Introducing the 2023 Gentlemanly Restraint Until Year's End RElief
Join the members of the Badger & Blade community for the 14th annual Shave Purchase Sabbatical, held since 2010. Remembering all those who were successful, those who are still toughing it out, those who signed up, and those who fell to temptation, @KQY61 presents to you, the Badger and Blade 2023 Shave Purchase Sabbatical, aka The Gentlemanly Restraint Until Year's End RElief thread.
This year's GRUYERE storyline will be The Year of The Prisoner. The theme will be based on that classic 1960’s television show The Prisoner.
This was inspired by the previous two years, where we were doing a Star Trek - The Original Series theme. I was thinking of other shows of the era, and thought of this one. It was a rather different TV show.
The concept was a Secret Agent show, but with an entirely different take. Our Hero is, or was, a Secret Agent. In the opening, something has caused him to Resign. As he contemplates his newfound freedom, he winds up subjected to sleeping gas and wakes up in a strange place. As a Prisoner. He wasn't allowed to Resign, you see. And, the Powers That Be want to know why he resigned. He never does tell us. Secret, indeed, until the end.
The series was a short one. It ran 16 episodes in the UK, with a 17th tossed in for the US (a Western based episode as those were also all the rage at the time). Our hero has no name, just a Number, which is Six. The boss of The Village is Number Two. Everyone has a Number, no names are used most of the time.
As the show progresses, Number Two is clearly In Charge. As Number Six gains experience over time, he figures things out. Such as many of his fellow Prisoners are not what they seem. They are Warders. Others are, indeed, Prisoners. And, we also find out that they are from both sides of the Cold War. The Village is a collaboration. And our hero cannot risk giving any information up.
Eventually, Number Six turns the tables on Them and winds up getting away after a few false starts. However, the end of the last episode looks exactly like the beginning of the first one. So, maybe he never does win.....
And, there no Number One here. We think our hero is actually Number One at the end, but as I already pointed out, maybe not.....
So we will have no Number One for this year. I shall leave it blank. And Number Six will be the late Patrick McGoohan, the actor who plays Number Six and came up with the idea for the show. No, he wasn't on B&B, but I'd like to honor him and his idea. So, he's Number Six. That leaves me, @KQY61, as Number Two. And this thread is The Village. And, unlike the Number Twos in the series, I won't be stepping aside for a New Number Two every week.
I think I shall run a random pick at the end of the Restraint of those who make it through and make that person Number One.
So, at first we shall all be Prisoners and not Warders, save for Number Two. He's (me) always a Warder. And as folks drop Out, they shall be revealed to be Warders. Those left still In are, of course, Prisoners.
Will you take up the 2023 GRUYERE? Resign from buying shaving stuff and so wind up in The Village of The Restrained?
And now to the rules and regulations. Lifted from last year, of course. We tend to not change these from year to year.
The sabbatical is open to all ascetics, gluttons, minimisers, denizens of the doghouse, hecklers, reformed treewhalers, Darth Lords, trolls, and folks with nothing better to do. We're all about cheap thrills in the sabbatical. Cure your _ADs ("blank" acquisition disorder), prime your 3017 campaign, learn your current setup, enjoy what you've got, protect your paychecks: we walk many paths on the same road.
New to restraint? The ground rules are simple: You don't purchase shaving related goods for a calendar year (12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 525,600 minutes). We start when 2022 becomes 2023, and we end when 2023 becomes 2024. It is not for the faint of heart, the Rules cover a wide area, to help with the goal of saving money. We are all here to save money, to stop filling every nook and cranny of our humble abode with shaving related items.
The Rules
1. Read all of the rules. From #1 through to and including number 16.
2. Start and end time are based on your local time zone. Or, UTC (GMT), if you prefer.
3. Gentlemanly Restraint is restricted to all items related to shaving and the shaving hobby; though you can avoid other purchases as well.
4. No purchases of anything to do with shaving are allowed during the restraint period. NONE. No purchases even if you get a gift card to WCS, ebay,
Amazon, etc. If you need something you may trade for it; that's why you are a part of a community that can help you out. This also means that you
have enough stuff to see out about 12 months of shaving.
5. Gifts. You cannot ask for, solicit, hint at, etc., gifts in any way.
6. PIFs. You may OFFER PIFs (including associated shipping costs), but the PIF excludes those B&B members who are part of the annual sabbatical. You
may not enter or request a PIF.
