Started a new razor today, my first in almost a year
Regular readers know I pick up litter daily. I’ve gotten good at noticing things that people have left on the ground that aren’t litter.
I don’t remember exactly when, but probably about two years ago, I saw a box just sitting on the sidewalk. It seemed connected to nothing and when I picked it up and looked around, nobody claimed it. Things like this box sitting there happen all the time. Sometimes the box is empty. Other times there’s just garbage in it. Yet other times something valuable is in it.
Inside this box was a brand new in the box, as far as I could tell never used black aluminum safety razor and a box of 100 sealed blades. It was simple, black, and aluminum. Since as far as I could tell, nobody owned it and if I left it there, the sanitation department might throw it away, I took it home.
It turns out it was a Hensen A13, which retails for $79 and the hundred blades another $10. I just searched my blog and it turns out I wrote about finding it, then giving away my old razor. This one is more comfortable, looks more my style, and leaves nothing to throw away. Here’s a picture of one:
I remember last spring or summer thinking the blade was getting dull so I should probably switch it soon. I’m pretty sure it was before July 2025 that I planned to replace it soon. I kept thinking it could last another time and kept using it. I finally felt it was too dull this time so put in a new blade.
I’m posting about it for two reasons. One, so I can remember when I started this one. I suspect I’ll make a year with this blade.
Two, to share why I didn’t need to change for nearly a year. You know how a blade hurts after it gets dull? I used to think so. Now I don’t. It becomes less comfortable, but what I used to call pain isn’t pain. It’s just uncomfortable. The difference in how close the shave is appears negligible. The sensation of the hairs being pulled slightly and the less-than-brand-new blade against my skin doesn’t qualify as pain. I thought of it as painful for a long time, but I think I was following what advertisements prompted. It’s just mildly uncomfortable.
For the moment, while reading The Gulag Archipelago, the idea of calling an old razor painful seems pathetic—that is, evoking pathos for someone who feels that fragile, though I understand everyone’s body is different.
Anyway, it’s yet another place where choosing to hurt people less by polluting and depleting less saves money and time. I got lucky finding the razor, though if you picked up litter daily you might find more than I do (do you pick up litter daily?), but anyone can use blades longer and not interpret an aging blade as painful.
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