SE vs Gillette

Thoughts and input on anything related to wet shaving or men's grooming.
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celar36
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SE vs Gillette

Post by celar36 »

Hi Guys,

After shaving with SE's lately I discover they give far more comfortable shave then DE this lead me to think do I need DE?

You saw my collection I really love Gillette razors for their style but it seems wrong to have them and not use them.


Maybe is time to sell them to people who will put them back in rotation?
(I will keep only British made ones as I just cannot let them go, and use them from time to time)

Opinions?
Jack
brothers
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Post by brothers »

Jack, we all choose what works best for us individually. If you decide to sell some razors, I have no doubt you'll find new homes for all of them. I wish you well, regardless of which course of action you choose. You've acquired some nice razors.
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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celar36
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Post by celar36 »

I think I will keep my No. 58 and 66 sets, Rocket and Tech as them together with Meds Preps perform nice. To the Adjustables( Fatboy, Slim and Slim Aristocrat) and 48 ss say goodbye. I will give it a though over week or two and make a decision.
Jack
ShadowsDad
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Post by ShadowsDad »

Jack, the Slim doesn't give you a good shave!? I believe you, I'm just surprised is all. Have you tried it cranked up to 9?

But anyway, since I started this SE addiction in you I suppose I'm not really surprised that the DE doesn't do it for you anymore. You need to do what you need to do. Unless you intend to be a collector. Nothing wrong with that.

On a positive note, those sales will give you money for more SE razors and blades.
Brian

Maker of Kramperts Finest Bay Rum and Frostbite
Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
kingfisher
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Post by kingfisher »

It amazes me when guys prefer SEs to DEs. I've tried every kind of SE there is, and I didn't like any of them. I sold several, and today I'm shipping out the rest (with a bunch of DEs I not longer use) to a guy in Arizona who sells razors on consignment.

Once that package is in the mail I'll have a total of four razors, all DEs. Fatboy, Progress, FaTip, and Stahly live blade.
"If we had steak, we could have steak and eggs, if we had some eggs."
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jww
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Post by jww »

I wouldn't mind picking up a SE some day -- every time I get close, I just can't justify it, and pick up a new brush, or soap instead...... 8)
Wendell

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Books
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Post by Books »

I find myself in the same situation. I've stopped using almost all of my Gillette's. Lately it's been just a Schick Injector or occasionally my Merkur HD. Problem is I can't bring myself to sell the collection...
Bob
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Post by drmoss_ca »

I don't see why a single edge such as an injector blade should be inferior to a double edged blade. Were I to use such tools (all of which are inferior to a straight razor!) I should pick an Injector over the DE every time. Then again, I don't use them, so no one need indulge such arguments...

Chris
Who actually said nothing at all, so no one need argue at all. And damn the person who replies that he is not arguing....
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bernards66
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Post by bernards66 »

Fiddlesticks!....I'm going to post anyway....so there! In the early years of this forum I was known for using the Schick Injector ( an N2 model ) when most of the other members used either a DE or a straight. My posts got other members to try the injectors and quite a few of them ultimately adopted it as their main stay razor. Okay, so why then do I currently use a DE? It's been a circular progression driven by what blades were available. For decades I used only my trusty Gillette long handled adjustable loaded with ( usually ) Wilkinson Sword blades. For years and years this was the ticket for me. I used that razor & blade combo during the late '60s and '70s with canned foam and stayed with it through my transition to brushes and high quality shave soaps in the mid-'80s, and on through the '90s. But it was in the 1990s that I began to notice the Wilkinson DE blades going downhill slowly...the quality was not quite what it had been...but they were still good. But Wilkinson was eventually bought out and DE production was moved to Germany and the blades took a sharp turn for the worse. And the very few other DE blades available locally were as bad or worse. It was at this point, in the early 2000s as the first shave forums were starting up that I remembered the Injector and switched to it. Excellent, made in USA blades were still being sold for it in local shops at that point. So I used it daily for several years and was still using it when I meet up with Dominic ( our SMF IT wizard ) while he was living in Tampa. He couldn't believe what a close irritation free shave I had. His post about our meet-up further increased interest in the Injector. Sigh....but then Warner-Lambert was subsumed by Energizer and production of the injector blades was also moved to Germany and the result was the same as it had been for the Wilkinson and Schick DE blades. So, this forced me to swithch BACK to the DE and fortunately I also found that the Gillette DE blades still being sold in the UK were of the excellent older type that had disappeared here. Eventually Energizer moved the injector blade manufacturing to China where, surprisingly, they are producing a better specimen, but still not up to the standard of the old US ones.

