Hello all

[OldeManWinter]

Hello all,
quick intro: I've been wet shaving for 20+ years but only recently decided to make it more than just a task I had to handle every few days. Nearly 5 years ago I was diagnosed with tonsil cancer and the subsequent radiation treatment turned my extremely robust beard into a robust beard with a bald spot on one side of my neck. Thus letting things go for weeks or months at a time isn't the option it used to be. Since the treatment appears (so far, nock on wood) to have been successful, I recently concluded that rather than be annoyed by the need for more frequent shaves, I should embrace it. So I've set out to find the razor/blade/soap combo that works best for my face. I started by acquiring a set of Super Speeds, a box of Parker blades, a synthetic brush and some Colonel Conk soap and went to work. I'll add info for each razor I try, and perhaps folks can chime in with suggestions or feedback. I've already completed the circuit of the SS models, and have one not-so-surprising favorite and one runner up that I didn't see coming.

 

[srqshaver]

Excellent to have you here. Thanks for the introduction. It sounds like you have some favorites which is fantastic. May I suggest trying a Schick Kronas TTO DE at some point? It's a very nice, very affordable vintage shaver.

 

[NickCutlip]

Welcome to the forum !!

 

[dmshaver]

Glad you’ve joined! Looking forward to reading your thoughts on your razors. This is a fun site, welcome!

 

[dullhead]

Welcome to this nice place, OldeManWinter!

 

[Vulcan Bubbles]

Welcome OldeMan!

 

[OldeManWinter]

Excellent to have you here. Thanks for the introduction. It sounds like you have some favorites which is fantastic. May I suggest trying a Schick Kronas TTO DE at some point? It's a very nice, very affordable vintage shaver.

The Schick Krona is on my list of razors to buy when I see a good deal on one. I had been using a Lord 6 for years and never enjoyed it. Shaving was a job. When I decided to attempt to make it more enjoyable I did a little research here and decided to start with a Super Speed because they were common, inexpensive, and had a good reputation.

I had no idea which would work for me so I just grabbed the first that came my way, which was this 60s flare-tip. I found right off that I strongly preferred the shorter handle of the SS over the Lord. I was not blown away by the quality of the shave, but it was an improvement and enough of a success that I decided to continue the experiment. Three passes and I had a closer shave than 99% of my previous efforts.

 

[OldeManWinter]

I should backtrack and quickly mention methodology. Each shaver was used three times, two days apart, with a fresh Parker blade for the first shave. I tried to be methodical with face-prep to not skew results by rushing.

Also, I should mention that I had no pre-conceived notions of what I wanted to work. Mild, aggressive, single edge, double edge, open comb, bar-style. I was looking for what worked best for me, without concern as to whether that combo aligned with popular wisdom.

 

[OldeManWinter]

The 50s nickel flair was next. From my experience, this razor is ever so slightly more efficient than the 60s flair tip. By efficient I mean that I could have gotten an equally good shave with the 60s flair, but it would have taken me a fourth touch up pass to do so. They both shave well, but the 50s for me got to a better result more quickly. I also confirmed that I prefer the short handle style of the SS over the longer Lord 6. Much easier for me to maneuver around the adam's apple and under the nose. I have a sharp jawline and the shorter handle also made that easier to navigate. To this point the SS experiment was working out well.

 

[FarmerTan]

The 50s nickel flair was next. From my experience, this razor is ever so slightly more efficient than the 60s flair tip. By efficient I mean that I could have gotten an equally good shave with the 60s flair, but it would have taken me a fourth touch up pass to do so. They both shave well, but the 50s for me got to a better result more quickly. I also confirmed that I prefer the short handle style of the SS over the longer Lord 6. Much easier for me to maneuver around the adam's apple and under the nose. I have a sharp jawline and the shorter handle also made that easier to navigate. To this point the SS experiment was working out well.

Thanks for the comparisons! I have no yet tried these razors, but have had them on my Radar for a LONG time.

You may (probably will!) influence my opinion!

And welcome to B and B my friend!

 

[APBinNCA]

Welcome to B&B.

 

[ackvil]

Welcome to B&B.

 

[ajkel64]

Welcome to the forum from Australia. Thanks for the informative posts as well.

 

[Invicta]

Welcome to B&B.

 

[OldeManWinter]

Thanks for all the welcomes.

Next up was the 50s red flare. I had read that this was a highly regarded razor, and was somewhat hoping that I would find it over-hyped as it tends to fetch a premium price. However, after one stroke I knew that this was a different animal than the previous two. I am very aware that what makes a good razor good is subjective, and that each person's skin/technique/prep/soap choice/blade choice/etc leads to many different conclusions. I am not experienced in this hobby, so I hesitate to use terms like aggressive or efficient without explaining what I mean by them.

The red flare tip worked so well it initially fooled me. After the first pass I almost thought I had forgotten to put a blade in it, that's how effortlessly it swept down my face. Two passes and my face was perfectly clean. After the third I could detect no stubble running my hand in any direction across my face. The weight and balance of the handle are superior (for me) than the two previous razors. If I had not already acquired a few more candidates, I likely would have called the experiment over.

Going forward, I decided that the SS red flare tip was the bar for me. I'll probably shave with the 50s nickel and 60s nickel again some day, but if I had to whittle my set of razors down to one, those would go and the red would stay.

Knowing that the red worked so well for me, I decided to finish my evaluation of the set of SS razors I had and then move on to other formats like three-piece, open comb, single edge, etc.

 

[Billski]

Welcome to Badger and Blade, @OldeManWinter

 

[OldeManWinter]

To complete the 50s flare set (minus the TV special, which comes later), I had next in line the blue tip. After my experience with the red tip I fully expected the blue to be different and it was. I hoped that perhaps it would be "smoother", but it wasn't. Going from the 50s nickel to the 50s red was a step up in nearly all respects, but the 50s nickel is still a good razor for me. The blue tip flirts with being not-good. I was able to get a decent shave from it, but it took four complete passes to do so. It felt like it wasn't doing much work as I pulled it over my skin. Not terrible, but distinctly below the 50s and 60s nickel SS and well below the 50s red tip. I may use it again some day in the future to see if my technique or a different blade or soap changes things, but I may also not.

It also made me think that simply ordering the razors from best to least didn't really capture their performance for me. So far the red tip was the best, but the gap between the 50s nickel and 50s blue was wider than the gap between the 50s red and 50s nickel. Therefore, going forward I will use the "likeability" scale. I don't want to use aggressiveness, efficiency, or smoothness because these words have different meanings to different people. Those terms factor in to how much I enjoy using a razor, but frankly there are many ways to describe how something shaves, so I will go with overall likeability, and set the bar at the Gillette 50s flare red tip and give that razor the arbitrary score of 5.0.

With that in mind, the benchmark likeability scores so far would be:

Gillette 50s flare red tip: 5.0
Gillette 50s flare nickel tip: 4.0
Gillette 60s flare red tip: 3.75
Gillette 50s flare nickel tip: 2.0

Again, these are my opinion only, others likely have very different views.

 

[cryhavoc]

Welcome to B&B!

 

[Old Hippie]

Welcome, Olde Man Winter!

I can see where I'm gonna hafta up my game a little. You hit the ground at a run, that you did!

O.H.

 

[OldeManWinter]

Thanks OH,
This all started a few months ago, so it's not quite as abrupt of a build-up as it seems. Soon I'll reach the end of what I've tried out and the pace will slow considerably.

Next up was the 40s style. First here was a notched version. It was solid yet unremarkable. Very close to the 60s nickel in most respects, so it gets the same score of 3.75.