TSD Challenge: the humble Travel Tech. Identify production date codes

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by PLANofMAN, May 20, 2016.

  1. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    Ah, the humble, oft overlooked Travel Tech. Most people end up with one kicking around in their shaving "junk box."

    The sacred, infallible Badger & Blade wiki lists the production dates for the travel tech as "early sixties to late sixties."

    The problem I have with this is that those razors all had date codes, and there were thousands made. Identifying the start and end dates for this razor ought to be a trivial task.

    I have a H2 travel tech, 1962 date code. Anyone else have date codes for Travel Tech's? Let's get a list going.

    Picture of a travel tech. Not mine.
    [​IMG]

    Edit: poking holes in the end date already!

    THE LIST
    Earliest start date:
    2nd Quarter, 1962

    Latest end date:
    3rd Quarter, 1973

    H2- 1962
    I1- 1963
    J2- 1964
    K4- 1965
    L3- 1966
    T3- 1973
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2016
  2. twhite

    twhite Peeping Tom

    Not sure if this one counts. It is a T3
    [​IMG][​IMG]


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  3. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    Poking holes in the end date already.
    3rd quarter, 1973. Excellent, @twhite, most excellent.
     
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  4. Rusty blade

    Rusty blade The Good Humor Man

    Great thread Ryan. I have a very nice example of a Travel Tech. Mine is a K4 and that would put it in 1965. It is a great little razor and it shaves wonderfully..mild and efficient.
    Tech 2.jpg
    Travel Tech 1.jpg
     
  5. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    Added your date code to the list. I shaved with mine today. Probably the second shave I've done with it. Got a surprisingly good shave.
     
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  6. swarden43

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

    I have an L3. I keep it in the rotation and will be used Tuesday with my Voskhod Challenge.
     
  7. cmorris357

    cmorris357 catching flies.........

    Mine is a 1st quarter 1963, so not much help in pushing the dates, but here's a few pics. image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg
     
  8. John Ruschmeyer

    John Ruschmeyer Well-Known Member

    When did they change the head design? Looks like sometime between '63 and '65.
     
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  9. White731

    White731 Well-Known Member

    Another helpful thread. Thanks, Ryan.
     
  10. Spyder

    Spyder Well-Known Member

    WP_20160520_008.jpg An L/3 on the left and a C/2 on the right. If you look carefully, you can see a slight difference between the lettering. Little buggers do shave pretty good:)
     
  11. PLAla

    PLAla Bit Shy of a Full Puck

    I have a J2 Travel Tech. That's 1964, I believe. Handy little razor!

    IMG_0150.JPG

    IMG_0151.JPG

    IMG_0426.JPG
     
  12. jmaier

    jmaier Well-Known Member

    Great idea, Ryan. These little travel techs don't get enough love. I used to have an I-2 in my rotation.

    [​IMG]
     
  13. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    In 1964 Gillette switched from brass top caps with an etched logo to Zamak/zinc caps with a debossed Gillette logo. If I remember correctly, the post and threads were still made from brass and were sintered into the cap. This was standard for all Tech razors, not just the travel tech. I'm not sure where the aluminum headed Techs fit in there, or when the travel tech switched to the cross-hatched aluminum handle.

    Here is a picture that shows many of the different styles of Tech razor over the years, courtesy of @mr-razor
    [​IMG]
     
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  14. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    Is the C2 a travel tech with the pint sized handle?
     
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  15. Spyder

    Spyder Well-Known Member

    WP_20160521_001.jpg WP_20160521_002.jpg
    Yep, I'm wondering by your date code info, if this is a frankenrazor.
     
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  16. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    Yeah. It's a frankenrazor. They went to the stubby aluminum handle for the later model travel techs. On the other hand, you don't see many 1982 razors around, so it's fairly rare, even though the handle doesn't match.
     
  17. Douglas Carey

    Douglas Carey Wildman

    Gillette J2
    Gillette J2.JPG

    Gillette J2a.JPG

    Gillette L3

    Gillette L3.JPG

    Gillette L3b.JPG

    Thanks for the information.
     
  18. Bezoar

    Bezoar Active Member

    it wasn't called the travel tech for most of its life. at the end, say 1969 onwards I have only seen it packaged in a simple blister pack as the "sportsman"
     
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  19. brit

    brit in a box

    thank you again.i sold a mid 50s version from england. i will be replacing it at some point.still learning the regular handled ones....
     
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  20. kfbrady

    kfbrady Well-Known Member

    I have 3 but none of them push the known start and end dates.

    My '64 J1 has the older style embossed Gillette logo (and not the even older etched logo on the brass capped models), while my '66 L2 and L3 both have the newer "modern" sans serif embossed logos.
     
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