Open combs

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Well we are halfway through the second phase for OCtober and today starts the fourth pairing, a Fatip Grande and a Valet AutoStrop.

Fourth from right:

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During the first Phase the Fatip Grande was pitted against a Gillette New SC and honestly shaved me even closer and more comfortably than the Gillette New SC; 'twern't even close.

Today's shave was a repetition of the Phase 1 shave, super smooth, super efficient, super comfortable PDG+ near perfect. My Valets usually do a good job but it will need to do a great job tomorrow to stay in the running.

Today started with a wash using Herberia Bay rum for soap, Speick Shaving Cream in the Heather n fern shaving mug. I used the Gibbs boar brush and this is it's third break-in session. After the shave I used the Speick Balsam balm followed by Chatillon Colonia Basalmica aftershave.

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The Fatip Grande has really impressed me every time I've used it and I have a Fatip Piccolo lined up against an ATT R2 as the final pairing for OCtober. Now that should be very interesting.

 

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Well today is another bummer experience. We are starting the last three pairings for the month and this set pitted a Fatip Grande against a Valet AutoStrop VC1 using a despined GEM blade.

Yesterday's shave with the Fatip Grande was another fantastic very near perfect shave and I pointed out "Today's shave was a repetition of the Phase 1 shave, super smooth, super efficient, super comfortable PDG+ near perfect. My Valets usually do a good job but it will need to do a great job tomorrow to stay in the running."

Third pair from left:

Well it did. In fact the two results are so close together it will be tough to pick a winner.

Today started again with shower using Herberia Bay Rum soap followed by Old Spice lather made using a Vie-Long horsehair brush. Then the shave itself using the Valet AutoStrop and the despined GEM blade. It was a two pass shave then rub face with alum (still tastes bad). I let that dry while I flushed and fluffed the brush then wiped up any water on the sink. With my face dry and the alum making stretching easier I did a few touchup strokes around the always tough to get spots.

After shave was Chatillon Vide Poche aftershave.

Last it was time to clean up the razor and put it away and finally, that was when I determined the winner.

To fully rinse the blade in the Fatip Grande you have to take it all apart and rinse the parts individually. To rinse the blade in the Valet AutoStrop VC1 you push the lever up, swing the blade and carrier up and run both side of the blade under the faucet. Easie Peasie. WINNER.

But it really was that close. There was literally no difference in the shave comfort, efficiency, speed; nothing. Since there had to be a winner the ease of cleanup with the VC1 is the only real advantage to either.

 

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Yesterday I used the ATT S2 open comb slant and today it is the AC open comb razor from ATT, the SE2. Yesterdays shave was near perfect and today's was almost as good. I got careless today and put the razor to my face blade first instead of head first right at the corner of my lip. The result was a clean eighth inch nick. Definitely my bad just not paying attention. A quick swipe with the alum block and all was once again right in the world.

Top Row second from left:

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Tomorrow will complete the trilogy with the razor on the far left top row, an ATT R2.

I guess of all the possible blade formats out there the AC blade is near the bottom of my list, with only the Schick Injector beneath it. Today it was a Feather Professional and I also have some Kai and Schick Proline AC format blades I'll try in it but while I love my ATT razors the SE2 is likely the one that will get the least face time.

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The brush today is a Zenith 506 Horse Hair on it's first post Spa Day actual shave use trip and it did shed more hairs than any brush I have ever owned; ten or eleven hairs. I hope it will stop but if that continues I will need to contact the seller. I have quite a few Zenith brushes and even quite a few with the 506 handle; a Finest and a Manchurian Badger as well as a Boar and they have not shed any hairs.

Soap was from Above The Tie, an Orange Blossom and Jasmine and aftershave was Pre de Provence balm then Pinaud Bay Rum.

 

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Today was the third Above the Tie razors in Phase 2, a DE R2 which is the medium plate with open comb. The three ATT razor are the left most pair on the top shelf and the second from the left on the lower shelf.

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Yesterday was the SE2, an AC format using a Feather AC blade and I managed to nick myself. Today's shave was the sixth shave on this blade and the blade was tugging. The final result today is only OK, not great but mostly because I was still irritated from yesterday and the blade was at the end of it's useful life. It ended up in the Used Blade bottle.

Today's cream was TOBS Lemon Lime and I used the Gibbs boar brush. It's pretty much broken in already and so will move into the regular rotation. I finished off with some TOBS St. James spray stuff.

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We are also really near the end of OCtober and tomorrow will be the last of the classic Open Combs, a Fatip Piccolo. I have a Rolls I'll likely try to work in Monday or Tuesday to close things out.

 

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The Month in Review:

This month was a series of comparison pairings with Open Comb razors that was broken into two parts. In the first Phase five Gillette OCs were paired with five newer OCs. Surprisingly, the newer razors actually came out on top in three of the five pairings.

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The first phase:

• RazoRock Old Type vs a 1918 made Gillette Old Style and the RR was significantly more comfortable and more efficient.
• Merkur 1904 vs Gillette No Date Code No Serial number Old Style and they were really close but the Gillette just slightly better.
• Merkur 25C vs Gillette New LC; this pair were so close it was just the Gillette still showing original gold plating that made it the winner.
• Fatip Grande vs Gillette New SC and the Fatip Grande was significantly more comfortable with the same shave result.
• Finally an ATT S2 vs a Gillette Sheraton where surprisingly the S2 was more efficient than the Sheraton.

The second phase:

In the second phase the best from the first phase were pitted against five different OC razors as well as different blade formats and three additional OC razors added at the end.

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• The RazoRock Old Type against a different 1918 made Gillette Old Style and again, the RR rocked.
• The No date code Gillette Old Type vs a GEM MMOC; close but the Gillette was more comfortable.
• The Gillette LC vs a Durham Duplex and surprisingly the Durham Duplex was much more comfortable and as efficient.
• The Fatip Grande vs a Valet AutoStrop VC1 with a despined GEM blade; close again but the Fatip slightly better.
• This is actually a trilogy with an ATT S2 vs ATTSE2 with a Feather AC blade & a R2 with the same blade that was in the S2; of the three the S2 was by far the most comfortable.
• The final two were a Fatip Piccolo and one of my Rolls Razors and again those were pretty close.

So that was OCtober 2017.