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And so the promised comparison and I'll start with a brickbat and a bouquet.
AP Shave Co states on their Penny Shaver web site that the Penny Shaver blades are extra sharp so they last longer and they are not kidding. They say to be careful and not press for the first few shaves. But the spring in the pivot on the cartridge is quite strong so the razor has to be pressed to get it to work. Personally I recommend not using the pivot for the first shaves with a new cartridge and using the wrist to pivot as we do with DE. Gillette does better with the Guard and the pivot is very slack and works without pressing.
On with the shave:
The Gillette Guard works like any other cartridge razor, sharp and with feedback and I didn't get any nicks at all. The cartridge is placed on the handle by squeezing the prongs on the neck together. If in the course of the shave the neck is held as I do there is a danger that due to that squeeze the cartridge will fall off although that didn't happen to me. I got a BBS with two passes wtg and atg. Overall, I got the claimed seven shaves per cartridge.
In my first shave with the Penny Shaver I made my initial stroke down my sideburn area and got no feedback at all. So I ran a finger down the channel in the lather to see if it was actually cutting hair and found an almost BBS. It was that smooth. And so rather carelessly I embarked on a speed shave and got two nicks on my chin. Refer to my first paragraph re. blade sharpness. In the following shaves I treated the Panny Shaver with respect as I do with DE. Comfortable shaves but I needed to watch out for nicks due to the sharp blades. Overall, I'm still on the first cartridge and done seven shaves and It's still going strong. I tghink I will get the claimed 10 shaves and more.
Both razors have a leading comb which is similar to the Nick-Stop Technology on the Supply SE. On the Gillette Guard this works very well and achieves near shaving perfection. But the comb on the Penny Shaver is possibly compromised by the sharp blades and doesn't work very well. I managed to shave without nicks in all the shaves after the first but I had to be careful to keep my skin taut.
Weights
The all plastic Gillette Guard with cartridge is about the same weight as the yellow Bic single blade disposable - very light. The metal with plastic grips Penny Shaver with cartridge is identical to a Gillette Fusion non-orbital.
My verdict
Six of one and half a dozen of the other. I mainly use a cartridge razor for rare tidying up after a DE shave or when I need to get a move on and have a quick shave. Most of the time I'm on DE. So I'm going for the Gillette Guard. However if I was a cartridge user and wanted to stay with it but get rid of multi-blade the Penny Shaver is the obvious choice.
Lastly, we need to consider the longevity of the systems. The Gillette Guard is only on sale by Gillette in India and we don't know how long they will be available to us in U.K. via ebay. I hear that Gillette is already progressing to a twin-blade version and a price increase. The Penny Shaver has been going now for over two years and is a product of respected shaving brush maker AP Shave Co.
As usual YMMV - Your Mileage May Vary.
