About us:
I'm Travis Arnold, the founder and CEO (Chief Everything Officer) of Caisson Shaving Company. Some of this might be redundant for those who have read the other threads, but I wanted to have an official "About Us" thread started. This all began back in early 2001 as I was finishing up my Junior year of High School. One of the Assistant Football coaches pulled me aside in the hallway and began asking me about my plans for college. He was super helpful in letting me know that I sucked at football and I had no chance of playing college football, let alone receiving a scholarship. His motivation was quite clear, as he was the First Sergeant of the local Army National Guard Infantry unit. He suggested that I stop by the armory and have a chat with the recruiter. When I talked to my parents about if they would let me join the military (I was 16, just about to turn 17, so I needed their signatures), my dad without hesitation drove me to the recruiter and told him, "Sign him up!" Fast forward to July 1st, 2001 and that's when I swore in at MEPS in Minneapolis, MN. Two months later, 9/11 happened and I knew my military service wasn't going to be about paying for college anymore.
I began in the Field Artillery and served in nearly every role in that branch, from Gun Bunny to FDC and Radars. (Also spent a few years as an MP before I ETS'd, but we don't need to talk about that.) I deployed to Iraq in 2004 and spent 14 months in country working on the Q36 Firefinder Radar system. When I returned home, I immediately re-deployed to southern Arizona to assist the Border Patrol, where I got to run through the desert and plant ground sensors on known smuggling trails. In 2007, I was hired by a Sheriff's Office in southern Arizona as a Deputy Sheriff, where I served for nearly 10 years before leaving the department as a Patrol Sergeant.... (TLDR; I got to do some pretty cool stuff and it heavily ties into and influences many aspects of the company.)
In June of 2020, when COVID had California shut down, I was remote working and caught the entrepreneurial itch. At this point, I had a beautiful long and thick Viking-like beard and I swore that I would never shave again... But then I started to think that the only reason I grew the beard is because I HATED shaving after 14+ years of being forced to shave every day. My original business idea was called "Tactishave" and was going to be focused on glycerin based shaving soaps that could be used in the field or at home for a barbershop quality shave. I had learned about Wet Shaving a few years back and while I still hate shaving, I found this technique / methodology to be vastly superior. Thankfully everyone that I pitched my idea to told me that "Tactishave" was the dumbest name they had ever heard and one close friend suggested naming something "military like" but neutral sounding.... Being a former Field Artillery guy, the song "When the Caissons go rolling along" was something that stood out to me, as Caissons are still in use today at Arlington. This term could pay homage to both my Field Artillery background, but also a nod of respect to our fallen service members.
I then began making soap!!! Well.. Kind of... I began experimenting with several glycerin bases and contracted a company to produce a formula that can be repeatedly melted / reformed without worry of spoiling or separation. We launched our e-commerce platform on June 14th, 2020 (Go Army!) and things have continued to grow ever since. We are now in 36 AAFES (Army and Air Force Exchange) stores around the globe and our troops now have a nice selection of quality wet shaving products at their local PX.
About our products:
First off, I will NEVER claim to be an artisan when it comes to shaving soaps. We worked together with a major manufacturer based here in California on a glycerin base that would be the top in it's class and could rival any other soap in terms of cushion, slickness and lather. Our business model has always been focused on being more main stream than anything, as I want to be the introductory brand into wet shaving for our soldiers. Don't be mistaken, our soap is AWESOME and I still haven't heard any complaints about it's performance... so don't think that because we are focused on mass production that we have sacrificed anything in terms of quality. We currently have five shaving soaps:
Bohica Blend: Sandalwood and Patchouli scented. "Bohica" means "Bend Over, Here it Comes Again" and is a phrase used in the military to describe when things keep getting worse and worse... (Generic answer, but there are countless stories of BOHICA situations from my time in the service)
Fire For Effect: Tobacco Leaf, Coffee and Vanilla. This is our top seller and a truly unique scent that I created as a blend of the key scents (well not really vanilla, but coffee and tobacco for sure) that I experienced in the military. That first meeting with the recruiter was with a salty old SFC who chain smoked in his office and always had a cup of coffee.
Code Four: Cedar wood, Eucalyptus, Citrus. This is a tribute to one of my best friends and my Field Training Officer who was killed in the line of duty in 2018. Code Four is a common police "10 Code" to indicated that "everything is okay"
Sniper Scent: It's unscented... I shouldn't have to explain this one much.
Pink Mist: Rose, Hibiscus, Raspberry and Pomegranate. This was designed to be "for the ladies" but honestly the scent is f-in awesome and guys buy it 1000x more than the ladies do.... (Yes, I understand the phrase Pink Mist can be off-putting... It's simply meant to be some dark humor)
The Razors, Brushes and Blades are ... i hate saying this, because it isn't that simple ... but nothing new? Not too many ways to reinvent the wheel (ps. thank you Merkur for letting your patent expire on the Futur!)
So there you have it!!! Feel free to ask any questions. If you'd like to give our products a try, head over to: www.caisson-shaving.com
If for whatever reason you are dissatisfied with anything, I always offer a full refund policy.