7. To clarify, not buying anything means not spending money (or redeeming gift cards) on shaving goods, period. This includes blades, cream, soap,
brushes, scuttles, any type of cartridge, aftershave, stone, strop, lapping film, scuttle water heater, kettle for the bathroom, shaving related books,
pictures, knick-knacks and on and on. You get the idea. You spent money on it? You haven't shown restraint. *
8. Plan your year carefully. Think ahead to make sure you have the razors, blades, soaps, creams, aftershaves, scuttles, towels, travel gear, dopp bags
etc. for the next twelve months. If you travel, pick up a couple of the dreaded disposables. You can always ask before the start if you are not sure
how much you will go through.
9.You must check-in on the 2023 GRUYERE thread during the specific times listed
March 29th to April 7th
June 28th through to July 7th
September 27th through to October 6th
January 1st through to January 10th 2024
10. However, at other times please feel free to post and let us know how you are doing in your goal of abstaining.
11. If a shaving item breaks in the restraint and you have no backup handy, one replacement may be purchased as an exception (example if the knot
comes out of your brush when traveling, a cheap brush or superglue to fix broken brush is deemed acceptable in the 2021 restraint). Forgetting
to pack your gear does not count, that will put you out.
12. The fine print on the grey areas: Functional maintenance, such as straight razor honing, does not count as a purchased good. Since we're
all gentlemen here, we leave it up to you to decide if PIF purchases for others count as purchases.
13. Gifts you receive are also dicey. Because these and other fuzzy areas may pop up, let's agree to be gentlemanly in our appraisal of still In or
knocked Out. In other words, you're In until you say "I'm Out" and you're Out if you spent money! If you buy something, announce what you
bought so we can get our vicarious thrills at your expense and strike you from the list in an exciting chapter of our ongoing storyline.
14. Only if you succeeded in the 2022 Sabbatical, you have from January 1-14, 2023 as restock window.
15. If you have to ask for clarification, you probably should not be doing it.
16. Read rule number 1.
Group exceptions:
*Oscar Wilde Clause ("Everything in moderation, including moderation"): If you elect to do so, you may state one specific personal exception when you sign up. The personal exception is a onetime one item purchase (one razor, or one soap, or one box of blades). You can also use the Bingle Buddy Gift Exchange as your exception.
What say you? Are you in?!
Join the members of the Badger & Blade community for the 14th annual Shave Purchase Sabbatical, held since 2010. Remembering all those who were successful, those who are still toughing it out, those who signed up, and those who fell to temptation, @KQY61 presents to you, the Badger and Blade 2023 Shave Purchase Sabbatical, aka The Gentlemanly Restraint Until Year's End RElief thread.
This year's GRUYERE storyline will be The Year of The Prisoner. The theme will be based on that classic 1960’s television show The Prisoner.
This was inspired by the previous two years, where we were doing a Star Trek - The Original Series theme. I was thinking of other shows of the era, and thought of this one. It was a rather different TV show.
The concept was a Secret Agent show, but with an entirely different take. Our Hero is, or was, a Secret Agent. In the opening, something has caused him to Resign. As he contemplates his newfound freedom, he winds up subjected to sleeping gas and wakes up in a strange place. As a Prisoner. He wasn't allowed to Resign, you see. And, the Powers That Be want to know why he resigned. He never does tell us. Secret, indeed, until the end.
The series was a short one. It ran 16 episodes in the UK, with a 17th tossed in for the US (a Western based episode as those were also all the rage at the time). Our hero has no name, just a Number, which is Six. The boss of The Village is Number Two. Everyone has a Number, no names are used most of the time.
As the show progresses, Number Two is clearly In Charge. As Number Six gains experience over time, he figures things out. Such as many of his fellow Prisoners are not what they seem. They are Warders. Others are, indeed, Prisoners. And, we also find out that they are from both sides of the Cold War. The Village is a collaboration. And our hero cannot risk giving any information up.
Eventually, Number Six turns the tables on Them and winds up getting away after a few false starts. However, the end of the last episode looks exactly like the beginning of the first one. So, maybe he never does win.....
And, there no Number One here. We think our hero is actually Number One at the end, but as I already pointed out, maybe not.....
So we will have no Number One for this year. I shall leave it blank. And Number Six will be the late Patrick McGoohan, the actor who plays Number Six and came up with the idea for the show. No, he wasn't on B&B, but I'd like to honor him and his idea. So, he's Number Six. That leaves me, @KQY61, as Number Two. And this thread is The Village. And, unlike the Number Twos in the series, I won't be stepping aside for a New Number Two every week.
