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Give away the handles away, make a killing on the refills, right?

I have entirely too many razors. Starting from the left on the above picture:

1. German Merkur 42 double-edge safety razor copy of the 1904 Gillette. I bought this via eBay recently after tiring of my electric. I actually first started shaving with my father’s old Gillette Super Speed when I was in high school, so I guess I’ve come full circle.
2. Asian-market Gillette Countour/Vector/Atra. This is basically a refillable disposable. It’s made of plastic and feels really cheap. I’m currently using it to shave my head, since the pivot feature makes it less likely I’ll carve chunks of skin off by accident. [Update: Nope. Still happens. Never happened when I was using Schick disposables, though, despite the lack of pivoting heads. I think I’m going to need to use two cartridges instead of one each time I shave my head.]
3. Sensor Excel handle I bought at Military Clothing and Sales in Fort Huachuca during AIT for $1.99. I haven’t used this in years because you’re crazy if you think I’m paying more for refills than I did for the handle. I’m basically hanging on to this handle in case I come across discounted generics or clearance blades.
4. Gillette Mach3. I don’t remember where I got this, but it’s another handle with no refills because I refuse to pay that much for gimmick blades.
5. Personna Matrix3. I bought this at the commissary not too long ago for head shaving purposes.
6. Schick Quatto. Another razor I got for free and wouldn’t buy refills for.
7. Two Gillette Fusion handles I got for free and won’t buy refills for at any price because shaving with the Fusion kind of disgusts me. Five blades? Get the fuck out of here. Shaving with one of these feels like having your face licked by a cat. On the plus side, it’s basically impossible to cut yourself.
8. Not pictured: My dad’s old Gillette Super Speed butterfly-design double-edge razor and the mediocre Braun electric razor I started using out of laziness.

I’m probably going to keep shaving with the double-edge Merkur until such time as I find a good source for generic Sensor refills. And for the record, I don’t use a badger-hair brush or aftershave or any of that nonsense. That’s just way too metrosexual. I got by just fine for a year in Iraq using non-potable water and disposable razors scavenged from various care packages without wasting any time on shaving cream or what not. To tell you the truth, most of those disposables were better than the Atra which I want to like on principle, but can’t really claim is any good. At least this means I won’t be wasting any money on an all-metal Atra handle.

Posted by G C
Category: Days of Yore, E/N