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.