Kai S-Gold Dispoable Single Blade Razor

I have been using the traditional dual edge safety razor for almost a year now and I have gotten rather proficient at it. Despite the fact that the blades sometimes cost so little, they gave me comfortable shaves with great results. So, it is strange for me to pick up a pack of disposable razors. But wait!

I was sifting through forums for disposable razor recommendations when I found out that airlines do not allow the traditional safety razor blade in carry-on bags for safety reasons. After all, it is simply a piece of metal sharpened on both ends.

To keep myself clean shaven during my holiday trips, I had to bring along a disposable razor but I didn't wanted those modern multi blade cartridge razors. After some reading, I found some rave reviews for a relatively unknown single blade disposable razor from Japanese knife/blade maker KAI. Heck, I couldn't even find it in the company's product line up. Surprisingly, I found these razors on display in one of my favourite shaving haunts - Haniffa Textiles in Little India.

Reviews here:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/307086-Best-disposable-SE-for-head-shaving
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/261082-Review-Kai-Gold-S-disposable

 

 At $1.80 for 10 razors, each one cost a tiny 18cents! I find it hard to imagine that razors can cost so little. Some of razor blade itself cost that much! How did they make them so cheap!?

 

The razor's design is extremely simple. Made of stamped metal bent to shape, it really reflects on the simplicity and efficiency of functional designs.

The head consist of a single blade with a plastic guard clamped onto the stamped metal handle. I don't even think it was glued together. The blade is extremely stiff and sharp, making it an efficient shaver. It is also very easy to use due to the plastic guard that is characteristic of modern cartridge razors. But unlike them, the shaving style is more similar to traditional razors - just a light touch will do.

It is a very small and lightweight razor. The ridges on the handle do provide sufficient grip when wet.

My only gripe is that the angle of the head differs from the angle of traditional razors and I will have to take note of it when switching between them. It is possible to bend the head to your preferred angle though.

I highly recommend this little gem. For those who are looking for an alternative to expensive multi blade cartridge razors but do not wish to venture into traditional razors, these little inexpensive razors offer excellent and painless shaves with the convenience of modern razors. With these around, there is little reason to spend $3-5 per replacement cartridge for a modern multi blade razor. Seriously, why add more blades when 1 does just as well?

Should you renew your car's COE - Part 3 - Are newer cars really that good?

Singapore has always discouraged car owners from keeping old cars through a variety of disincentives such as progressively higher taxes for older cars, more frequent car testing regime as well as the forfeiture a rebate should you decide to keep your car for more than 10 years.

From the last decade, we indeed saw an improvement in car technologies and advancements such as improved safety, increasingly stringent emissions, improved efficiency and nifty add-ons that made the car more convenient, useful and desirable.

In terms of efficiency, a Golf 1.4l Blue Motion takes gets about 18km/l while a Lancer GLX 1.6l barely maintains 14.2km/l when driven in a light footed manner. They are a great comparison considering that both cars produce 105hp.

While the power difference is not appreciable, the newer DSG gearbox in the Golf is extremely responsive and the turbocharger produces a punch even during lower rpms, making its high power accessible in everyday driving conditions. The improvements do not end there. With more and more sensors and electronics on board, your car's computer can even tell if your tires are losing pressure, if any of your light bulbs are blown and how to distribute the braking and engine power in tricky driving conditions. These improvements make is safer to drive and preempts you of any issues that require your attention before it the car fails on you.

However, there is a downside to having too many sophisticated electronics. They malfunction over time due to wear and tear on electrical components. In terms of reliability, a newer car may not outperform a car from the 2000s where much its improvement were due to physical and mechanical advances. For example, the automatic transmission in 2000s cars were so reliable that automatic cars outsold manual cars while only costing a little more.

The question is, are newer cars worth the premium of paying so much more than just renewing your trusty steed? Sadly, a lot of these sophistication and still not found in entry level Japanese cars to keep prices low. The higher efficiency of European super/turbocharged engines are way better than the simple naturally aspirated Japanese engines of today. Due to the vehicular tax structure in Singapore, it discourages manufacturers from improving their cars too much, thereby raising the import value which is highly taxed. After all, Japanese cars are still aimed at the common man.

Unless you are aiming for European cars for your next purchase, you aren't getting much of an improvement from what you are getting out from your near 10 year old Japanese car.

Should you renew your car's COE - Part 2 - Scrapping the car and buying a used car instead?

My previous blog post talked about the prices to pay for renewing COE and the considerations to have in mind when contemplating on it. Renewing a COE drains at least a few years of your savings just for a piece of paper and heck, you don't even get a new car after spending so much money.

Another advice I hear quite often is to scrap the current car, get back whatever money that is supposed to be retrieved doing so and using that money to buy a younger 2nd hand car. By doing so, you do not incur any of the penalties set by the government to encourage car owners to scrap older, less efficient cars.

If you are driving a Japanese car made in the 2000s, you would probably agree with me when I say that cars made during that decade tend to be extremely reliable, designed to be simple and require little maintenance  but is still quite economical at the same time. Honestly, the newer cars, are indeed more efficient, meets newer emission standards, while using smaller engines but with COE values sky high, it is difficult to justify the advantages for the price.

Alas, the time has come for the COE to end. Scrapping the car will get you back the following rebates:

Rebate for remaining COE lifespan
The rebate for the remaining lifespan is prorated to the percentage of remaining lifespan from the original COE value. My car's COE was bought at $13,000 and left with 1year 4 months of life. My COE rebate I would get if I de-register the car now is $13,000/120months*16months = $1,733.

Rebate for PARF (Preferential Additional Registration Fee)
To reward those who scrap their car by the end of 10 years, the PARF rebate is 50% of the ARF paid. For mine, its about $10,600. This makes up the bulk of the total rebate when scrapping my car.

Scrap value of a car
Depending on overseas demand for that particular model, you get a scrap value in the range of $500-$10000 with most Japanese cars going around $1000.

In total, my oldie but goodie car would fetch $11,600 at the end of 10 years.

But what, lets not forget that we'll need to buy a 2nd hand car to replace it. For the sake of comparison, lets just say I decide to buy another similar car to serve my needs until, hopefully, the COE crashes. A quick check online shows that someone is trying to sell a Toyota Wish 1.8 for $81,800. Subtracting the rebate I would get from my old scarp, the actual amount spent on it would be $70,200. Again, by the end of the car's lifespan in Dec 2019, I would get back another $10,600. Hence the total depreciation is $59,600 for its remaining 5 years.

This meant that the cost for replacing your car with a newer 5 year old car would set you back $59,600. Sadly, this amount isn't too far off from the current PQP price of $64,584 (2nd bidding of Nov) and you only get 5 years of use.

But wait, would the savings from not having to pay extra road tax for older cars beyond 10 years old (should you choose to renew the COE) be the saving grace for going for a newer car?