1, 2, 3 Blade Comparison

...and the test continues....

So when I last posted I was sharing my experience with new razors and my return to the razors of my past as an alternative to the high cost of bad shaving and the pleasure of returning to the days of traditional wet shaving.  In my opinion the Trac II style razor belongs in that category due to it's place in the history of shaving as well as the type of blade and shaving technique so closely related to the D/E blade.  As the old Schick add said promoting the Schick Super II; they just put both blades to work on the same side...or something to that effect.

Now I've been testing the difference between the Gillette Trac II and the Schick Hydro 3 to see if I'm just being too cheap, pissy about what I'm shaving with, or just wrong.  Here we go!

Using the same pre-shave technique for traditional shaving I've always used; wet my face in hot water a few time then soap up my face with a non-deoderant soap and let it set for about a minute, then rinse, lather up with my Arko stick and brush, let it set for about another minute and start shaving.  Using a Col. Conk Trac II handle and Gillette Trac II blades with the Aloe strip I get a BBS shave with two passes and maybe a little touch up on occasion.  Never any cuts, nicks and very little razor burn/irritation if any; only on that occasion that I press too hard, and you really don't need to with the Trac II.  Perfect shave. I love my Merkur 33C but the truth is for me to get that good a shave there will be the occasional cuts and nicks more often than not and there will always be razor burn and irritation that at times is so bad I can't shave for two days afterwards.  All the He-Man stuff aside; that's not what I want in a shave.  What I want is a clean, comfortable shave that isn't a miserable combination of loathing and BDSM style grooming.  I don't have a fetish for self torture.  I just want a decent shave.  Still love the old school ways; but only use the Merkur now as a novelty...and a reminder as to why I went on a search for the Trac II.  So you'd think that I'd declare victory and just stop with Trac II and be settled with it...Right?  Naw!  I want to prove to myself that I made the right decision.  I'm already saving a lot of money with the Trac II: Col. Conk handle is chrome plated metal and will last as long as a vintage razor, my son will inherit this handle.  Blades?  The actual Gillette Trac II's are cheaper than the 3,4,5 and six blade cartridges at a quarter of the price in a lot of cases.  Then there are the aftermarket twin blades by Personna that are even less expensive, made in the U.S.A. and are great blades.  After these there are some really good blades made for the Trac II in India that are as good as the Gillette blades themselves you can buy for pennies on the dollar.  At USRazor.com you can buy Supermax blades for the Trac II as cheap as good D/E blades.  So why go any further?  I just wanna know:)  So...here we go again!

I will never use and have never used a 4,5 or 6 blade razor and never will.  Yes, the 6 blade razor is out and you can go to DorcoUSA.com and see it.  And you should. Look closely at the picture of the blades in the cartridge and you'll notice the same thing I did: The second blade down from the top is bent.  It has a gentle upward bend and the next thing you'll notice is the space between the second blade and the lower 4 blades.  What do you think that will do to your face?  It will cut and nick the bejesus out of you on your first pass.  It will pull hair and cut flesh.  Is every 6 blade razor have this blemish?  Probably not.  But there comes a time when something just goes too far to work well.  Remember Murphy's Law: If something can go wrong, it will.  As far as I'm concerned the problem with these 4,5,6,10,23,72,143 blade razors (yes I exaggerate on purpose as there is no end in site as of yet) other than they cost more than they are worth and the profit margin is just plain consumer extortion is that they have finally fulfilled Murphy's law.  They have tested the boundries of 'how many blades does it take to get a perfect shave' past the point of failure.  And Gillette is the major villian in this drama.  More on that later; but for now, ask youself a question: Which product was the first product you used that gave you your best shave?  Now another question: What were you trying to replace when you thought you were trading up?  Why a 4 blade rather than the 3 blade you were just using?  A closer shave?  Did you get that or did you tell yourself it was closer because you paid more for the damned thing and had to justify your emotional decision to spend that money?  Because with the distance between the blades common sense tells you this: After the 3rd blade any beard not shaved by the first three blades is due to factors beyond the ability of the razor.  The face is presenting all the stubble the same way, your angle of approach has already done the job, and the first time you have to do any touch up at all with a 4,5,6 blade razor all you accomplished was learning that the new blades are doing the same job as the less expensive blades you were using before.  You just decided to pay more to think you were getting something better and you did not.  That's all.

