Gillette Tech: Sampler Pack Reviews

**neocaligatio** · 03-05-2009, 09:36 AM

Afternoon Gents,

Prompted by the "Week of Tech" thread, I purchased a ball end tech:

And have the following blades to try:

Feather
Derby
Wilkinson Sword
Dorco
Merkur
Crystal
Red Personna
7 O'Clock Sharp-edge
Gillette Bleu Extra (purchased in France last year

)

So over the next few days/weeks I'll try to post my opinions here, along with the soap/cream choices too. Hopefully it will be helpful to those tempted to join the Tech-lovers out there!

Some points to bear in mind:

I won't be making explicit reference to nicks, as I have a few scars etc that will always be sliced no matter how gentle the blade or the shave!

I've only had the Tech for a few days, so I'm still in the honeymoon period there

Chris

**neocaligatio** · 03-05-2009, 09:44 AM

For a few days (3 shaves) I've used a standard WS blade. I'm not a massive fan of the blades, but gave them a go out of the fair sportsmanship! Here's a run-down of the last couple of days...

Day one (blade used once prior in another razor)

Lather: Pecksniff's Oriental Soap/Cream

Even on the second use, the blade tugged badly - oddly enough though I got very little irritation, just an unpleasant feeling whilst shaving. The overall Effect was good, in fact the best I've had with WS blades yet, but still not what I'd look for in a shave.

Day two

Lather: Palmolive (UK) cream

Smoother slightly that the first use (less growth to crop!) but an uninspiring shave overall - even with 4 passes it was nowhere near BBS.

I've now given up on these - I've got a few packs and haven't ever been pleased with them, so I won't tried a second blade....

**neocaligatio** · 03-05-2009, 09:58 AM

Tried the Dorco today

Lather: Pecksniff's Oriental Soap/Cream

For a first use, the dorco tugged more than I would have liked, but without the unpleasant nature of the WS - more like each hair was being 'snicked' off. I'd still rather a smoother shave, but I can't fault the overall effect - BBS with less nicks than usual and no irritation!

Bottom line - I could use these every day and have a clean shave, but they're not as smooth as I'd like, and I get the impression that day two might not be so spot on.

**SepticTank** · 03-05-2009, 10:00 AM

Did you polish that box? It looks a heck of a lot shinier than the first time I saw it in one of your photos...

**neocaligatio** · 03-05-2009, 10:18 AM

Nope! It's the same photo... I think the ones in my other post might have been from a different angle.

**bman40** · 03-05-2009, 12:33 PM

I have used my old no date-code tech with Derby Extra, Red Pack Personna and Dorco blades. I fin that all three work well, but that the Personna is the best match.

The Tech is a mild razor, and a sharper blade is a good pairing. I like the Dorco ST-301 blade, but I find that blade might be best in my 62 Fatboy.

Derby Extras are a nice match for the Merku HD, as is a red pack Personna.

Gillette Slim is well paired with the Dorco or the Personnas.

Good luck on your experiments.

Barry

**Bobtrumpet** · 03-05-2009, 02:54 PM

Thanks for doing this. I'm looking forward to the remaining blade evaluations.

**JimBow** · 03-05-2009, 02:58 PM

Originally Posted by bobtrumpet

thanks for doing this. I'm looking forward to the remaining blade evaluations.

+1

**neocaligatio** · 03-06-2009, 02:22 AM

Day two of the Dorco.... still too smooth from yesterday afternoon to shave

Update to follow!

**neocaligatio** · 03-09-2009, 06:38 AM

Shave 2 and 3:

Shave 2 (Saturday)

Lather: Pecksniff's Oriental Soap/Cream

I'd rather not talk about this shave - I misjudged the lather, and then had to take a phone call in the middle of the shave, thus rendering it terrible! I must have nicked myself more times than every shave for a month put together - I'm pretty sure I only have myself to blame too!

Shave 3 (Today)

Lather: Palmolive (UK) cream

Today I went for what I consider to be a quick shave - palmolive cream and a quick whirl of a brush, with a couple of passes and no real tidy up stage. Like the first couple of shaves from the Dorco this one still tugged at my hair badly, but now I'm getting used to it and it actually gave quite reasonable feedback on how accurate my angle was. I managed a very smooth shave in not much time, with no nicks or irritation.

Again, the quality of the blade feels good, and gives me a gentle shave with a reasonable amount of closeness on the 3rd use - I'm uncertain as to how well this particular blade will work on shave no. 4.......

**Rufust445** · 03-09-2009, 06:58 AM

Which Dorco are you using, the ST-300, or the ST-301? Out of the wrapper these blades look identical, but they are definitely NOT.

