August 31, 2016
Just in case any of you fine fellows wondered "Whatever happened to ol' whatshisname?" I hate to disappoint, but....... I'm baaaack!
Unfortunately most of this month was spent offline as I had a busier than usual travel schedule for work and pleasure. Hope to be around more in September.
Though I wasn't online much, I still shaved!
Adjustable August- RECAP
DEs - Gillette Fatboy and Slim
Injectors - PAL and Schick M1
I spent the month comparing 4 adjustable razors, giving me about 5-6 shaves with each. In one sentence - a month of great shaves, where I discovered preferences, but no clear favorite.
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View attachment 112052
The first two weeks were spent with my two DEs, using my best "ride the cap" focus - with pleasant amazement about how close the shaves were and how many resulted in next-day shaves needing just one pass. (I generally need two passes.)
I had only ever shaved with the two DEs during month of August last year - so just about a dozen shaves with each. I had not had any shaves this good back then.
I then switched to about two weeks with the injectors. I had previously used the Pal for 5-6 shaves and the Schick was new to me.
Most of the injector shaves were experimenting with angles and blades. The blade angle did not come immediately with either razor, but I was soon getting shaves that put the next days' shave into the 1-pass category as the DEs had.
The last four shaves of the month were "split-shaves" one side with a DE, the other with an injector.
Man, let me tell you these are all fine razors. After each shave I could not tell which side had been shaved best. Each side had BBS or minor stubble, yet in the same spots on both side and the result left me with a one-pass shave for the next day.
I enjoyed all razors for their ability to be dialed up or down and I experimented with using lower settings to do ATG on my chin, or dialed up to test buffing WTG on the chin.
All four have their design differences that may appeal one way or another to different shavers. I felt I could use more pressure with the Schick than the Pal. The taller head of the Fatboy seemed to make riding the cap smoother, the weight of the Slim seemingly more maneuverable.
In the end, all four will be kept for the uniqueness of their adjustability, experimented with more, and used on a regular basis in the future. All of them are keepers
A word about blades...YMMV of course.
All DE shaves were with NOS 7 o'clock Blues - my current favorite DE blade, which never disappoints me.
The Pal used both the Chinese and Japanese Schicks. Both are currently manufactured blades. The Chinese were fine as usual, but the shaves with a new Japanese were noticeably smoother and sharper, even though they dulled sooner than the Chinese.
My favorite with the Schick was a toss up between the Japanese Schick and a NOS Dutch Schick. Oddly, I had one shave with a NOS Schick Twin that was tuggy and rejected. I will have to revisit this in the future as most of you Injector-heads swear by the combo of the Schick Adjustable with a Twin blade.
Next up - SE SEptember!
Cheers!
RT
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