Intro the Schick hydro 3.  Schick makes two versions of this razor; the Hydro 3 and Hydro 5.  I guess Schick said 'screw the middle man' and skipped a 4 blade version of this razor and went right to a 5 blade.  In my web surfing research about this razor here are the few things I notice:

• This 3 blade cartridge is Schick's main line cartridge razor and is marketed to compete with the Gillette Mach 3 as a better quality razor, an improved 'shaving system' with the guide bar on the bottom and the shaving oil despenser built into the top of the blade to release aloe, olive oil and other all natural oils to both slick and sooth the face during your shave.
• It is less expensive with longer lasting blades than the Gillette Mach razor.
• Reviews online by average users from Amazon.com to CVS to several other comment sections online rave about this razor and can't say enough bad about the Gillettte Mach...or any other product offered by Gillette.  It seems that right now a lot of men and women are not liking Gillette.

So with that; an attractive cartridge razor, less costly than it's competitor, and a desire to see if my old school razors were just as good as these expensive new fangled beard cutters, I went to my local CVS and bought one.  That's all; just the razor with the extra blade and a travel head guard.  No extra  blades until I try it out.   Following Schicks recommendations I bought a can of shaving gel as they say this razor works better with a gel shaving soap, so a can of CVS shaving gel was added to my purchase. I then went home and went to the bathroom and unpacked my new Hydro 3 and got ready to use a 3 blade razor for the first time in my life.
I hadn't shaved the day before so I started with a two day's beard thinking that if these blades were going to clog I'd find out with the first shave.  Using my usual prep as with any razor, once done I lathered up with the gel and let is set for a minute and picked up the Hydro and started from the neck up.  What was experienced after the first two strokes was just a little shock.  Remember; I have only shaved with a D/E and Trac II style razor my entire life. I wasn't ready for this. I actually looked at myself in the mirror with a raised eyebrow and a look of disbelief in my face.  I couldn't feel the blades.  I did not feel a blade against my face and doubted that the razor was shaving my face at all.  I was ready to throw this razor in the garbage can on the spot if when I touched the are I just shaved I felt beard stubble at all...but I didn't.  The area I had just shaved felt BBS (baby-butt-smooth) with one stroke and I didn't feel the blades.  Ok...maybe I was having a stroke and was losing nerve sensation in my damned head...it happens...keep shaving until I hit the floor, the experiment must go on!  I shaved, making one stroke at a time followed by staring at myself in the mirror in disbelief at the consistant sensation of not having a sharpened blade scrape in some manner across my face.  This can't be.  I'd just skipped shaving for two days due to severe razor burn caused by my Merkur 33C using a Shark razor blade (not a good blade for my face) so my face was still sensitive to the touch.  Where is the blades?  I finished my first pass of my entire face and then rinsed my face with hot water and was honestly shocked.  My first pass with the Schick Hydro 3 was a close with a 2 day beard as it would be after the 3rd of a 4-way shave using a D/E razor.  No shit.  That close.  This can't be.  All razors other than the venerable D/E and Trac II were rip offs incapable of providing even a pretense of a shave...not this!  I preped for my second full face pass and could feel the lubercating oils from this new Schick and decided this would be a 2-way shave.  First was with the grain and the next and final would be all against the grain.  No prisoners taken.  Let's go!

I repeated my standard pre-shave prep as always and checked the blades on the new Hydro 3 and found that there was no cloging to be found; the open back of the blade cartridge allowed the blades to be washed perfectly every time.  Damn Schick!  My Trac II looked sad hanging from the shaving stand.  Shock was still setting in!
I began to pull against the grain at the base of my neck and would work my way up my face against the grain all the way and was again amazed...no pull...no resistance...no cuts or nicks...nothing...and still no sense that a sharpened blade was making contact with my face.  The fluid released by the Schick was leaving my face feeling cool and soothed as I made each pass.  What was happening?  Was my trust in the implements of traditional wet shaving about to come crashing to earth?  Was I wrong all this time?  I was now shaving against the grain of my upper lip.  I was done shaving.  In two passes I had a closer more compfortable shave than was ever possible with my Merkur.  My Trac II was great!  But with a sensitive face even my Trac II left mild razor burn from time to time.  Not this Schick Hydro.  Not at all.  It was in fact the best shave with only two minor complaints to issue:

• While the new Schick left no stubble anywhere on my face...but it did leave individual hairs in a few places...hardly enough to be worth mentioning...nit-picking to be sure...but relevant as neither the Merkur or Trac II ever did that...but really?  Barely enough to notice at all; only a few indivdual hairs in a few places...the one single hair of stubble...just one; not a patch of stubble.  
• The area at the base of my nostriles under the nose was hard to get.

