A possibly unpopular take on Techs

[Phoenixkh]

Sorry folks, I am a died in the wool Canadian Pre-War Tech fan. Love that razor.

My Top 6 Techs:
England Tech/NEW Hybrid
Canada Pre-War
German #32
England Flat Bottom
Canada Post-War
England #24

The USA Pre-War and Post-War Techs are also great.

All of these Techs are wonderful razors. I enjoy shaving with all of them.

David,

Based on your previous posts and the one above, I've done some searches for the NEW Hybrid and Canada Pre-War techs. I've found a couple but they are cost prohibitive for me.

I mean, I could buy them but I could buy two high end modern razors for the same price.... maybe more. An Overlander and Blutt 1.2. for instance. So, as I've mentioned, I'll shave with my England Flat Bottom Tech (newly replated by Chris Spencer) and my England NEW Raised Flat Bottom until the end of the year, with the Claymore Evo for SEptember, of course. and thrown in sporadically for the rest of the year as well.

 

[never-stop-learning]

David,

Based on your previous posts and the one above, I've done some searches for the NEW Hybrid and Canada Pre-War techs. I've found a couple but they are cost prohibitive for me.

I mean, I could buy them but I could buy two high end modern razors for the same price.... maybe more. An Overlander and Blutt 1.2. for instance. So, as I've mentioned, I'll shave with my England Flat Bottom Tech (newly replated by Chris Spencer) and my England NEW Raised Flat Bottom until the end of the year, with the Claymore Evo for SEptember, of course. and thrown in sporadically for the rest of the year as well.

Kim,

I'd be perfectly happy with the EFB. As I said, all of the Techs I listed are great razors and will provide great results.

If you want to fool around with a Pre-War Tech, grab a USA Pre-War Tech. They are still quite reasonably priced.

As an aside: Lots of folks would tell you that my preference for the Canadian Pre-War Tech is all in my head.

 

[Frank Discussion]

I currently have 3 Techs that I use regularly. A gold 1946-50 a 1951 and 1962 one. I had a nice shave today using my 1951 Tech with the Proraso green soap and a Wilkinson blade on its 2nd run. I hardly ever do 3 passes but today was my day off, so I took the time. It gave a perfect BBS shave. I am also just fan of the simplicity of the 3-piece razor design. It's stood the test of time for over 100 years.

 

[VintageGent]

I absolutely love my fat handle Techs.

That being said, they are the least intuitive razors I own. Am I right in assuming the Tech has a smaller “window” of shaving angles that work well; and could that be why some of us have to work harder to get a great shave out of them?

My Gillette Old Type and My Ever Ready 1912 Improved let me know, in no uncertain terms, the angle they need.

My Gillette NEWs (LC & SC) have an angle they excel at, but they are very open-minded, and tolerate my desire to go steeper or shallower as my mood takes me.

My Super Speeds? Angle, Schmangle. They don’t care. I can shave well with them upside down, in the dark, with no mirror. (Or soap, if I’m honest).

But my Techs are like having a fickle spouse.

How are you, dear? “I’m fine.”
Uh, you seem tense. “No, I’m fine.”
You sure? “Don’t worry about me.”
Er, ok, if you say so.
Wait, WTH?! My face is full of whiskers, and we’ve been over this 3 times! Why didn’t you tell me?!
“Well if I have to tell you,… hmmf! You never listen!”

 

[95strat]

I gave my per-war to a friend, and he loves it. He moved to DE shaving because he had skin irritation issues.

I still have my British Fat Bottom and Canadian 1932. I favor the Fat Bottom. I use it almost exclusively after shaving with a FB for about a year. The Canadian is a close second. I miss the Pre War, but it's being put to good use.

 

[VintageGent]

I absolutely love my fat handle Techs.

That being said, they are the least intuitive razors I own. Am I right in assuming the Tech has a smaller “window” of shaving angles that work well; and could that be why some of us have to work harder to get a great shave out of them?

My Gillette Old Type and My Ever Ready 1912 Improved let me know, in no uncertain terms, the angle they need.

My Gillette NEWs (LC & SC) have an angle they excel at, but they are very open-minded, and tolerate my desire to go steeper or shallower as my mood takes me.

My Super Speeds? Angle, Schmangle. They don’t care. I can shave well with them upside down, in the dark, with no mirror. (Or soap, if I’m honest).

