What brand is that razor?

I honestly don't know -- I purchased it from a haberdashery some 20+ years ago. It came in a fancy black box, but didn't have any branding on it. I do see some similar ones here.

How often do you have to change the blade on the razor?

My double edge I generally get about 3 shaves.. blades run about 15 cents.. I buy them on eBay from mostly India

Heads up to those who might buy, Gerber isn’t the company they once were. I’d be cautious about buying the newer ones

Gerber. Oof. Not a good knife company these days. Go with Spyderco if you want great quality and a knife that actually cuts well.

Yep. For a budget EDC these days I can recommend Kershaw. Backed by the rather excellent Kai Corp and they carry a very solid warrantee in this price bracket. Or you can step up into your Benchmades.

And for contrast I go about a month, so between 8 and 15 shaves. I just swap them when I have tugging on the first few swipes.

You can also buy a sample kit on Amazon with a bunch of different brands. I'm not sure if mine will be available soon, since my particular favorite blades are made in Russia. But I also haven't checked since a pack of 100 lasts for forever.

For budget knives there’s so so many great options out there. Kershaw (my personal favorite), Civivi, Cjrb etc all great stuff

maggardrazor.com regularly has sales and i feel better supporting them than amazon! they also have a custom sample pack maker where you can buy individual 10/5 packs of blades to your hearts content. no affiliation, just a very happy customer

I'm well past the point of needing a sample kit. I'm quite content with my Astra Platinums, but that's never a bad idea if you can jump on some sales.

This is how I discovered which blades I prefer

Yup. 25 years ago, they were great. Not so much anymore. I have an old, quality one.

For sharpening your Kershaw do you do it yourself or send it to a professional? I’ve tried using a lansky system and it gets quite sharp but I’m not sure if I’m getting the angle quite right.

The Lansky system is designed to guide you to the right angle. For an EDC pocketknife, you want the 20⁰ angle option.

I was just about to type this one out lol

They are quite cheapo now

I use a muhle, can confirm the craftsmanship is excellent.

Don't know about that one but I use a mühle. Made in Germany and excellent quality. Their razors are also the best I've tried.

I used to be a huge leather fan, belts, jackets etc and they might still be great, however I have never had a leather belt that didn't stretch and look ratty after about a year.

I recently switched to polyester/nylon type belts. Not so sure if my replacements will be buy it for life, but at least they are holding up quite well so far in terms of appearance. They all look as crispt and fresh as the day I bought them.

There’s something to be said about having character in worn items, but when you’re trying to look sharp, it’s time to put the “character” away.

Yeah, I guess belts are one of those items where leather's ability to stretch isn't that great. I also find they tend to split at stress points.

That belt looks like it's well built. I've worn through 2 or 3 reversible Levi belts over the course of 5 years and they all split in half on me. They definitely don't make em' like they used to.

No.. no they don’t, but you can say that for a lot of things. That’s exactly why I joined this subreddit. I really want to buy more things that are built to last. Right now my hunt is for a BBQ

Quality, well built items are still around but are becoming more few and far in between. If properly taken care of, some items can outlast the owners. This is coming from someone who's hard working mother could only afford the bills and maybe if she had enough, something for her only child. That got me into preserving and restoring shoes, clothes etc. Now people think everything I purchase is brand new.

TL;DR It's hard to find good products nowadays; especially in good condition.

Ohh. What brand shoes do you look out for to do your restorations? I’m looking for BIFL casual shoes and currently have my eyes on Thursday boots.

IMHO as far as boots, anything with a Goodyear welt as they can be very durable because of their build. Rose Anvil has a youtube channel dedicated to all things leather related and durable products and he's pretty knowledgeable.