The balmy New England "Indian summer" came to an abrupt end, this week. I'm way ahead of the game, though, this year. No need to wait for the stratum corneum to raise its horny defense. I liked the Travel Tech with YJL Sterling clone handle so much, it's practically all I shave with now. Loaded with the Ming Shi Diamond blade, super close is the default. So instead of my skin hardening, it's just been getting tender. Time to switch things up!
Parker TTO "Ruby" couldn't keep up with the Diamond, and has been demoted to giveaway status -- I've got a nephew in mind. Baili TTO "Stella" now takes the role of gentle, steep angle bias, with just enough bite to get the BBS, when the blade is loosened slightly. But I save that for the end; my skin gets the benefit of being completely untouched for two passes. Indeed, the first pass just feels like "evening out the stubble." How dramatically shaves can change, even now! Not long ago, I thought that razor had too much bite. I considered it a little... crude. Could it become my ultimate razor?
Well, between the Tech and that, it just goes to show, money isn't everything. Speaking of Chinese manufacturing and relatives, we've been scrambling to collect the family woodwinds for my fourth-grade daughters. I'm getting misdirection from my brother's family, and I was freaking out over the prospect of renting: $30/month! Yamaha seems to be the Gillette Fusion of music. Well, just as in razor manufacturing, China is showing up the crooked middlemen of the West. Shopping for new carry cases, I found a very attractive instrument with lots of bonus items for just a couple hundred dollars online, through Amazon.
http://www.kkmusicstore.com/mendini-by-cecilio-nickel-plated-body-keys-e-flat-alto-saxophone-tuner-case-mouthpiece-11-reeds-more-p-238.html
Not in hand yet, but a player can tell from vids -- pretty much exactly the same quality as my early 80's, Indiana-made rent-to-buy. When/if I get the Armstrong back (nice play on words: heavy as hell, which they also say about this new one), I can help twin #2 with her duets.
As if in service of my razor simile, I opted for nickel plated brass (to better match a clarinet, actually). But the story really is very similar. American manufacturing gave up in the seventies -- not enough profit, too much durable, quality product in circulation. Europe picked up the slack, letting our workforce get good and dead... and then China took it all over with dirt cheap labor. Now, with the benefit of computer-assisted design and manufacturing, quality is progressing once again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeIOB4R-SCI
Dollar Tree TTO
I had to wait a little longer than most, but the new Super Speed clone has arrived arrived at the local Dollar Tree! It looked like the boxes were still in the aisle when I picked up a couple of them on Sept. 13, but honestly, I hadn't checked in at all since asking about them the week prior. The cashier had sounded secretive, suggesting that they might not get the same supplies as the Southwest at all. Like I was going to hoover up the entire shipment or something... okay, well, that does sound like something I would do. But I allowed the huge styptic pencils to go out of stock without purchasing more than 1... and I'm patiently waiting for the return of 3-in-1 lubricating lotion, without complaint. Give me some credit, lady!
First impressions, the thing is definitely better built than a Nanjie, but not by a whole lot. The center bar and end caps are integrated as a single cast piece. Thinking of that as a wide "H," I discerned that it was bent toward becoming an "A," which held up the door opening mechanism a bit. I gave it a bit of a squeeze in a handly "C" clamp, which is what guys who don't have a bench vise use for such problems.
The chrome looks more like silver paint, and it is already coming off the plastic turn knob. But they ground the casting lines off the pseudo end-caps, and the knurl pattern, though obviously executed in the same rough manner as the Nanjie, is much deeper. The same roughness of finish is evident in the safety bar etchings, but inside is quite pretty smooth . It doesn't smell like wet pennies yet, with the retaining ring apparently also plated/painted in chrome.
Overall, it strikes me as an updated Nanjie. Will the chrome-painted nubs that hold the doors attached rub off, causing it to explode like my first Nanjie did? I don't think so. The doors and baseplate are a little thicker. I think all the revisions are correct, aiming to improve performance while keeping cost low. Indeed, the package claims the "holder is free." It's the ultimate razor and blades scheme! Speaking of the blades: punk jewelry fans will appreciate the complete lack of marking. They just mocked one up in illustration on the box and wrapper: "Pacific"/"Stainless Blade."
I sure got a good feel of the edge, with a full 2mm of blade reveal from the narrow doors. This was somewhat balanced by the wider, gently-sloping type of safety bar, but the blade was pretty flat, too. Safety was pushed right to the limit on my chin, first shave on the blade. I was using the blade flex as a shock absorber, but that's something I picked up from years on the Rimei. This is not something I'd want a complete beginner using. HOWEVER: There comes a time, fairly early in everyone's shaving career, when only total blade exposure will do. To break the habit of just riding a poorly pitched blade on the safety envelope, cleanly planing the stratum corneum is preferable to splitting it a million times imperceptibly.
I, however, am not at that stage. I will add a narrow, center-support shim and get that blade to curve back to what I hope will be Rimei-like geometry.
While my second shave went smoother, I saw weepers in the midline and neck. Skin Bracer might as well have been Absorbine, Jr. -- maybe you have to feel the burn to appreciate the cooling. It doesn't seem like I will be able to pull off everyday BBS, though I haven't yet tried my perfect blade. (I actually like the Pacific SS blade just fine.) The scenario in my mind is, total noob, sensitive skin, heard DE was better. One could still:
And that's my real problem with the Pacific Free Handle. We could have had a true ambassador in the Dorco PL-602. The material and distribution are impressive, and many DE shavers will get a kick out of this, but I fear this will end as free advertising for disposables. The narrow doors really need a design correction.
