It was only made for a few months before the outbreak of WW 2 but I am telling you, for me it really performs. I have tried the flare tips, Super Speeds, that followed and found them less efficient. Only after they got to the adjustable Fat Boy does the efficiency return. Somehow the Ranger just has it all for its era.
Gillette should have stopped with the Ranger
- Thread starter Captain Pre-Capsize
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I’ve read very good things about the Ranger. Isn’t there a British version people also love?
I only have the one Vintage Gillette: the Super Speed birth year and quarter Y2 @luvmysuper so generously gifted me. I’ll probably have Chris Spencer replate it for me sometime.
I only have the one Vintage Gillette: the Super Speed birth year and quarter Y2 @luvmysuper so generously gifted me. I’ll probably have Chris Spencer replate it for me sometime.
As you know, I also have a Y2 birth year/quarter Super Speed gifted to me by a member here and I've added 5 more Super Speeds to my arsenal.
Haven't tried a Ranger yet but knowing how those old Gillettes were, I'm sure it was amazing!
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They're awfully nice and I'm convinced the head on the 46-47 Aristocrat is about the same (non-creased safety, no notch etc).
Perhaps easier to find than a Ranger Tech.
One of my (nicest) Rangers below.
Perhaps easier to find than a Ranger Tech.
One of my (nicest) Rangers below.
I have a '41 and a '46 Ranger. They are my favorite razors to use. Even thou I used a '62 Slim this morning.
Well never shaved with Ranger, but don’t think any Gillette Vintage is bad. Most are good.
The thing is we all our favorites.🫠
The thing is we all our favorites.🫠
The Ranger is a great razor, but shouldn’t Gillette have stopped with the Tech? It was the perfection of the DE razor: no moving parts, durable, efficient, 5 points of blade contact for unexcelled rigidity. There was no need to go on. After it, all was gimmickry, designs emanating from the marketing department to cure problems nobody had. Who couldn’t load a 3 piece razor? Who really needed adjustability? But how could Gillette sell another razor to a guy who had a Tech unless they made him want a new razor with bells and whistles? I admire some of the post-Tech products, but they weren’t really necessary.
I don't know if the Ranger is similar in any way to the no-date-code Superspeed. If it is, then I respectfully disagree. The later Techs and Superspeeds provide me with much better shaves, the NDC makes my face as red as a bell pepper.
I have the same experience with the NDC potato peeler
i've never, honestly, had a bad shave with any of my vintage gillette de razors.
each one is well-made, has endured and, with a nice blade, shaves great!
each one is well-made, has endured and, with a nice blade, shaves great!
A clear case of YMMV. For the last week, my NDC (1949?) SS and a Lab Blue have given me smooth comfortable DFS shaves every day, just like my 1941 Ranger.
Me too! My NDC Super Speed is one of my favorites!
I too can't believe guys are slicing themselves to pieces with early Super Speeds ... unfathomable, simply incomprehensible!
Alot can happen to a tool in 75 years or so. Good chance mine is pretty far from spec off the Gillette production floor. All my other TTOs have that nice Gillette feel.
I tried my Ranger Tech when I first got it in August, and haven't since.
You've inspired me to break it out for tomorrow's shave.
You've inspired me to break it out for tomorrow's shave.
I would have a better chance of slicing myself with a dull spoon than a SS.
It's my last razor on my wish list together with this incredibly efficient 'sort of' Tech which will do a real 1 pass shave.
The Ranger Tech I find incredibly poignant as a model. Coupled with it's short production run. I believe the largest number made were in the 1941 4th quarter and many were gifted as holiday presents.
How many guys heard the Pearl Habour attack news on the radio on the 7th Dec 1941 while using a Ranger Tech? And how many received them as christmas presents, while using them for the first time, while thinking of the future and what fate may bring?
That to me sums up my connection with DE shaving. The history and vibe of the razor, and the thoughts hopes and fears of previous owners. Only a vintage makes the DE shaving experience complete in my opinion. Why bother shaving with a modern DE razor when it is just a take on an essentially obsolete shaving system? Use the real thing. Obsolete is good, providing you use authentic vintages.
Otherwise, don't waste your money. A modern Trac 2, Mach 3, Gillette Guard or even a BIC Orange will give a superb shave using good soap or cream and a brush, using DE shaving techniques.
The same goes for SE razors, like the Gem/Ever ready or Schick. Get the original not the modern over priced takes on the classics.
I hope to one day possess a 1941 Ranger Tech cased example, together with the cased plastic Tech above.
They just speak to me. All vintages do.
Isnt the Ranger Tech a beauty?
Yep, you guessed it. I'm a completely unashamed DE shaving time travelling romantic mystic.
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