I still had to do some touch up on my 2 - 3 rough spots on my face.  Every man has them.  Every man has 1, 2,  or three spots on their face that fight being shaved.  Rough spots. Mine are the area one inch to the left and right of the chin long the jaw line, a one square inch patch just past the bottom of the chin before the neck, and the base of the neck where beard grows in every direction...but only the Trac II was ever able to shave these areas smooth and only with some work and only with razor burn...with the Merkur only with blood.  The Schick did it with no blood or razor burn.  None.
So in terms of whose best in qualtiy I'm shocked to say that the Schick Hydro wins hands down with the Trac II coming in almost tied with the Hydro except for the razor burn.  Because of that; in all fairness, the Schick Hydro really did kick the Trac II's ass.  The Schick gave a better shave and I was convinced that the 3 blade honestly offers something in qualtiy that was superior to the twin blade and was technically superior as well.  For the first shave.  But could it hold up?  And what about cost?

Consistency:

I can get about 6 - 8 shaves with my Trac II before I have to change blades.  With a D/E  I can get about 4 - 5 shaves before needing to change.  As of today I have shaved 9 times in a row with the Schick Hydro 3 and I can honesty say that this morning's 9th shave was a good as the Hydro's 1st shave.  I don't know how long the shaving liquid in the blade head is supposed to last; but it's still lasting after 9 shaves so far.  So here's where I'm at: If I can get 14+ shaves with one blade and every shave is as good as the first, the Schick Hydro 3 will have beat every other razor I've ever used.  Hands down/Done.  Five more days to go to pass that finish line and then see how many days after that I can get.  We'll see.  Remember; I'm not in any way helping the Schick or cutting it any slack.  I'm holding the Schick to much higher standards that I have the other razors.  Why?  If Schick is going to charge more then as a consumer I will expect and demand more or I won't use it.  And here's the kicker to this test: At $12.00 - 14.00 for a pack of 4 blades for the Hydro, If I can get 18 - 21 shaves out of one blade, guess what?  that Schick $4.00 blade just became as cheap and my Trac II blades and cost effective enough to replace the use of a D/E blade and razor.
The beat goes on....
When these blades give out I'll write a post about it and make my final decision and commit to one style of razor over the other then.  Until then...the test continues!
Check back soon! This was written on Day 6. I'll make a post every day I notice any decrease of quality or problems with that days shave.
WDT
(Day 7: I'm experiencing some drag for the first time. Stubble left just below sideburns and under nostrils.  Not something the Trac II does.  A very little irritation on the sides of the face.)

Why The Switch To Vintage Razors...

As someone that started shaving in 1968 with my first razor being my Dad's old Gillette Tech three piece; I'm was very interested when I read that many men are making the switch back to vintages razors.  While I had felt for a long time that the cost of both the modern cartridge razors and blades were getting too expensive; I thought I was pretty much alone with others of a 'frugal' nature.  I find I'm wrong for all the right reasons.

