I am slowly moving towards the straight razor, in my own time I will get there, but in the meantime I have one question. For those of you who use straights and have kids what age were your kids when you got the straight? I am a bit afraid of my three year old getting his hands on the thing and hacking a limb off, he almost did damage to himself with a Super Speed. I do not have much in the way of storage space in the shave den as it is so another three shaving implements is hardly what the doctor ordered. Right now I am a bit afraid of my son getting a hold of the thing. Any ideas about keeping a straight in an appropriate environment without allowing the son to get a hand on it. Might keep the strop and hone under the sink, but will need to keep the razor itself somewhere else since it can get a bit damp under there.
My kid was 1-ish when I got a straight. I keep all my razors/blades/used blade safe, in a child safe cabinet in the bathroom. I also have a doorknob protector for the bathroom (I am more worried bout him swimming in the toilet :rofl). BTW straight razors are probably no dangerous then the steak knives you keep in the kitchen.
That door knob protector is a great idea, he has not got the hang of working those things as yet although he can open doors without them. So as long as I keep the door shut when I am not showering it makes little difference what I keep in there. Excellent idea.
Straights and Kids well I have been using a str8 since before my son was born and am a believer in education around the home...great idea in theory.....now having a 2 yo doesnt make life to easy when shaving, he watches and loves my brush more...lol...but....i have left one out before, blade open and he has brought it to me saying 'daddy's sharp' and handed it to me. Now maybe thats wrong and yes there is the cutting issue and copying aspect to this, however most of the time he cant get to them but has attacked his eyebrows with the beard trimmer before, which is too funny... I do believe in letting him see them but I do also belive that this may bite me in the arse,but if his genes are anything like my youngest brothers (who looks like a walking furcoat) then i dont have long to wait before he starts shaving anyways,btw my youngest brother needed to shave at 12...lol
"well I have been using a str8 since before my son was born and am a believer in education around the home." Coolsimon is spot on. and Doc too. When my kids were little I had a couple ka-bar's that were sharp and they were taught not to touch...which they didn't cause they knew better. Maybe I taught them too good cause when I had them out to sharpen they wouldn't come near me. I grew up in a house where there were several guns since my father is a police officer, he taught us about them constantly "what they are for, always treat a gun as if it's loaded, they are not toy's" that kind of thing, and we never had an issue with them at all. he would keep them out of sight most of the time but occasionally we could see one in the holster next to his badge on his dresser after an extremely long shift. that being said, education and doc's cabinet locks are a great idea. As long as they know not too touch them if they find them lying out and why, they should be ok. I know every child is different. so you have to gauge how your own children would handle it. besides mine try to turn my wife on me every once in a while and that my friend is the most dangerous weapon those kids can use!!!!!
A lot of problems can be solved with simply explaining to the children that certain things are dangerous and should not be dealt with. I am sure MOST if not all of us grew up in a home where our parents kept chemicals and such under the sink. We were told what the skull and cross-bone poison symbol meant and what the corrosive and explosion risk symbols were.. and we LISTENED. When the kids are too young to understand a simple child lock on a cabinet ends any worry. Kids are smart, once they are warned.
my girl was 2 and the twins not yet a year when i started last year. the safe practice i keep is this. after stropping, the razor goes on top of medicine cabinet during shower. after shower, daughter not allowed in while shaving if she is awake. lock the doors. no bumping into daddy. my throat on the line here. after the shave back on top of med. cabinet to dry under lamp. then back into 'gentleman's' box with the other shave ready razors i use. this is on a shelf in my room. kids not allowed to play in mommy and daddy's room unless we are in there. this is also where i keep my mugs and scuttle. the 'projects' are locked in a drawer in the garage. daughter not like the garage. i cut myself using the str8s for what they are meant for, so i do not want my kids no where near them. vgod
Education is key. It's straights are the same as kitchen knives except kitchen knives are a lot easier to get to in my house. I keep my kitchen knives "sharp." Daughter knows enough to leave them alone. We taught her gradually how to use sharper knives carefully. For a small child, I'd childproof the door/drawer and keep the straights out of reach. Follow good basic common sense rules that you use with your child for anything that might be dangerous and you should be fine.
I'm a grandpa now. When my youngs were that age they would understand that when I said dangerous they listened. (It's when they are teenagers they quit listening.) The grand kids all know that they leave Pawpaws toys alone as "dangerous" has been said. ll the above suggestions are good. I would just add that it is better to prevent then repair. A side benefit is that your son will probably want to shave str8 when he starts.
