Need Advice on a Hair Trimmer

Mossyhorn

Mossyhorn

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I had long hair and recently had it cut down to 1/4" in length. I'd like to maintain it at that length and can't see paying for a haircut every few weeks. What would be a good trimmer for that purpose. I'd like to keep it under $85.00.
 
I have had good luck with the WAHL brand for $30 or so. Even replaced the blades for like $6 after several years when they dulled a bit.
 
I would get an Oster Classic 76 which is about the cheapest professional quality clipper and has been used by pros for years. I went through a bunch of junk clippers over the years that clog up and don't cut well until a neighbor that is a hairdresser told me about the 76 and let me try hers out. The 76 itself comes with a #000 blade which leaves 1/50" so you will need a #2 blade that leaves 1/4". If you shop around you can get the Classic 76 new for a little over $100 and the #2 blade for about $25. I bought a light user on ebay with a couple of additional blades including the #2 which I also use for about $75, so it's possible to get one within your target budget. We have a $250 Andis set of clippers at the ranch for trimming cattle for auction that don't cut any better than the Classic 76.
 
After going through a bunch of ~$30 clippers, I got a Wahl Senior Professional Clipper. The windings in the motor are a whole lot better and the clippers weigh about 4 times what the cheap ones did.

I got about 18 months out of the cheap clippers and have used the Senior's ever since (~8 years or more).
 
mossyhorn said:
I had long hair and recently had it cut down to 1/4" in length. I'd like to maintain it at that length and can't see paying for a haircut every few weeks. What would be a good trimmer for that purpose. I'd like to keep it under $85.00.
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6 years ago, I made a drastic life change. Part of reinventing myself was changing my hair. I maintained my hair even shorter than 1/4 inch. I went without a guard which is as short as you can get. I cut it every week. If I got lazy, I cut it every other week, so anywhere from 2 - 4 times a month for maintaining the short look. I have tons of experience with this thing. What I can tell you right now is that a cheapy, <85 dollar hair trimmer will in all like likelihood get weaker or have the motor burn out within 6 months if you cut it as frequently as I do.

The thing with short hair is that you have a short window before it looks bad, so you have to maintain the length you like, which means cutting frequently, at least twice a month. I made the mistake of getting a 60 dollar Wahl which lasted about half a year. Then I bought a barbershop quality one. That is my recommendation. Spend the money for a real one. It might be a larger investment up front, but it ends up paying for itself after about 2 months of cutting your own hair depending on how frequently you cut.

Think about it. Cheap haircut is around 15 bucks tips included. I use an Oster 76 which is ~120 bucks on amazon. They have limited editions which I think are only different in terms of body color, but the same in every other aspect. MSRP is about 175 bucks. This one has served me for the past 6+ years.

EDIT: Brisket beat me to it. GO WITH THE 76! My 76 came with two guard attachments. One of them is 1/4 inch.
 
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As simple Man suggested, I would get a Wahl, 16-18$ at wal mar whatever. I use the plain blades no attachment every two months. Works great, holds a very good charge. I buy a new kit every two or so years. Beats $10.00 per cut at the barber shop.
 
glock45 said:
As simple Man suggested, I would get a Wahl, 16-18$ at wal mar whatever. I use the plain blades no attachment every two months. Works great, holds a very good charge. I buy a new kit every two or so years. Beats $10.00 per cut at the barber shop.
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He's cutting his hair to 1/4 inch. That's getting considerably more mileage out of a trimmer than once every two months, unless he plans on cutting to 1/4 inch, waiting til it grows out and then resuming. People don't tend to do that when going for the buzzed look though. :p Wahl's not gonna cut it in the long run.
 
harkamus said:
He's cutting his hair to 1/4 inch. That's getting considerably more mileage out of a trimmer than once every two months, unless he plans on cutting to 1/4 inch, waiting til it grows out and then resuming. People don't tend to do that when going for the buzzed look though. :p Wahl's not gonna cut it in the long run.
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I agree, $16~18 at Wal-mart is wasted money unless you only cut hair once every few months.
 
Makes sense, my suggestion was from once a month or so usage or so. WAHL worked for me though on that time frame.
 
He's cutting his hair to 1/4 inch. That's getting considerably more mileage out of a trimmer than once every two months, unless he plans on cutting to 1/4 inch, waiting til it grows out and then resuming. People don't tend to do that when going for the buzzed look though. Wahl's not gonna cut it in the long run.
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That's the thing. I cut my hair about every week and I have been through a couple of Walmart clippers of different brands before I wised up and got a good one. In retrospect I feel I should have known better than to buy one type of cutting tool (clippers) at Walmart when I would have never considered buying another type of cutting instrument (knives) at the same place. The buy once & cry once philosophy applies here IMO.
 
Not only is the weight of the Oster 76 different - read: much heavier - , but it sounds different from cheapy trimmers. It's kind of scary at first putting the 76 to your dome, especially between your ears, especially guard-less like I used it.
 
I used an inexpensive Conair brand clipper on myself and my two boys for ten years with no issues. I just cleaned and oiled the blades frequently. I recently bought an inexpensive Wahl clipper because I wanted to switch to 3/16" length which uses a hard to find #1.5 guard. I cut my hair every week and the kids every month.
 
Thanks for all of the sound advise. I did some more research and ended up buying an Andis T-Outlander trimmer. I decided to go even shorter and this trimmer is tailor made for trimming very close to the skin without cutting it. It comes with the blades
preset and there's no guard. I like the fact that it's made in the USA, is lightweight,quiet and has plenty of power. It's awesome and I'm really liking the buzz cut.
 
Shave mine once a week high and tight no guard. I've used rechargeable trimmers most last a year went with a cheap Conair electric last time had it well over a year now I just keep it clean and oiled should last at least another year. Either way your saving money I know guys who go to hair cut factories once a week at $15 or so a pop. I used to actually enjoy going to a barber myself once in a while back when there was one that is . I will be checking out this thread when I need a new one that Andis looks interesting.
 
I read a lot of reviews on it from barbers and stylists. They were all pretty happy with its performance. It'll be real easy to maintain the cut with the Andis
 
I used a cheap pair of wahls while I was active duty, lasted 8 years until I lost them. 24+ hair cuts a year for me and while in training, I have no idea, lots of guys getting haircuts since it came with the fade attachments.

Unless there's been a drastic change in quality (on my second wahl) the only bad thing to report is that I put it away wet and a year later getting it out of storage it took a couple minutes to get working again.
 
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