3的杰夫•黑根（Jeff Hagan）是旧金山的一位投资银行家，在未来的四年时间里他都不需要再买剃须刀片了。
原因是他在去年一次性购置了100片吉列锋速3刀片，因为他实在是厌烦了剃须刀没完没了的更新换代和涨价。后来他又发现了一种油，能够让刀片寿命增加一倍。
他还记得自己当时在好市多（Costco）推着装满了刀片包装盒的推车时引来了很多人好奇的目光，他对他们说，“我这是在投资刀片期货，有了这个，我就不用担心被他们牵着鼻子走，没完没了地换剃须刀了。”
他 这批货囤得很及时。今年春季，宝洁公司（Procter & Gamble Co.）旗下的吉列（Gillette）和劲量控股公司（Energizer Holdings Inc.）旗下的舒适（Schick）这两个剃须刀界的品牌大佬兼宿敌又展开了新一轮的较量，都推出了号称拥有进一步改良刀片、更符合人体工程学手柄的新 款剃须刀。当然，价格也是水涨船高了。
剃须刀是一个大产业。据分析家估计，吉列剃须刀的年销量是40多亿美元，舒适剃须刀一年的销售额也 有大约10亿美元。尽管经济危机导致那些廉价的一次性剃须刀销量猛增，剃须刀片的销售因而受到冲击，这两家公司依然牢牢把控了美国的剃须刀市场。根据市场 研究机构欧睿信息咨询公司（Euromonitor International Inc.）的数据，吉列占据了剃须刀及刀片市场份额的70%，舒适则是大约10%。
不过，也有那么一些顽固分子没有兴趣配合他们玩这个游戏，他们采取了一些非常手段以退出游戏。
黑根谈起自己囤积吉列锋速3刀片时表示，“我完全拥护资本主义，可我还是喜欢自个儿的做法，因为它包含着一点点‘反抗权威’的意思。”锋速3剃须刀是吉列公司在12年前推出的。
近30年来，新款剃须刀一直是媒体调侃的对象。1975年，《周六夜现场》（“Saturday Night Live”）第一集中就有一个虚拟的三层刀片剃须刀的广告，广告语是：“因为一切皆可信。”
吉列Fusion剃须刀在2005年面世之前一直处于保密状态，却在此前一年被讽刺报纸《洋葱报》（Onion）猜了个歪打正着。当时《洋葱报》上刊载了一则虚拟的剃须刀公司高管的备忘录，这位高管号称要生产一种五刀片剃须刀以打败竞争对手的四刀片剃须刀。
这一个回合，剃须刀厂家都在突破性设计上大做文章。吉列极力宣扬其Fusion ProGlide剃须刀的人体工程学手柄、超锋利的刃口和一个给用户带来顺滑体验的“雪犁式护罩”。含四包备用刀片的套装售价为售价16.99美元，比普通的Fusion刀片贵了大约15%。
舒适的新款Hydro剃须刀──带一个保湿口喱“积蓄器”──含四包备用刀片售价为11.49美元，比之前昂贵的Quattro又贵了大约5%
两 家公司都很清楚如今的消费者已经不再轻信宣传了，所以他们需要付出更多的努力。吉列公司发言人达蒙•琼斯（Damon Jones）说，“当我们向公众宣传新产品的时候，很多人都说，‘不过就是炒作而已啦。’我们的策略是直接应对那些质疑，”在上月新品发布那段时间免费派 发了几万把ProGlide剃须刀。
舒适Hydro高级品牌经理丹•金顿（Dan Kinton）表示，“每次我们推出新品，总会招致一定的质疑。”
现 年52岁的艾伦•内巴特（Allan Neibart）是宾夕法尼亚州阿伦敦市（Allentown）的一位房地产开发商，他认为几十年前的剃须刀比现在的更好。他在eBay上花了大约260 美元拍到一把1958年的吉列toggle镀金剃须刀，他信誓旦旦地表示，这把剃刀完全贴合面部曲线，只是非常偶尔的时候会在脸上拉出一道深口子。
全神贯注刮胡子让自己不致受伤对于内巴特来说是一个放松身心的晨间例行功课。他说，“他们已经有了十全十美的产品，却还要费劲巴拉地弄些新东西出来。”
内巴特担心吉列会停产他需要的Platinum Plus刀片，所以在过去三年里每次看到这种刀片他就会买上一堆，现在已经囤了大约1000美元这种刀片了。他表示，“我用的是一把恐龙剃须刀，不过我已经有了充份准备，就算它灭绝了我也不怕。”
曼 哈顿巴斯德药店（Pasteur Pharmacy）老板斯蒂芬•舒密尔（Steven Schimmel）透露，他在药店添加了英国剃须霜、獾毛剃须刷、安全剃刀等市面上很难找到的货品之后，剃须用品专柜的销售额就翻了三番。在他店里有八个 牌子的双层刀片，包括吉列的7 O'Clock刀片，都是从印度一个批发商那里进的货。
在Drugstore.com公司 （Drugstore.com Inc.），最新款的剃须用品向来是销售的大头，不过诸如舒适Injector和威尔金森（Wilkinson）Sword之类市面上很难找到的剃须刀在 2009年的销量也比前一年有所上涨。Drugstore.com一直在游说剃须刀厂商继续保留这类产品。
吉列表示，公司一直在定期生产现有的各种类剃须刀。舒适公司的金顿表示，“我们密切跟进销售状况，确保能够满足市场的需求。”
