Comparisons

Travelling with a Safety Razor vs Electric Shaver

By PackingLite

Posted on June 18, 2016

So I recently decided to give travelling with a safety razor (also known as wet shaving or double edge shaver) a try in place of my usual electric shaver. When it comes to travelling and shaving most people will go with a simple electric shaver or perhaps a disposable razor. However it’s not impossible to travel with a traditional safety razor shaving set up but there are definitely pros and cons to each side.

Travelling with a safety razor

Cons

The most obvious con of wet shaving is that you cannot take double edge blades through security with a carry-on bag. Since we’re focused on ‘one bag travel’ here at Packing Lite, we’re going to be looking at it from a carry-on only point of view. A con of electric shaving is that you have to carry heavy batteries around and replace them often. Another con of electric shavers is that they’re loud and don’t give quite as nice a shave as a double edge blade. A con of double edge shaving is that you have to carry a lot of extra products to get the complete experience. A shave brush, shaving soap and an aftershave.

Pros

One of the greatest pros of electric shavers is that they don’t required any additional soaps, brushes or aftershaves, as most electric shavers can be used dry. They’re fairly quick at cutting through the stubble and don’t need to be dried off after use. Some pros of double edge shaving are that it’s quiet, gives a very nice close shave and it also smells great. Another pro of double edge shaving for light travellers is that you can build a wet shaving travel kit that weighs less than an electric shaver with batteries inside.

My wet shave kit (101g)

1x Muhle Travel shaving brush

2x Disposable single blade razor

1x Speick shaving soap stick

You can also take a lightweight razor like Fine Accoutrements Superlite razor or the Dorco PL602 and buy blades at your destination. However it’s not always easy to find double edge blades whilst travelling. Its also worth noting that instead of taking an aftershave lotion I just took a solid shampoo/soap bar which I used to wash my face with after the shave. Adding an aftershave might be something you want to consider although I haven’t found one that’s light enough for my pack yet.