Five Blades?

[Phil]

I would love to know everyone's opinion of Gillette's announcement that it will be introducing a five-bladed razor to the market. Personally, I'm curious about how they're going to pack that many blades into a razor head without making it cumbersome.

[Cufflink79]

WOW FIVE BLADES and I thought it was a bit scary at first when they came out with three. I grew up learing to shave with the two blades sensor from Gillette, but have been using the three blade system since they came out with it. I find the three blade razor to be very comfortable and enjoy it very much. BTW anyone know where I would be able to find a nice razor and brush stand set that holds the three blade razor.

Best Regards,

Cufflink79

P.S. You might want to be careful with five blades or you'll take off your jaw

[whittaker]

... anyone know where I would be able to find a nice razor and brush stand set that holds the three blade razor.

Its hard to beat Trumpers: http://www.trumpers.com/acc_shav.cfm. You can purchase a splendid bone handle for your razor together with all the accessories you would ever need.

[Cufflink79]

Thank you Mr. Whittaker:
I will check that out. Didn't know Trumper was doing that (shows how long its been since I've check out there products).

Best Regards,

Cufflink79

[BirdofSydney]

Five blades is de trop! ScChick makes one currently with four. That's probably silly. Three is enough! I feel the additional size of adding two more would make it much harder to manoeuvre around my throat and chin.

Silly.

Incidentally, does any one else find (and this may be a marketing tactic?), that the little green strip on Mach 3's dissolves nearly instantly? I would just as happily do without it, but having it there but devoid of green whatnot means dragging a little bit of board across my face.

Also silly.

Regards,

Eden

[Trilby]

Cufflink79 - in addition to the excellent recommendation of Trumpers for shaving accessories, I would suggest you take a look at Taylors of Jermyn Street. They also have wide selection of razor handles, brushes, brush stands, etc.

[Phil]

I agree 5 blades definately increases the risk of jaw amputation. I think three is quite enough and I agree with the prior poster who noted that green lubrication strip has a tendency to wear out quickly. To solve that problem, I dab a bit of brush shaving cream straight out of the jar over the top of that strip. That keeps it from dragging and having to replace the blade before it's actually dull.

[David V]

Way back when the first double blade razor apperared, the US TV show Saturday night Live did a mock commercial for a three bladed razor. The first blade pulled the hair then along came the second blade to pull more of the hair. At last the third blade came and yanked the hair from the face.

Some days I long for my first Gillette Safty Razor.

[maxnharry]

I am very close to switching to a Merkur. This blade arms race is silly

[Phil]

I have an old style Merkur razor, the kind with the safety rakes, and I use it quite often. A Mach 3 is my day to day razor, but I break out the Merkur on the weekends. It's gives a nice shave, although I prefer Wilkinson blades in it

[JMurphy]

For what it's worth (not much) the NYT piece on the marketing behind the new 5-bladed razor was interesting. It was published within the past month if anyone's still interested. At any rate, the 5-bladed head is accomplished by making the the individual blades narrower and positioning them 30% closer together than the 3-blade model. One of my criticisms of the 3-blade head is that the gaps between the blades tend to get jammed up, especially on Mondays after having neglected my beard for the weekend and when using a thick product such as Trumpers. So, the 'jamming' will be worse with the new-fangled* blades.



*New-fangled: New and better, but not worth the effort. That said, they'll sell the hell out of 'em.

[Phil]

I have now switched back to my long-handle Merkur single. It's providing a great shave in combination with Taylors shave creme and Wilkinson blades. Merkur makes a great shaver handle, but their blades leave a lot to be desired as they have dead spots and tend to really grate on the face. I've also ordered blades from the Japanese maker Feather and will provide a full report once I subject my face to their hopefully quality product.

[Leon]

Is the 5 blade razor the final stroke? This article from London's FT may interest you.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/c3add07a-479d- ... 511c8.html

http://www.wists.com/ftweekend/shaveclub

Leon

[maxnharry]

Is the 5 blade razor the final stroke? This article from London's FT may interest you.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/c3add07a-479d- ... 511c8.html

http://www.wists.com/ftweekend/shaveclub

Leon

Interesting article. I am pleased that many are thinking twice before just jumping on some marketing bandwagon to replace the razors of the world. I am ready to try a Merkur, but do have to admit that I liked the Mach III because of the built in styptic pencil. I don't think it really shaved much better, just let you think it did because it quickly clotted any nicks before they could bleed.

[The Mofussilite]

Yesterday I received a Merkur futur razor and Feather blades. I had my first shave with razor and blade this morning and the Feather blade was about the sharpest blade I have ever used. It was truly remarkable and I look forward to my next shave in the morning. I too am incredulous about the way shaving is going and have been looking for the best way for me, I think I have found it. The merkur razor is also very nicely made and I didn't nick myself. There are 6 settings on the futur and I had it on 6 as I have been prone to shaving nick's.