at the exchange then look for the Bic Sensitive single bladed razors.

Good luck and good on you for serving the country.

I'm assuming you're required to use what they make you use? If not, this is the perfect example of when to have an injector razor on hand. That's what mine is for.. when I'm in a hurry. Even if you have to use canned goo, go with a gel and an injector razor. The PAL Injecto-Matic or the Schick/Eversharp Hydro-Magic are both compact and great shavers.

I agree with Metatron, get something cheap and disposable. Don't ever touch whatever is in your display drawer. You have to keep it clean and dry, which is very difficult when you use it. The most important thing is to not stick out.

Also, 20 minutes to shave yourself is a gross overstatement. It will be more like 20 minutes to shower, shave, dress, make your bed, and straighten your wall locker.

Get something for your display drawer but for your kit you can use whatever you want. I'd get an injector so you can at least feel like you're sticking it to the shaving company. You can even get a boar brush and VDH at the exchange so you can refrain from canned goo. If all else fails i'd suggest a gillette sensor, stay away from those 27 bladed monstrosities.
Good luck brother.

What Metatron said. My introduction to shaving was at Quantico VA. I think we had two minutes to shower, shave, and any other business we had in the head. We were provided BIC disposable razors I believe. That with the bar of Ivory soap I possessed formed my shave in the shower. That habit has taken almost 30 years (shower shaving) to change.

Good luck and God Bless on your journey.

I'm curious....what's a display drawer?

I recall having a footlocker at the end of our racks (bunk beds) that had to be arraigned just so for inspections, and time was so limited that we'd take the combination locks and make them look closed without locking them.

Of course, the Drill Instructors knew we'd do this, and one fine day we came back to the squadbay to find all the unlocked locks locked together in a big Masterlock ball, all the footlockers upended, and we had to find our own locks while there was much screaming, bends and thrusts being handed out freely and jostling, cursing and elbowing amongst the recruits going on. At the end of each minute, those unfortunate souls not finding their own lock got thrashed while laughing DIs told us that thieves thrived on idiots.

To this day, I have a hard time leaving any lock unlocked.

A display drawer sounds much nicer.

Unless AF BMT has changed dramatically since I went through Lackland in '92, heed the above comments regarding how much time you will have in the a.m.

You'll roll out of your bunk at o'dark thirty to the sounds of reveille blaring through the speakers, jump into your PT clothes and rush downstairs to get in formation. After getting screamed at for why in the name of all that is good in the world, it took you so long to get downstairs, you'll march to the PT area and do your run, sit-ups, push-ups, etc, which should go about an hour or so. March back to the barracks, where you will have a very limited amount of time to "****, shower and shave" before heading to morning chow.

Depending on your TI (in the AF they are Training Instructors, not Drill Instructors - 'DI's'), you will get a set amount of time to get your bunk and barracks in order before heading to your first training session of the day. I don't know if they are still using the flag system at Lackland, but the color of the flag will determine your activities for the day (think black, red, yellow, etc, based on weather/heat).

You won't have much time to worry about your shaving methods. It needs to be, 1. Quick, and 2. Clean (able to pass inspection). Basic training sucks, but it does get better. In hindsight, my military days were some of the best years of my life. BMT will end, and it will get better.

Also good advice above about the display drawer. Same principle as the footlocker, but it's a drawer in your wall locker. You will set it up and never touch it again - don't touch whatever is in it unless it is to tweak the items to tighten them up. Essentially you will have dual products, those you use and those you display for inspection. Get a bottle of Dial soap for the shower. You can rinse out the pump nozzle after each use and keep it clean.

Kudos to you on your enlistment decision!

- Steve
USAF AMMO '92-'96, ANG/AF Res. '96-'98

Thanks for the advice everybody. Currently my set up is liquid body soap and a small cab of Barbasol foam as it is cleaner and doesn't come out randomly like gel. So I can't use gel. I currently have a bag of Bic Sensisitives but i have no desire to shave with them. So is it recommended to bring them as a display razor while not shaving with them so they remain inspection ready? And to keep my daily shaver in my security drawal?

No, I won't have 20 minutes to shave like I do now.. It will be more like minutes with my first night a dry shave if I'm not bleeding i did it wrong. So I should try to bid on an old Injector? 2 weeks is enough time to learn it. From my understandings and in pretty well read on the topic that I can use whatever I want in Lackland. Again I was looking at getting a Hydro3 but I will consider anything else.. We will go to the BX so I can figure the shaving arrangment then.

Thanks! I will be sporting the Active Duty tag again and I'm excited to do so!

Pro2010 said:

Thanks for the advice everybody. Currently my set up is liquid body soap and a small cab of Barbasol foam as it is cleaner and doesn't come out randomly like gel. So I can't use gel. I currently have a bag of Bic Sensisitives but i have no desire to shave with them. So is it recommended to bring them as a display razor while not shaving with them so they remain inspection ready? And to keep my daily shaver in my security drawal?

No, I won't have 20 minutes to shave like I do now.. It will be more like minutes with my first night a dry shave if I'm not bleeding i did it wrong. So I should try to bid on an old Injector? 2 weeks is enough time to learn it. From my understandings and in pretty well read on the topic that I can use whatever I want in Lackland. Again I was looking at getting a Hydro3 but I will consider anything else.. We will go to the BX so I can figure the shaving arrangment then.

Thanks! I will be sporting the Active Duty tag again and I'm excited to do so!

Click to expand...

That will work (barbasol and liquid soap) & yes, you will be able to use whatever you want to shave...they don't direct that. In fact, you will find that some guys there are actually not used to even having to shave every day and there will probably be some after hours instruction available for shaving (no kidding, seriously). If it were me, I would just go with your plan to buy a hydro 3 or whatever is most difficult to slice yourself with while getting a decent shave every day.

