My apologies for starting with a back story, but I was hit by a drunk driver a year ago which kept me in a coma in the hospital for months during which time they had to do over 100 surgeries on me to put me back together. 2021 was surreal to say the least. When I woke up, I was so weak I couldn’t move for several more months.
The nurses helped cut my beard growth down and I awkwardly shaved the rest of it down as smooth as I could get it (not very) with the plastic disposable razors they provided.
Once home and mostly recovered, I realized that my trusty old Merkur Progress had been left in its cleaning solution all this time. It had eaten up the zinc threads and some of the bottom plate unfortunately, so I picked up a solid but sad old Gillette 195 (fatboy) from eBay.
Slim vs Fatboy vs Progress:
(This is only pertaining to my preferences and experiences. )
I used a Slim a few years ago. Very good razor, but the Merkur was smoother so I ended up using that.
This time I wanted to try a fatboy since I never had before.
The eBay purchase came to me frozen and crusty with old soap scum so I soaked it and cleaned it as best I could. Someone had forced it with what looks like pliers, but it seemed to work fine after the cleaning.
The Gillette is somewhat harsher than many modern razors but very efficient. I keep it dialed down (2-5) for more smoothness.
It gives a great shave, and is actually better to me than my old Slim, because the chunkier head makes it feel smoother and gives it some great weight. I glide it on my face using only this weight, and it works out perfectly.
I thought this chunkier head would make shaving under the nose more difficult, but it gets that area perfectly, better than the Progress and perhaps even the Slim. I’m pleasantly surprised!
The shorter fatter handle is also more comfortable to hold.
And let’s face it, the butterfly doors do make blade changes super easy compared to 2 or 3 piece. No parts sticking together and no hard to see notches to line up.
All in all, I really like the old 195 Fatboy and at least for now I’ll be sticking with it.
The nurses helped cut my beard growth down and I awkwardly shaved the rest of it down as smooth as I could get it (not very) with the plastic disposable razors they provided.
Once home and mostly recovered, I realized that my trusty old Merkur Progress had been left in its cleaning solution all this time. It had eaten up the zinc threads and some of the bottom plate unfortunately, so I picked up a solid but sad old Gillette 195 (fatboy) from eBay.
Slim vs Fatboy vs Progress:
(This is only pertaining to my preferences and experiences. )
I used a Slim a few years ago. Very good razor, but the Merkur was smoother so I ended up using that.
This time I wanted to try a fatboy since I never had before.
The eBay purchase came to me frozen and crusty with old soap scum so I soaked it and cleaned it as best I could. Someone had forced it with what looks like pliers, but it seemed to work fine after the cleaning.
The Gillette is somewhat harsher than many modern razors but very efficient. I keep it dialed down (2-5) for more smoothness.
It gives a great shave, and is actually better to me than my old Slim, because the chunkier head makes it feel smoother and gives it some great weight. I glide it on my face using only this weight, and it works out perfectly.
I thought this chunkier head would make shaving under the nose more difficult, but it gets that area perfectly, better than the Progress and perhaps even the Slim. I’m pleasantly surprised!
The shorter fatter handle is also more comfortable to hold.
And let’s face it, the butterfly doors do make blade changes super easy compared to 2 or 3 piece. No parts sticking together and no hard to see notches to line up.
All in all, I really like the old 195 Fatboy and at least for now I’ll be sticking with it.