Gollnick
Musical Director
- Joined
- Mar 22, 1999
- Messages
- 29,258
As many of you know, I switched to DE from Gillette Sensor (which I had used for about 20 years) just about a year ago. I was driven to this largely by the skyrocketting cost of Sensor blades, the declining quality of Sensor blades, and the vanishing availability of Sensor blades. Gillette assured me that they have not discontinued Sensor, and I do still see the blades in the stores from time to time. But, they're not pushing it any more. Without any advertising and without new razor handles being sold, it's clearly a sunset product and Gillette clearly isn't investing anything new in it nor paying much attention to it. They're not requiring stores to carry the blades any more and they're not giving the stores promotional prices either, so those few stores who still choose to give Sensor a few inches of shelf space have to charge full price for those blades since they don't move as rapidly.
Anyway, as a Christmas gift to myself last Christmas, I bought myself a Merkur Futur and matching brush. I've spent the last year using the Futur and focusing on experimenting with different blades. I've evaluated ten different blade types in the last year and really feel good about those results.
Just a couple of weeks ago, my friend Steve Garsson sent me a 60's-vintage Gillette to try out. It's arrival, a year after my switch to DE, couldn't have been more perfect. With my blade evaluations in satisfactory condition, I have been delighted to take this opportunity to now experiment in a new dimension.
I realize that since I have only ever used the one razor, the Futur, my DE shaving experience is quite limited. I was excited to broaden my experience.
For example, may people complain that the Futur is too heavy. But, since it's the only DE I've ever used, it is, as far as I know, just the right weight for a DE razor. Some say that the Futur's head is too big. But, since it's the only DE I've ever used, it is, as far as I know, the perfect size for a DE razor.
Anyway, I was very happy to get this Gillette because I have read so many good things about them. So many guys on the various forums seem to sing their praises.
I decided to start out on this Gillette with a Derby blade since my evaluations have concluded that Derby is an excellent blade and highly consistent. Being an scientist and engineer, I wanted to use a consistent blade type to elliminate one more variable from my experiments.
My first shave with the Gillette was a good experience and the result was about 70% as good as I've become accustomed to from my Futur (and 70% of that is a very nice shave, indeed). I was pleased to get to 70% on the first try. Over the next few shaves, I honed (pun intended) my technique with the little Gillette and was quite pleased with myself to see my shaves improve by leaps and bounds each time. But, I did plateau at about 85%.
That's good, but not acceptable to me. There are a lot of guys on the various forums who report the penultimate shave* using these older Gillettes and Derby blades. I should be able to at least get to 100% of the futur. So, I thought about it for a bit and realized that, yes, these guys do report awesome shaves with these older Gillettes.... but they also report using three- and even four-pass regimes. I was only using a two-pass method.
I tried three-passes with the Futur for about a week some time ago, but I found that the third pass added only one or two percent to the shave. my two-pass approach was getting me 98-99% of the shave I obtained with the three-pass method, so the third pass just wasn't worth it. The Futur does 99% of what it can do with just two passes. I do one pass north-to-south, mostly with-the-grain, and then a second pass south-to-north, mostly against-the-grain, and that's it; that's all I need with my Futur. A third pass with the Futur feels ineffective too, just basically pushing lather around.
But, when I tried adding a third pass with the Gillette, the shave quality immediately came up to 100% of Futur. I've tried adding a second south-to-north and also adding an ear-to-nose (mostly across-the-grain) pass. The second S2N was a big improvement, but the ear-to-nose, once I got it figured out, was even better.
The third pass only takes about two minutes. The brush is already loaded and it just takes a few whips to bring up a third lather. The shaving itself goes quick since the cutting is quite fine.
And, with that third pass, this Gillette is a great shaver indeed.
I have heard some say that the Futur is just to agressive, that it irritates them or causes razor burn. Obviously, if it can do in two passes what this Gillette needs three to accomplish, it is more agressive. But, for some people, three milder passes may be a more comfortable and effective way to reach a great shave than two more agressive passes.
My plan now is to go back to the Futur for a week or so since this is an A/B comparison plan. Then, I'll try the Gillette with some Feather blades.
* The ultimate shave, of course, comes only in heaven
Anyway, as a Christmas gift to myself last Christmas, I bought myself a Merkur Futur and matching brush. I've spent the last year using the Futur and focusing on experimenting with different blades. I've evaluated ten different blade types in the last year and really feel good about those results.
Just a couple of weeks ago, my friend Steve Garsson sent me a 60's-vintage Gillette to try out. It's arrival, a year after my switch to DE, couldn't have been more perfect. With my blade evaluations in satisfactory condition, I have been delighted to take this opportunity to now experiment in a new dimension.
I realize that since I have only ever used the one razor, the Futur, my DE shaving experience is quite limited. I was excited to broaden my experience.
For example, may people complain that the Futur is too heavy. But, since it's the only DE I've ever used, it is, as far as I know, just the right weight for a DE razor. Some say that the Futur's head is too big. But, since it's the only DE I've ever used, it is, as far as I know, the perfect size for a DE razor.
Anyway, I was very happy to get this Gillette because I have read so many good things about them. So many guys on the various forums seem to sing their praises.
I decided to start out on this Gillette with a Derby blade since my evaluations have concluded that Derby is an excellent blade and highly consistent. Being an scientist and engineer, I wanted to use a consistent blade type to elliminate one more variable from my experiments.
My first shave with the Gillette was a good experience and the result was about 70% as good as I've become accustomed to from my Futur (and 70% of that is a very nice shave, indeed). I was pleased to get to 70% on the first try. Over the next few shaves, I honed (pun intended) my technique with the little Gillette and was quite pleased with myself to see my shaves improve by leaps and bounds each time. But, I did plateau at about 85%.
That's good, but not acceptable to me. There are a lot of guys on the various forums who report the penultimate shave* using these older Gillettes and Derby blades. I should be able to at least get to 100% of the futur. So, I thought about it for a bit and realized that, yes, these guys do report awesome shaves with these older Gillettes.... but they also report using three- and even four-pass regimes. I was only using a two-pass method.
I tried three-passes with the Futur for about a week some time ago, but I found that the third pass added only one or two percent to the shave. my two-pass approach was getting me 98-99% of the shave I obtained with the three-pass method, so the third pass just wasn't worth it. The Futur does 99% of what it can do with just two passes. I do one pass north-to-south, mostly with-the-grain, and then a second pass south-to-north, mostly against-the-grain, and that's it; that's all I need with my Futur. A third pass with the Futur feels ineffective too, just basically pushing lather around.
But, when I tried adding a third pass with the Gillette, the shave quality immediately came up to 100% of Futur. I've tried adding a second south-to-north and also adding an ear-to-nose (mostly across-the-grain) pass. The second S2N was a big improvement, but the ear-to-nose, once I got it figured out, was even better.
The third pass only takes about two minutes. The brush is already loaded and it just takes a few whips to bring up a third lather. The shaving itself goes quick since the cutting is quite fine.
And, with that third pass, this Gillette is a great shaver indeed.
I have heard some say that the Futur is just to agressive, that it irritates them or causes razor burn. Obviously, if it can do in two passes what this Gillette needs three to accomplish, it is more agressive. But, for some people, three milder passes may be a more comfortable and effective way to reach a great shave than two more agressive passes.
My plan now is to go back to the Futur for a week or so since this is an A/B comparison plan. Then, I'll try the Gillette with some Feather blades.
* The ultimate shave, of course, comes only in heaven
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