Blue & Red Tip SS

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by jwr0201, Jan 11, 2015.

  1. jwr0201

    jwr0201 Active Member

    Curious about these two SS variants - does anyone keep these in their regular rotation? Just how much milder is the Blue Tip and how much more aggressive is the Red Tip than the 'normal SS ?
    ... And to complicate things, how do these compare to the Fatboy, Slim and Techs?
    Again, please forgive if this has already been asked. I did attempt to research posts, but could not find these comparisons.
     
  2. Darkbulb

    Darkbulb Cookie Hoarder

    Here is how Gillette themselves marketed the different versions:
    [​IMG]
     
    GDCarrington, Jostalli and ARGH like this.
  3. mikewood

    mikewood Well-Known Member

    From my reading and experimentation using the adjustable as a guide the fatboy runs 1 setting milder. The tech and the blue run a 3-3.5 and the red tip runs 4.5. That's not much considering the adjustable can be opened up to a 9. Keep in mind the mildness of a razor is a combination of weight, handle size, blade angle, blade gap and a host of other factors but this will get you started.
     
    Boojum1 and ARGH like this.
  4. NCoxSTL

    NCoxSTL AAACK!

    I have a regular '59 SS but don't have any blue or red tips yet. Working on getting a '59 of each (birth year). I did purchase a '65 Lady Gillette for my wife and tried it out. I have heard the Lady G's are pretty close to the feel of the blue tips. If that's the case then there is definitely a difference. The Lady G took some extra passes and clean up for me to get my shave where I want it compared to the regular SS. I wouldn't call it dramatic though, just a clear difference. I imagine the difference between a blue and red would be more dramatic.

    I've also wondered why Gillette seemed to market the Red as "heavy", like it weighed more. They describe the blue and regular being different in terms of beard and skin preference but go to a "heavier feel" of the heavy razor. Wonder if they were afraid of scaring people away if they said "this thing can carve you like a turkey" or something along that vein.
     
  5. Lexicon Devil

    Lexicon Devil the Liberace of shaving

    I have never used the blue tip. I bought one for my stepson (who has very, very light whiskers) and it seemed pretty lightweight, it felt like the handle was probably aluminum.

    The red tip is my favorite SS. It's really not all that aggressive, not like an R41 or something. Just slightly more than the regular flare tip, and probably almost even with the 40's SS.

    As far as adjustables, just really guessing, but if the flare tip was a 4 than the red tip would be about 5 and the Tech would be somewhere around 2.5 to 3.
     
  6. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    Have both and use both. The Blue Tip is almost too mild. I like the Red.
    Both have given me near BBS shaves.
     
  7. Jayaruh

    Jayaruh The Cackalacky House Pet

    Supporting Vendor
    I might pick up a red tip if I see one. I probably would have no use for a blue tip unless I just wanted it for display.
     
  8. Darkbulb

    Darkbulb Cookie Hoarder

    I love aggressive OC razors but I recently bought a rather nice blue tip and found that its mild and very efficient.
    It's a razor that I will use the day/days after something like my Barbasol FT - and/or when I'm in a hurry and want a close, quick shave with almost no risk of nicking myself. I really like mine and can't see myself giving it up :)
     
    Jayaruh likes this.
  9. LaSalle82

    LaSalle82 Well-Known Member

    With regard to superspeeeds, I like the differences in the head design between the 40's/Flair (Regular)/Black Handle. I believe the Blue/Reg/Red all shared the same head with weight being the differentiator.
     
  10. Straight Arrow

    Straight Arrow Active Member

    They were a dollar. :)
     
  11. DeanoG

    DeanoG New Member

    Man - if we could only time travel and pick up truckload of them and the Fatboys for around a buck each....
     
    Straight Arrow and BigMark like this.

Share This Page