Trac II vs the Knockoff brands
- Thread starter smballer
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I am not too sure if it was a Trac II or a Trac III that was one of the big deciding factors in cleaning up my late father's super speed and try double edge shaving.
One day I got a free Trac II or III in the mail with one cartridge and I decided to use it. It actually gave very good results and I was already thinking of adding this to my shaving routine of Gillette caned cream and Brute Splash on. This went on for a couple of months until I started getting sticker shock from the purchase of new cartridges and trying to keep the blades unclogged for more than two or three shaves.
Well, as I stated above, I go my father's razor and cleaned it with the tooth brush, scrubbing bubbles and hot water, got some Williams Soap and a Store Brand package of double edge blades and the journey began.
Have I saved any money over the last two years of double edge shaving? Yes and no, I can get about five shaves from my Gillette Yellow Package 7 O'clock blades and a puck of Williams or VHS will last a month so one must figure a puck of soap and a six blade pack for the month and you get about $5:00 per month for actual shaving and I am amazed at how cheap it is. Now pan over to the shaving den (or in my case shelving unit) and you see 25 vintage razors, 10 pucks of soap. 10 or 15 different aftershaves and about 200 different blades and the savings are small if any at all.
Now comes the deciding factor, what was at one time a chore for me has become a pleasant diversion, holding a 50 year old razor in my hand gives me a much better feeling than anything plastic and disposable. And taking the journey of learning everything I can about wet shaving has been WELL worth any money I have spent.
I know that I have not answered your question but I can tell you that the mach II and III give smooth shaves and I can only compare them with the disposable travel 2 blade razors and there is NO comparison. The Machs win, hands down.
I really like using the Trac II. I started on it back in 1978. It's relegated to travel now, But I use an old vintage handle and the modern Wilkinson Sword Carts. The carts are quite good, but have been discontinued. I stocked up on about 300 of them when Walmart had them on the clearence isle for $1.50 a 10 PK a few years back.
Everyone once in a while, I'll grab a 5 PK from the dollar store when I see them just to give em a try. I don't know if I can distinguish between different brands of carts like I can DE, SE and Shavette blades. They seem to all perform ok for me.
Maybe it's the twin blade thing throwing me off, I dunno.
Everyone once in a while, I'll grab a 5 PK from the dollar store when I see them just to give em a try. I don't know if I can distinguish between different brands of carts like I can DE, SE and Shavette blades. They seem to all perform ok for me.
Maybe it's the twin blade thing throwing me off, I dunno.
In my experience, unfortunately none of the knock off Trac II brands perform as well as the real Gillette ones. If you can find them cheap online or at a local grocer they're still more affordable than the triple-blade carts and above.
I started shaving with the Trac II, which at the time was considered cutting edge technology, back around 1975. My first one lasted me 20 years until the plastic around the head gave way. My second one was still going strong when I switched ultimately to wet shaving.
I switched because I thought the Trac II was a piece of plastic junk, its longevity notwithstanding. But before I started wet shaving, I gave the Dollar a Month Shave Club a try, thinking that I could save a few bucks on a tiresome chore. I chose the "Humble Twin," their version of the Trac II. Wow, what an unbelievably crummy razor. It made the Trac II look good. It was as if they had shaved the plastic down so thin it had only one side, the cartridge was held in place with a couple of small wires rather than the Trac II's far more secure slide and click system and it dropped all pretense of metal by doing away with the Trac II's chrome strip down the handle. I swear, the Humble Twin was almost lighter than air there was so little substance to it.
All of which pushed me to find a better way and led me to wet shaving. So in a way, I have the Trac II to thank for it, and the Humble Twin was like the icing on the cake.
I switched because I thought the Trac II was a piece of plastic junk, its longevity notwithstanding. But before I started wet shaving, I gave the Dollar a Month Shave Club a try, thinking that I could save a few bucks on a tiresome chore. I chose the "Humble Twin," their version of the Trac II. Wow, what an unbelievably crummy razor. It made the Trac II look good. It was as if they had shaved the plastic down so thin it had only one side, the cartridge was held in place with a couple of small wires rather than the Trac II's far more secure slide and click system and it dropped all pretense of metal by doing away with the Trac II's chrome strip down the handle. I swear, the Humble Twin was almost lighter than air there was so little substance to it.
All of which pushed me to find a better way and led me to wet shaving. So in a way, I have the Trac II to thank for it, and the Humble Twin was like the icing on the cake.
Agreed. I've tried several Trac II knock-offs, and haven't found any that shave as well -- or last as long -- as the real thing. The other critical factor is to toss the cheap plastic handles and get something substantial. That alone makes a huge difference.
eBay is a good source for NOS Schick Super II or Wilkinson Sword Profile Fixed Trac II compatible carts.
I do not ever recall having a BBS face in 30+ years of shaving with Trac II and equivalent private label ones from Personna. I long assumed that some leftover stubble was just a part of shaving until I tried DE. For whatever reason I was noticing Gillette's still-high prices for Trac II cartridges and wondered if I should give them a try, but naaaawww. Even if I remember incorrectly and they give a decent shave, I would still be back on the unending treadmill of overpriced carts and that is not where I want to be. The $1.50 for one genuine Trac II Plus cart is the equivalent of 15 to 25 decent DE blades. Not only are the Genuine Gillette carts so overpriced after 45 years on the market, but they still have the distinction of clogging between blades with rotting molding whiskers, so I am not going back.
Absolutely. You can get a sleeve of 100 Derby or Shark blades for $10, or $0.10 per blade. There are listings of Voshkod and Rapira sleeves for $6.00 or $0.06 per blade. 25 of them would be the same price as 1 store-bought cart from a 10-pack priced at $15.00, or $1.50 per cartridge.25 decent DE blades for $1.50?
Well as I prefer a more premium DE blade, they work out the equivalent of NOS twin blade carts. So the 2000 carts I have are just as economical...
Where do you find premium NOS Gillette Trac II cartridges for $0.25 a blade (which is roughly the price per hundred of GSBs, Polsilvers, and similar)? If you say you bought them for that price a long time ago, then the comparison is no longer fair. Might as well say that some people got lucky and picked up Personna 74's for 20 cents apiece. I use the Personna Trac II compatibles for travel as those are dirt cheap (I bought about 100 for $16 once), but they don't shave as well as the much, much pricier vintage Trac II blades.
eBay...
The White stack on the right are NOS Gillette GII's the European name for the Trac II
...However Schick Super II or Wilkinson Sword WII/Profile Fixed which are Trac II compatible have been very easy to source that I now have over 2000 twin carts compatible with either Trac II or Atra.
The hoard growing:
Well I don't see any Gillette Trac II blades on the Bay for less than $0.80 to over a dollar each. Mostly generics or modern blades.
They are not going to be listed all the time but that lot above which included a minimum of 210 Trac II compatible carts cost only £33.11 plus £3.30, and also included many bonded carts and the miscellaneous extras...
Trac II compatible carts are not that expensive:
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I have many of the compatibles. They're acceptable but not very sharp. My Mach 3 and Dorco Pace 6 are much better, and I have only modest though hard to get facial growth. But that's why I mostly use cartridges only for travel, where I usually toss them after 2 shaves. On a daily basis they're good for an SAS or CCS, but other cartridges are better. Otherwise it's DE or injector. Vintage Trac II cost way too much (better to buy vintage Gillette Spoilers) and Personna compatibles are not great.
