Straight razor
Fur is a great boon that evolution gave to mammals. Fur allows the heat conservation required to be efficiently hot blooded and to and to survive in the coldest weather of this planet. For some strange reason, the fur of humans is rather sparse. This lead to an unconscious association between the lack of fur and the superiority of a life form.
As soon as metallurgy allowed decent blades, humans started to alter their fur to look as less as possible like an inferior mammal. Shaving of the facial hairs was already popular among the ancient Greeks. Today we have advanced metalwork technology and it is a daily routine for many to shave. Nevertheless, it seems like it is impossible to make long lasting razor blades. There is a lot of buzz about the technical innovations in new shaving technology and how smooth and how close a shave can get. We sometimes even hear that a new type of blades might last a bit longer.
The sad reality is that the investment on razor blades is constant if not increasing. Those new blades feature patented technology which prevents cheap alternatives and they are sold the price of a lunch each. To motivate us to try those new and improved blades, they even inflate the price on the old types of blades. The net effect is that we keep using the same blade as long as possible with disastrous consequences for our poor skin.
Why can't we come up with some kind of blade that will stay sharp for more that a dozen shaves ? The sad reality is that razor blade industry is a racket capitalizing on our fear. We've had the technology for blades capable of staying sharp during someone's whole life for the last few hundred years. You hear in every ad that new overpriced disposable blades will prevent you from cutting yourself. By selling overpriced blades, Gillette managed to make more profits in 2005 than Coca Cola.
I got tired of the disposable blades scam so I looked for alternatives. During the renaissance and the industrial revolution we acquired a good mastery of steel work and of metal polishing. The straight razor evolved to the high carbon alloy and biconcave blades that it kept for the last few centuries. This particular configuration is able to make a blade with an extremely sharp edge that is easy to sharpen and with enough rigidity for the safe manipulation of this deadly instrument.
After many years of disposable blades racket it gets hard to find a long lasting razor. Most stores that keep them sells them as expensive curiosity or fine antique artefacts of a long lost past. Even thought the math is simple and you will repay yourself by grabbing this 200$ razor, it is a big initial investment for something you've never tried and that your might end up discarding as too dangerous as they all tell you it must be. After a lot of shopping I found a used straight razor and a hone for 40$. I searched for good tutorials and I made a strop with an old leather belt.
After a few days using the said instrument I must say that I really like it. My first shave was not that close but with some variations on the stropping and the angle of the blade I'm getting results as good as with the disposable crap. The blade is really large and you can cover a lot of skin surface with a single sweeping motion. Unlike with the safety razor you don't have to go on the same area many times. You make a single long continuous pass then maybe another one using another angle. My face is still free of cuts. I have a few cuts on the back of the head, I admit that this tool is hard to use on the areas that you don't see directly in a mirror. People I've talked to tells me that I'll get a much closer shave with a straight razor. Don't let the disposable blades makers scare you, if people willingly shaved daily when the only razor available was a straight razor, this baby can't be that hard to use. A straight razor will stay sharp and it won't scrub your face like a battle field. Forget about this disposable non-sense and get a high tech blade that will stay sharp for a lifetime.