But my Techs are like having a fickle spouse.

How are you, dear? “I’m fine.”
Uh, you seem tense. “No, I’m fine.”
You sure? “Don’t worry about me.”
Er, ok, if you say so.
Wait, WTH?! My face is full of whiskers, and we’ve been over this 3 times! Why didn’t you tell me?!
“Well if I have to tell you,… hmmf! You never listen!”

Realizing that the problem was me, not my tools, I decided to dedicate myself to my Techs until either I figured them out, or I threw in the towel. RESULTS:

1. Once I dialed in the angle, I got consistently good, relatively easy shaves with my '46-'50 fat handle Tech. But no matter how hard I tried, my '38-'45, triangle slot, fat handle Tech gives me fits. I'm almost tempted to think there may be some damage to the head, although I can't find any.
2. To settle the debate, I scooped up a great deal on a minty, 1954 (Z3) ball end Tech. And? Brilliant. Shaves like butter. Even better than my postwar fat handle. My first attempt gave me an irritation free, 2-pass DFS.
3. So, both of my postwar, oval slot Techs shave circles around my prewar, triangle slot. It is absolutely night and day difference between the "prewar" vs. postwar Techs to my face. Perhaps I just do better with more full blade support (as the best razors for me are the Old Type, NEW SC, and now postwar Tech).

So the ball end Tech has earned a place in my regular rotation. It could easily be a daily driver, or a milder, comfy choice for when I've overdone it with my Old Type or NEW SC. It may sometimes wear a fat handle, or a Durham Duplex handle, though. ;-)

 

[Joezamboni]

I’ve been slowly using two blades to the end on the techs I’ve acquired and am keeping notes for a good review. I will agree the post war etched cap American tech is smooth, pretty close shave quality and requires no attention with the right blade (Polsilver).

When I’m done I’ll post a pretty straightforward full review. I have yet to try the english Hybrid or Flat Bottom so those will be a surprise for me.

 

[LJBraaten]

Every once in awhile I give my Prewar Tech another chance. Maybe my technique was bad before, maybe the lather was wrong, maybe the whole thing was just a big misunderstanding? But no. Every time, without fail, the Prewar doesn’t perform as well as my Postwar, and my reward is twice the irritation for half the shave.

 

[VintageGent]

Every once in awhile I give my Prewar Tech another chance. Maybe my technique was bad before, maybe the lather was wrong, maybe the whole thing was just a big misunderstanding? But no. Every time, without fail, the Prewar doesn’t perform as well as my Postwar, and my reward is twice the irritation for half the shave.

Exactly the same for me.

 

[LRod]

I had a few post war Tech's and never got along with them. I'm a 2 pass shaver that avoids ATG.
They were way too mild and lacked efficiency! I sold them!
For me to get a decent result, I'd have to bump it up to 4 passes and that for me is a big no due to irritation.
So I tend to stick to the more aggressive/efficient razors that give me what I need without any worry of irritated skin.
At some point I will try a British flat bottom though. As you stated, it's considered the best for many.
Now for another one though (non-Gillette):
I ran into a gold Star Model 100 which is essentially American Safety Razor's version of the Tech.
It's truly what I'd love for a Tech to be. Smooth as can be but very efficient! A joy to use!
Hard to see differences in the design but apparently they're in there because it shaves nothing like a Tech.
One of the few vintage razors I've kept and will not get rid of!

 

[kingfisher]

I had a few post war Tech's and never got along with them. I'm a 2 pass shaver that avoids ATG.
They were way too mild and lacked efficiency! I sold them!
For me to get a decent result, I'd have to bump it up to 4 passes and that for me is a big no due to irritation.
So I tend to stick to the more aggressive/efficient razors that give me what I need without any worry of irritated skin.
At some point I will try a British flat bottom though. As you stated, it's considered the best for many.
Now for another one though (non-Gillette):
I ran into a gold Star Model 100 which is essentially American Safety Razor's version of the Tech.
It's truly what I'd love for a Tech to be. Smooth as can be but very efficient! A joy to use!
Hard to see differences in the design but apparently they're in there because it shaves nothing like a Tech.
One of the few vintage razors I've kept and will not get rid of!

The Star seems to be well liked by almost everybody who has actually owned and used one.