Hi my favorite razors are the vintage single ring razor from gillette. I also enjoy a nickel tipped super speed and a slim adjustable razor. My father had both the super speed and the slim when I was growing up and showed me how to shave with his super speed. I use altra green blades and cella soap along with a Simpson Trafalgar synthetic brush.
How Much Have You Invested in Our Wet Shaving Hobby?
- Thread starter Lane101
- Start date
I know my purchases have slowed dramatically in the last several years, but the price of the purchases has gone up.
I respectfully decline to answer on the fact my statement might be seen by SWMBO. 
- Thread starter
- #104
Hi, now that we've had 116 respondents to the "How Much Have You Invested in Our Wet Shaving Hobby?" question this is a great time to provide my promised recap for when we had over 100 votes here. Highlights include:
I'll start with my good (I think anyway?) news, in spite of some holiday purchases/gifts, I don't have to change my vote as my spend went up by just $100 to $875 since I started this thread. This places me close to the spend mid-point per the poll results as 45.7% of the B&B respondents have spent $1,000 or less on wet shaving while 54.3% have spent more than that.
The most interesting finding was that at B&B we tend to skew towards a fairly significant level of total spend on wet shaving given the above and that 38.8% of us have spent over $2,000 with some comments noting expenditures of over $10,000+. No surprise that many here have invested heavily in our shaving hobby in super premium items ranging from Varlet brushes to Blackland or Tedalus razors. The opportunity to own the best, and often collectable, tools is understandable and I suspect that engaged B&B participants with the available funds will often be enticed to upgrade. I just experienced this personally as, thanks to a gift from my son, I now have a Rockwell T2 that is a major leap from all my other razors that were acquired for under $15.
Based on the poll results I should have broken the above $2,000 category into a $2,000 to $5,000 range and above $5,000.
I was expecting more of a bell curve to the results when setting up the poll given how DE shaving is often positioned as a money saving opportunity. I suspect we didn't see as many budget shavers for a few reasons:
Given the mid-point spend of around $1,000 over a multi-year period it's possible that razor and brush manufacturers who start their product range too far above $75-$100 may be leaving too much of the market behind. A shaver in this range of investment over say a five year period may not want to spend more than $100 on any single brush or razor given that most of us typically have more than one of each. Additionally given the tendency of B&Bers to upgrade, the failure to capture share at moderate price points (say $50-$100+) may be ceding potential customer upgrades to the competion. Rockwell is a great example of this where their range starts at the moderate level and ranges up from there.
Overall, when one looks at these B&Ber investment levels as occuring over 5-10+ years this is not a very expensive hobby as it nets out to perhaps $100-$200+ per year for most of us. On the other hand, given that 20 Mach3 Cartridges currently sell for $43 at Costco and Gillette Foamy is roughly $3 per can, one can use a basic modern shaving system for a similar consumables cost assuming 40 cartridges (< 10 shaves per cartridge) and 12 cans of Foamy (really heavy daily use) that will net out to around $125 per year. Upgrade to Edge gel ($5 each) and Fusion cartridges ($4 each in large packs) and the annual cost is $220.
While many of us start out returning to DE shaving (1:see footnote below) to save money the reality is once we are in to it most of us continue to invest because it is fun. The value of our 10-15 Zen like minutes of a regular wet shave: priceless.
Thank you to everyone who voted and commented on this poll. I hope you found this interesting. Please feel free to add any additional perspectives on the poll results.
(1)A truely budget DE shaver can start with an under $50 kit of a Weishi 9306 ($13), 12 Arko shaving sticks ($15), Big Bruce Razorrock brush ($14) and 100 Dorco blades ($7) and shave for two years for under $25 per year.
- We do have a wide range among B&Bers starting with true budget shavers ranging to high end collectors who want only the best tools and/or software.
- The investment level midpoint is likely a bit over $1,000, 47.7% of us have spent less than $1,000, 54.3% more.
- B&Bers skew towards significant levels of investment with 38.8% of respondents reporting a spend of over $2,000
- Very few budget shavers voted. Only 5.2% are at or below $100 and that only rises to 11.2% for $250 and below.
I'll start with my good (I think anyway?) news, in spite of some holiday purchases/gifts, I don't have to change my vote as my spend went up by just $100 to $875 since I started this thread. This places me close to the spend mid-point per the poll results as 45.7% of the B&B respondents have spent $1,000 or less on wet shaving while 54.3% have spent more than that.
