How will we judge the best razor for men?

Certainly, we must answer this question before moving on.

If not - the result will be a thunder of opinions - where legions of men each individually loyal to their own favourite skin scraper will leap to the gadget's defence - claiming it's total supremacy over all others - and based on, of course, it's performance on the owner's very personal and unique face.

The criteria we propose to judge the best form of razor are as follows:

control - comfort - price per shave- environmental impact

Disagree? Feel that there are other serious criteria which deserve to be compared? No problem.... There's a link at the bottom of this page where you can register your outrage. Feel free.

The FirstScience razor comparison

Explaining our criteria

CONTROL - While each man has a unique face, the ultimate razor will have to be able to work for contours and curves of any man's chin

COMFORT - Even though a shaving method may fit your face, you still have to be able to use it without drawing blood, or scraping your skin raw

PRICE / SHAVE - Perhaps somewhere in the mind of a truly mad scientist, there dwells the concept of the '13 blade, super-quantum, shave-a-tron' Perfect shaves. Price US$ 13.2 million

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT - Certainly, it must be a critical assesment for the times in which we live. The media and scientific chorus warning us of the impending doom of our 'disposable' culture can't be ignored. Perhaps today, we may still think it's trivial - but at some point in the future when our grandchildren are complaining after cutting themselves on a ski slope made of rusty blades glazed with snow, they'll blame us.

The straight razor - a clear winner

And so we behold the knife-like implement itself. A marvel of engineering with an obvious heritage straight back to the first stone core used as a tool.

The straight razor starts as a chunk of steel which is heated and forged into the desired shape. Then a hole is drilled where the handle will pivot. Next the metal is then heated to 1300 C to harden it - and then 'cooled' in oil, which is at a relatively moderate temperature - only a few hundred degrees celsius. This results in a strong yet flexible blade.

The steel is then ready for grinding, and most straight razor manufacturers 'hollow grind' the blade, so that the cross-section does not go directly to a point, but curves in towards it. The result is that more material is removed from the blade - and a super-sharp edge is left. There's more. The nearly finished blade is then polished and then finally sharpened by hand using a honing stone.

The straight razor is not only technically wonderful - but also beautiful. And with the right care, it will last long enough to be passed on to your children - and maybe even to theirs.

For more information

Eee PC blog site
http://www.eeeuser.com

Asus Eee PC product page
http://eeepc.asus.com