The 300 comes in a blue and grey wrapper in a cardboard carton of 10. The 301 comes in a yellow and white wrapper inside a white plastic container.

**neocaligatio** · 03-09-2009, 07:02 AM

The blue and grey, so the 300 - is one type better than the other?

**scottydoint** · 03-09-2009, 07:05 AM

Originally Posted by neocaligatio

The blue and grey, so the 300 - is one type better than the other?

I haven't used either, but everyone, and I mean everyone, says the 300 are pure crap. The 301s are supposedly pretty good.

**neocaligatio** · 03-09-2009, 07:14 AM

Well given it's following the Wilkinson Sword, anything seems better!

The Merkur is next... will probably try one more shave from the Dorco and then move on.

**Rufust445** · 03-09-2009, 07:17 AM

Originally Posted by neocaligatio

The blue and grey, so the 300 - is one type better than the other?

The 301 is considered by most to be sharper and smoother. As always, YMMV.

You have a good selection of other samples to try already, so enjoy.

**Bobtrumpet** · 03-09-2009, 09:09 AM

Originally Posted by Rufust445

The 301 is considered by most to be sharper and smoother.

I found the 301 to be sharper and much smoother than the 300.

**neocaligatio** · 03-10-2009, 03:05 AM

Shave 4

Lather: Body Shop (old style) cream

Again went for a quick shave today as had to be in work early - the blade is pretty much finished. Even with more pressure than usual I'm stubbly after 2 passes, so I'm fairly certain shave 5 would be a waste of time!

I'll be chucking this one and going on to the Merkur blade tomorrow.

In order to try and remain impartial throughout, I'll be judging each blade against the performance of the others in the trial, rather than assigning a score, so the leaderboard is as follows:

In current first place (of two!) - Dorco ST-300
In current second place (i.e. the first loser) - Wilkinson Sword

On the infamous Merkur...

**neocaligatio** · 03-11-2009, 07:08 AM

Merkur 'Super'

It says 'Merkur' and 'Super' so it must be ultra-good right? I have to admit that even after reading the reviews for these blades I still was looking forward to giving these a go...

Shave 1

Lather: Der Vergulde Hand

Nice thick lather, good prep and more time than usual to shave today (working from home

). The merkur nearly sliced me trying to get it out of the fiddly, over-glued packet but I wasn't going to let that stop me. The first pass (WTG) felt smooth and lovely compared with the previous dragging and pulling of the Dorco, so far so good.... The next two passes (XTG east/west) were a little less smooth, but still nowhere near as rough as the Wilkinson Sword. I then proceeded, as normal to do do a gentle ATG pass. The reason the shave had seemed smooth was simple: it hadn't cut most of the hair!

Overall a fairlly close shave, but I would not go ATG with these again. Probably not bad for a gentle shave if you wanted a little bit of stubble left for an evening shave too!

I also get the impression (after noticing it when crossing the face on pass 3) that the blade is almost too dull to use after 4 passes, so may not score too highly on the longevity!

We'll see tomorrow I suppose

**neocaligatio** · 03-12-2009, 07:02 AM

Shave 2

Lather: Palmolive (UK) cream

As Dr Smith would have said: "Oh the pain, the pain"... I really don't understand how a razor can take the top layer of skin off and still leave me with stubble.

I've already binned the blade and shan't be trying a second!

On a separate note, it occurs to me that I should be doing this as a blind test and have the wife load up each blade for me for the first time - that way I wouldn't have been swayed by previous reviews! Oh well, it's too late now...

**neocaligatio** · 03-16-2009, 03:47 AM

Bit of a delay due to being away for the weekend, but here's a run-down of the next blade... the Crystal

Shave 1 (Friday)

Lather: Woods of Windsor soap with Palmolive cream

Given the time for adequate prep and a careful shave I was initially disappointed - My skins was sore and painful and I still had some stubble. The overall shave was close but left me irritated badly. I wasn't sure if this was the new blade, the Woods soap (which I did once have a sore reaction to) or the fact that my skin was still ruined from the Merkur the day before!

Shave 2 (Sunday)

Lather: Body Shop Macca Root cream

I love the new Macca root stuff from the Bodyshop, it's super thick and really moisturising, and a few swirls of my boar brush provide enough lather to do 4 passes and my other half's legs! I also left 2 days for my skin to recover from the Merkur!

The shave was excellent - No irritation, no more nicks than usual, and probably the closest shave I've ever had. With a bit of practice on technique, this could happily be the only blade I ever use :)

It's also head and shoulders above the other's tried in the Tech so far.

Scores on the doors:

In first place by a whopping lead... the Crystal

then:

2. Dorco
3. Wilkinson Sword
4. Merkur