Hello Gents, (I seem to have a problem being able to press enter, so please excuse my lack of paragraph separation.) I apologize for my recent hiatus. I have not been active enough here. With a new job and school, I have been pretty busy of late. Of course I have not rewarded myself yet with a new purchase in celebration of the new job, and was hoping you gents could help me find something to satisfy that hunger. To be quite honest, I am looking either for a new soap/cream or a new razor. As far as the soap and cream are concerned, I am looking for something different, something good for winter since the temperatures are dropping rapidly here in the biggest little city. Now I am seriously considering a new razor, but am not sure of what I want. I do know one thing for sure, I want something new not vintage. I want to be able to save my vintage razors and keep them in nice condition. I also know that I want to buy a razor that will last a long time. After reading posts about problems with the plating on new Merkurs, I am a little wary of purchasing one of those. I am seriously considering a stainless razor, but the price is deterring me at the moment because I am on a bit of a tight budget. So is there any happy middle ground here? Should I just go ahead and buy the stainless razor that way I won't have to worry about it in the future? Or should I stick with my trusty 40s SS until it falls apart? I need some serious help here gents. -Bill