Well hello Gents.here's a can of worms to open..What do you think was the true shaver that gave the best shaves overall?..So many razors fizzled out for many reasons.straights,shavettes,slants,vibrationals.. We all have our choices,Chevy,Ford,Dodge..But really.which type truly gave the best bang for the buck? and why? Bases loaded...Have fun with this.
Trac II. Efficient, it can provide BBS with no irritation. Idiot proof. Couldn't be more intuitive. Disposable but blade life can be somewhat lengthened with care. Versatile and gentle. Can also be used for a boy's first time shaves, as well as women's legs. Great head shaver too. Now available in generics that are so cheap they can easily be bought in bulk. Only the plastic head adds to landfills, not a handle too as with most throwaways. All you need in addition is your choice from a wide variety of handles.
The Trac II was/is a good razor. The adjustable cartridges for it are even better than the regular pre-lube strip carts. Modern carts for it are just okay. (Edit: the Wilkinson Bonded was just as good, if not better, than the Trac II.) The best "bang for the buck" razor is the Rolls Razor, no contest. The learning curve is a bit steep, and it's not a plug and play type razor. More maneuverable than a straight razor, but with the exact same type of shave. With some care, you can get harshly sharp blades, or really smooth shaves, depending on how long you strop it. And a well maintained Rolls blade will last 25+ years. The really, really funny part, is that you can still buy them for less than they sold for new, 50 to 80 years ago. This means spare parts are readily available, and cheap, should you need them. They were extremely well made and at one time were quite popular.
Yep. Considered posting it first but since it no longer exists... There was a time I would agree and, in truth, I still pretty much do, but I was thinking of the question in terms of currently available and marketable. Sadly, something as relatively simple to maintain like the Rolls would still be far too labor intensive for impatient, lazy, low attention span men these days.
After doing this for a while, I've come to think there's no perfect razor and almost any razor will be good enough if you learn to use it well.
In that case, the Shake Sharp would be my follow up choice. Edit: due to blade longevity with carbons. It's a good shaver with stainless blades too. If wide availability is one of the main criteria, then the Tech represents the biggest technological leap forwards of perhaps any razor, and the vast majority of modern DE razors are based on the same design principles.
I pretty much agree to this, but need to extend it a bit. Spend a few months learning a razor and you will be rewarded with shaves only as good as your lather allows. The razor cannot be looked at alone. The best shaving technique with subpar lather will limit the quality of the shave.
You can be the best lather maker ever, and still screw it up. A perfect lather for a DE shave is inadequate for straights, and the same, vice versa. Each razor subtype has it's own lather requirements, with some overlap between them. Getting the slickness to cushion ratio right is a crucial element in a shave. A lather that isn't slick enough will make a straight razor feel dull and tuggy, when in reality, there's nothing wrong with the edge at all, and fixing the lather will save the shave. It's probably a subject that should see more discussion in the forums.
I agree on the Wilkinson Bonded razor. I've used one a few times and it does produce very nice shaves.
A few reasons, but the one that is relevant to this discussion is the skin stretching feature of the bar guard.
If I ever go back to cart razors it will be the Schick Tracer FX. I think this was an improvement in function over the Trac II. I used this Schick system for many years before jumping on the classic DE Train.
that's very interesting.i always assumed a well built lather would suite most shave needs.i love residual slickness between lathers.but i only use DE..
Most soaps will just work okay, however the lather. But I think extra slickness comes with a thinner lather, and certain razors shave better with a more cushioned lather. If you want an easy way to play around with various lather consistancies, Kiss my Face shave cream is about the most flexible lather maker in that regard.