It's not just the ever increasing price.  It's the poor quality and the marketing of antiquity built into an item that should just last much longer.  Damn it!  I remember when the Gillette Trac II came out, I was one of the millions of American men that received his round can in the mail with the first Gillette Trac II demonstrator in it and I remember thinking "How novel!  A razor in a can! They're really pushing this!" and with my curiosity peaked I grabbed a can opener and went to work anxious to see if the real thing looked and shaved like the one on the t.v. commercials.  And it pretty much did.  No, you couldn't make a long, swift swipe from sideburn to chin following the jaw line and end up with a smile on your face and a baby smooth section of skin that shined back at you in the mirror.  But you could use the same shaving prep and technique used with the good ol' double edged razor and if you had a medium/heavy beard like me notice three things right away:
1.) You only had to do a two-way shave (not a four-way) to get a perfectly smooth shave with very little if any touch-up.  I did no touch-up.  And I mean baby soft and smooth skin.  As to the "problem areas" all men have with their beards...they were gone.  No stubble or cuts and nicks due to the typical problem areas such as the chin area or neck.
2.) Absolutly no razor burn.  None.  NaDa!  The baine of shaving finally defeated!  Why, I could splash Skin Bracer on all over my face with abandon and a smile on my face as for the first time since I was 17 experienced no searing, burning shock like I did with my D/E razor!  OH!  These were modern times indeed!
3.) Due to the quality of the shave my shaving time was shorter and being trouble free I, for the first time, really enjoyed my morning shave. Really enjoyed it.

I packed my Gillette Super Speed away in my old Army toilet article bag; smiling at the tiny beast one last time, thinking "You've blead me for the last time!"  The truth is the Super Speed seldom nicked or cut unless I just wasn't paying attention or in a hurry.  But still!  A moderen razor made it possible for me to not even think about technique!  Again: Modern times...

