For our guys on active duty, we have a number of veterans who were, at one time, very skilled at shaving out of a steel helmet... Now, maybe or maybe not, this may be a lost art. I'm just wondering if we shouldn't have a thread on steel pot shaving. When I did this in the early sixties, I didn't know about brushes and shave sticks, etc. I did it with a Schick injector and shave cream out of a can. It wasn't real pleasant. I bled a lot and with no mirror I usually didn't know I was bleeding... Anyway, do our older guys have any imput to share with our younger ones???
Foxhole shaving
- Thread starter jrgreen
- Start date
I remember my Dad telling me about his experience doing this during the Korean War. I'll ask him when I speak with him this weekend and post his thoughts.
We used to use a steel pot when I was in Korea during the Pueblo crisis, early winter of 1968. We were living in a tent city in 10 man tents that had 2 oil fired pot belly stoves in them. The closest running water was about a 5 to 10 min. walk from the tents. We'd bring back some containers of water, fill a steel pot and let it boil on one of the stoves. Then using a small mirror we'd use canned goo and whatever razor you had and away you'd go shaving. Sometimes 3 or 4 guys would use the same hot water, and when it was over the water would get tossed out into the snow. We made do with what we had, but I guess it worked out O.K. because we made it through. After about 4 months of that I returned back to the base I was stationed at in the Philippines where we had normal facilities. Seems kind of strange now, but back then at age 19 I guess you could go through anything. 
Are Kevlar helmets hot water approved?
I have an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan (so far) and will be bringing a few SR's - so any tips are appreciated. Do not get it wrong, modern day deployments are not nearly as austere as living out of the fighting holes of yesteryear (and depending on where you are can be downright pleasant IMO), but I plan to bring some real blades to 1) get a decent shave and 2) provide the Marines around me with an idea of what prior generations did. I imagine by the end of the deployment the B&B member numbers may get a boost from the Southern California area - after we return home.
Waiting to hear any tales of past whisker wacking experience in far off lands.
Waiting to hear any tales of past whisker wacking experience in far off lands.
- Thread starter
- #6
Boy, that's a good question. I sure don't know. 40 years ago we had steel helmets that fit over a helmet liner. We'd separate the two, pour hot water in the steel helmet and use it for shaving. It got dirty awfully quick and didn't stay hot too long, but it was sure better than nothing.
Yeah, I did that back in '69 for a few weeks. Super Blue blades that rusted. A Burma Shave boar brush that wasn't worth a damn. And GI soap that I believe was formulated for washing floors or vehicles or whatever.
The experience was less than satisfactory.
-- John Gehman
The experience was less than satisfactory.
-- John Gehman
- Thread starter
- #8
Don't downplay what you have now. I hate to say this, but most of my time in Vietnam I was flying out of an old hotel on Cong Li street in Bien Hoa. I ate in the general's mess and lived pretty good except for being shot at from time to time. A lot of the guys went through pure hell over there, but that wasn't true for everyone. Anyway, I take my hat off to anyone in the service today, particularly those on multiple tours to Iraq and Afganistan. I think our servicemen today are probably more professional than at any time in our history and more is being asked of them. I take my hat off.
You'd think these guy's had it tough!!!!
Try str8 shaving with the deck heaving below you.
Nice when the boat's below the foam, but a b@&*h when it's bobbing on the surface
Try str8 shaving with the deck heaving below you.
Nice when the boat's below the foam, but a b@&*h when it's bobbing on the surface
Last edited:
When I was in the Navy, on board an aircraft carrier, we were constantly admonished about the dire need to conserve fresh water.
Our daily ablutions needed a conscious effort to use as little as possible. Anyone that's been out to sea can probably tell you about "Navy showers." This is where you turn on the spigot just enough to get yourself wet all over, about 10~15 seconds worth. Turn it off while you lather up with soap and shampoo. Turn it on again while you hurry to rinse yourself off. Total time to do all this was expected to be well under 3 minutes, from the time you step into until you step out.
We used to have the Master-At-Arms patrol the ship with stopwatches, timing people at random to see if they conformed to this schedule. If you left the water running while you lathered up, or took a luxuriously long rinse, you could expect a Nasty-gram to be sent to your division officer. With thousands of guys on board the ship, they couldn't catch everyone, but for those who did get snagged, it was not a pleasant outcome.
