Switching back to Trac II
Switching back to Trac II
I have a nice Trac II shaving set that I bought in Japan about 10 years ago and have been thinking about using it again.
The handle is heavy and long, the badger brush soft and full, and the stand elegant and strong. I think I paid about $160 for it. I switched from it to DE because of the price of cartridges. A couple of days ago, I found a 10-pack of store brand cartridges for $3.99 and thought, why not!" Today was my second Trac II shave, and I must say that I'm enjoying it. It doesn't have that precise feel that DE does, but it's giving me close, comfortable shaves with less effort. Shaving my chin, jawline, and neck is much easier. My years of DE shaving certainly help. My Superspeed will always have a place of honor on the display shelf and will see action again, but I'm going to stick with the Trac II set.
The handle is heavy and long, the badger brush soft and full, and the stand elegant and strong. I think I paid about $160 for it. I switched from it to DE because of the price of cartridges. A couple of days ago, I found a 10-pack of store brand cartridges for $3.99 and thought, why not!" Today was my second Trac II shave, and I must say that I'm enjoying it. It doesn't have that precise feel that DE does, but it's giving me close, comfortable shaves with less effort. Shaving my chin, jawline, and neck is much easier. My years of DE shaving certainly help. My Superspeed will always have a place of honor on the display shelf and will see action again, but I'm going to stick with the Trac II set.
Last edited by Lou on Sat Nov 12, 2011 7:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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As I have posted before I helped introduce the TRAC 2 and I consider it one of the two most important development milestones in shaving, the first being the Gillette DE razor with replaceable blades and the second being the TRAC 2. Both razors made it easier for the average man (and woman) to get better shaves than anything before. While I use my Futur DE almost all of the time I still use a multi-blade Gillette Power Fusion for parts of my neck and around my moustache. Neither shaves better than the other ... I can get fantastic shaves with both ... but I like the feel of a DE razor going up and down the sides of my face. For the record, I think five blades is overkill (I have never seen the technology behind five blades) but Gillette makes more money on multi-blade cartridges than it does on DE blades and that is the good old capitalist system in action.
Awesome!harper wrote:I helped introduce the TRAC 2 ...
I completely agree.... and I consider it one of the two most important development milestones in shaving, the first being the Gillette DE razor with replaceable blades and the second being the TRAC 2
From MailOnline.com:Gillette makes more money on multi-blade cartridges than it does on DE blades and that is the good old capitalist system in action.
Sharp practice? The razor heads that cost just 5p to make, but sell for £2.43 each
By Sean Poulter
Last updated at 11:25 AM on 8th June 2009
Men are paying over the odds for a clean shave because of a huge mark-up on razor heads.
The products sold by Gillette and other companies cost as little as 5p to make, industry insiders have revealed.
But consumers are charged up to £2.43 a piece - a mark-up of more than 4,750 per cent.
The price of shaving products at leading supermarkets is under investigation by the Office of Fair Trading.
The Government watchdog is involved in a long-running inquiry into alleged collusion between manufacturers and retailers.
It is alleged that salesmen from Procter & Gamble, which bought Gillette for $57billion (£35billion) in 2005, urged retailers not to cut the shop price of its brands.
A check of Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's found the UK's three biggest supermarkets are selling Gillette's Fusion Power cartridges at the same price.
A pack of eight costs £18.53, and the replacement razor heads are so expensive that they are now the most shoplifted product in the High Street.
Special security measures have been introduced, including sealing the packs in boxes with an electronic tag which sets off an alarm if it is not removed before leaving the store, and CCTV that activates if the product is removed from the shelf.
A pack of four Fusion Power cartridges costs only 20p to manufacture, plus 8p for packaging. But they are sold for £9.72 - £9.44.
An industry insider said Gillette takes the lion share - £6.28 - to cover its operating costs and make a profit. Some £1.90 goes to the retailer and £1.26 to the Government in VAT.
The insider said: 'I know as a matter of fact that it will not cost more than 5p to produce a refill cartridge, it is a question of pennies given the bulk involved, yet Gillette is charging a wholesale price which is much higher.
'The figures tell you why it can afford to use stars such as Tiger Woods on its payroll (for advertising) and how it could afford to give David Beckham a diamond-encrusted mach3 razor for Father's Day some years back costing $54,000.
'With the Gillette products, the company is so dominant that it is able to spell out the terms of sale, including the price they want to see, to retailers.'
As well as Beckham and Woods, Gillette has splashed out large amounts of money on tennis star Roger Federer and footballer Thierry Henry to help market its products.
A recent Which? survey praised Gillette's products but gave a 'Best Buy' rating to the King of Shaves Azor. Its four cartridge refill pack comes in at a much cheaper £4.88.
Tesco's Matrix system, which has a triple blade head, has also won plaudits. A four cartridge refill costs only £2.20. A spokesman for Procter & Gamble said the retailers, rather than manufacturers, set the price paid by customers.
