However, I've learned repeatedly over the years of writing this blog that my opinions shift over time like desert sands. So after considering what is the best razor for the everyman and writing an article on that concept for Sharpologist.com, I thought it appropriate to drag my Slim out into the light of day once again and give it a go.
So I had a SuperMax Titanium blade with 12 shaves on it, and the other day put that blade into my Slim. I took the first pass with grain on a setting of 3. The second pass -- cross grain -- used a setting of 2. The third pass -- against grain -- was set to 1. Then I took some clean-up strokes under my jawline and on my neck on a setting of 2.
In all a very good shave. There was a bit more irritation, I believe, than I get with, say the Parker Variant, but a good shave nonetheless.
It was so surprising, in fact, that I also took the 14th and 15th shaves with that SuperMax blade using the Slim and the same shaving process.
All the shave outcomes were close, with only a few pin-point weepers (which is totally normal for me whenever I take a close shave), and not having enough irritation to worry or talk about.
One of the things that I like about the Slim is that it has the ability to dial back to offer a pretty mild shave. Of course, the drawback is that there's something about the cutting geometry of the head design that is not quite as comfortable as I would ideally like -- irrespective of the setting. Historically, this drawback has been most noticeable with a new or newer blade.
So the next test comes when I have fully used up the current SuperMax blade and open a new blade. I'll be doing that next week and will report out on my results.
Happy shaving!
Personally, I'm not a fan of the very lowest settings on a Slim Adjustable. Over on The Shave Den forums, a couple of us noted that with certain blades (Personna Red, in particular), the blade would perform unusually badly at a setting of '2' as compared to '3 or higher. The assumption was that something odd was going on with the geometry at that setting.
ReplyDeleteI have yet to try the slim, it is on my list to acquire but I haven't been inclined to buy one. I keep using my Parker Variant. I occasionally switch out to one of my three vintage Gillette's but never for more than a day or two. Always back to the Variant.
ReplyDeleteOne key factor is that I always seem to get a slight irritation on my lower neck with any of my Gillette's but never with the Variant.
I do want to try a slim or fatboy at some point but there's no rush.