Best Trac II blades in production

[kingfisher]

Nathan, I respectfully disagree about the relative quality of the shave obtained from the Personna cartridges versus the Wilkinson Sword cartridges. I prefer the latter by a large margin.

Sadly, they are no longer available.


The ones with the green lube strip are by far the smoothest currently available. They are made, I believe, by Gillette for the European market. Not the least expensive cartridges, by any stretch, but by far the best, IMO.

[diggity]

Kingfisher, you have a PM

[diggity]

I am interested to know which blades kingfisher is referring too. These personna's are still a big aggressive for me.

[diggity]

I think I found these with the green strips, the Gillette Vector. But they also have the Slalom, which seems to maybe be the same blades but for a different market. Does anyone know?

[rsp1202]

I think the Vector is for the Indian market, the Slalom for the Asian. Check this out from our own Pauldog:
http://www.ebay.com/gds/Which-Twin-Blad ... 848/g.html
Or just PM him; he should know.
Be careful, Nathan, that those blades fit the Trac II and not just the Atra.

[diggity]

Thanks, Ron. I appreciate it. I will pm Paul

[Pauldog]

Nathan and I have now corresponded. For the record, the Vector blades fit only the Atra, and not the Trac II razor. There are some blades that fit both, but I don't think any were ever made by Gillette.

Here's an example (Wilkinson) of a blade that fits both razors:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Wilkinson-Swo ... t/20926167

Maybe someone will be able to post a picture of what the fitting on the back looks like. Because there's extra plastic to make it fit the Trac II razor, the pivoting on the Atra is usually more restricted than it would be on an Atra-only blade.

[rsp1202]

The extra plastic are the horizontal guide rails top and bottom that the Trac head slips into? Both the Personnas and Wilkinsons have three vertical plastic "rails" (with some bumps on either side of them) that the Atra latches onto. Now that you mention it, I don't think I've ever used an Atra-only cartridge so never realized it has more range of movement than these double-downers.

I agree with Nathan that the Personnas are aggressive. The Gillette TII carts are more forgiving.

[diggity]

Had a great shave with the Gillette II Plus cart yesterday. It was as good if not better than the Wilks. They aren't cheap, but hey, they are cheaper than the Fusions!

[Pauldog]

In Japan, the Actas is the current razor that takes Atra blades. It looks like the old metal Atra, but the handle is actually plastic.

[brothers]

Ordered some of the Personnas today. Looking forward to using 'em.

[kingfisher]

Now that I think of it, I think you are all correct. The Vector cartridges fit the Atra, but not the Trac II.

That's too bad for somebody wanting to use the Trac II handle; ever since Walmart stopped carrying the Wilkinson cartridges I've switched to the Gillette Guard.

But if you're using an Atra handle, the Vector carts are really super smooth and enjoyable.

[brothers]

FWIW, I've been using a new "DG" (Dollar General) branded Trac II cartridge for about 4 days now, and it keeps giving up some very close and comfortable shaves. There's nothing on the package to show where they were made or by whom. I don't care for mild razors or cartridges, and I must say these are not what I would call mild. I think that is one of the reasons I like them. In the past I've been plagued by painful bumps developing within a day or two after using Trac IIs. This time, even after 4 days, I haven't had any problems, knock on wood. I've made arrangements to get some of the Personnas that are mentioned above, and I might also pay a visit to Dollar General just to see if they've still got these on the shelves.

[rsp1202]

. . . I don't care for mild razors or cartridges, and I must say these are not what I would call mild. I think that is one of the reasons I like them. In the past I've been plagued by painful bumps developing within a day or two after using Trac IIs. This time, even after 4 days, I haven't had any problems . . .

Gary, I was wondering how you were surviving with a TII, what with your history and all. I think you'll find the Personnas do the trick -- at least the batch of carts I got maybe three months ago from Razors Direct, as well as Nathan's newer stock, feel much smoother and certainly more aggressive than Personnas I've used before. I don't know who else manufactures the DG's other than American Safety Razor or Dorco, but there has to be another source -- again, Paul should know.

[brothers]

I was at Dollar General today to check the trac II cartridges. The packaging says the blades are made in South Korea. Does that indicate what company might have made them?

[Squire]

Means they are made by Dorco which is not surprising as Dollar General has been selling Dorco DE blades for years.

[kingfisher]

Gary, they're Dorcos. As Squire said, they've been selling Dorcos for years at DG.

I tried 'em. I found them the worst of the three non-Gillettes that were available at the time (Dorco, Personna, and Wilkinson Sword). The Wilkies were best, then the Personnas, then the Dorcos, at least for me.

Although I must admit they were better in the Trac II than they were in the Atra; maybe one of the main reasons I placed them last was their dreadful performance in the Atra. They chattered around a lot. In the Trac II they weren't bad. Certainly the best price on Trac II compatible blades, now than WalMart is no longer carrying the Wilkies.

I may pick up a pack of those Dorcos and try them out in my Trac II sometime just for fun. I haven't used a Trac II in well over a year.

[rsp1202]

I've gotten some good shaves, and some really bad ones, from both the Wilkinson and Personna carts, to the point that I just put the TII away. But I always seem to go back to it for a run before moving on. The Gillette carts were consistent, at least.

[brothers]

Last time I was in Walgreens I noticed they have a store brand of twin blade cartridges and disposable razors ranging from 1 blade to 6 at very reasonable prices, similar to the Dorcos at Dollar General. Made in Korea, I believe. I haven't tried them, but might.

[Squire]

Korean means Dorco unless someone has some more recent information. If so the blades in question should be the same as the ones from Dollar General.