Shaving after SHTF

One of the craftiest moves Gillette ever made was getting rid of the old fashioned out-of-patent double edge safety razor in favor of proprietary cartridge razors that are "updated" every five years. Whoever thought of selling people a cheap plastic handle for $10 then pricing four cartridges that only last for a few shaves at $15 was an evil genius. In the UK Gillette cartridge packs are the most shoplifted item in the country. An investigation revealed that Gillette pays about 30 pence (maybe 75 cents USD) for a four pack that is then sold for 10 pounds. Of course, since you can't stock up on these things at that price, you run the risk of not being able to shave if there's ever a retail disruption.

I solved the problem by buying a Merkur 23C/180 safety razor for $35 off Ebay. The blades are out of patent and super cheap. As for blades, I was recommended Astra Superior Platinum blades made in Russia and sold online by bestshave.net for $1.07 for 10. Now THAT is easy on your wallet! If you don't want to wait a month for the blades to ship from Turkey (yes, Turkey), I've been told that the dollar store sells blades that will do a pretty good job. They're called Panoramio I think. At $1 for 10, you can stock up. And you're not locked into a proprietary shaving system.

By the way, I find that I bleed a lot less with a double edge than with a five blade cartridge razor. I hate shaving, so I let my beard grow until it's scratchy (about 2 weeks) before I finally give in and shave it. The cart razor couldn't handle such a thick beard, and would break, but the double edge can handle it just fine. The whole cartridge razor racket reminds me of an old comedy skit from the 1970s where they kept adding blades to a cartridge. The actor would come out with an ever bloodier face each time, with toilet paper stuck to the wounds. I suppose that they will be advertising the "close shave" next, like when irons acquired so many holes in the ironing surface that they left clothes damp, which was then used as a marketing gimmick.