Strike Gold Shave Air Force One: Travel Shave at Harrison Hot Springs
Hello everyone. This one’s a little different. Different bathroom, different light, different audio - no usual setup today. It’s a travel shave, and the family is waiting outside, so I’m keeping this quick.
We’re at Harrison Hot Springs. About an hour and a half from Vancouver, just a short road trip to change the environment. Great sunny weather the last couple of days, a bit cloudy this morning, probably rain later. But the shave happens regardless.
The Soap and Splash
Before I started packing, I was trying to figure out what to bring. Then I remembered: around Christmas I won a gift box from Strike Gold Shave in the TRC Christmas giveaway. Thank you Frank and Jason from TRC for organizing that every year - it’s a genuinely good thing you do.
The packaging on this set is almost made for travel. The soap container is small. The splash bottle is small. You throw them both in your bag and they’re barely there.
When I won the giveaway I got to pick which Strike Gold set I wanted. My buddy Brett pushed me toward the Air Force One. Good call, Brett. This smells really, really good - very classy, very refined. If I’m remembering right, the scent is inspired by PDM’s Pegasus, but I’ll be honest, I don’t have the individual notes memorized. I put them in the corner of the video. What I can tell you is this works for everyday and it works for something special.
The Muhle R89
For the razor I’m going with my Muhle R89. I almost said Rocca. I miss my Rocca. But the R89 is the right call for travel - a bit lighter, easier to justify putting in a bag.
Inside it I have a Gillette Silver Blue. The GSB adds a little more efficiency to the R89 compared to something like the Persona Comfort Coated. Good combination.
If you don’t have an R89 in your collection, you’re missing out. I picked mine up maybe a year into wet shaving. It’s an extremely solid choice for a first DE razor - comfortable, decent efficiency, mild to the skin, very forgiving. There’s a reason this head is copied more than anything else in the DE world. Starting out? This is the one to get.
The brush is the TRC Blue Pearlized ICE Synthetic, 24mm knot. Very good brush.
Face Lathering Without a Bowl
No bowl today. I know - I bowl lather every time at home. But you work with what you’ve got.
Loading directly from the small container takes a little adjustment. Hold the knot so it doesn’t splay too much and load generously. Don’t be stingy - always better to have a little extra on the brush than to realize halfway through a pass that you need to go back. I got a decent blob down in the sink, but the brush was loaded.
No mister spray bottle either, so I’m adding water straight from the tap. Works fine. The consistency came out a little denser than I usually get from bowl lathering, but I liked it. Good slickness, low structure.
The Shave
First pass, then against the grain. You can hear the hotel noise in the background - lots of guests checking out - so the audio on this one is what it is. First time recording a travel shave.
The slickness throughout is really good. Very pleasant, and the scent while you’re shaving is excellent. Excellent result.
Drying my face afterward, I caught myself thinking about how much I miss my shaving towels at home. That’s wet shaving for you. When I was still using cartridge razors, if someone had told me the towel would make a difference, I would’ve laughed.
The Splash
The Air Force One splash is alcohol-based. Looking at the label: aloe, witch hazel, rose water, fragrance. Give it a shake before you open it - the layers separate a bit.
One thing to be ready for: there’s no doser cap. No little restrictor that lets out just a few drops. I ended up with a generous pour. More than I intended. Not a complaint, just something to know before you tip it.
The scent in the splash reads a little sweeter than the soap. There’s something else in there - maybe the witch hazel, maybe something else - that adds an interesting layer I can’t quite pin down. Not typical. Good, just different from what I expected. The alcohol tingle is very light. Comfortable.
If you know your PDM Pegasus well, let me know in the comments whether the comparison holds. I want to double-check I remembered the inspiration right.
Worth Throwing in the Bag
These small containers work. Genuinely. A lot of us in wet shaving have enough soap stashed for a couple of lifetimes. The idea of picking up something you can actually finish - that fits in a corner of your travel bag and doesn’t take up any real space - makes a lot of sense. I hadn’t really thought about it before this trip, but I like it.
I’d bring this set on a road trip again without hesitation. Very pleasant first shave with Strike Gold Shave Air Force One. Brett was right.
Thanks for joining me for this quick one. See you in the next video. Until then, stay safe and enjoy smooth shaves.