First impressions, the thing is definitely better built than a Nanjie, but not by a whole lot. The center bar and end caps are integrated as a single cast piece. Thinking of that as a wide "H," I discerned that it was bent toward becoming an "A," which held up the door opening mechanism a bit. I gave it a bit of a squeeze in a handly "C" clamp, which is what guys who don't have a bench vise use for such problems.
The chrome looks more like silver paint, and it is already coming off the plastic turn knob. But they ground the casting lines off the pseudo end-caps, and the knurl pattern, though obviously executed in the same rough manner as the Nanjie, is much deeper. The same roughness of finish is evident in the safety bar etchings, but inside is quite pretty smooth . It doesn't smell like wet pennies yet, with the retaining ring apparently also plated/painted in chrome.
Overall, it strikes me as an updated Nanjie. Will the chrome-painted nubs that hold the doors attached rub off, causing it to explode like my first Nanjie did? I don't think so. The doors and baseplate are a little thicker. I think all the revisions are correct, aiming to improve performance while keeping cost low. Indeed, the package claims the "holder is free." It's the ultimate razor and blades scheme! Speaking of the blades: punk jewelry fans will appreciate the complete lack of marking. They just mocked one up in illustration on the box and wrapper: "Pacific"/"Stainless Blade."
The Shave
I sure got a good feel of the edge, with a full 2mm of blade reveal from the narrow doors. This was somewhat balanced by the wider, gently-sloping type of safety bar, but the blade was pretty flat, too. Safety was pushed right to the limit on my chin, first shave on the blade. I was using the blade flex as a shock absorber, but that's something I picked up from years on the Rimei. This is not something I'd want a complete beginner using. HOWEVER: There comes a time, fairly early in everyone's shaving career, when only total blade exposure will do. To break the habit of just riding a poorly pitched blade on the safety envelope, cleanly planing the stratum corneum is preferable to splitting it a million times imperceptibly.
I, however, am not at that stage. I will add a narrow, center-support shim and get that blade to curve back to what I hope will be Rimei-like geometry.
No good options
While my second shave went smoother, I saw weepers in the midline and neck. Skin Bracer might as well have been Absorbine, Jr. -- maybe you have to feel the burn to appreciate the cooling. It doesn't seem like I will be able to pull off everyday BBS, though I haven't yet tried my perfect blade. (I actually like the Pacific SS blade just fine.) The scenario in my mind is, total noob, sensitive skin, heard DE was better. One could still:
- shave every 2-3 days (YouTube: check)
- only shave WTG (as if any beginner will ever take that good advice, but yes, I suppose this could work as a beginner DE)
- tell yourself that's just what shaving does to skin -- suck it up
And that's my real problem with the Pacific Free Handle. We could have had a true ambassador in the Dorco PL-602. The material and distribution are impressive, and many DE shavers will get a kick out of this, but I fear this will end as free advertising for disposables. The narrow doors really need a design correction.
Sterling Is No Tech
What a little follicle digger! For first impressions, I played the dumb consumer and just slapped in the provided 7 O'Clock (Black) Super Platinum. Side-by-side vs. the $1.50 Yingjili, also loaded with its provided blade, designated 2298+something in Chinese, super stainless, with a picture of a diamond. This shaved smoothly, so I'm choosing the hieroglyphic option, like I did with the Ming Shi blade, and calling it Diamond. That glided well above the skin, such that, even loosening for a direct ATG pass left dry touchups in the cheek. Not so with the Indian counterpart. CHOMP! Right to the skin on WTG, straight to the root ATG. Raised a couple of small bumps, and a healthy burn with Dollar Tree splash.
And I thought Rimei was the little biter among Tech clones! At least it prepared me. I can't imagine a beginner doing anything but a complete face peel with this setup... and I wouldn't put it past Gillette to have planned it that way, as a foil for the Guard disposable system razor in the Indian market.
Examining the razors in retrospect, one sees that the Yingjili has a wider safety bar, making all the difference. Both cheapos have less curvature in the top cap than the '66 travel Tech they seem to imitate. Overall, the quality of the Sterling is better, with no edge distortion, a thicker baseplate with sharp angles, and cleanly turned aluminum hardware on the plastic handle.
I'm not sure whether the open hole on the end, making it essentially tubular, was such a great idea. I also noticed that the Sterling screw was smaller in diameter, probably to protect the weaker nut material. Both handles will fit the vintage Tech, but the Yingjili doesn't engage the Sterling screw, whereas the Sterling handle feels like it's threaded wrong on the Yingjili screw. I'll give the nod to Yingjili's nickel-plated brass nut, poorly finished though it is. As I've previously written, that makes a good visual match for the slightly worn, vintage finish of the Tech.
I guess if you were gung-ho on aggression, and not particularly interested in Tech razors, this would be your one-and-done. A better modern representative of what Techs are all about is to be had from Baili, and that's probably what I'm going to order next, to replace the one I destroyed in my DEvette phase. That one has a blue handle, not my cup of tea, but I can always pawn that off separately. I was going to order their new, long TTO for my wife anyway.
The Rimei cutting head remains the top-quality, critic's choice in modern Tech clones, both for finish and technical capability, though providing a nice, chromed brass handle for it is up to you. However, it's likely to be a matter of personal preference. Like more recent razors with low-angle geometry, it just isn't possible to suit everyone without going adjustable.
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