I'm Travis Arnold, the founder and CEO (Chief Everything Officer) of Caisson Shaving Company. Some of this might be redundant for those who have read the other threads, but I wanted to have an official "About Us" thread started. This all began back in early 2001 as I was finishing up my Junior year of High School. One of the Assistant Football coaches pulled me aside in the hallway and began asking me about my plans for college. He was super helpful in letting me know that I sucked at football and I had no chance of playing college football, let alone receiving a scholarship. His motivation was quite clear, as he was the First Sergeant of the local Army National Guard Infantry unit. He suggested that I stop by the armory and have a chat with the recruiter. When I talked to my parents about if they would let me join the military (I was 16, just about to turn 17, so I needed their signatures), my dad without hesitation drove me to the recruiter and told him, "Sign him up!" Fast forward to July 1st, 2001 and that's when I swore in at MEPS in Minneapolis, MN. Two months later, 9/11 happened and I knew my military service wasn't going to be about paying for college anymore.
I began in the Field Artillery and served in nearly every role in that branch, from Gun Bunny to FDC and Radars. (Also spent a few years as an MP before I ETS'd, but we don't need to talk about that.) I deployed to Iraq in 2004 and spent 14 months in country working on the Q36 Firefinder Radar system. When I returned home, I immediately re-deployed to southern Arizona to assist the Border Patrol, where I got to run through the desert and plant ground sensors on known smuggling trails. In 2007, I was hired by a Sheriff's Office in southern Arizona as a Deputy Sheriff, where I served for nearly 10 years before leaving the department as a Patrol Sergeant.... (TLDR; I got to do some pretty cool stuff and it heavily ties into and influences many aspects of the company.)
In June of 2020, when COVID had California shut down, I was remote working and caught the entrepreneurial itch. At this point, I had a beautiful long and thick Viking-like beard and I swore that I would never shave again... But then I started to think that the only reason I grew the beard is because I HATED shaving after 14+ years of being forced to shave every day. My original business idea was called "Tactishave" and was going to be focused on glycerin based shaving soaps that could be used in the field or at home for a barbershop quality shave. I had learned about Wet Shaving a few years back and while I still hate shaving, I found this technique / methodology to be vastly superior. Thankfully everyone that I pitched my idea to told me that "Tactishave" was the dumbest name they had ever heard and one close friend suggested naming something "military like" but neutral sounding.... Being a former Field Artillery guy, the song "When the Caissons go rolling along" was something that stood out to me, as Caissons are still in use today at Arlington. This term could pay homage to both my Field Artillery background, but also a nod of respect to our fallen service members.
I then began making soap!!! Well.. Kind of... I began experimenting with several glycerin bases and contracted a company to produce a formula that can be repeatedly melted / reformed without worry of spoiling or separation. We launched our e-commerce platform on June 14th, 2020 (Go Army!) and things have continued to grow ever since. We are now in 36 AAFES (Army and Air Force Exchange) stores around the globe and our troops now have a nice selection of quality wet shaving products at their local PX.
About our products:
First off, I will NEVER claim to be an artisan when it comes to shaving soaps. We worked together with a major manufacturer based here in California on a glycerin base that would be the top in it's class and could rival any other soap in terms of cushion, slickness and lather. Our business model has always been focused on being more main stream than anything, as I want to be the introductory brand into wet shaving for our soldiers. Don't be mistaken, our soap is AWESOME and I still haven't heard any complaints about it's performance... so don't think that because we are focused on mass production that we have sacrificed anything in terms of quality. We currently have five shaving soaps:
Bohica Blend: Sandalwood and Patchouli scented. "Bohica" means "Bend Over, Here it Comes Again" and is a phrase used in the military to describe when things keep getting worse and worse... (Generic answer, but there are countless stories of BOHICA situations from my time in the service)
Fire For Effect: Tobacco Leaf, Coffee and Vanilla. This is our top seller and a truly unique scent that I created as a blend of the key scents (well not really vanilla, but coffee and tobacco for sure) that I experienced in the military. That first meeting with the recruiter was with a salty old SFC who chain smoked in his office and always had a cup of coffee.
Code Four: Cedar wood, Eucalyptus, Citrus. This is a tribute to one of my best friends and my Field Training Officer who was killed in the line of duty in 2018. Code Four is a common police "10 Code" to indicated that "everything is okay"
Sniper Scent: It's unscented... I shouldn't have to explain this one much.
Pink Mist: Rose, Hibiscus, Raspberry and Pomegranate. This was designed to be "for the ladies" but honestly the scent is f-in awesome and guys buy it 1000x more than the ladies do.... (Yes, I understand the phrase Pink Mist can be off-putting... It's simply meant to be some dark humor)
The Razors, Brushes and Blades are ... i hate saying this, because it isn't that simple ... but nothing new? Not too many ways to reinvent the wheel (ps. thank you Merkur for letting your patent expire on the Futur!)
So there you have it!!! Feel free to ask any questions. If you'd like to give our products a try, head over to: www.caisson-shaving.com
If for whatever reason you are dissatisfied with anything, I always offer a full refund policy.
