sadly i have not had the time to do 3 pass shaves with my safety razor so i had to pick up a cartidge razor i wouldnt put the sensor excel in the garbage cartidge category it only has 2 blades and it freaking shaves man but if you could do your 3 pass safety razor shaves daily stick to that but if you need a backup try this one
Gillete sensor excel (as a back up)
- Thread starter gomlz
- Start date
that was the first razor i learned to shave on and the only razor i prefer to use over my DE razors. i've tried the Mach 3 and the 4 blade systems but completely HATED them. the simple Excel with its 2 blade system was always just right. My father still uses it even tho the cartridges are ridiculously expensive now.
only razors i have now are DE and SE razors.
only razors i have now are DE and SE razors.
If you need to shave with a cartridge razor, the Excel is the one to use IMO. I consider it to be better than the M3 or the Fusion.
-- John Gehman
-- John Gehman
If I could get acceptable results over a long period of time with a Sensor, i'd shell out the cash for a lifetime supply of carts. The handle is, to me, the pinnacle in cartridge razor design and I get stupid close shaves from cartrdiges that seem to last forever.
Unfortunately, no matter what I do, I get burn burn burn.
If I need to use a cart, I grab a Trac handle with an Indian PII cart - which last forever for me, don't have the pesky lube strip, and aren't terrible at about $.75 each.
Unfortunately, no matter what I do, I get burn burn burn.
If I need to use a cart, I grab a Trac handle with an Indian PII cart - which last forever for me, don't have the pesky lube strip, and aren't terrible at about $.75 each.
The Sensor is an excellent safety razor.
When I shaved with a cart the Sensor Excel gave the best results.
Not a bad razor at all.
Not a bad razor at all.
Compared to cartridges with more than two blades, the older twins are more efficient, but neither the Atra nor the TracII can be kept from clogging rapidly with hard water. Schick made a cartridge for the Atra type that they sold that would fit the Gillette Atra handle, and had a plunger that cleared out the clogs.
The Sensor's design rinses clean far more easily than the other twin blade cartridges, without needing any plunger. On more than one occasion, with a couple of different shave creams / Gels in the past, I made two day / two-side comparison tests between Atras and Sensors. I shaved my left cheek and jaw with one and the right side with the other. On the following day, I switched razors and sides. I do that because I am not an ambidextrous shaver, and one side is always slightly more closely shaved (I'm right handed & thus, my right cheek gets the best shave).
The Sensor beat the Atra. I've done a similar test, but many years ago, between the TracII and an older model Schick Injector, and the Injector beat the TracII. I never owned or tried the very first TracII, which was both an Injector and a twin blade razor. The only shaving system that regularly irritates my skin is electric shaving. No twin blade system ever caused me any razor burn, and I never keep trying any three blade system on a repeat basis to determine any overall continued results.
I keep intending to make that kind of two razor, two-side test of the Hydromatic I2 versus a Sensor, but it never seems to come to mind when I'm about to start shaving.
You won't go wrong with a Sensor (two blade); the three-blade Excel was no improvement.
The Sensor's design rinses clean far more easily than the other twin blade cartridges, without needing any plunger. On more than one occasion, with a couple of different shave creams / Gels in the past, I made two day / two-side comparison tests between Atras and Sensors. I shaved my left cheek and jaw with one and the right side with the other. On the following day, I switched razors and sides. I do that because I am not an ambidextrous shaver, and one side is always slightly more closely shaved (I'm right handed & thus, my right cheek gets the best shave).
The Sensor beat the Atra. I've done a similar test, but many years ago, between the TracII and an older model Schick Injector, and the Injector beat the TracII. I never owned or tried the very first TracII, which was both an Injector and a twin blade razor. The only shaving system that regularly irritates my skin is electric shaving. No twin blade system ever caused me any razor burn, and I never keep trying any three blade system on a repeat basis to determine any overall continued results.
I keep intending to make that kind of two razor, two-side test of the Hydromatic I2 versus a Sensor, but it never seems to come to mind when I'm about to start shaving.
You won't go wrong with a Sensor (two blade); the three-blade Excel was no improvement.
Maybe I should try one some day...... Maybe...... Sometime in the near or distant future
Sacrilege! Et tu Turtle?!?
I kid, I kid.
I actually use the two blade Atra Personnas in my Headblade razor. They work better than the multi blade cartridges (surprise, surprise) that they try to push to use with the Headblade.What Trac II did you test that was different from the original? I own an original Trac II, which uses non-pivoting, twin-blade cartridges that slide onto the head. AFAIK, Gillette never changed the basic design of the razor, the head, or the cartridges (other than introducing the Trac II Plus cartridge; same design, with the lubricating strip). Having also used the Atra and Sensor, hard water aside, I find the non-pivoting head Trac II to be more akin to shaving with a DE razor than the other two. Of course this may be a YMMV thing.
Sensor is an excellent razor and I used one for years before picking up the DE. Still have all of my handles but haven't had any carts for it in over two years. Be interesting to see what kind of shave I'd get now with brush-n-soap.
The razor is quite practical in a pinch from what i have heard. Enjoy it when you need it.
I am keeping my Sensor Excel for air travel. Works well in the shaving department. Not better than a DE, but remember it being any worse, either.
I used a Sensor from 1990-2000. I started with shaving foam and then switched to soap/mug/brush about 1994. I was always very happy with it.
I'll always hace a supply of Sensor carts handy for travel
and very occasionalhome use.
and very occasionalhome use.
I only use the Sensor to get close behind and around the ear (head shaving). My DE razor simply can't get close enough. I find the regular Sensor as good as the Excel, too.
I still have my old faithful Atra in the drawer if needed. I've only used it once in the 6 months since I started DE shaving and that was just an experiment when I couldn't remember how close I was actually getting with the cartidges before DE. Turned out the DE shaves were much better than what I was getting before.
I used to use a Sensor to shave my head, and then switched to the Schick xtreme 3. It's hard to beat a blade that flexes for shaving your head. I use my DE on my head in a pinch, but it is waayyyyyy more time consuming. I can fly with a flexible cartridge.