The most interesting finding was that at B&B we tend to skew towards a fairly significant level of total spend on wet shaving given the above and that 38.8% of us have spent over $2,000 with some comments noting expenditures of over $10,000+. No surprise that many here have invested heavily in our shaving hobby in super premium items ranging from Varlet brushes to Blackland or Tedalus razors. The opportunity to own the best, and often collectable, tools is understandable and I suspect that engaged B&B participants with the available funds will often be enticed to upgrade. I just experienced this personally as, thanks to a gift from my son, I now have a Rockwell T2 that is a major leap from all my other razors that were acquired for under $15.
Based on the poll results I should have broken the above $2,000 category into a $2,000 to $5,000 range and above $5,000.
I was expecting more of a bell curve to the results when setting up the poll given how DE shaving is often positioned as a money saving opportunity. I suspect we didn't see as many budget shavers for a few reasons:
- The poll asked for total investment, while one can start with a basic DE shaving kit for under $50 the replenishment of blades and soaps and desire for at least a second brush and/or razor will move many budget minded shavers to a spend level above $100 or even $250 over a few years
- While our blades are cheap many here have built up significant inventories over the years that can easily total out to hundreds of dollars. In my case I'm in for over $110 of blades for example.
- While many here are happy with a handful of moderately or even budget priced (think Arko or Van Der Hagen) shaving soaps there are also a lot of B&Bers who've invested in a wide range of artisan products that can add up to many hundreds of dollars over years of shaving. One former B&B member had over 200 mostly artisan shaving soaps, a $4,000+ spend if at an estimated $20+ each. Super premium commercial soaps, like MdC at roughly $70 for 200 grams that can last a year, will add up to $350 of spend for five years of exclusive use.
- Those of us who stock up on discontinued favorites can also also rack up spends in the hundreds of dollars. Of course I've told my wife that my shaving soaps are our best investment ever with 99 cent Williams pucks now listed for $50 each.
- By far, based on the numbers of posts here, the biggest driver that can take B&Bers into thousands of dollars of spend is the purchase of high end razors and brushes. We've posts from many here who enjoy collecting a variety of premium razors and brushes. There are others who will acquire multiple razors, such as Wolfman's or Blackland's well regarded offerings that range from around $200-$600, in a search for the perfect tool. Similar for those who invest in high-end straight razors along with the hones and strops that go with them. Finally we've seen the shave den photos with large numbers of often high-end shaving brushes and the many museum quality vintage collections owned by many B&Bers.
Given the mid-point spend of around $1,000 over a multi-year period it's possible that razor and brush manufacturers who start their product range too far above $75-$100 may be leaving too much of the market behind. A shaver in this range of investment over say a five year period may not want to spend more than $100 on any single brush or razor given that most of us typically have more than one of each. Additionally given the tendency of B&Bers to upgrade, the failure to capture share at moderate price points (say $50-$100+) may be ceding potential customer upgrades to the competion. Rockwell is a great example of this where their range starts at the moderate level and ranges up from there.
Overall, when one looks at these B&Ber investment levels as occuring over 5-10+ years this is not a very expensive hobby as it nets out to perhaps $100-$200+ per year for most of us. On the other hand, given that 20 Mach3 Cartridges currently sell for $43 at Costco and Gillette Foamy is roughly $3 per can, one can use a basic modern shaving system for a similar consumables cost assuming 40 cartridges (< 10 shaves per cartridge) and 12 cans of Foamy (really heavy daily use) that will net out to around $125 per year. Upgrade to Edge gel ($5 each) and Fusion cartridges ($4 each in large packs) and the annual cost is $220.
While many of us start out returning to DE shaving (1:see footnote below) to save money the reality is once we are in to it most of us continue to invest because it is fun. The value of our 10-15 Zen like minutes of a regular wet shave: priceless.
Thank you to everyone who voted and commented on this poll. I hope you found this interesting. Please feel free to add any additional perspectives on the poll results.
(1)A truely budget DE shaver can start with an under $50 kit of a Weishi 9306 ($13), 12 Arko shaving sticks ($15), Big Bruce Razorrock brush ($14) and 100 Dorco blades ($7) and shave for two years for under $25 per year.
My go-to daily is a 40s style Super Speed - love that thing, and I think it cost me about $14 total.
3/6d
Can’t divulge that information. 
My wife might know about this site.
Let’s just say I’m in the last row of the choices presented.
B.
My wife might know about this site.
Let’s just say I’m in the last row of the choices presented.
B.
I like to point out the number of handbags and shoes she owns on occasion just so we know it's really "to each his/her own."I respectfully decline to answer on the fact my statement might be seen by SWMBO.
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