I remained happy with my Gillette Trac II until during some t.v. show I saw the commercial for the new Gillette Atra.  What looked to be a silver plated metal handle was holding a twin blade that rocked and moved with your face as you pulled the razor across your beard, promising an even smoother, closer more compfortable shave...if that was possible...comparied to the venerable Trac II! I decided on the spot I must have one!  Like the commercial said: "You deserve the best!"  By God I did, too!  So, on payday I went right out and bought one. The following Saturday morning I opened my new Gillette Atra razor and the first thing I noticed was the silver handle was plactic; not metal. A little disapointed (we still thought of plastic stuff as cheap back then) I consoled myself with the knowlege that I was about to experience a shave that was better than the Trac II I fell in love with!  I started with my typical Trac II style two-way shave...then added the traditional third way...then the fourth.  I thought "Ok, maybe it's the tilting blade that requires it to give an ever better shave.  But I knew it wasn't a better shave.  I have three problem areas on my face: The area covering about two square inches behind the chin, the jaw area next to ear lobe, and the entire lower neck.  Those areas weren't as 'clean' as with the Trac II with some minor stubble left and the under-chin area still feeling like it really hadn't been shaved at all.  Techinque!  It was my fault!  I just needed to re-learn how to shave with this new razor and I would experience the shave I was seeking.  After all; I had committed to this new Atra and had retired my Trac II to the toilet bag holding his older brother, the Super Speed.  I would not give up!
A few months had went by when one night I was watching Saturday Night Live and saw the routine by Dan Android poking fun at these new fangled razors and the American male consumer ending with the words: "...because you will believe anything!."  My laughter was tamed by a nagging thought: Is Gillette pulling something over on me?  After all; I remembered the first Trac II commercial that advertised the fact that "the first blade shaves as the second blade catches the beard the first blade missed giving you a closer shave..." and then changed to "The first blade pulls the beard out as it cuts allowing the second blade to cut the hair before it can retract giving you a closer shave..." Time to call Bullshit.  On a summer Saturday night while sitting on a bar stool at my favorite watering hole I even noticed in the mirror behind the bar the stubble under my chin.  I felt betrayed!  And dumb.  The next payday it was time to buy razor blades and I spent a little extra to preform an experiment.  I went to Thrifty's Drug Store and purchased a new pack of Atra blades, Trac II blades, a tin of Gillette "The Spoiler" D/E blades and I included a pack of Schick "Plus Platinum" since they were on sale.  We were Gillette men in our family but I figured might as well throw in an unknown variable.  Over the next two weeks I put all my razors and the blades; both old and new, to the test.  There was to be a reckoning!  An answer was to be had! What was the better shave?  I had to know!  I pulled out all three of my razors, cleaned them and prepared to do a two week test shaving with a different razor and blade every other day for that two week period.  I figured what ever razor gave me the best shave two days in a row both weeks would be declared the winner and the losers would be tossed in the garbage can.  No prisoners would be taken!
I started with the Trac II and found that over all I was getting pretty much the same great shave I got the first time with the only exception being the newer blades just didn't do as good a job; felt somewhat duller and had more drag.  But still no stubble when done.
Next I used the Atra...with a feeling of distain; and found that it failed to do for my medium/heavy beard what the Trac II did so well and even after a four-way shave there was stubble in all the same places. And every against the grain pull across the beard under my chin where the beard grows side-ways resulted in the same sensation of the beard being torn out with dozens of blood spots were beard once was; the same at the lower neck and jaw.  I grew to hate that razor. It flunked the first week with my wondering why I tolerated it so long.
Finally I used the Gillette Super Speed, with a few minor changes.  Instead of my typical latrine shave of fast-and-furious with the grain and quick touch-up with just hot water to "get done" I practiced the technique of shaving taught to me by my Dad.  Prep by washing my face and leaving hot soap on my beard for about a minute or more, then rinse the face and lather up leaving a thick layer of cream and let it set while I run hot water over the razor at the blade, then using just a little pressure shave first with the grain, wet/re-lather/diagonally to the grain little or no pressure, repeat across the grain, repeat and finish against the grain using the Gillette "The Spoiler" blade.  Result: Perfect shave. Just as good as the Trac II if not a little better.  The following week I changed my experiment by eliminating the Atra (now in the garbage) and switched the Trac II to new blades with the compfort strip and the Super Speed to the Schick Plus Platinum.  Winner take all.
The newer generation of Gillette Trac II blades simply were not as good as the original ones. They felt not quite as sharp, there was a little drag not noticed on the original blades to me.  The aloe strip at the top of the cartridge didn't really do anything I could notice and when it wore down made the drag even worse; and if that meant I had to change blades then all that did was drive up the expense of the blades.  Always possessing a 'frugal' nature the cost was important to me and so was quality. The next thing I noticed was the chrome piece that ran down the handle of the Trac II which was part of the razor's head was coming loose at the bottom. This basically meant that the head would come off in the near future.  At this time Gillette had stopped selling the Trac II handles and that posed a problem.  Switch to the Schick Super II?  By this time these two companies were already starting to come out with new razors meant to replace the old ones.  How long would the Super II be around? Was the average American man supposed to buy a new razor every years now? So while the Trac II was still giving an exellent shave (but still not as good as the original) how long would the handle last?  I bought the Trac II just a few years before!  It was now 1981 and the Gillette Super Speed I bought at an Army PX in 1971 still looked and worked like it did the first day I used it!  With a little regret I put the Gillette Trac II back in the toliet kit and knew it was not going to pass the test.  The great little plastic razor was not intended by it's maker to last.  It would not be a razor passed down from father to son like it's older siblings.  It was part of the 'throw-away' culture that has taken over a lot of American consumer goods. And a shame that was.  Had it been made out of metal it would be in a class all it's own.  After-market metal ones were unknown if there were even out there.  A great little razor was designed to have a short life; only to be replaced by similar throw-away razors costing more with more expensive blades that were not as good...over and over again.  Sad.  A shaving razor built to not just last forever but to be part of the man that owned it was about to disappear.  Modern times.
Up to the plate stepped my 1971 Gillette Super Speed.  Still solid, shiny, beefy and ready for work.  This week with the Schick Plus Platinum blades (not to be confused with the older Platinum Plus, two entirely different blades by this maker) never tried by me before and what ever difference unknown until now.  The smooth mechanical operation of the Super Speed always flawless opened it's butterfly doors with all it's heft and shine to accept it's competitors blade; always ready do go to work and do an excellent job.  Little did I know.

