A slow period for the hobby?

[naughtilus]

What is a "DIY brush"?

DIY - Do it yourself.

 

[Badgerstate36]

Id say that we are in a bit of a soft period right now. IMO, part of it is that people have less disposable income than they did a few years ago. When you are facing possible hard times ahead, you arent going to spend a lot of money on stuff that you dont really need.

 

[Timeclo]

Id say that we are in a bit of a soft period right now. IMO, part of it is that people have less disposable income than they did a few years ago. When you are facing possible hard times ahead, you arent going to spend a lot of money on stuff that you dont really need.

Yup. As for myself, I try to differentiate between my needs and wants. Most of the time, it's because I want to try out that new gear or want to shave with that equipment. It's okay to want something but when I'm tight on money, that becomes an issue. I probably don't need to buy anything for the next five years but wanting the next thing is a different problem.

 

[Badgerstate36]

Yup. As for myself, I try to differentiate between my needs and wants. Most of the time, it's because I want to try out that new gear or want to shave with that equipment. It's okay to want something but when I'm tight on money, that becomes an issue. I probably don't need to buy anything for the next five years but wanting the next thing is a different problem.

Agree. I know that I used to be a lot of gear just because but now Im more selective on what I buy. Im now down to just 1 razor (Timeless .91) a few brushes (just cheap boars) and no more than 3 or 4 soaps and aftershaves.
At one point in time, I had probably a dozen razors, 6 or 8 brushes, hundreds of blades, about 20 soaps, 5 or 6 bottles of aftershave and it was honestly kind of crazy.
I think that part of it is, when you first get into wet shaving, theres so much cool gear out there that its a bit overwelming and you want to try everything. Thats get expensive in a real hurry. After a while though, you figure out what you like and theres less of a temptation to buy so much gear (not true in all cases though).
For me, I found my RAD killer razor, I like boar brushes and I tend to like woodsy/musky/old timey/barbershop scents and Ive come to realize that I only really need to have 3 or 4 soaps on hand at one time and if a soap is really popular, its going to be readily available, so I dont need to rush out and buy every new soap that comes out.
There was a time when I would literally buy every hot, new soap that came out and felt that I had to buy it when it came out because I may not be able to get it if I dont. Ive come to realize that if I dont try every new soap that comes out, its going to be OK. LOL

 

[AZBronco]

In defense of this wonderful hobby, there are more popular ones out there that are nothing but sniffing/eating/drinking/smoking/hearing stuff. No skill and objective learning involved, so basically they are all about shopping consumables. The more products you try, the more 'knowledgeable' and 'trained' you become. In shaving (aka pogonotomy) more stuff actually quickly becomes counterproductive.

I also do believe this hobby is a lot less YMMV (subjective) than sniffing/eating/drinking/hearing/smoking, because every time you give those sense stimulation activities a blind test, they all end up being BS pyramid built on the shoulders of expectation bias, marketing and groupthink. I'm sure there's some of that in shaving, but far far less than other hobbies I've done.

With motoric activity like shaving, lathering, stropping, honing, restoring, late turning etc. there is lot more involvement than just passive reception of stimuli. This is why I think straight razors and DIY brushes are cool. Not because I'm sold on the pop culture idea of machoism. Yes, it's harder, just like rock climbing vs hiking. That's the point, challenging yourself.

"there are more popular ones out there that are nothing but sniffing/eating/drinking/smoking/hearing stuff. No skill and objective learning involved, so basically they are all about shopping consumables. The more products you try, the more 'knowledgeable' and 'trained' you become."

I've got some friends who consider themselves wine connoisseurs and they definitely view it as a hobby. They have apps that let them scan a label and get reviews and they love the attention that comes with ordering for the table. But when you said some hobbies are nothing more than consumption, this was the first thing I thought of. My collection of razors is cheaper than buying wine once or twice a week. Admittedly, I've gotten past the collecting phase as I have too many razors and I like to use what I have. I wanted to have a den clearing sale, but my daughters said no because they want to keep them to remember me. I figure when/if they get married, I'll start giving some away to the sons in law.

 

[getriba94]

Agree. I know that I used to be a lot of gear just because but now Im more selective on what I buy. Im now down to just 1 razor (Timeless .91) a few brushes (just cheap boars) and no more than 3 or 4 soaps and aftershaves.
At one point in time, I had probably a dozen razors, 6 or 8 brushes, hundreds of blades, about 20 soaps, 5 or 6 bottles of aftershave and it was honestly kind of crazy.
I think that part of it is, when you first get into wet shaving, theres so much cool gear out there that its a bit overwelming and you want to try everything. Thats get expensive in a real hurry. After a while though, you figure out what you like and theres less of a temptation to buy so much gear (not true in all cases though).
For me, I found my RAD killer razor, I like boar brushes and I tend to like woodsy/musky/old timey/barbershop scents and Ive come to realize that I only really need to have 3 or 4 soaps on hand at one time and if a soap is really popular, its going to be readily available, so I dont need to rush out and buy every new soap that comes out.
There was a time when I would literally buy every hot, new soap that came out and felt that I had to buy it when it came out because I may not be able to get it if I dont. Ive come to realize that if I dont try every new soap that comes out, its going to be OK. LOL

+1!


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[naughtilus]

"there are more popular ones out there that are nothing but sniffing/eating/drinking/smoking/hearing stuff. No skill and objective learning involved, so basically they are all about shopping consumables. The more products you try, the more 'knowledgeable' and 'trained' you become."

I've got some friends who consider themselves wine connoisseurs and they definitely view it as a hobby. They have apps that let them scan a label and get reviews and they love the attention that comes with ordering for the table. But when you said some hobbies are nothing more than consumption, this was the first thing I thought of. My collection of razors is cheaper than buying wine once or twice a week. Admittedly, I've gotten past the collecting phase as I have too many razors and I like to use what I have. I wanted to have a den clearing sale, but my daughters said no because they want to keep them to remember me. I figure when/if they get married, I'll start giving some away to the sons in law.

There are people who's hobby is air conditioning (HVAC). They don't install, fix, or build ACs. They just own one. That's it. Yet they will talk about it 24/7/365 online, give advice, evangelize, argue, tribalize around brands etc. You can turn any product into a hobby in a consumer culture.