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Need a new razor...

I’m in the market for a new razor and I’m hoping the good folks here can help.

I’ve used a vintage super speed from the 40’s for the past few years and it’s been great, but in the past I shaved most days and with working remotely recently I’ve been going longer between shaves (3-4 days, sometimes a week). The super speed doesn’t seem to deal with the longer hair that well. It gets clogged up and I have to unscrew it to rinse it out a bunch of times while I’m shaving. I’m looking for some recommendations on what may work better. Do I need an open comb?? I’m partial to the vintage Gillette, but open to other recommendations as well.

Thanks!!
 
The easy answer is a Fatip Open Comb Slant aka FOCS but a nice vintage Old Type (thick cap) or New Long Comb will do nicely as well.
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EclipseRedRing

I smell like a Christmas pudding
I’m in the market for a new razor and I’m hoping the good folks here can help.

I’ve used a vintage super speed from the 40’s for the past few years and it’s been great, but in the past I shaved most days and with working remotely recently I’ve been going longer between shaves (3-4 days, sometimes a week). The super speed doesn’t seem to deal with the longer hair that well. It gets clogged up and I have to unscrew it to rinse it out a bunch of times while I’m shaving. I’m looking for some recommendations on what may work better. Do I need an open comb?? I’m partial to the vintage Gillette, but open to other recommendations as well.

Thanks!!
You do not need an open comb although generally I prefer them myself. If you wanted to keep with a Gillette TTO razor with a solid guard bar then perhaps a Red Tip would be suitable for you; it would be basically a more aggressive version of your current razor. If you fancy an open comb then a Gillette Goodwill, a New, or even a Single Ring might be of interest. With a three piece razor you can always add a shim or loosen the cap to give them a bit more bite. Alternatively, perhaps a Slim Adjustable, you could turn it up or down depending on the number of days between shaves. The Slim is more affordable, and far superior in my view, than the Fatboy. Good luck.
 
For me the GC .68OC performs very well with no problems. The Henson might also be a good performer. I've not tried the Henson with a few days growth, but it has very large lather channels that should resist clogging. My King C Gillette actually performs fairly well, but I do loosen and thoroughly rinse it after the first pass.

Four days for me would render most carts and disposables terribly clogged and useless. I would not try my superspeed with 4 days growth, but have done it with a Gillette Slim Adjustable dialed up
 
Good suggestions above regarding vintage razors. If you’re looking at a modern razor I can suggest the Blackland Blackbird for mowing down multiple days growth if you don’t mind a little blade feel while shaving this razor is a fantastic performer and superbly made. The ATT Windsor H plate may be a good option as well along with the Yates H plate…..all great razors.
 
Any Fatip. I like the Piccolo.

The Merkur open comb is very mild which makes it good for head shaving as well as getting rid of a four day beard.

There's nothing quite like the feeling of mowing down a beard with a straight though :)
 
A second vote for the Gillette New Long Comb. I am especially fond of the British flat-bottom version and the British Raised Flat Bottom (harder to come by and likely more expensive.)
But all the New Long Combs are great razors.
 
Thanks for all of the feedback and recommendations!

Leaning towards a long comb NEW. I see they have bar handles and ball end handles. I kind of like the look of the ball end, sounds like maybe there’s a difference in the weighting of the two?


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I’m in the market for a new razor and I’m hoping the good folks here can help.

I’ve used a vintage super speed from the 40’s for the past few years and it’s been great, but in the past I shaved most days and with working remotely recently I’ve been going longer between shaves (3-4 days, sometimes a week). The super speed doesn’t seem to deal with the longer hair that well. It gets clogged up and I have to unscrew it to rinse it out a bunch of times while I’m shaving. I’m looking for some recommendations on what may work better. Do I need an open comb?? I’m partial to the vintage Gillette, but open to other recommendations as well.

Thanks!!
Buy a Rockwell 6C or 6S , 6 levels of aggressiveness , very precise blade exposure. Other suggestions are risky, because u dont know the blade exposure/aggressiveness at all so u risk having to buy several razors above to find one that suits you.
 

never-stop-learning

Demoted To Moderator
Staff member
Vintage OC: Gillette Goodwill 160, Gillette NEW RFB or Gillette Old Type.

Current OC: Blackland Razors Blackbird OC, Fatip Lo Storto Originale, Fatip Grande, Timeless 0.95 OC.

If you feel like stepping out to SE razors:
Blackland Razors Vector with OC and SB plates (Artist Club blades)
GEM MMOC (GEM blades)
 
+1 on the vintage Goodwill as well as +1 on the Gamechanger, though the .84 might be more suited to your needs. I would add that just about any in the Razorock line would be worth looking into and seriously considering.
 

Old Hippie

Somewhere between 61 and dead
The Fatip Open Comb Slant is inexpensive. Might as well pick one up so all the rest of us will quit bugging you about it. :)

Another couple of inexpensive but very good razors are the Parker Semi-Slant and the RazoRock German 37. Plus they'll allow you to choose from a wider selection of handles than just the ones Fatip produces.

Or you could take that cash and instead of buying three pretty good razors with it, buy one really good razor. It would be less clutter in your shave cave. The Above the Tie S1 or S2 or the X1 are all good choices. The Blackland Sabre is, too. I can't say about the Blackland Vector but there seems to be at least as many Vector fanboys as Fatip fanboys around here.

O.H.
 
All great suggestions here. You can’t go wrong with any of them. If vintage is your thing, I’d go for one of the adjustables, so you can use the same razor with a varying range of hair growth

Regarding modern inexpensive razors, If you don’t fancy open combs, Fatip also has safety bar razors in standard and slant options. The shave is not very different from the open comb ones

If you’d like to step up to a stainless steel razor that is not super expensive, have a look at the Muhle Rocca
 
@EclipseRedRing , @borwish , @Invicta , @Noodles , all mentioned the Gillette Slim and I agree. I know @Quaznoid will agree with a Slim as well, seen him hovering around Slim threads here on B&B.

Two other mentions here that I would agree with: @borwish and @Hercule both mentioned the RazoRock Game Changer, prefer the .84 over the .68 but both are great razors.

All the above a great recommendations and you won't go wrong on any of those choices.
 
Thanks for all of the feedback!

I’m settled on a vintage Gillette. Leaning towards a NEW of some kind, but haven’t pulled the trigger yet. Folks seem to be split as to if they prefer the long or short comb.

Also, seems like folks are recommending aggressive razors. This is probably where my lack of understanding comes into play (which means I need to get a few razors to experiment with in the name of science of course...), but I’m very pleased with the closeness of the shave I get from my Super Speed. I’m not looking for a closer shave. It’s just that if I’ve skipped a few days of shaving I have to slightly unscrew my Super Speed every time I rinse it after each stroke or two or else the hair is stuck and doesn’t rinse out. Will a more aggressive razor help with that?
 
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