Schick was not in the business of making D/E razors and blades.  In fact it's flag ship was the injector razor which was "The closest thing to a straight razor you can get!" as one old ad proclaimed. A solid and tough peice of steel meant to hold one edged blade that was thick and very sharp; with the head designed to always be at the perfect angle.  A Bakelite or other plastic handle that seemed to last for decades attached designed to be non-slip.  Simple, masculine and beautiful all at once.  But always second to Gillette due to the luck of the draw that Gillette gained when the U.S. Army gave the contract to provide soldiers with a razor kit to take into the field.  The majority of these soldiers bought Gillette again and again after returning home to civilian life; so good a product it was.  Schick held it's ground but it was always ground behind Gillette.  So Schick held it's ground while occasionally developing products to also give Gillette competition; and compete it did.
Few people know that Schick made two D/E razors during it's existence. Both exellent razors with the first being the Schick Krona. The Krona was named such so as to promote the Schick D/E blade by the same name; Schick always used it's razors to promote their blades.  The Krona razor was a beautiful black handled razor accented with a stainless steel dial at the bottom of the longer handle to open the butterfly doors of the razor to accept the blade and a brushed metal head with much debate if the head was nickel or stainless steel.  The longer handle and it's overall masculine appearance was quiet fetching and it was made for about six years before being withdrawn from the Schick line-up.  It sold well and the new design of it's shaving surface made it a gentle but at the same time more aggressive razor than Gillette and to this day is a prized possession of the wet shaver.

Next came the Schick Special which was changed to the Schick Platinum; both names of Schick razor blades with the razor as almost an afterthought.  The Platinum (as it was finally to be called) was an unsual razor to say the least.  With a 'V' shaped head design the entire razor was made of plastic/polymers that made it a very durable razor with the only metal parts being the butterfly head and braceing itself.  The head was made out of what today would be called 'moly-chorme' and as such would never rust or corrode like the nickle plating of the past razors did. No one knows what Schick had planed for the razor itself as it was as usual being used for a platform to market a new razor blade; but the razor itself was suddenly very popular as it was so different from any D/E razor before. (see pic)

And before anyone could find out how the Schick Platinum razor would be received by American men...it died a sudden death called the Gillette Trac II. The Trac II is seen as the single reason the age of the double edged razor came to an end with the last Super Speed being made in 1985.  But back to rest of the story about Schick blades...
Love 'em or hate 'em; Schick will always go down in history for one thing: Best American Made Razor Blades.  Gillette razor blades were absolutely horrible.  Know to rust, prone to chip, just the most God awful damned blades ever made and they got away with it because they had no competition.  And the average American man (my Dad included) thought they were the greatest thing in the world. We didn't know any different is the only reason why.  Nothing to compare them too.  Schick changed that.  When Wilkinson Sword came to America in 1956 with their razor blades that were stainless steel and did not rust or chip, the razor blade world changed forever in America.  And Schick while standing it's ground with it's great single edged injector razor also got into the razor blade wars with their own D/E blades.  Ever since the reputation has stuck: Schick makes the best American made razor blades.  The Schick Plus Platinum was the last D/E razor blade made by Schick and is still seen as the best it ever made.  When matched with the gentle shaving Gillette Super Speed I felt I had the best of both worlds.  A non-aggressive razor and the sharpest blade available and no pressure had to be applied during any part of my shave.  No nicks or cuts, no razor burn, and at least 6 - 7 shaves per blade.  Cost?  Back then about $0.15/blade...and that was expensive back then...but worth it.  Compare that to $1.50 - $3.50 per cartridge blade today and only 3 - 5 shaves before you have to change blades due to clogged and dull blades.  It's the clogging I hated.  Schick fixed that too with the Ultrex but they didn't keep that cartridge blade on the market long.  The Gillette Super Speed matched with either the Gillette 'The Spoiler' or the Schick Plus Platinum gave me the best shave over the other two razors.  Remember that Merkur blades were not widely available all the time, I stuck to American made blades and razors in this test.  And this is based on my face, beard, and shaving style.
And not much has changed since either.  I still shave with the old double edged razor and own a few of them ranging from Merkur to Gillette to the Schick Krona and Platinum along with a Feather Popular.  And yes; I still shave with an aftermarket Trac II clone from time to time, a Supermax S II that does an even better job than the last Track II blades I purchased.  But what I love is the vintage double edged safety razor for the best shave can get.  Today I use Feather, Merkur and Personna blades.  Once in a while I see some Schick Plus Platinum blades on some site or on Ebay and yes I buy them.  I bet they come back in a couple of years if the conversion to D/E continues.  We'll see.  But with four new American companies making American made three piece safety razors now, and dozens of D/E razors being sold in the U.S. while American men are turning their backs on cartridge razors and the rip off they have become; don't be surprised if Gillette doesn't bring back the D/E razor in some form soon.
More on that later...
W.T.