Your idea of a Bic disposable for your display razor is on the money. Keep everything you actually use locked up in your security drawer. Some TI's won't care if you even have one, others will have a list of everything that is supposed to be in your display drawer.

- Steve

I remember that lock all too well. The TIs wanted us to stay busy on Sunday so they told us to strip the wax off the floors in the day room. They didn't trust us with razor scrapers, so they had us use this key. I still have one of them (we were issued 2). All the edges are round and smooth.

Pro2010 said:

T

Thanks! I will be sporting the Active Duty tag again and I'm excited to do so!

Click to expand...

Good luck in the Armed Forces.

I'm not American and don't necessarily agree with all US foreign policy BUT I can and will respect anyone prepared to join their country's armed forces. Where you're sent is not under your control, but your willingness to do this and accept the risks involved deserves respect.

The_Metatron said:

But, a lifetime ago, in 1982, there were two types of dorms for recruits. The old wooden barracks, and the new RH&T (I never knew what that meant) dorms. In the RH&T dorms, there were two big rooms of roughly 25 beds each. Each pair of beds shared a wall locker. Each person got half of it. One door with a rod to hang ironed uniforms with a shelf above the rod, and three drawers underneath the closet. The bottom drawer had a built in hasp for a padlock, this was the personal drawer, and the top drawer was the display drawer. It was in this top drawer you had to display your toiletries in a precise layout.

The middle drawer was for underwear and socks, which had to be folded and stowed a similar precise way.

What that really meant was, you lived out of your personal drawer and your laundry bag. Who wanted to take the time to fold their underwear and socks so precisely? We didn't have to display our entire issue of clothing, so all we did was leave enough in the drawer to display. The same with the display drawer. Better to set it up and leave it alone than waste time trying to get it perfect every day.

The one thing I remember about those personal drawers was the locks they issued us. They were solid brass padlocks made by American lock company. I still have mine.

The thing is, you can't remove the key from the lock when it's open. No one knew this. They had us put the key on a chain around our necks and told us never to remove that chain. So, what you had was a room full of fifty guys chained to their lockers instead of just letting the lock hang from their neck, the first time we used them.

Oh, and on the first night, someone crapped in a toilet and didn't flush it. The Ti acted predictably. Imagine fifty guys crammed into a bathroom, all staring at a floating turd while getting screamed at. Not something you see every day.

Click to expand...

I have that same lock from 20 odd years ago. Oh the memories.

The_Metatron said:

But, a lifetime ago, in 1982, there were two types of dorms for recruits. The old wooden barracks, and the new RH&T (I never knew what that meant) dorms. In the RH&T dorms, there were two big rooms of roughly 25 beds each. Each pair of beds shared a wall locker. Each person got half of it. One door with a rod to hang ironed uniforms with a shelf above the rod, and three drawers underneath the closet. The bottom drawer had a built in hasp for a padlock, this was the personal drawer, and the top drawer was the display drawer. It was in this top drawer you had to display your toiletries in a precise layout.

The middle drawer was for underwear and socks, which had to be folded and stowed a similar precise way.

What that really meant was, you lived out of your personal drawer and your laundry bag. Who wanted to take the time to fold their underwear and socks so precisely? We didn't have to display our entire issue of clothing, so all we did was leave enough in the drawer to display. The same with the display drawer. Better to set it up and leave it alone than waste time trying to get it perfect every day.

The one thing I remember about those personal drawers was the locks they issued us. They were solid brass padlocks made by American lock company. I still have mine.

The thing is, you can't remove the key from the lock when it's open. No one knew this. They had us put the key on a chain around our necks and told us never to remove that chain. So, what you had was a room full of fifty guys chained to their lockers instead of just letting the lock hang from their neck, the first time we used them.

Oh, and on the first night, someone crapped in a toilet and didn't flush it. The Ti acted predictably. Imagine fifty guys crammed into a bathroom, all staring at a floating turd while getting screamed at. Not something you see every day.

Click to expand...

Oh, you tipped him off about the lock - spoil sport! I thought about it, but decided against it You were there in '82 and I was there in '92...the scene with the locks played out exactly the same!

Somewhere I still have mine as well I think. I know for a fact I still have the key anyway.

- Steve

Topgumby said:

I'm curious....what's a display drawer?

I recall having a footlocker at the end of our racks (bunk beds) that had to be arraigned just so for inspections, and time was so limited that we'd take the combination locks and make them look closed without locking them.

Of course, the Drill Instructors knew we'd do this, and one fine day we came back to the squadbay to find all the unlocked locks locked together in a big Masterlock ball, all the footlockers upended, and we had to find our own locks while there was much screaming, bends and thrusts being handed out freely and jostling, cursing and elbowing amongst the recruits going on. At the end of each minute, those unfortunate souls not finding their own lock got thrashed while laughing DIs told us that thieves thrived on idiots.

To this day, I have a hard time leaving any lock unlocked.

A display drawer sounds much nicer.

Click to expand...

This sounds all too disturbingly familiar . Semper Fi . Cheers to us and those like us. "Display drawers" ? We don't need no stinkin display drawers.

If you find yourself forced to use a quick, cartridge style razor, I would go with the Schick Hydro 3. I recently got it because of the free razor rebate and for use when I have to shave quickly for whatever reason. It gives me a better, more irritation free shave than the Mach3 or any of the Fusions ever did. I didn't get the Hydro 5 because that many blades is just overkill to me. Plus, the cartridges are just under $2 each, so it isn't TOO bad.