The 82 year old barber in Tulsa told me to throw out half my tools
I was filling in at a shop on 11th Street in Tulsa last month when the old guy in the first chair watched me fumble with my guards and said I had too much junk on my station. He pulled out one Oster clipper, one comb, and a straight razor and cut three guys in the time it took me to do one. How many tools do you actually keep within arm's reach on a normal day?
My uncle ran a one man shop in Bakersfield for 30 years and his whole kit fit in a tackle box. He had one pair of Andis masters, a t blade, three guards, and a spray bottle, that was it. He told me the extra stuff just slows your hands down because your brain keeps picking through options instead of cutting. I worked next to a guy in Austin who had two full drawers of gear and he was fast too, so I don't know if the tool count is really the thing. My guess is the old guy in Tulsa was just messing with you a little, that generation loves to make a point like that. Still, there is something to knowing your three or four tools so well you don't have to look at them.