44岁的布莱恩•克罗威尔（Brian Crowell）是纽约州贝德福德希尔斯（Bedford Hills）的职业高尔夫球手，他说自己曾经驱车20英里，就为了找到一家店能买到吉列Good News双刀片一次性剃须刀，这款剃须刀是1976年推出的。
克罗威尔表示，“要是有一天这种剃须刀绝迹了，我真是要崩溃了。”
他也在家里囤了很多这种剃须刀。不过他一直保守着这个秘密，生怕妻子或者哪个女儿会提出反对意见。他说，“要是让别人知道了那些剃须刀的藏身之所，我会感觉很不自在的。”
克罗威尔认为，自己之所以能够靠一把基本款的剃须刀获得舒适的剃须体验，全赖自己娴熟的球技。他说，“如果一个人对果岭的曲线有很好的感觉，那就不需要用那种花里胡哨的剃须刀。只要你有足够敏锐的触觉，你在剃须时就可以让刀片精确地贴合脸部轮廓。”
刀 片价格越来越贵，越来越多的店铺开始把刀片锁在橱窗里售卖。51岁的尼克•迈耶斯（Nick Meyers）是新泽西州樱桃山市（Cherry Hill）的一名理财规划师，他原先用的是舒适Quattro四刀片剃须刀。几个月前，他在一家药店想要买配套的刀片，却苦于找不着营业员来打开橱窗的 锁，一怒之下他索性将这款剃须刀弃之不用了。
迈耶斯说，“这比搞点铀金属还要费劲。刀片太贵了，他们只好把刀片锁起来，我终于意识到这不过就是个噱头而已。”
现在，迈耶斯正在寻觅一款新的剃须刀。他喜欢用獾毛刷在脸上涂上刮胡泡，然后用双层刀片剃须刀刮去胡子，不过这个实在很费时间，他只有在周末才有时间享受这个过程。
迈耶斯正在考虑购置一批吉列Sensor Excel双层刀片剃须刀囤起来，这款剃须刀于1994年在美国面世，是他在多年之前的选择。他表示，“坦率地说，那款剃须刀用起来感觉美妙极了。”
Jeff Hagan, a 43-year-old investment banker in San Francisco, doesn't need to buy another blade or razor for the next four years.
That's because last year, tired of trying to keep up with the cycle of shaving-system upgrades and price hikes, Mr. Hagan bought 100 Gillette Mach3 blades. Then he found oil that helps double the blades' lifespan.
'I'm basically investing in blade futures,' Mr. Hagan remembers telling onlookers at Costco as they marveled at the pile of cartridges in his cart. 'That's my hedge against getting forced to upgrade.'
His hoarding came just in time. This spring, the titans of shaving, Procter & Gamble Co.'s Gillette and Energizer Holdings Inc.'s Schick launched another round of their endless duel, with systems touting improved blades, more ergonomic handles and, inevitably, higher prices.
Shaving is big business. Gillette brings in more than $4 billion in annual sales; Schick sees sales of around $1 billion a year, according to analysts' estimates. Though the recession hurt sales of blades and boosted sales of cheaper disposable razors, the two companies still have a lock on the U.S. market. Gillette commands 70% of the razors-and-blades category, and Schick holds about 10%, according to market-data firm Euromonitor International Inc.
