The myth of razors and razor blades

For much of last century, when the legend of the Gillette model originated, razors were not plastic.

> Coca Cola, for instance, doesn't have any real benefit over other drinks, but they have a fearsome salesforce, marketing and distribution.

Not as simple as that. Firstly, it is extremely difficult to enter the drinks market (setting up a countrywide distribution network, etc...).

What Coke also does (in some countries) is giving the owner of Cafes, garages and small shops a fridge (loan on permanent basis). The condition of the fridge is simple - the owner can only stock it with Coke-a-Cola products.

So right there the retailer is locked in - to distribute a smaller competitor's drinks, he would have to buy a whole fridge (or the competitor must provide a fridge). This is not likely - hence the lock-in. The customer is not locked in, the distributor is.

Another thing that Coke does is prevent competition between small retailers. You must sell Coke’s products at their recommended price (otherwise you have to pay more). They also sell the products to larger retailers at a lower price (and they in turn may not sell it at the reduced price to smaller retailers).

If Coke wants to launch a new product, they basically force small retailers to carry their product (whether they want to buy it or not).

So, yeah, Coke is a pretty nasty company. Luckily for the guys in the USA, there is actual competition (Pepsi).

Frito for instance guarantees 100% shelf service - you will never run out of chips. Legendary stories of the extent they will go to keep mom & pop store stocked etc. Builds loyalty.

I've been using this technique with a disposable blade for the past few months: http://consumerist.com/2010/03/make-your-disposable-razor-bl...

I keep my razor in the shower, too, though maybe if I didn't it could go even longer.

The blades degrade simply by being worn down. The cutting edge is a few molecules of soft steel. I really don't think corrosion is an issue.

"Like apple usb"

In what way did you mean that?

I've found electric to be the only way to comfortably shave daily. Wet is a little closer, but doing it daily just tears up the skin too much.

It's not that aggravating to me personally--that just means I have three blades instead of five before I have to decide whether to try another razor or buy more cartridges for the same one. I hate wasting or throwing things away, so if I hate the razor completely I won't have to suffer through it for very long if it only comes with 2 more blades.

Really, I'd be happy if it just came with no extra blades at all.

Question, when is one man enough for a safety razor?

Or option 3: invest $30 in a good beard trimmer :)

I made the same switch a while back but eventually I moved back to Gillette.

What I learned was:

There are a bunch of things involved in a decent wet shave, the razor is only one part of it.

Preparation is key - exfoliate every week and moisturise daily, warm your face before shaving (lots of hot water), ideally shave first thing in the morning (your face muscles are more relaxed) and apply shaving foam gel with a brush (it works it in and softens the bristles better).

Razor burn is as much caused by technique as tools - shave downwards, all over the face once. Ignore the fact it still feels stubbly, you're taking off the worst of it. Now lather up again (avoid a razor on bare skin, that's going to burn) and do it again. Finally one last time (having lathered up again) going up the face if you have to to clear up anything remaining.

Then cold water to rinse, and moisturise afterwards.

On top of this an old fashioned safety razor did make a positive difference both to how clean the shave was and the razor burn (remarkable given that it's one fixed blade) but for me the extra effort involved in shaving with an old safety razor wasn't quite worth it. I like to be able to be a bit careless first thing in the morning while I'm half asleep and I can do that with a Gillette Fusion.

(Can I just say, for the love of god anyone making the move read up on how to shave with one first - it's not the same and you will cut yourself to pieces if you go at it the way you go at it with a modern Gillette).

With one caveat: that kind of a razor takes 2-3 once-overs and many minutes. With my safety razor I can be done under a minute ideally.

Anecdotes are not data. I use a Gillette, I just bought a 10 pack of blades for 16 dollars. That is going to last me a year, maybe longer. I shave properly. Hot shower, proper technique never had razor burn ever. As the saying goes the poor craftsmen blames his tools.

In my experience, a Gilette shaves cleanly (no cuts and inflamed follicles or ingrown hairs) for the first couple of times (when it's very sharp), then causes a few cuts unless you're very careful for the next 5 shavings or so, and from then on becomes so dull that it becomes quite hard to cut yourself unless you try to or move the blade along its length. A single Gilette blade lasts me several weeks to 2 months. It's only during the 'transitory' period that you need to be careful, and not apply too much pressure. When the skin becomes very red and irritated, it's time to ditch the blade.

Like someone mentioned above, for me the trick is to shave first along the grain, then lather up again, and then against the grain. That prevents redness, cuts and inflammations much more than using a fresh blade.

I must protest in the strongest of terms that this is not Hacker news. It is a well known fact that hackers require beards. Glorious, full-bodied beards. Beards that look good with suspenders and the occasional suit when necessary. Beards that get you on lists like this: http://www.codethinked.com/post/2007/12/06/The-Programmer-Dr...

I have pretty sparse facial hair, so I guess I can't really cope with going through a blade a week.

My biggest problem with a safety razor is you can't travel with it. Other than that I'm not sure why disposables ever caught on.

I stand by this.

I recently bought a Merkur safety razor and a sample pack of different blade brands.

I have been recommending all of my male friends to make the switch.

The point is that their current business model (give away the razor, sell the blades) is not the secret of their success-- that during the time they had explosive growth and became dominant, they actually had a very different business model.