Gillette Red Tip - First Impressions

[abrowncrayon]

I've been waiting to use my Red Tip for a few months while I was testing out the capabilities of my Rocket HD 500. The Personna Platinum Chrome (Red Personna) I had tried in my Rocket yesterday did not give great results; I got the feeling that maybe the razor was not agressive enough for this relatively mild blade, so I thought I'd give the Red Tip a tour of my face using the very same blade.

I was impressed by the heft of the razor but also a little unsettled, moving from the Rocket to the Red Tip gave me the kind of feeling you might get if you stepped out of sports car and into the cab of an articulated lorry. The shave itself was like a big man-hug from a giant plaid-wearing bearded lumberjack compared with the shave with the Rocket which was more of a slightly awkward waltz with a svelte debutante.

As I went about my business with this razor it felt like my Tabac soap lather had taken on a previously unknown level of viscosity, the glide seemed slowed down and the razor seemed to be attracted to my face. It was if both time and gravity had been warped for the purposes of shaving pleasure.

The Red Tip really did bring out a better side of the Personna Red. Whereas the Personna Red in the Rocket HD would give me a satisfactory shave, once placed in the Red Tip the end results were a much smoother shave with a lot less sting after the once over with an alum block (probably due to less revisiting of the patchy areas).

Needless to say, the shave went a lot better than expected, and I'm sure I'll be using this razor for a long time now to give it the opportunity to befriend the other makes of blades I have.

 

[BigJim]

I was impressed by the heft of the razor but also a little unsettled, moving from the Rocket to the Red Tip gave me the kind of feeling you might get if you stepped out of sports car and into the cab of an articulated lorry. The shave itself was like a big man-hug from a giant plaid-wearing bearded lumberjack compared with the shave with the Rocket which was more of a slightly awkward waltz with a svelte debutante.

Thanks for posting. Enjoyed your review of the red tip.

 

[ArNav]

Nicely articulated.

 

[taco8slo]

Did you use the same blade for it's second shave or the same brand of blade for it's first shave?

I always felt the Red Tip gave a similar shave as the Rocket HD.
Both are very nice razors, I also feel the late 1940's Aristocrat gives a similar shave and I prefer it's knurling over the other two.

 

[Sceptic Pencil]

I also have both a Rocket HD & a Red Tip. I didn't find much difference in terms of "heft", although the Rocket is heavier by a few grams. For me, the Rocket is the more aggressive razor, but not by much, like the the difference between 5 & 7 on my Slim. For me, the shave the Rocket gives is slightly smoother as well. Obviously your mileage does vary!

 

[Eeyore]

I constantly use PPC blades (Personna Platinum Chrome) in my Rocket, and that combination gives me a great shave.

YMMV obviously

 

[Sceptic Pencil]

I was impressed by the heft of the razor but also a little unsettled, moving from the Rocket to the Red Tip gave me the kind of feeling you might get if you stepped out of sports car and into the cab of an articulated lorry. The shave itself was like a big man-hug from a giant plaid-wearing bearded lumberjack compared with the shave with the Rocket which was more of a slightly awkward waltz with a svelte debutante.

I just had a thought, do you have the much lighter, aluminium handled Rocket HD (57g as opposed to 70g according to Mr Razor)?

 

[abrowncrayon]

I just had a thought, do you have the much lighter, aluminium handled Rocket HD (57g as opposed to 70g according to Mr Razor)?

I've just been to my bathroom and picked up both razors and there doesn't really seem to be much difference in weight between my Rocket and my Red Tip. First impressions can be deceptive I guess!