I think I shall run a random pick at the end of the Restraint of those who make it through and make that person Number One.
So, at first we shall all be Prisoners and not Warders, save for Number Two. He's (me) always a Warder. And as folks drop Out, they shall be revealed to be Warders. Those left still In are, of course, Prisoners.
Will you take up the 2023 GRUYERE? Resign from buying shaving stuff and so wind up in The Village of The Restrained?
And now to the rules and regulations. Lifted from last year, of course. We tend to not change these from year to year.
The sabbatical is open to all ascetics, gluttons, minimisers, denizens of the doghouse, hecklers, reformed treewhalers, Darth Lords, trolls, and folks with nothing better to do. We're all about cheap thrills in the sabbatical. Cure your _ADs ("blank" acquisition disorder), prime your 3017 campaign, learn your current setup, enjoy what you've got, protect your paychecks: we walk many paths on the same road.
New to restraint? The ground rules are simple: You don't purchase shaving related goods for a calendar year (12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 525,600 minutes). We start when 2022 becomes 2023, and we end when 2023 becomes 2024. It is not for the faint of heart, the Rules cover a wide area, to help with the goal of saving money. We are all here to save money, to stop filling every nook and cranny of our humble abode with shaving related items.
The Rules
1. Read all of the rules. From #1 through to and including number 16.
2. Start and end time are based on your local time zone. Or, UTC (GMT), if you prefer.
3. Gentlemanly Restraint is restricted to all items related to shaving and the shaving hobby; though you can avoid other purchases as well.
4. No purchases of anything to do with shaving are allowed during the restraint period. NONE. No purchases even if you get a gift card to WCS, ebay,
Amazon, etc. If you need something you may trade for it; that's why you are a part of a community that can help you out. This also means that you
have enough stuff to see out about 12 months of shaving.
5. Gifts. You cannot ask for, solicit, hint at, etc., gifts in any way.
6. PIFs. You may OFFER PIFs (including associated shipping costs), but the PIF excludes those B&B members who are part of the annual sabbatical. You
may not enter or request a PIF.
7. To clarify, not buying anything means not spending money (or redeeming gift cards) on shaving goods, period. This includes blades, cream, soap,
brushes, scuttles, any type of cartridge, aftershave, stone, strop, lapping film, scuttle water heater, kettle for the bathroom, shaving related books,
pictures, knick-knacks and on and on. You get the idea. You spent money on it? You haven't shown restraint. *
8. Plan your year carefully. Think ahead to make sure you have the razors, blades, soaps, creams, aftershaves, scuttles, towels, travel gear, dopp bags
etc. for the next twelve months. If you travel, pick up a couple of the dreaded disposables. You can always ask before the start if you are not sure
how much you will go through.
9.You must check-in on the 2023 GRUYERE thread during the specific times listed
March 29th to April 7th
June 28th through to July 7th
September 27th through to October 6th
January 1st through to January 10th 2024
10. However, at other times please feel free to post and let us know how you are doing in your goal of abstaining.
11. If a shaving item breaks in the restraint and you have no backup handy, one replacement may be purchased as an exception (example if the knot
comes out of your brush when traveling, a cheap brush or superglue to fix broken brush is deemed acceptable in the 2021 restraint). Forgetting
to pack your gear does not count, that will put you out.
12. The fine print on the grey areas: Functional maintenance, such as straight razor honing, does not count as a purchased good. Since we're
all gentlemen here, we leave it up to you to decide if PIF purchases for others count as purchases.
13. Gifts you receive are also dicey. Because these and other fuzzy areas may pop up, let's agree to be gentlemanly in our appraisal of still In or
knocked Out. In other words, you're In until you say "I'm Out" and you're Out if you spent money! If you buy something, announce what you
bought so we can get our vicarious thrills at your expense and strike you from the list in an exciting chapter of our ongoing storyline.
14. Only if you succeeded in the 2022 Sabbatical, you have from January 1-14, 2023 as restock window.
15. If you have to ask for clarification, you probably should not be doing it.
16. Read rule number 1.
Group exceptions:
- ALL Badger and Blade branded items including B&B Group Buys
- Sue Moore Memorial Auction items
- Badger and Blade contributor badge
*Oscar Wilde Clause ("Everything in moderation, including moderation"): If you elect to do so, you may state one specific personal exception when you sign up. The personal exception is a onetime one item purchase (one razor, or one soap, or one box of blades). You can also use the Bingle Buddy Gift Exchange as your exception.
What say you? Are you in?!
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