I had to think for a while on the best way to present this data. Obviously "best" can mean very different things to each of us. It even means different things to me on different days. Should I rank a razor that gives the most comfortable shave best? Somewhat obviously, the razors that always give comfortable shaves also tend to not shave as close. So it doesn't really capture my idea of best. So what I'm going to do here is only consider razors I've shaved with a decent number of times and put them in a few bins. The razors are listed in order of most times used to least and all of them have been used at least 10 times in the past 3.5 years. I have a lot of razors so some don't get as much love as others. I'm sure you all get it. Razors that give me a BBS shave at least half the time while also giving no alum feedback at least half the time. Parker Variant Gibbs Adjustable Lord L6 Gillette NEW Short Comb Merkur 34c Gillette Pre-War Tech Schick J Injector Razors that give me a BBS shave at least 25% of the time while also giving no alum feedback at least 25% of the time. Muhle R89 Merkur Progress Timeless Ti .68 Merkur Futur SNMIRN Adjustable Yintal Bronze Muhle R41 Schick Krona Gillette Red Tip Super Speed Fatip Piccolo Above the Tie R1 plate Schick M injector - the ability to set it where it works well helps this one Gillette NEW Long Comb Razors that fall short on either comfort or closeness - can't provide either a close or comfortable shave at least 25% of the time. Rex Ambassador - it's close but doesn't quite reach the bar. Schick L injector - comfortable but not close Schick I2 & G injectors - almost always a little alum feedback. I still love the I2 and use it a lot though. Pearl Flexi - I feel like the weight of this one is a little too much and it always gives some alum feedback Gillette Flare Tip & 40's Super Speeds, Aristocrat, and President - A strange mix of not that close and not that comfortable. Gillette Adjustables (Fatboy, Slim, and Super) - Tend to give less close shaves when turned down and irritation when turned up. If I turned them up and used them like a Red Tip, they might come out better but I tend to experiment with the setting a little too much I guess. Feather ASD2 - another strange mix of irritation without closeness ATT M1/2, R2, H1/2 - The R1 plate is the one that really works for me. But how would you know unless you try them all? Razorock Eco - this thing is aggressive - close shaves but almost always some alum feedback Star DE - impossible to get a close shave with it. PAA DOC - also impossible to get a close shave with this one. So for whatever all that's worth, that's what my data shows. I was a little surprised at some of these. The I2 injector is probably the one I'd never part with but isn't the best shaver. The Fatip, which I don't enjoy that much is actually better than some of the razors I considered better before looking at the data. There are probably some things that skew the data a bit too. The Lord L6 is probably a good example. I've used it as a travel razor quite a bit. That means it gets used with the same soap and blades for weeks at a time which allows me to really get in a groove with it and that probably helps the results. Likely most of these razors could move up a least one bin if not all the way to the top if I shaved with them for a long stretch and got really used to them. The counter-argument to that would probably be the Muhle R89. I've used it as a travel razor a lot too and by shave count, it's my most used razor because of that. It still doesn't make the top bin so I'm pretty confident it's right where it belongs in the rankings. I still like that razor though. It works well and gives me comfortable shaves even if not super close ones which is a good thing for a travel razor where I want comfort above absolute closeness.
Nice documenting what works for you. If you really want to dial in your technique with a razor use it for a few months straight. It may not reach your pinnacle, but you know what you will be able to get out of it after an extended period. Also, if you are a fan of the injector, check out the RazoRock Hawk V3 and get some Schick Blades for it. It is a fantastic shaver and the Prolines normally last me about 8 shaves.
Great thread. The worst cut I ever had was about 4 months ago, right on the apple. It got infected, I now have a small scar. What did it? After dozens of shaves, it was the ebony Golden 500. Dang but that had a suprising bite. Great shaver though. Mentioning it since it's very close to your no-part-with I2.
After a decade or so of traditional shaving I feel like I'm almost at the point where I could start selling off some of the razors I'm sure will never be my favorites. Maybe then I could settle down for more than a couple weeks with a razor. But I'm not sure I'm quite there . I am definitely a fan of the injector. I have a decent stock of Personna and Chinese Schick blades but haven't tried the Prolines yet. They're on my list for sure. The Hawk sounds interesting and I might just add it to the Christmas or Birthday list this year.
I actually have one of those black Golden 500's but I guess I haven't shaved with it in the past 3.5 years. Might be time to break it out again. It's in like new condition so it has been sitting in its box in the closet and I've only ever run a couple blades through it.
