Men's Haircuts: Local Barber or Chain Clipper?

[martyb]

I work with a bunch of engineers & manager types, so I try to stay reasonably neat. I go to a local barber shop on average about once a month...sometimes twice. After 33 years of military haircuts, it's hard to break the cycle. Growing up, my dad was a barber, with his own shop. We didn't live too far from Ft. Bragg. Guess what kind of haircut he specialized in? lol

 

[travelover]

Local barber every couple of months. Three barbers there, but only one does a good job on my hair (Friar Tuck look). I wait for my barber to be free. $14 + tip.

 

[donheff]

I cut my own hair with a pair of barber's scissors. I just watched how the stylists used three fingers to set the height of the cut and mimicked what I saw them doing. Close enough for ER work

 

[Rambler]

I know you don't want to hear about the DW doing my hair, but she's been doing it for me since we came to Tokyo. We bought a set of clippers for 18 bucks, same as I would have paid at the time for a cut...one cut...twelve years ago. We've saved at least $2574 in that period of time, assuming 1 cut per month and subtracting the 18 buck investment...I usually get a cut every 3 weeks, max 5 weeks. It takes about 5 minutes, start to finish including sweeping the floor. It is short enough that in a pinch, I can even do it myself.

Before coming to Tokyo I always went to one of the chains. There were several of them in our town, but as far as I am aware, there were no more barber poles in town.

R

 

[martyb]

My ex wife was really good at cutting hair. I'd let her do it anytime. But my current DW...not so much. I'd rather pay. I have most of my dad's barber tools, including clippers. One of these days, maybe after I retire, I might try doing my own. If I mess it up, at least I can hide out in the house till it grows back.

 

[Coach]

Local barber, Johnnie, who's 79. $11 plus tip, about every 6 weeks or so. And he has Playboy magazines.

Coach

 

[samclem]

And he has Playboy magazines.

And gets to write them off as a business expense. Maybe our tax code does have some redeeming qualities.

 

[rescueme]

Since I'm an "old guy" I still perfer to go to the place that has the barber poll (a representation of bloody bandages wrapped around a pole, in the ancient past).

Most of the barbers I've gone through the years were former servicemen who learned their trade via "service to their country", and I still think about that when selecting a new barber (as the old ones pass on).

Current barber cost? $13 (plus $2 tip).

Since I only go every three months or so (and yes, I do have a full head of hair, but I keep it "shaggy") it costs $60/year, or just over $1/week.

I can afford it ...

 

[freebird5825]

Mr B goes to the Freebird Barbershop, where the price is $0 and tips are optional.
He has a great hair trimmer with different length snap-on comb attachments. I am getting very good at using it. I do detail work with a pair of long bladed hair cutting scissors. He does his own sideburns, eyebrows and mustache.
I will do touchups around the ears and back hairline and neck fuzzies in between full haircuts.

 

[Rustic23]

I use the Flowbee and have been using it for about 10 or 15 years.

 

[Payin-the-Toll]

Late 60's, in college in a big city, find local barber who does nice job. He opens own shop (1 chair) 15 miles away and I follow. He retires (super story for another time), and turns shop over to older guy. 1st guy is mainly scissors and comb guy--2nd guy is mostly a clippers guy. I go every season--4 times a year. I have a battery operated set of clippers, scissors, and razor at home. Have to keep trimming nose, ears, neck, eyebrows, around the ears, etc., all the time. Amazing what getting old does to you--never had to bother with it 'back in the day'.

 

[kcowan]

I go to a local Unisex shop that charges 60 pesos (up from 40 pesos 2 years ago) or about $5 every 6 weeks. When I return north, it is a local shop where the seniors rate is $15.

 

[JakeBrake]

I have been going to the same local barber for over 30 years. He is now 86 years old. He has had health problems, but my guess is he would soon be dead if he did not come to his one man shop and cut hair every day. I know he does not need the money. His shop is in a bad part of town and he usually keeps the front door locked. He deals only in cash. You knock and he lets you in, like a speak-easy. He does not make appointments. He has an extremely loyal following, like me, of mostly retired men. Some young military guys come in in their cammies to get their white sidewalls. I guess they like the price. He charges $6 and I give him a $2 tip. He always acts surprised and very grateful for the tip.

