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The Dollar Store Razor Challenge
- Thread starter dkeester
- Start date
SteveChuckFrank
Close Enough*
\n\nYou’re gonna need that extra growth as a safety barrier haha!
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
\n\nAssured Razor gonna handle that growth like\n [URL="https://theshavingcadre.com/XF/data/attachments/10/10573-76be42269fa093d98981233cfd9609d5.jpg"]
![](http://\"https://d28lcup14p4e72.cloudfront.net/225400/4373629/E0296361-D9E7-4959-910B-1801587ED7AB.gif\")
[/url]
The first Dollar Store superspeed knock off shave is in the CBLindsay books and ....
Dollar Store Superspeed knock off with included blade
Proraso green (cream in a tube)
Custom 24mm 2 band
Alum/WH post
Vintage Old Spice cologne.
Well gents it looks like I am going to need to break ranks here, the $uper$peed (see what I did there?) and blade worked wonderfully for me.
After placing the blade last night I was a little concerned that the blade appeared to project perpendicular to the center axis with no discernable angle so I tried a modification. I made a shim from one of the blades to try to force and arc into the blade but doing so caused the blade to get hung up on the silo doors. While I didn't shave with a modified set up I did swap out a fresh blade. The silo doors don't open quite as far as the original flare tip so loading the blade has to be done carefully to avoid dinging the blade edge.
I decided to go with Proraso because it or the C.O. Bigalow version are the most likely brush lathered soap a new guy might reach for. The Proraso cream did not disappoint, it provided a slick and "protective" lather quite suitable for a DE shave. Using the razor was somewhat intuitive in that it was very easy to feel the blade engage so finding the right angle was easy. I prefer more heft to my razors but this one had enough weight I was able to avoid using too much pressure. The most noticeable feature was how loud the scraping sound was. Thee blade didn't feel sharp or smooth but it didn't feel bad either.
Yesterday's shave was with the Schick Injector loaded with a blade with an unknown (but too many) uses so my beard was a bit more pronounced than it would usually be. I don't know if the added beard growth helped or hurt. I took care to go WTG first, regardless of the odd angles and approaches. Then I rinsed and did a basic Ear to nose pass followed by a basic South to North ATG pass. The result after the three passes was solid but I did another catch-all ATG type of pass to chase the BBS. BBS was a bit slow today so I caught it with very little effort. The real test was the alum rub...nothing. Other than one small area on my jawline were I caught a small weeper the alum gave no feedback at all. Finishing with a splash of the CBL witch hazel creation and I was good to go.
The shave was definitely praiseworthy. If this was the kind of shave the regular Joe gets from this razor I would say Gillette is in trouble. I can see how the blade can be easily dinged up while loading but the packaging of the blades appeared substantially the same as most other double wrapped blades. The reviewers that suggest this razor if worth "30x its price" are plain nuts but the razor is definitely well worth the dollar. Don't get me wrong, this is very basic and very unlikely to last very long but it is a fantastic travel option. If I could trust the QC to be consistent enough I would feel comfortable including the razor as a "gimme" or promo item. Sadly, it is clear the QC (at least for blades) is too variable.
Based on today's experience I see no reason I shouldn't get a couple more shaves from this razor and blade combo. I did dry the blade with a few strokes on my towel but i do that with all blades. I will try to document at least one shave on Camera, perhaps the third one...it should be the bloodiest of them all.
Dollar Store Superspeed knock off with included blade
Proraso green (cream in a tube)
Custom 24mm 2 band
Alum/WH post
Vintage Old Spice cologne.
Well gents it looks like I am going to need to break ranks here, the $uper$peed (see what I did there?) and blade worked wonderfully for me.
After placing the blade last night I was a little concerned that the blade appeared to project perpendicular to the center axis with no discernable angle so I tried a modification. I made a shim from one of the blades to try to force and arc into the blade but doing so caused the blade to get hung up on the silo doors. While I didn't shave with a modified set up I did swap out a fresh blade. The silo doors don't open quite as far as the original flare tip so loading the blade has to be done carefully to avoid dinging the blade edge.
I decided to go with Proraso because it or the C.O. Bigalow version are the most likely brush lathered soap a new guy might reach for. The Proraso cream did not disappoint, it provided a slick and "protective" lather quite suitable for a DE shave. Using the razor was somewhat intuitive in that it was very easy to feel the blade engage so finding the right angle was easy. I prefer more heft to my razors but this one had enough weight I was able to avoid using too much pressure. The most noticeable feature was how loud the scraping sound was. Thee blade didn't feel sharp or smooth but it didn't feel bad either.
Yesterday's shave was with the Schick Injector loaded with a blade with an unknown (but too many) uses so my beard was a bit more pronounced than it would usually be. I don't know if the added beard growth helped or hurt. I took care to go WTG first, regardless of the odd angles and approaches. Then I rinsed and did a basic Ear to nose pass followed by a basic South to North ATG pass. The result after the three passes was solid but I did another catch-all ATG type of pass to chase the BBS. BBS was a bit slow today so I caught it with very little effort. The real test was the alum rub...nothing. Other than one small area on my jawline were I caught a small weeper the alum gave no feedback at all. Finishing with a splash of the CBL witch hazel creation and I was good to go.
The shave was definitely praiseworthy. If this was the kind of shave the regular Joe gets from this razor I would say Gillette is in trouble. I can see how the blade can be easily dinged up while loading but the packaging of the blades appeared substantially the same as most other double wrapped blades. The reviewers that suggest this razor if worth "30x its price" are plain nuts but the razor is definitely well worth the dollar. Don't get me wrong, this is very basic and very unlikely to last very long but it is a fantastic travel option. If I could trust the QC to be consistent enough I would feel comfortable including the razor as a "gimme" or promo item. Sadly, it is clear the QC (at least for blades) is too variable.
Based on today's experience I see no reason I shouldn't get a couple more shaves from this razor and blade combo. I did dry the blade with a few strokes on my towel but i do that with all blades. I will try to document at least one shave on Camera, perhaps the third one...it should be the bloodiest of them all.
SteveChuckFrank
Close Enough*
Good stuff Chris. The QC is definitely all over the place with these things.
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Nice entry Chris
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Josh may have his by then or shortly thereafter too.
SteveChuckFrank
Close Enough*
Just checked and it looks like Saturday for me too.
I will be doing that for sure as part of my bad blade series
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Didn't Chris about volunteer for that in his video when he said that ?? ?
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
Didn't Chris about volunteer for that in his video when he said that ??
Well that was my hypothesis anyway. The blade is bad, but it still works “serviceably” as KY said. I think any major “hull damage” comes from poor QC on the razor.
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
You may be right, neither is really good but you may be correct
