Recommend a Current Production Adjustable
- Thread starter dreadpirate
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I just ordered the Parker Variant!
That's version 1 which was full of problems. I think they're up to like version 10 already. After 10 updates I really hope that they've fixed all the issues, LOL!!
My Flexi is version 4 as reported by Maggards. It is a great shaver and aligns perfectly. Zero issues. My understanding is that after version 2, the subsequent versions were all very minor tweaks and/or numbered shipping batches from Pearl. So I believe that you would be perfectly fine buying any Pearl Flexi that is new and from a known dealer.
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Guys thanks. Good to know about the Perl.
I just pulled the trigger on the Pearl Flexi (latest version).
Wasn't in my plans since I just ordered the Parker Variant yesterday but oh well!!
(Darn B&B forum got me to spend again), LOL!
It looks pretty awesome and a good compromise if you don't want to spend the $$
on a Rex!
Wasn't in my plans since I just ordered the Parker Variant yesterday but oh well!!
(Darn B&B forum got me to spend again), LOL!
It looks pretty awesome and a good compromise if you don't want to spend the $$
on a Rex!
My parker variant arrived today a day early. Beautiful quality razor!
Sorry to say it but comparing them side by side, Parker's quality seems to have surpassed Merkur's.
The two Parkers I have (97R & Variant) are outstanding!
The Variant is my first adjustable and my Pearl Flexi arrives tomorrow so I'll be able to compare both.
I shaved with the Variant tonight and it was fantastic. It's heavy & solid and the mechanism seems to work
very well for adjusting on the fly. On the 1 setting it was very mild. I immediately bumped it up to 3 and got a very very close and smooth shave using a Bic blade.
From what I experimented, the 3 setting will probably be the ideal setting for me.
Highly recommended!
Sorry to say it but comparing them side by side, Parker's quality seems to have surpassed Merkur's.
The two Parkers I have (97R & Variant) are outstanding!
The Variant is my first adjustable and my Pearl Flexi arrives tomorrow so I'll be able to compare both.
I shaved with the Variant tonight and it was fantastic. It's heavy & solid and the mechanism seems to work
very well for adjusting on the fly. On the 1 setting it was very mild. I immediately bumped it up to 3 and got a very very close and smooth shave using a Bic blade.
From what I experimented, the 3 setting will probably be the ideal setting for me.
Highly recommended!
I have a very nice Mergress that I have not used in years. I've been using three piece razors for so long I'm not sure I could recommend an adjustable. But if I had to it would be the Mergress (which is an ever so slightly improved Merkur Progress).
I just received my Pearl Flexi yesterday and just shaved with it now. Compared to the Parker Variant, the shave is very similar. The Pearl feels heavier and the handle feels shorter. I feel the majority of the weight on the handle and the Parker is the opposite. Both are very well built but the Pearl has the edge on that for sure. It's built like a tank and it's pretty much perfect. No alignment issues at all!
The Parker's head feels bigger which makes it more difficult to trim edges i.e., my goatee sides. But the Parker gives more feedback while shaving. The Pearl gives very little feedback and at a certain point I was wondering if it was really cutting. It was! And very very closely!
Overall it gave me a really close shave and I like it. I'll have both in my rotation.
Note: I used it on the #3 setting for a middle ground shave. I like mid agressiveness on shaves. The adjustments go from mild to 3/4 agressive. I don't see the #6 setting as being very agressive.
Anyways, that's my test for now and I'll keep experimenting with it.
The Parker's head feels bigger which makes it more difficult to trim edges i.e., my goatee sides. But the Parker gives more feedback while shaving. The Pearl gives very little feedback and at a certain point I was wondering if it was really cutting. It was! And very very closely!
Overall it gave me a really close shave and I like it. I'll have both in my rotation.
Note: I used it on the #3 setting for a middle ground shave. I like mid agressiveness on shaves. The adjustments go from mild to 3/4 agressive. I don't see the #6 setting as being very agressive.
Anyways, that's my test for now and I'll keep experimenting with it.
I use my Flexi on 6. Every time I try a lower setting, I can't help but crank it back to 6 after a couple of strokes. It's is very smooth yet efficient.
Next shave tomorrow will be on #6!
I'm a 2 pass daily shaver so I'll probably do one pass at max and the next at half.
After ordering and receiving the Parker Variant & the Pearl Flexi this week, I thought I was through with buying adjustables. My initial research had led me to the Merkur Futur but in the end I didn't buy it and ended up with the other two.
Well, I just ordered one! I couldn't resist it LOL!
I figure that in the end if I don't like it, I can just sell it. It's coming from the UK so it will probably arrive in a couple of weeks.
So far the Pearl Flexi is my #1 so the Futur will be competing with that one.
We'll see how it goes!
Well, I just ordered one! I couldn't resist it LOL!
I figure that in the end if I don't like it, I can just sell it. It's coming from the UK so it will probably arrive in a couple of weeks.
So far the Pearl Flexi is my #1 so the Futur will be competing with that one.
We'll see how it goes!
The Pearl Flexi and Variants are both great razors. You've made some excellent choices.
I love the Variant since it has a brass thread post which will not rot like the Zinc thread post of the Merkur Progress. I love the finish of the Merkur Progress and it's a bit smoother compared to the Variant. Both razors have interchangeable top caps !
If you love the Pearl Flexi and need more blade feel, the Rex Amabassador is right in that spot but at 3x the cost.
The Rex looks awesome but I won't spend that much (at least not now). What I spent on the Variant, Flexi and Futur is less than one Rex. The blade feel on the Flexi is perfect. I used it on the 5 setting tonight and I got a sufficiently aggressive shave that was incredibly close and smooth. I think that with it's excellent build quality and low price, it can't be beat!
