Friday I came home from work to a pleasant surprise. I found a package waiting for me. I was the lucky recipient of a recent PIF, landing me a Gillette Old Type. This would be my first experience with an open comb. (origional PIF posting here: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/249498-Pif-2 )
My background: I started wet shaving at New Year’s, 2011. I’ve got about 8 months in the game. I’m also a bicycle commuter. I shave in the morning, prior to my ride. My goal has become a DFS, with minimal sweat-sting during the ride to work. I only go for a BBS on those special days. Otherwise, I target the compromise shave, close without burn. Current kit is a newish EJ, loaded with a Persona, and Tabac.
First Impressions: I’ve been using an EJ for about 8 months. In comparison, the Old Type is surprisingly small and light. It’s still sturdy though. The head seems thin and slim. Nice knurling on the handle. The comb looks a bit less polished than I would expect. I'm not talking esthetics here, rather how it was machined. The corners have very square edges. I wonder how smooth this combed edge will feel.
The shave: Saturday morning I loaded with my standard blade. As I tightened it down I noticed the exposure wasn’t even on both sides. I loosened and reseated things, and all was fine. At first contact, this razor feels delicate. I attribute this to the smallish size and weight. It seemed to provide more feedback. It wasn’t as smooth, but with the comb I didn’t expect it to be all that smooth. The additional feedback really helped me dial in the blade angle. I like that. The sweet spot was subtle, and more tactile. I did my normal 3-pass shave. My neck grows from east to west, and I’m too skinny to have an easy approach down there. Beneath my sharp jawline, there are few flat spots. My ATG neck pass is more of a diagonal slide. The comb made that interesting. I could feel the edges, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. I started to feel a little more burn on this pass. It was nothing tragic, just an over-shaved feeling. No cuts or weepers.
Result: The wife noticed right away. She said my shave was noticeably closer than usual. I was impressed too. I mark this as a new personal best shave. Clarification: My new closest shave. It wasn’t the most comfortable, but best yet in the other categories. Once I tame this beast, it could easily become my Game Day shaver.
I had a little burn for the next few hours. Nothing tragic. I could tell I’d taken some skin off in that shave. For now, I look forward to bad weather days, when I know I’ll be car commuting. I’ll use those days to polish up my skills with this jewel. For now, I lack the finesse to make this a daily shaver. I look forward to building some skill, and transitioning onto this razor full time. I like it enough that I wonder about having it re-plated someday. I should do some research on that.
Another big "Thank You" to the B&B community. This PIF will keep me busy for a while. Gracias gents.
My background: I started wet shaving at New Year’s, 2011. I’ve got about 8 months in the game. I’m also a bicycle commuter. I shave in the morning, prior to my ride. My goal has become a DFS, with minimal sweat-sting during the ride to work. I only go for a BBS on those special days. Otherwise, I target the compromise shave, close without burn. Current kit is a newish EJ, loaded with a Persona, and Tabac.
First Impressions: I’ve been using an EJ for about 8 months. In comparison, the Old Type is surprisingly small and light. It’s still sturdy though. The head seems thin and slim. Nice knurling on the handle. The comb looks a bit less polished than I would expect. I'm not talking esthetics here, rather how it was machined. The corners have very square edges. I wonder how smooth this combed edge will feel.
The shave: Saturday morning I loaded with my standard blade. As I tightened it down I noticed the exposure wasn’t even on both sides. I loosened and reseated things, and all was fine. At first contact, this razor feels delicate. I attribute this to the smallish size and weight. It seemed to provide more feedback. It wasn’t as smooth, but with the comb I didn’t expect it to be all that smooth. The additional feedback really helped me dial in the blade angle. I like that. The sweet spot was subtle, and more tactile. I did my normal 3-pass shave. My neck grows from east to west, and I’m too skinny to have an easy approach down there. Beneath my sharp jawline, there are few flat spots. My ATG neck pass is more of a diagonal slide. The comb made that interesting. I could feel the edges, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. I started to feel a little more burn on this pass. It was nothing tragic, just an over-shaved feeling. No cuts or weepers.
Result: The wife noticed right away. She said my shave was noticeably closer than usual. I was impressed too. I mark this as a new personal best shave. Clarification: My new closest shave. It wasn’t the most comfortable, but best yet in the other categories. Once I tame this beast, it could easily become my Game Day shaver.
I had a little burn for the next few hours. Nothing tragic. I could tell I’d taken some skin off in that shave. For now, I look forward to bad weather days, when I know I’ll be car commuting. I’ll use those days to polish up my skills with this jewel. For now, I lack the finesse to make this a daily shaver. I look forward to building some skill, and transitioning onto this razor full time. I like it enough that I wonder about having it re-plated someday. I should do some research on that.
Another big "Thank You" to the B&B community. This PIF will keep me busy for a while. Gracias gents.
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