gil3591 wrote:after reading this thread i picked up a bag of these. very good results! just as good as my fancy double edhe razors. these may make my double edge razors antiques. how many shave are you guys getting from them?
At less than 8p each they're cheap enough to use once and chuck away.
I can get a week out of one, but that's pushing it.
I think they're great little shavers too. Not quite as good as the BiC METAL for travel, but they're nearly impossible to find. That leaves the Gillette GUARD as the only single edge disposable alternative that I'm aware of. Seems a bit silly prohibiting DE blades in carry-on bags, yet allowing freshly sharpened wooden pencils to pass through...smoke and mirrors, right? ...off topic, sorry.
Some of the twin blade disposables are OK too; hell, I can shave in the shower by touch alone if I use a Schick slim twin disposable. The ST2s are pretty easily found in the USA and I've seen ST3s on the Schick website, but not in any retail stores.
I think that the only reason for me not to use the disposables all the time is that I love the whole feel and look of a "real" razor. BiC sensitive is a great example of minimalist design; near perfection achieved by removing everything not absolutely essential to the task at hand - NOT by adding everything that can be thought of.
I read recently where someone said, "The bulk of the past century consisted of replacing what worked, with what sounded good."
As an added note, years ago I traveled quite a bit and carried disposal razors, usually the dual blade Gillette Good News model. As likely as not I shaved by feel in the shower. That actually worked rather well, more a chore than pleasure, but it was efficient.
One further observation I will make about the Bic Sensitives is that to get a close shave you need to revert to the cartridge-style technique of applying a little pressure with each stroke. This is the antithesis of what we learn to do with a DE razor, and will feel unnatural to an established DE convert. But this slight adaptation pays dividends.
Yeah, I agree with Seamaster. It does require a different technique. These potato chip weight razors need just a small amount of pressure to compensate for their lack of tonnage. It's kind of fun to use whilst traveling - sometimes a bit like the bargain rental car you get: nothing you'd ever want to own, but fun to drive for a little while all the same.
Sort of like a pretend razor - except that this little jewel can definitely cut you if you use it too incautiously. If I thought I had these alone to shave with from now on, I'd be unhappy, but I think they serve their purpose very well.
Squire wrote:Also ruinous to one's financial health but you can't take it with you.
As my late father used to quip, "In that case, I'm not going".
I've done three weeks now with nothing other than Bic Sensitives and a can of Proraso foam, and I remain slightly embarrassed by how good my shaves have been.