Will probably do both. Put a child safety lock on the door to the shave den along with a bit of education to help things along.
My wife and I are trying to have kids. So I don't have to worry about this problem yet, but I have to plan for it. I would imagine child locks would be great while you are not there, but when the razors are in use I think it would be good for the kid to see and learn to respect the danger than it being a hidden secret for them. I also like the idea of a kids shaving set for when they are old enough to start to learn to respect for the danger. The idea of father and son shaving together is kinda cool.
I don't have a straight, but I do have a 2 year old and the thought of him handling a straight razor scares the hell out of me... a few months back I accidentally left a DE on the counter with a blade and Gabe went into the bathroom after me - after a few minutes out he comes with blood smears all over his face. I thought he tried to shave, but it turned out he picked up the razor and gave himself a tiny nick on his finger tip then touched all over his face - for me it was very frightening, but cheap lesson to mind where I leave my razors and my child. So, while I think I'd like a straight razor - I don't yet know how I'd keep because I too don't have much space in the bathroom.
That sounds best to me. Maybe a locking wooden box that can go on a shelf in the med cabinet. Very cool actually. kinda what we all look forward too at sometime I would think.
When you get a cut show your kids what happened and they may understand not to touch your razor if they see it. Also here is a link to a kids shaving kit...complete with straight... http://www.toystogrowon.com/sku253
My son was 4 when I started using straight razors I showed him the razors and explained they are very sharp and may hurt him if he were to ever handle them. Ever since he knows to be still, quiet, and distanced when he sees me using or working with them, and stays a good distance from anything he associates with my razors: strops, hones, etc. My daughter is one now and walking around so when I am not using them I keep my non shaving blades in a box on a high bookshelf. My daily shaving razors are kept in an unlocked box on the bathroom counter I have not had experience with keeping straights away from a 3 year old - I imagine the only solution is keep the razors completely out of reach. I would do the very same with DE blades and knives
Having done daycare and having a two year old when I started with a straight I would say Child Proofing is best.If you can keep your straights behind a locked door in a room or locked closet or in a locked box of some kind it would be best . In doing child care in the past it would amaze you that much effort would go into child proofing a environment and children would figure out the one chink and get themselves into a bit a trouble. Personally I think a lock and key trumps child proof locks because many are plastic and wear and fail. Having worked with toddlers and this is true of my son I don't think they understand fully the concept that razors can hurt. My son wants to shave because I shave and seem to like it so much so he has moved chairs and climbed stacked boxes to get to my shave gear in my home office.Some parents go overboard with unnecessay worry but in the case of straights my experience is you cannot be too careful and the extra precautions are necess
I have a display case with a tiny lock. The lock isn't theft-proof by any means, but the kids couldn't open it if they tried. I keep it on a high dresser anyways. Also, by teaching my oldest (3) the dangers of things that can hurt you, he begins to respect them (knives, razor, oven)!
My son, like myself, was raised around pocket knives, kitchen knives, hatchets,box cutters, all manner of cutting objects...I never hid then from him but I never left them just laying about(most of the time) or let him touch them when he was alone....My family was out of town for my sister-in-laws graduation, we were in a hotel getting ready, when I walked into the bathroom and there was my 3 yr old with a Bic disposable that had gotten left on the tub, on his bottom lip shaving like daddy..I looked at him, no blood yet, so without excitment I gently took hold of the razor and lifted it straight up off of his lip..Apparently he had preasure on it while it was on his lip because as it lifted off the blood bath began...Most guys since we tend to fist fight as kids and so understand that lips tend to bleed alot, wives don't, to make things even better the towels in the hotel bathroom were white... I held preasure on his lip praying it would stop bleeding before my wife walked in no such luck.. She walked in saw her baby all bloody and off to the emergency room we went...By the time we got checked in, answered all the questions his lip had stopped bleeding.. It was no big deal but did scared the hell out of me...I should have known better but accidents happen.... The good part of the story they grow out of that stage pretty quick, so the best thing is just to try and keep everything dangerous locked down(not possible), your eyes open all the time(equaly impossible),learn about direct preasure on bleeding type wounds, pray to God and trust to luck(all you really have), when they are that little... Oh during the entire incident he was babbling, laughing and not in any pain at all he didn't even realize he was cut, didn't require not one stich and we made to the graduation on time....
My twins were seven when I got my first straight razor, my son and daughter are now nearly nine, and even though my son sometimes watches me shave with it , he knows never to touch it, the top of our bathroom cabinet is nearly six foot from the floor, so even if he decided to stand on a chair I don't think he would be able to reach my razors!!!