A hardy subset of men, however, isn't interested in playing the game and takes extraordinary measures to opt out.
'I'm a full-on capitalist, but there's a little bit of 'sticking it to the man' here that I enjoy,' says Mr. Hagan of his stockpile of Mach3 blades, which Gillette launched 12 years ago.
New razors have been fodder for parody for more than a quarter century. In 1975, the inaugural episode of 'Saturday Night Live' included a mock commercial for a three-blade razor with the slogan, 'Because you'll believe anything.'
The introduction of Gillette's Fusion razor, kept secret until its debut in 2005, was eerily predicted the year before by the satirical Onion newspaper, which ran a fake memo from a shaving executive bragging about besting a competitor's four-blade razor by making one with five.
This time, razor makers are claiming breakthroughs in design. Gillette touts its Fusion ProGlide's ergonomic grips, its ultrafine cutting edge and a 'snow-plow guard' that moves around the shaving cream. It goes for $16.99 per four-pack of basic cartridges, about a 15% premium to regular Fusion blades.
A four-pack of blades for Schick's new Hydro -- with a hydrating 'reservoir' -- runs $11.49, about 5% more than Schick's premium Quattro blades.
The companies know they're pushing the bounds of credulity. 'When we talk to guys, we hear them say, 'It's all a bunch of hype,'' says Gillette spokesman Damon Jones. 'Our strategy was to tackle the skeptics head on,' giving away hundreds of thousands of free ProGlide razors around the launch last month.
'As we enter into any innovation, obviously there's a level of skepticism,' says Dan Kinton, senior brand manager for Schick's Hydro.
Allan Neibart believes better versions were made decades ago. Despite occasionally suffering deep gashes, he swears by the close shave delivered by his 1958 gold-plated Gillette toggle razor, bought for about $260 in an eBay auction.
The concentration required for a bloodless shave has produced a relaxing morning ritual for Mr. Neibart, a 52-year-old real estate developer in Allentown, Pa. 'They keep trying to improve something that they already had perfect,' he says.
Fearing Gillette would discontinue the Platinum Plus blades he needs, Mr. Neibart spent the past three years buying packs every time he found them. He's now stocking about $1,000 worth. 'I'm shaving with a dinosaur, but now I'm set if it goes extinct,' he says.
Steven Schimmel, owner of Pasteur Pharmacy in Manhattan, says he quadrupled sales in his shaving aisle by carrying hard-to-find products like British shave creams, badger-hair brushes and safety razors. He sells eight brands of double-edge blades, including Gillette's 7 O'Clock blades, bought from a dealer in India.
While the latest advances in shaving remain big sellers on Drugstore.com Inc., unit sales of hard-to-find blades including the Schick Injector and Wilkinson Sword increased in 2009 over the year before. Drugstore.com regularly lobbies blade-makers to maintain their inventories.
Gillette says it continues to do regular production runs of its existing shavers. 'We monitor sales to be sure we meet that demand,' says Schick's Mr. Kinton.
Brian Crowell says he has driven up to 20 miles to find a store that stocks two-bladed Gillette Good News disposable razors, introduced in 1976.
'If these disappear one day, I will be devastated,' says Mr. Crowell, a 44-year-old professional golfer in Bedford Hills, N.Y.
He, too, keeps a stash at home. But he keeps it secret, lest his wife or daughters snag one. 'I'm uncomfortable revealing my hiding spot,' he says.
Mr. Crowell attributes his ability to achieve a good shave with a basic blade to his strong putting game. 'People who have a good feel for the contours of the putting green don't need a fancy razor,' he says. 'If you've got some degree of touch and feel, you can follow the topography of your face accurately.'
As blades grow more expensive, they are increasingly kept under lock and key. A frustrating attempt to find a drug-store employee to unlock the blades case prompted Nick Meyers to give up his four-bladed Schick Quattro several months ago.
'It's easier to buy uranium,' Mr. Meyers says. 'They're so expensive, they have to keep them locked up, and that's when I realized what a gimmick all of it is.'
Now, the 51-year-old financial planner in Cherry Hill, N.J., is searching for a new shave. He enjoys lathering up with a badger-hair brush and wielding a double-edge blade, but it's so time-consuming he does so only on weekends.
Mr. Meyers is considering investing in a supply of Gillette's two-blade Sensor Excel, introduced in the U.S. in 1994, which he used years ago. 'Frankly, that gives a beautiful shave,' he says.