Warm Lather at Home or on the Go: a New Scuttle from PAA

Do you like warm lather for your shave throughout your shave? Do you like it whether you're at home or traveling?

I, personally, after being a long-time cold-water shaver, have come around to the warm side, so to speak. For a while now I've been having warm-water shaves, which I enjoy for the warmth itself, but also because the warm water softens the bristles of my favored synthetic brush, making it extra soft on my skin.

So if you appreciate lasting warmth in you shaving lather, you might try a scuttle. And if you're going to do that, you might consider this latest on on the market. This new Crown King scuttle from Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements (PAA) has several features not commonly found in other scuttles. Most scuttles are made of ceramic or porcelain, which can break. The PAA scuttle is made from a thick, tough, unbreakable plastic. This also makes it lighter in weight. The combination of light weight and being unbreakable makes it ideal for travel use as well as every-day at-home use. It is also microwave safe, meaning that you can heat the water in the scuttle in the microwave oven -- as I do because of the long time it takes for my bathroom tap to run hot.

This scuttle also comes with an insulating sleeve to preserve the warmth during a long shave.

If you're not familiar with a scuttle, it's a combination lathering bowl and hot-water bottle (sort of). Most scuttles including this one from PAA have the open lathering bowl seated within another bowl, which holds hot water. So at the start of one's shave, you fill up the water reservoir with hot water -- or as mentioned above, fill it with cold water and heat in the microwave for a minute or two. Then you stopper the pour-out spout, load your brush with soap, and proceed to make lather in the lathering bowl portion of the scuttle.

The PAA scuttle has an additional feature in its lathering bowl, which is small raised lines in the surface of the bowl to increase friction and thereby facilitating making lather quicker and easier.

If you're already a scuttle user, this new one may be ideal for your traveling needs. If you're not already a scuttle user, then this one may be the only one you need -- maybe ever because of its unbreakability.

Happy warm-lather shaving!