When you sit down in the chair he will resume the conversation you were having the last time you were there and also fill you in on how his other loyal customers are doing.

 

[eytonxav]

And what ever happened to the barber shaving you with his straight blade razer and the chair with the leather strap for sharpening??

Now, I use SportClips, #6 clipper, takes 5 minutes and cost $17 + tip.

 

[Webzter]

I cut my own hair with a pair of barber's scissors. I just watched how the stylists used three fingers to set the height of the cut and mimicked what I saw them doing. Close enough for ER work

+1

regarding the mess... over the bathroom sink then just use a paper towel to grab it all and dump it in the trash.

I also do the back just by feel. No problem... no snickers as I walk down the street.

 

[haha]

This past weekend my woman friend asked me if I had intended to leave a rat-tail. I hadn't, so she snipped it for me.

I do notice that for several days after a selfcut I need to keep an eye out for unmowed clumps or strands.

Ha

 

[martyb]

I forgot to say in my post above that I go to a local hair stylist type place. Not because I get some kind of fancy haircut, but just because I can't find anybody else who cuts my hair the way I want it. So I pay her $10 and a tip. Like I said earlier, my dad was a long-time barber, and when he died, my sisters somehow found a casket with a barber pole on it. He would have loved that...it was perfect.

 

[REWahoo]

For years I went to a local barber shop where my son-in-law's dad cut my hair. (We had great fun with the uninformed customers-in-waiting watching us argue about which had the smartest, cutest grandkids!). For a while after his death from lung cancer I went to the same shop but now DW cuts it.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

I move around to three "local" barbers. My favorite barber is one I've been going to since 1998 when I moved to this area. Then I moved about 10 miles and found another barber but discovered that the first guy was the best. Then I moved another 10 miles away so now I'm 22 miles from my favorite barber. Do I drive there just to get a haircut? No. But, if we are in the area, I'll make a special side trip just for a haircut. Highest price is $11 plus tip. I've had a "flat top" since I retired in 1988. Not much hair left now but barber #1 still does the best job.

In this area a lot of barbers will give you the military type haircut, which is "high and tight". I don't like that look. I tell my barber that he's a genius. He can take a guy with a round head and not much hair and still make it look like a flattop. He spends half the alloted time on my eyebrows.Two weeks and I'm ready for another as the back gets scruffy. Can't stand for my neck to start to itch.

 

[youbet]

Been using the same local barber for 33 years. Single chair shop. Appointments only. Beer in the fridge. Playboys in the rack. Guys hanging around. $15 includes tip. (Also give a generous tip at the Holidays.) Go about once per month whether I need a haircut or not. What's that got to do with it?

I dread finding another spot. It would just seem wrong to call for an appointment and not have the barber recognize your voice.

 

[LightningDawg]

Locally owned barber shop. Lori has been cutting my hair for past 20 years. She and I are about the same age, and we are both getting older "together".

 

[Midpack]

I go to a salon that sets me back $27 every 4 weeks. Only reason I haven't stopped it, the stylist is a family friend and good friend of DW. But if we ever move, I am going for the cheapest place I can find and I will probably avoid establishing a relationship with anyone. What's left of my hair should be easy enough for anyone to cut, and if they botched it, it wouldn't really bother me much - I don't seem to be attracting young women anymore (if I ever did)...

 

[calmloki]

My gal and I trade cuts - I just whack hers straight across the back, soaking wet, brushed straight back, with her sitting on the edge of the tub, chin toward her chest to get kind of an undercut. Mine takes much longer - she studied some of the tips in one of those Hollywood barber reality shows - keeping the scissors at 90 degrees to the head was a big tip. I think she does real well - artistic bent and colors her own hair much better than the hairdressers she has had do it in the past.

 

[grasshopper]

I am at 1/2 inch on the dog clippers, Ms G only does the back of my neck.

Option # 2 front porch naked, but there is no one within a mile that can see me.

 

[LOL!]

I usually get my hair cut while on a trip, so not at a local place. It's even more fun when it's overseas and you don't speak the language. Nevertheless, I meet some of the nicest folks and have fun talking about all sorts of things.

When my kids were young, I got a book title something like "Anybody Can Cut Hair" and taught myself how to cut someone's hair. My kids have often requested that I cut their hair even as teenagers. Have you ever cut your daughter's hair?