One time, I borrowed one of my grandfather's straight razors to take back to the ship with me. I shaved with it a few times (using canned goo,) but I didn't know about the finer points about honing and stropping and how to maintain the razor. I didn't get a very good shave, needless to say, and stopped using it after a week or so. I went back to whatever cartridges were popular back in the early '80s. Right before I got discharged, I stocked up on those cartridges since they were somewhat cheaper on base ... that kept me going out in Civvy-land for about a year. I wish I had known about wet-shaving back then, it would have been a whole different story.
One time a few years ago, the water was cut off at my house because the township was doing some maintenance. I had advance notice, so I filled up some gallon jugs to be prepared for it, since it was going to last a few days. When it came time to wash up, brush my teeth and shave, I found I could do the whole job with just 4 ounces of water. It takes a little planning, and you obviously can't do a full Kyle's prep or lots of passes, but you'd be surprised how little water you actually need to take care of your daily chores.
Our daily ablutions needed a conscious effort to use as little as possible. Anyone that's been out to sea can probably tell you about "Navy showers." This is where you turn on the spigot just enough to get yourself wet all over, about 10~15 seconds worth. Turn it off while you lather up with soap and shampoo. Turn it on again while you hurry to rinse yourself off. Total time to do all this was expected to be well under 3 minutes, from the time you step into until you step out.
We used to have the Master-At-Arms patrol the ship with stopwatches, timing people at random to see if they conformed to this schedule. If you left the water running while you lathered up, or took a luxuriously long rinse, you could expect a Nasty-gram to be sent to your division officer. With thousands of guys on board the ship, they couldn't catch everyone, but for those who did get snagged, it was not a pleasant outcome.
One time, I borrowed one of my grandfather's straight razors to take back to the ship with me. I shaved with it a few times (using canned goo,) but I didn't know about the finer points about honing and stropping and how to maintain the razor. I didn't get a very good shave, needless to say, and stopped using it after a week or so. I went back to whatever cartridges were popular back in the early '80s. Right before I got discharged, I stocked up on those cartridges since they were somewhat cheaper on base ... that kept me going out in Civvy-land for about a year. I wish I had known about wet-shaving back then, it would have been a whole different story.
One time a few years ago, the water was cut off at my house because the township was doing some maintenance. I had advance notice, so I filled up some gallon jugs to be prepared for it, since it was going to last a few days. When it came time to wash up, brush my teeth and shave, I found I could do the whole job with just 4 ounces of water. It takes a little planning, and you obviously can't do a full Kyle's prep or lots of passes, but you'd be surprised how little water you actually need to take care of your daily chores.
Took a 6 monther in Afghanistan last year. Only thing I used was a Slant, Proraso Cream, and a boar brush. Of course I had running non-potable water, but when the heater was out, those shaves sucked! Going back in April (yay surge...) and I think I'll add the Spieck stick and, if I like it when I find one, a Rolls Razor.
This is a really neat thread.
I'll have to ask my elder relatives about shaving when they were abroad and in uniform. Sounds like some neat stories await.
I'll have to ask my elder relatives about shaving when they were abroad and in uniform. Sounds like some neat stories await.
I am not sure if this was a serious question or not, but for the sake of safety, I'll respond. My undergraduate degree was in chemical engineering. Kevlar is an aramid polymer which, while aramid polymers tend to be relatively heat resistant, it is still a polymer and will lose much of its strength as it is exposed to heat (especially repeatedly). Ultimately the polymer (Kevlar) will fail. In addition to the heat, the fact that you are using water is even worse as it interferes with the hydrogen bonds between the fibers and can even hydrolyze the polymer itself.
Stay safe,
CCM
Wow - just 4 ounces of water!
I have shaved out of a steel pot plenty of times while "in the field". Many times with cold water, a cartridge razor, canned goo, and maybe a jeep mirror. If you had the means to heat the water, then you did. Steel pots were very handy, not only for shaving, but for bathing, boiling water to heat C rations and various other uses. You can't heat water in a kevlar. When we switched from steel pots to kevlar, that was one of the adjustments soldiers had to make. Everyone had to start carrying a dark colored (for camouflage) plastic wash basin to shave and wash with. How to heat water, if at all, became another issue. The American soldier is extremely innovative and adaptive. I saw many ways of personal hygiene developed by soldiers in the field to get the job done.
As an immigrant who has no family that ever served in the U.S., I'm fascinated by these stories.
Putting my politics aside
, my hat is off to all of you who have served and who are continuing to serve.
Putting my politics aside
, my hat is off to all of you who have served and who are continuing to serve.
I don't know what they are like now, but when they were first introduced the big beef was that you couldn't cook in them because they couldn't be placed over an open flame, and you couldn't shave in them because the webbing was attached directly to the helmet instead of a liner like the old steel pots.
Similar threads
