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Atra vs Dorco twin vs Personna Twin Pivot Plus

So on my journey for the perfect shave I'm revisiting carts a bit. I've limited myself to two blade systems to keep price as low as possible. I ordered Dorco's twin blade system, the handle for which is compatible with name brand Atra carts. I'm three shaves into my first Dorco cart and so far so good- all DFS's with no irritation. They don't clog, and they give a good quick shave for when I'm feeling lazy.

But I'm curious if anyone has tried any or all of the Atra-compatible offerings, namely the actual Gillete Atra, Dorco twin blade and Personna Twin Pivot Plus. For cart users, I thought this might be a useful comparison.

One thing I do know is that, supposedly, the Personna carts are compatible with both Atra and Trac II handles- so they can be used as a pivoting or non pivoting head. AFAIK those are the only carts with cross compatibility like that. Plus them and the Dorcos are dirt cheap.

....No flames/trolling on how carts are evil and we shouldn't use them please :)
 
I really enjoyed the Personna when I used them, and there's the odd day I still will. However I use the TracII as I'm not a fan of pivoting. For the amount of money I pay for razor's, I'll tell them where to go, they won't tell me!
 
Hey,

I used the Atra for quite a few years after it was introduced. It was my daily shaver at that time and, IMO, it is one of the best
razors ever made. I still use it from time to time and buy the original carts on Amazon.

I never used any other brand than Gillette because the original blades work so well. I don't think the Gillette Atra carts cost any more than off brands so give them a try and get a really good shave.
 
But I'm curious if anyone has tried any or all of the Atra-compatible offerings, namely the actual Gillete Atra, Dorco twin blade and Personna Twin Pivot Plus.

One thing I do know is that, supposedly, the Personna carts are compatible with both Atra and Trac II handles- so they can be used as a pivoting or non pivoting head. AFAIK those are the only carts with cross compatibility like that.

Schick Super II Ultrex are also Atra/Trac II compatible, these are still available in certain parts of the world. These were the Walmart Wilkinson Sword Twin II Plus carts. Other carts are NOS Wilkinson Sword Profile which are also Atra/Trac II compatible. I prefer the NOS Wilkinson Sword Profile, but the Schick Super II Ultrex carts are good too. These were sold as Profile Plus.
 
Back in the '80s the only razor I used to use was the Atra.

I got really great shaves from it (super close) and saved the handles from them..(I have 3 of them)..

If the original Gillette cartridges were a little cheaper then I would probably still use it.

I hear good things though about the knock off cartridges.

Perhaps some day I will try some of those.
 
You can get inexpensive Gillette made Atra carts. I prefer the Russian made Gillette Slaloms (Eastern Europe/Russia Atra brand), although I believe production has been transferred to China. The Vector blades (Asian branded Atra) have the lubra strips, which to be honest I can do without:

$slalom.jpg

$Vector.jpg
 
I have used the Dorco dollar general twin blade cart and I thought it fairly on par with the Gillette sensor. The handle is cheap light plastic but for $3 with 5 carts what can you honestly expect. I would like to try the Dorco thin II because of the rubber strip. I just recently tried the Harry's and Gillette fusion pros hurls and they both feel od to me. They are really big and don't follow the contours of my face that well with out one of the 5 blades grabbing. I am defiantly in the 1-2 blade camp. I have thought of trying the Mach 3 out.
 
Atra is one of my favorites, too. For years I have been using Schick Slim Twin cartridges for its small size. It can easily reach tight areas under my nose and do a good job overall. I recently tried some unbranded cartridges from Amazon.com. It is said to be made by Personna but there is no way to tell. It is not as sharp as Schick and it lasts only 3-5 times while the Schick can stretch to 10 times (usually a month for me) nor it is slim, but it is cheap: $14 for 100 cartridges. I use Atra for quick shave as a backup, so the price serves me well.

Hey,

I used the Atra for quite a few years after it was introduced. It was my daily shaver at that time and, IMO, it is one of the best
razors ever made. I still use it from time to time and buy the original carts on Amazon.

I never used any other brand than Gillette because the original blades work so well. I don't think the Gillette Atra carts cost any more than off brands so give them a try and get a really good shave.
 
I have both Atra and Trac II handles. I use to be an exclusive Gillette cart user until they moved production to China and South Korea. There was a huge drop in quality. I tried the Personna in the 10 packs and they were packaged as personnas. They proved a little hard to clean, but very sharp and durable. Definitely better than the Asian Gillette carts. The bulk Personnas are factory seconds that didn't quite make the cut (my opinion) and for the most part they are ok but every once in a while I found one really bad. I am almost exclusive DE with Personna lab blue, and they are a great blade. Twin blade users will be forced into disposables soon as Gillette handles wear out. Schick ST2 and Gillette sensor 2 (aka good news) seem good options.
 
Contour/Atra is my favourite system too.
I’ve got a few vintage Contour carts (which were made in the factory right by my old school while I was actually sat in the school!). I got 21 shaves from the last one and it could have gone further, and I also have vintage Wilkinson II carts (which are phenomenal as you’d expect).

Here in UK you can get Contour carts by popping the heads off the Cien Twin disposables from Lidl (which are made by Lord/Feintechnik in Egypt) or the Superdrug Twin disposables (which are made by Personna) or the Dollar General Dorco TG-IIs which have just gone on sale in Poundstretcher.

The Cien Twins are ridiculously sharp to begin with whilst the Dorcos are quite mild but extremely smooth.
 
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