Parker 22R
- Thread starter Zlil
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I've got the Parker 22R in gunmetal finish, which I started with. I liked it, but it was a bit more aggressive than I hoped for. After a few weeks, it dropped out of my hands and bent just slightly, making it a sort of slant-bar. lol. Regardless, it is still a good razor, but I do prefer my 3-piece razor for the ability to more thoroughly clean it after my shaves. I now shave with an Edwin Jagger and I love it to bits, though it is only my second DE. I do plan to try others. The one thing that I had trouble with was when my Parker would loosen up while shaving. Being a TTO, I rather expected this. When I tightened it up a bit too much, I had trouble loosening it to remove the blade. So, it takes some getting used to, but it is a rather good razor for the price and quality. In stars, I would give it a 3.5 out of 5. Not bad, but not amazing. Great starter razor. 
I apologise for unburying an ancient thread, but look what the Amazon man just dropped on my doorstep:
This is my first TTO razor and I am excited to find out if it shaves better than it looks as far as the quality of its finish is concerned. The Parker 22R is a far cry from my Mühle R89 or Edwin Jagger DE89L in terms of workmanship and finish quality, and it is not even closing in on my former Merkur 23c - and that thing did have finish flaws. The door mechanism seems to be a bit on the delicate side, you have to carefully hold the blade at the short ends so as to keep it in the right position when closing the butterfly doors or the blade will start moving in the blade compartment, which might result with one edge being closer to the bar than the other one. The gunmetal finish is just so acceptable but certainly nothing to write home about since it is a little stained at the doors. Well, I guess you cannot expect a wedding night with all the bells and whistles for less than 20 bucks. Nethertheless I am looking forward to my first shave with that "beast from India" tomorrow morning.
This is my first TTO razor and I am excited to find out if it shaves better than it looks as far as the quality of its finish is concerned. The Parker 22R is a far cry from my Mühle R89 or Edwin Jagger DE89L in terms of workmanship and finish quality, and it is not even closing in on my former Merkur 23c - and that thing did have finish flaws. The door mechanism seems to be a bit on the delicate side, you have to carefully hold the blade at the short ends so as to keep it in the right position when closing the butterfly doors or the blade will start moving in the blade compartment, which might result with one edge being closer to the bar than the other one. The gunmetal finish is just so acceptable but certainly nothing to write home about since it is a little stained at the doors. Well, I guess you cannot expect a wedding night with all the bells and whistles for less than 20 bucks. Nethertheless I am looking forward to my first shave with that "beast from India" tomorrow morning.
This is the Parker razor that I've been the most interested in. Ever since I saw a Paul H video where he said good things about it, I've been looking at getting one.
It's an okay razor, but nothing to write home about. It's sharp-looking but will loosen up while shaving if you're not careful, and blade alignment is a bit sloppy..
While I can confirm that blade alignment could be better, I cannot confirm an issue with the doors loosening up during shaving if you close the mechanism tightly.
I tried out the Parker 22R with one of the supplied Shark SC blades and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the shave that this combination provided: smooth, with very little skin irritation (had to find the right angle!) and sufficiently close. The acoustic feedback is much more audible than that of a three-piece razor such as the Edwin Jagger DE89, too.
It is too early to pass a final judgement after just one shave, but I will keep on using the 22R for a while, perhaps also in combination with other blades that I have, e. g. Feather, ASP, red Personna and Wilkinson Classic, and I will keep you all up to date.
Almost embarrassed to say it, but the Chinese Vikings Blade Chieftain is much better than the 22R.
Tested the Parker 22R with an ASP blade this morning and was very happy with both the process (smooth shave) and the result (close shave). I'm nowhere near the point where I would seriously consider giving up my Mühle R89 or Edwin Jagger DE89 razors for a Parker TTO razor, but I'm impressed how well that whisker whacker from India works.
Another test this morning, 'twas a pleasant shave:
It works all right but it shaves neither as smoothly nor as closely as the Mühle R89 or Edwin Jagger DE89 with an otherwise identical setup (preparation, lather, blade, number of passes).
