Availability of Older Cartridge Razors in the US
Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 5:44 pm
The last razor I noticed getting discontinued in the USA was the Gillette Sensor. That was 2-3 years ago, and they started disappearing from store shelves. Before that, it was the Atra and Trac II. Gillette will still sell you the cartridges, if you're really sure you don't want more than two blades in your razor.
For the Sensor and Atra, and even Trac II, new American Gillette handles are expensive. The best source for affordable new good quality replacement Sensor razors is probably Personna, the main brand name of what we often called ASR here - American Safety Razor. Their Sensor handle is called a silly name - Tri-Flexxx, but it's a decent handle to use. (Their discontinued Tri-Flexx razor - two x's - slightly less silly - worked with Atra blades.)
Overseas, Gillette offers a cheaply made Sensor compatible - the Vector 3, but it's mostly plastic. It's also sold as a Sensor there.
The Personna Bump Fighter razor is compatible with Trac II blades. There are all kinds of fancy or all-metal Trac II type razors under $20 (e.g., Col. Conk), so it's not a problem, anyway. Gillette makes something called a 7 O'Clock PII in India, and it's cheap online ($5 to $10), even if they ship it to you from India. I've used it, and the build quality of the razor seems only very slightly worse than an early Trac II.
For Gillette, that leaves the Atra. Personna doesn't list a replacement on its website any more, and neither does Schick. Gillette makes the Vector, which is the same thing as the last Atra razors, the ones that replaced the metal handle with a plastic one. In Japan, and maybe elsewhere in Asia, there's the Schick Ultra X. The Schick Ultrex is also compatible and decent quality, but I don't know if it's still made.
The worst situation might be for Schick Tracer / FX Diamond lovers. Not only was the razor discontinued, but also the blades. The razor wasn't popular enough for anyone else to clone it, as far as I know. The blade prices on eBay were so high that I decided to sell what I had left rather than "waste" them by shaving. It was a very good razor, but I'm happy with what I think was Schick's mark on shaving history - the injector razor. (And I hope I'll be even happier when the Schick Proline blades I just ordered arrive.)
The Schick Quattro, Xtreme 3, and Protector seem to be available for moderate prices online. I'm not sure which of these Schick still makes.
Did I leave out anything?
For the Sensor and Atra, and even Trac II, new American Gillette handles are expensive. The best source for affordable new good quality replacement Sensor razors is probably Personna, the main brand name of what we often called ASR here - American Safety Razor. Their Sensor handle is called a silly name - Tri-Flexxx, but it's a decent handle to use. (Their discontinued Tri-Flexx razor - two x's - slightly less silly - worked with Atra blades.)
Overseas, Gillette offers a cheaply made Sensor compatible - the Vector 3, but it's mostly plastic. It's also sold as a Sensor there.
The Personna Bump Fighter razor is compatible with Trac II blades. There are all kinds of fancy or all-metal Trac II type razors under $20 (e.g., Col. Conk), so it's not a problem, anyway. Gillette makes something called a 7 O'Clock PII in India, and it's cheap online ($5 to $10), even if they ship it to you from India. I've used it, and the build quality of the razor seems only very slightly worse than an early Trac II.
For Gillette, that leaves the Atra. Personna doesn't list a replacement on its website any more, and neither does Schick. Gillette makes the Vector, which is the same thing as the last Atra razors, the ones that replaced the metal handle with a plastic one. In Japan, and maybe elsewhere in Asia, there's the Schick Ultra X. The Schick Ultrex is also compatible and decent quality, but I don't know if it's still made.
The worst situation might be for Schick Tracer / FX Diamond lovers. Not only was the razor discontinued, but also the blades. The razor wasn't popular enough for anyone else to clone it, as far as I know. The blade prices on eBay were so high that I decided to sell what I had left rather than "waste" them by shaving. It was a very good razor, but I'm happy with what I think was Schick's mark on shaving history - the injector razor. (And I hope I'll be even happier when the Schick Proline blades I just ordered arrive.)
The Schick Quattro, Xtreme 3, and Protector seem to be available for moderate prices online. I'm not sure which of these Schick still makes.
Did I leave out anything?