SMF

I am curious if anyone here has ever seen on of the Band razors in person, or even tried a shave with one.

Metalurgy of the last 45 years should make them easy to build the blades.

These razors have been discussed in the past and the general consensus was that it was a poor design, it gave a poor shave, and that it was prone to bite, due to less precisely fixed placement of the blade.

- Murray

The idea of a band razor scares me a lot simply cause of the need for enough guards/guides to keep it taut and spool the excess. Would be interesting to see but i doubt the world ever sees another band razor. That said, I've never used one or encountered one and not many razors scare me away... an old band razor would.

James, it's great to see you here!

- Murray

been a while, my shaving habits have calmed down, ill post a shave of the day soon

nicodemus38 wrote:I am curious if anyone here has ever seen on of the Band razors in person, or even tried a shave with one.

Metalurgy of the last 45 years should make them easy to build the blades.

They could probably design and build one. The fact that they disappeared from the market and have not returned seems to indicate there was no demand at the time. There's no demand now, so that's why nobody's making one. I've thought about it for a few minutes and I can't come up with any reason a band would be considered an advantage over single blades.

I remember using a band razor years ago. It was junk. Double edge was much better at that time.

In thinking about it, I'm sure you could theoretically make a band razor that would be very good. I think the principal disadvantage would be the likelihood that moisture would get into the blade-coil and rust the blades prematurely.

The principal advantage, if any, would be similar to any cartridge razor: you don't have to touch the blades, and you simply throw the whole enclosed blade case away when you are done with it.

Anyway, from direct, personal experience I can assure you that there is no need to feel nostalgic or sentimental about the passing of this razor device from the scene. In its actual, real-life realization, it was pretty bad.

If you are talking about the Gillette Techmatic, I had one in the early 1970's. It shaved poorly and it was very easy to nick yourself with it.

A Techmatic was given to me when it was deemed time for me to shave. DE's were disappearing from the shops in the early 70's. I was proud of it at the time, but it was a nightmare. I swapped to the Trak II as soon as it came out a couple of years later.

Chris

Ditto what these last posters said about the Techmatic. My dad had one and I tried it in the mid 70's when I first started shaving and it was IMO an utter POS. That's probably why the band razors made by Gillette & others went over with the public like a pregnant pole vaulter.

Yes, the band razors have been discussed before and I was (and still am) the only one that appears to like them. I have both the Gillette and Schick versions and I prefer the Schick. Contrary to what everyone else reports I get a very comfortable and bloodless shave. While I only use the band razor on occasion I look at it as a fun change of pace.

if you look closely, the band razors thing was a thin flexible strip of metal. basically a cartridge razor without the cart.