The Schick Injector DOES, IMO, have some advantages. I used to write that I thought is was, argueably, the best mass produced shaving instrument ever offered. In it's later editions ( from the late '50s on ) they were very sturdy, extremely simple, easy ( and kinda fun ) to load, very facile, and gave an excellent shave. Often they were better for gents with curly and/or heavy beards as the blade was thicker and more rigid than with DEs. Also there was virtually no learning curve with the Injector. I used to recommend the Schick Injector frequently to newcomers arriving on the Wetshaver and SMF forums. Some ( like Corey Greenberg ) complained that they were almost 'too easy' to use ( chuckle ). But for me, the blade is the deciding factor. I had a lot of fine vintage DE blades but only a few of the US made injector ones. So, I'll continue to use my Gillette DE as long as the blade supply holds out ( I just recently got a few more ) and those new Polsilvers seem good enough to use regularly if I needed to. But, those Chinese made injector blades aren't too bad and they remain in the back of my mind as one of my fall-back alternatives.
Regards,
Gordon
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Post by ShadowsDad »

Hey, it's purely a YMMV item. Injectors don't have the audio feedback, so while they shave great, they hold no attraction for me.

I use some DEs, mostly vintage, one modern (Muhle '11 R41).

But mostly I use SE razors with a GEM SS ptfe coated blade. They simply have everything I desire in a safety razor. (some don't- I reserve the right to be selective-YMMV)

Forget a straight, I love to see them because they are art IMO, but use one on myself with it held in my hand? It's simply not going to happen. I have yet to get my Rolls Razor to deliver a shave that I like; so a straight? Not very likely. But if it was to happen, the Rolls first, then maybe the straight... maybe. I admit it, I like really sharp blades and I have yet to produce that edge with the Rolls.
Brian

Maker of Kramperts Finest Bay Rum and Frostbite
Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
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Post by brothers »

Reading Gordon's post makes me understand a bit more about why I love the shaves from the only currently produced single edge (injector-like) razor, the Cobra Classic Single Edge razor. It beats them all, albeit the sturdy and well-designed Barbasol floating head DE razor is a very close contender. I might like to try out the Tradere 1st edition head (already out of production in that particular design) because I've read good things about it, but haven't yet had an opportunity.
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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jww
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Post by jww »

I learned to shave as a teen on a Schick injector -- it was what my Dad used, and like father like son. Loved it, but when it was discontinued, it never occured to me at the time to do anything other than drink the Kool-Aid on the new cartridge razors. I never used a Gillette cartridge, but stayed with Schick over the years, until I moved to a DE many years ago now. Love the single blade.
Wendell

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Post by Rufus »

My Dad also used a Schick injector. What was nice about it was that when I was a wee lad, long before I started shaving for real, I could shave along with my Dad using an injector sans blade; it was a great bonding experience as my Dad rubbed Noxema on my face before applying lather as he did on himself. I have a Schick injector razor and 3 unopened blade injectors at the moment, which have sat at the back of a drawer in the bathroom for several years. I'm tempted to get it out and use it, if just for old times sake. If my Dad were still alive he'd be turning 100 in September, so I might wait until then to commemorate him.
Bryan
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Post by rsp1202 »

I agree, Gordon. It's ALL about the blades. After more shaves with the Chick blade in my N1 and N2 injectors, it reconfirms to me that they're just okay -- not that different to me from the majority of DE blades I've used before, and certainly without the magical performance that I get from the NOS Schick Plus Platinums (in particular) and Personna 74s. It concerns me to the degree that I continue to consider the Cobra Classic as the only possible alternative, albeit with questions remaining about its aggressiveness, etc., at least until I get to try one.

If all else fails and I have to switch back to cartridges, I'll continue to use a good brush and soap and soldier on. But it will be like flying without a wingman.
Ron
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Post by Rufus »

I've just checked my 3 packs of unused injectors and nowhere does it say where they were made. One pack is Schick injector blades and the other two are Ted Pella.
Bryan
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Post by rsp1202 »

If the Schick pack is all yellow and relatively new, it's probably China-made; if old, likely German. If it's blue and yellow and says Plus Platinum, it's American and you've struck gold.
Ron
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Post by Rufus »

rsp1202 wrote:If the Schick pack is all yellow and relatively new, it's probably China-made; if old, likely German. If it's blue and yellow and says Plus Platinum, it's American and you've struck gold.
The background is all yellow, but the writing, "Schick" and "Injector" is blue and it doesn't say "Platinum Plus". I guess they're China-made, unfortunately. Do you know anything about Ted Pella injector blades?
Bryan
rsp1202
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Post by rsp1202 »

I went through a few some time back and thought that shave-wise they were on a par with the Chicks. Had one jam in the dispenser. There are those on the forum who like them, though.
Ron
Gene
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Post by Gene »

I saw some of the Chinese blades in a grocery store in Memphis about 2 years ago. Pack said Made in China, for sure.

Didn't buy any, thought, but I should have.

I think I ought to look for some now, to see how I might like them in my injector.
Gene

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Post by bernards66 »

Bryan, Those 'Ted Pella' numbers are from American Safety Razor/Personna. They aren't too bad but they're no where near what the old Schick USA made blades were. AND, being Personnas they have a very annoying habit of jamming during attempts to load them into the razor. I had that happen so many times that I just gave up on them. Just FYI I never had a Schick blade jam up in that way.
Regards,
Gordon
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