Only use a Parker 99R. Seeking suggestions for a good second razor.

[uncle hank]

Wondering if anyone could suggest a decent second razor. I've been DE shaving with a Parker 99R for about 2 years now.

I do have 2 old Gillettes that came from my grandfather's things after he passed- a brass open comb with hollow handle, and another one which I can't describe well. I'm not sure of the models but it doesn't matter as I don't get terrific shaves from either of them and truthfully, keep them mostly for sentimental reasons.

I like the Parker 99R in many ways- it's a good size, I like it's heft. Overall, I end up with a pretty good shave. However, I find it seems to take too many passes to get stubble down to an acceptable level. I also don't like how the butterfly doors loosen on their own every few strokes as I shave.

After 2 years of using it 4x per week, I think I can eliminate "lack of experimentation" with blade combo/angles etc as far as number of passes go, and the doors loosening appear to be a fault of manufacture.

I'm wondering if I could get some ideas for a good second razor. I'd like to see more reduction per stroke. My beard isn't very dense andd mostly confined to chin/neck but the hairs are quite coarse. I've got a little wishlist for Christmas going on a couple of the suppliers up here in Canada and therefore would like suggestions for modern production razors commonly available. I'm not going to coax my wife into bidding on vintage pieces on ebay or scouring flea markets for specific models etc.

Well that sure ended up longer than I pictured. I guess it's good to provide some background and be thorough before asking such a common/vague question anyhow.

 

[Knobby8]

Pictures of the two old Gillette's? May be they just need a clean and a new handle?

 

[uncle hank]

I figured I'd grab a couple and put em up to be thorough and just see if anyone could ID them for interests sake.

 

[chamm]

That goodwill on the left should be moderately more aggressive. The one on the right is a tech, which generally serves as the "1" on the 1-10 scale. Goodwill is maybe a 7. I've never used a Parker 99R, but my best educated guess would be around 4-5 ish?

 

[chamm]

OK, you reversed them in the other picture. The Goodwill is the gold one. ;-)

 

[uncle hank]

That goodwill on the left should be moderately more aggressive. The one on the right is a tech, which generally serves as the "1" on the 1-10 scale. Goodwill is maybe a 7. I've never used a Parker 99R, but my best educated guess would be around 4-5 ish?

Hmmm... good to know. So perhaps I'm doing something wrong if I'm not getting at least decent shaves from the "goodwill"?

 

[chamm]

It could be you, or it could be the razor. And actually, I'm looking at the photos now on a PC instead of my phone, and I'm seeing that particular Goodwill is a short-comb version, so it's less than a 7. Maybe a 5.5-6. But I think it should still be moderately more aggressive than a R99. In my mind, I'm thinking the R99 is roughly a little more aggressive than a Gillette SuperSpeed. Perhaps someone who has shaved with one could give a more accurate assessment.