Being from the same country, I wonder if the Pearl owner was a software programmer earlier. We love to churn out a new software version at the change of every dot dash or comma in the code !
I don't know what he was before but what I can tell you is that it's an awesome razor. It's my favorite from all my razors so far!Being from the same country, I wonder if the Pearl owner was a software programmer earlier. We love to churn out a new software version at the change of every dot dash or comma in the code !
If he really was a computer guy, that's great because his skills obviously transferred over into making a great product that has nothing to do with computers, LOL!
Update on the Parker Variant. I'm sticking to the Pearl. I'm actually gonna sell the Parker since it wasn't for me! Lots of people love it but I didn't. Unfortunately I would need to be here for 45 days to sell so for now it's going up on eBay. The Pearl is awesome!
My Merkur Futur arrived today (along with a Merkur 33C). I wasn't expecting either till next week. I'll post about the Futur as soon as I use it.
My first shave with the Merkur Futur!
I posted this on another thread yesterday but figured it would be useful to put it here:
Well, I got to use the Futur tonight for the first time. I used it with a Bic blade! Here are my thoughts on the razor:
1. Beautiful looking razor, it's heavy and the head is large. Scary large! When I saw the blade gap, I cringed.
I studied the razor before doing anything. I recommend that you do the same. This razor is unlike anything else I've tried. I carefully removed the cap and put the cap upside down on the countertop, dropped in the blade on the cap and snapped the handle onto the cap. (I followed recommended advice from B&B). As long as you do it this way and always hold the side of the head when handling it, you wont cut yourself. Now with the blade installed, it looked even scarier, LOL!!
The cap snap system it has for blade changes is fantastic and the adjustable mechanism is really nice!
Another nice thing is the handle. I had zero issues of possible slippage which I also read about.
It feels solid and you can tell that it's built really well!
2. I started out using the #1 setting for my test shave. The Futur gives aggressiveness a new meaning! Let me repeat that and underline it. Matter of fact, let me underline it and put it in bold. Better yet, I'll also include it with a bigger font:
The Futur gives aggressiveness a new meaning!
This razor at least for now requires concentration. And mind you I only used it on the lowest setting. I won't dare to go higher until I get more practice with it. It's not a "first time pick up and go razor". All my other razors have been but not this one. And I've used two other adjustables! My Pearl flexi on a high setting is nowhere near the Futur's lowest setting. Same applies when comparing it to the Parker Variant. Luckily I've discovered that I like aggressive razors so this one completely fits the bill. I can't stress enough though that this razor doesn't feel or shave like the others and it requires a different approach in technique. I don't believe that the head does any of the work. This is all blade!! Lots of feedback which is great!
I've never used a straight razor but this is probably the closest result to a straight razor from a DE.
No way it should carry the "Safety razor" classification, LOL!!
This is a razor that definitely requires Zero Pressure when shaving. The big head and heavy weight will totally do that part of the work for you.
In the end I did my usual 2 pass shave. I did it slowly and making sure that I didn't apply any pressure and I ended up with a nice and comfortable close shave with no weepers or nicks.
All in all I really like it for now and will continue using it daily for the whole week!
Little by little I'll try a higher setting and see how it goes. If I like it long-term , I'll put it in my razor rotation.
Anyways, that was my day 1 experience and I think that it went pretty well considering all the weird stuff I've read about the Futur. Hope this helps!
LRod
I posted this on another thread yesterday but figured it would be useful to put it here:
Well, I got to use the Futur tonight for the first time. I used it with a Bic blade! Here are my thoughts on the razor:
1. Beautiful looking razor, it's heavy and the head is large. Scary large! When I saw the blade gap, I cringed.
I studied the razor before doing anything. I recommend that you do the same. This razor is unlike anything else I've tried. I carefully removed the cap and put the cap upside down on the countertop, dropped in the blade on the cap and snapped the handle onto the cap. (I followed recommended advice from B&B). As long as you do it this way and always hold the side of the head when handling it, you wont cut yourself. Now with the blade installed, it looked even scarier, LOL!!
The cap snap system it has for blade changes is fantastic and the adjustable mechanism is really nice!
Another nice thing is the handle. I had zero issues of possible slippage which I also read about.
It feels solid and you can tell that it's built really well!
2. I started out using the #1 setting for my test shave. The Futur gives aggressiveness a new meaning! Let me repeat that and underline it. Matter of fact, let me underline it and put it in bold. Better yet, I'll also include it with a bigger font:
The Futur gives aggressiveness a new meaning!
This razor at least for now requires concentration. And mind you I only used it on the lowest setting. I won't dare to go higher until I get more practice with it. It's not a "first time pick up and go razor". All my other razors have been but not this one. And I've used two other adjustables! My Pearl flexi on a high setting is nowhere near the Futur's lowest setting. Same applies when comparing it to the Parker Variant. Luckily I've discovered that I like aggressive razors so this one completely fits the bill. I can't stress enough though that this razor doesn't feel or shave like the others and it requires a different approach in technique. I don't believe that the head does any of the work. This is all blade!! Lots of feedback which is great!
I've never used a straight razor but this is probably the closest result to a straight razor from a DE.
No way it should carry the "Safety razor" classification, LOL!!
This is a razor that definitely requires Zero Pressure when shaving. The big head and heavy weight will totally do that part of the work for you.
In the end I did my usual 2 pass shave. I did it slowly and making sure that I didn't apply any pressure and I ended up with a nice and comfortable close shave with no weepers or nicks.
All in all I really like it for now and will continue using it daily for the whole week!
Little by little I'll try a higher setting and see how it goes. If I like it long-term , I'll put it in my razor rotation.
Anyways, that was my day 1 experience and I think that it went pretty well considering all the weird stuff I've read about the Futur. Hope this helps!
LRod