She said: 'Delivering value to our consumers is critical to our business. 'P&G determines the (wholesale) prices at which we sell to customers primarily based on covering our costs - the cost of product development, raw materials, processing, packaging, transport, general-expenses and marketing.'
She said that the company also needed to earn 'a sufficient return to sustain our business' and argued that its products provide good value in terms of performance in relation to price.
She said the company was unable to comment on the OFT investigation, but added: 'Our policy is to comply with the letter and spirit of the law everywhere we do business'.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -each.html#
I liked the way my Trac II shaved, but found it clogged too easily with hair for some reason.
That was its undoing actually, as I would tap it against the faucet to dislodge the hair. Over the years it stressed the head of the razor at the same point and one day all of a sudden it failed.
None of my other razors--either my DE, or other cartridge razors, got clogged with hair like the Trac II.
That was its undoing actually, as I would tap it against the faucet to dislodge the hair. Over the years it stressed the head of the razor at the same point and one day all of a sudden it failed.
None of my other razors--either my DE, or other cartridge razors, got clogged with hair like the Trac II.
I've loved the Trac II ever since it came out. Regrettably, after the second or third shave in a row, I get ingrown hairs. Never fails. It's something to do with the extra close shave.
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
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
I remember that annoyance the last time I used Trac II. So far, I haven't had any clogging with this razor. I'm guessing it's a combination of swishing the razor head in the sink more often, and not pressing like I used to.merkri wrote:I liked the way my Trac II shaved, but found it clogged too easily with hair for some reason.
I never had that with the Trac II. I did get it horribly when, in a fit of irrationality, I tried a Norelco. My neck didn't like that thing at all.brothers wrote:I've loved the Trac II ever since it came out. Regrettably, after the second or third shave in a row, I get ingrown hairs. Never fails. It's something to do with the extra close shave.
I have never had any of the problems people mention with TRAC 2 or other multi-blade razors ... clogging, skin irritation, bumps, etc. ... and I have used most of them at one time or another ... but I have a suspicion that if I use any razor for some time on a daily basis my beard seems to change and my shaves are not as close. I have absolutely no scientific evidence of this but after a while I don't seem to get as close a shave as I did when I start using a specific razor. So, I switch razors for a time and then when my beard seems to change go back to the one I stopped using. I find this true with my Futur or PowerGlide Fusion (damn but Gillette has a surfeit of names for its razors these days instead of simple ones like TRAC 2, Sensor, etc.). My normal way of shaving is with a Futur until I get to certain areas of my neck which I find too easy to nick and then switch to a Fusion for that area. This is not a problem that keeps me awake at nights or that I think of intricate and arcane ways of solving. It just is and the hell with it!!!
Lou: I don't know anything these days about UK pricing but I think the production costs cited are on the low side and it costs more to make the items you mention. Nevertheless, the retail prices are still too high even if you triple the production costs. While Gillette "owns" the multi-blade market, if enough shavers stop buying their cartridges the retail cost will come down. However, I doubt that is going to happen in my lifetime (I am 81). Expecting that to occur is as likely as I was to get my $1.20 back from the state of Connecticut when I wrote the state governor and said he should be ashamed to charge anybody $1.20 for driving on such a lousy toll road. I did not get my money back but the state spent a lot of money answering my letter ... the governor, the highway commissioner, the state senator where the road was located, the toll collector's office ... all copied by the governor ... and all had to write me and then copy him. In the end I felt pretty good about not getting my $1.20 back.
The Trac has low price and low irritation going for it, but refuses to shave me as close as the Sensor. I'd guess the blade gap and geometry has something to do with that as well as the Sensor's microfins which set up my beard better. I'd use it more often if the cart prices weren't so high: $21 and up for 10 here in L.A.; $13 for five.
Trac II Plus prices are around $16/10 factory; about $7+shipping for the Personnas online; $10 for the Rite-Aid/CVS versions; $6 for various supermarket clones; and of course the 99 Cent Store version. I still like the factory blades best but won't pay the price.
Trac II Plus prices are around $16/10 factory; about $7+shipping for the Personnas online; $10 for the Rite-Aid/CVS versions; $6 for various supermarket clones; and of course the 99 Cent Store version. I still like the factory blades best but won't pay the price.
Ron
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I have been using the Fusion Power Glide for a while and I notice that I occasionally get a truely close shave from one. I think it is the thickness of the lather or grease that prevents a very close shave. I think my close ones were when the lather or grease was rinsed totally away and I was shaving with either just water or dry. I can get away with that with the Fusion.
Ouchmychin (Pete)
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I've never used a TracII, but that's all my dad has used since Mom bought it for him in the early '70s, Christmas '71 I think. He still swears it's the best razor ever made.
Tom
Tom
A razor is a good deal like a gun, much depends on the man behind it - paraphrased from John Philip Sousa
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