Carry-On Traveler's Razor Options: Bic 3 Vs. Gillette 2

Following up on yesterday's article, today I shaved with the Bic Comfort 3 disposable and just used

water and bath soap as shave lubricants. The purpose of this type of trial is to find good alternatives when traveling very light; that is, just taking airline carry-on luggage with minimalist packing that requires the least gear and with the lowest weight.

The Bic Comfort 3 disposable is a fixed head (non-pivoting) triple-bladed design with a lubricating comfort strip. Today was my second shave with this particular razor, but unlike the first shave, which was done with shave soap, today's shave was conducted using bath soap.

The touchstone for today's shave is similar shaves with the Gillette Custom Plus Pivot (Gillette CPP) -- a two-bladed, pivoting-head design with a comfort strip. I have found this Gillette razor to offer a good, low-risk shave without the need to use specialized shave soap; bath soap will do when traveling light.

So this morning I tried the same on-the-road bath-soap process with the Bic Comfort 3 (Bic C3) that I have used with the Gillette CPP; that is, just lubricating my shave with water and bath soap.

Bottom line was that the Bic C3 was slightly inferior to the Gillette CPP in the following ways:

• Even though the Bic had fewer shaves on it, it tugged noticably. It was as though the blades weren't as sharp right out of the package or degraded much more quickly after the single preceding shave.
• The Bic shave was more irritating, leaving a more lingering burning sensation when bath soap is used instead of shave soap.

So my verdict at this point is as follows: the Gillette CPP is a better travel razor than the Bic C3 when one is going to travel extremely light and only rely on bath soap with water as a shave lubricant. The Gillette disposable can provide a very close shave with less irritation when one makes the necessary strokes from various directions. However, if one is not concerned about a close shave and is willing to only take a standard shave (that is, a single with-grain pass), then both razors can perform about equally. Even under those single-pass qualifications, I would suggest that the Gillette is the better razor because it can be purchased less expensively.

Happy shaving and may your luggage always be light!