Chandu
I Waxed The Badger.
This is just a quick shave off type review.
Today I pitted the Dorco against the Gillette. Recently, I bought 16 Dorco Pace 3 heads from Dorco USA for $16.99. I've used them and liked them. It occurred to me that I've never used a Gillette Mach 3 or Mach 3 Turbo. So I picked up a Mach 3 and decided to compare how it shaves to the Dorco.
I lathered up with C.O. Bigelow and had a go with both carts today, using each razor on 1/2 my face. The Dorco Pace 3 is on a Pace 6 handle (all Dorco pace with 3+ blades fit handles intended for 3 to 7 blades).
Both razors shaved well. I think the closeness is the same or very similar. Both razors glided well. There was slightly more blade feel from the Dorco on the first pace. Both rinse very well, no clogging at all. I shave daily so I can't speak in this review how they do on multiple days of growth.
Costs: Dorco for 16 carts = 16.99 (Dorco USA) and Gillette for 15 carts = 21.99 (Walmart.com), so roughly $5 difference. Not enough to matter to me in the scheme of things.
Of course the costs I have listed are only acquisition cost. What if one brand cart lasted 2x as long as the other? Yes, that would then be a consideration as well. I don't know the how many quality shaves either cart will give me so I will assume they perform the same and will let the costs stand. Everyone is different in this area and some get a high number of shaves with one cart and a low with another and there is another person that will get the exact opposite result, so I don't think it's useful for me to worry about that for a review anyway as the result will only apply to me, and my face.
Of the two razors the winner for me was the Gillette Mach 3. It all came down to the handling and maneuverability for me. I liked the grip on the Dorco handle a little better than the Gillette. What won me over on the Gillette was something I've noticed that Gillette and Bic seem to have figured out that Dorco has not. That something is the correct amount of spring tension in the pivoting head.
The Gillette pivots easily and this made a big difference on certain areas of my face. ATG up strokes on my cheeks and mustache were much easier to do getting the clearance I wanted with the handle. With the Dorco I felt like I had to put to much pressure on the cart in order to to get the handle to pivot.
I have three handles for the Fusion, a power handle, a normal one, the deluxe edition and also a Skin Guard handle. They ALL have excellent tension for the pivot. I have two Dorco handles the Pace 6 and Pace 7. If found the spring tension to feel the same - a little too much.
Bic has figured this out as well. Their Flex 5 is very good in this regard. As good or nearly as good as Gillette. The Flex 4 is a step down. The Flex 2 pivots easily but not as nicely as the Flex 5 or Gillette and not a large enough range of motion in my opinion - for a head that is meant to pivot. Schick pivots a bit easier than the Dorco, but doesn't feel as well implemented as the Gillette, Dorco and Bic somehow. Little things like this, is in my opinion, one of the reasons Gillette tends to rule the roost with carts.
Dorco, seeing how they were smart enough to make several models of their cart work with all their modern handles they could make a huge improvement that would benefit all of their carts by using a lighter spring in their handles. Make a new generic handle simply called Pace with a lighter spring and improve the performance off the 3,4,5,6,7 blade carts instantly.
Today I pitted the Dorco against the Gillette. Recently, I bought 16 Dorco Pace 3 heads from Dorco USA for $16.99. I've used them and liked them. It occurred to me that I've never used a Gillette Mach 3 or Mach 3 Turbo. So I picked up a Mach 3 and decided to compare how it shaves to the Dorco.
I lathered up with C.O. Bigelow and had a go with both carts today, using each razor on 1/2 my face. The Dorco Pace 3 is on a Pace 6 handle (all Dorco pace with 3+ blades fit handles intended for 3 to 7 blades).
Both razors shaved well. I think the closeness is the same or very similar. Both razors glided well. There was slightly more blade feel from the Dorco on the first pace. Both rinse very well, no clogging at all. I shave daily so I can't speak in this review how they do on multiple days of growth.
Costs: Dorco for 16 carts = 16.99 (Dorco USA) and Gillette for 15 carts = 21.99 (Walmart.com), so roughly $5 difference. Not enough to matter to me in the scheme of things.
Of course the costs I have listed are only acquisition cost. What if one brand cart lasted 2x as long as the other? Yes, that would then be a consideration as well. I don't know the how many quality shaves either cart will give me so I will assume they perform the same and will let the costs stand. Everyone is different in this area and some get a high number of shaves with one cart and a low with another and there is another person that will get the exact opposite result, so I don't think it's useful for me to worry about that for a review anyway as the result will only apply to me, and my face.
Of the two razors the winner for me was the Gillette Mach 3. It all came down to the handling and maneuverability for me. I liked the grip on the Dorco handle a little better than the Gillette. What won me over on the Gillette was something I've noticed that Gillette and Bic seem to have figured out that Dorco has not. That something is the correct amount of spring tension in the pivoting head.
The Gillette pivots easily and this made a big difference on certain areas of my face. ATG up strokes on my cheeks and mustache were much easier to do getting the clearance I wanted with the handle. With the Dorco I felt like I had to put to much pressure on the cart in order to to get the handle to pivot.
I have three handles for the Fusion, a power handle, a normal one, the deluxe edition and also a Skin Guard handle. They ALL have excellent tension for the pivot. I have two Dorco handles the Pace 6 and Pace 7. If found the spring tension to feel the same - a little too much.
Bic has figured this out as well. Their Flex 5 is very good in this regard. As good or nearly as good as Gillette. The Flex 4 is a step down. The Flex 2 pivots easily but not as nicely as the Flex 5 or Gillette and not a large enough range of motion in my opinion - for a head that is meant to pivot. Schick pivots a bit easier than the Dorco, but doesn't feel as well implemented as the Gillette, Dorco and Bic somehow. Little things like this, is in my opinion, one of the reasons Gillette tends to rule the roost with carts.
Dorco, seeing how they were smart enough to make several models of their cart work with all their modern handles they could make a huge improvement that would benefit all of their carts by using a lighter spring in their handles. Make a new generic handle simply called Pace with a lighter spring and improve the performance off the 3,4,5,6,7 blade carts instantly.
Mach 3 on the left Pace 3 on the right
