Duplicate/spare of your fave razor

nits said:
I'm toying with the idea of buying a spare or duplicate of my favourite razor. Crazy? Sensible? How many of you have done that?
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I collected and use vintage Gillette razors. I had Many duplicate sets, but passed them along. I kept several " variants" of sets instead but that's mostly case differences and minor razor design / upgrades.. I would love duplicates of my favourite Gillette razors but they are sadly too expensive and hard to find in recent years.. Does it make sense? Absolutely. .:D
 
I don’t think it’s worth doing unless the one you want to double up on is pretty much unobtainable. Most razors are available and will be for years so it really depends on what you want.
I have 2 Occam’s Oren’s as it’s my number 1 razor & i know it can’t be replaced easily.
I also have 4 Wilkinson Sword Stickies through stupidness i just can’t help a bargain.
But in general i don’t think it’s worth it
 
It's funny that you ask this, because I was considering the same thing the other day.

I have two razors, but only ever use one (Rocca R94). I thought about getting a back up, but then decided to try something new (and hopefully a step up).

So if the new one is better, at least I have a great razor to fall back on if ever needed.
 
Mike Smart said:
I don’t think it’s worth doing unless the one you want to double up on is pretty much unobtainable. Most razors are available and will be for years so it really depends on what you want.
I have 2 Occam’s Oren’s as it’s my number 1 razor & i know it can’t be replaced easily.
I also have 4 Wilkinson Sword Stickies through stupidness i just can’t help a bargain.
But in general i don’t think it’s worth it
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Stickys are a great razor though.
 
My favourite razors are all modern or fairly recent AC format ones in stainless steel, so I don't feel the need to get duplicates of any of them; they should and probably will long outlast me. I would quite like another Colonial General V2 as a travel razor, but wouldn't pay anything like what they're going for now.
 
I don't have a large number of razors - about twenty - but two of them are Fatboys. It's the closest I get to a consistently smooth and comfortable shave with most known good blades, and I like the aesthetics and weight of it plus the provenance. Despite this I didn't set out to buy two. I picked up one in poor cosmetic condition around 2011 I think for £30 and then maybe a year later a boxed one in good condition for £70. Don't regret either purchase.
 
If I didn't have several razors that I like, if my favourite was particularly hard to come by or I saw another one at a bargain price I might consider a duplicate, otherwise I would look for a replacement only if something happened to the original razor.

My current fav is a Timeless which I love, but it will probably outlast me so can't see the point in buying a spare. If I had £200ish ready to drop on a razor I'd probably buy something different that I've not already tried. You never know, I might find something that I prefer even more.

If your favourite is an inexpensive zamak design there is a chance of fatigue and failure, so you might want a spare, but replacements can generally be sourced within a few days.

I started my journey, like many do, with an EJ DE89, and when that gave up the ghost I eventually moved on to a Pearl Blaze which has a similar head design but is slightly more aggressive and since it is made of brass a longer likely lifespan. I have subsequently acquired 4 additional caps and base plates, and a couple of compatible handles. The Blaze remains in my rotation and is the only DE razor that I take away from home, because I have 'spares' and could find a replacement if the original was lost or damaged.
 
I wish I knew about double open comb Mellon razors years ago before the net - now I use them nearly exclusively because I can shave in the bath with my eyes shut with no drama whatsoever.

My only constant standard is a BBS most of the time - out of about 120 shaves a year I get 2 or 3 DFS shaves and the last time I got any nick was years ago - I'm not kidding.

I'm used to shaving with antique carbon cut-throats tiddled on lots of vodka so using a DE safety sober is a total walk in the park.

This cheapie Indian gold one makes me slow down a bit though !

FOREIGN GOLD RAZOR 1.jpg

I'm ashamed to admit I have sixteen Mellons HaHa !

Here's my last Saturday night kit.
SIMPLE AUGUST SHAVE.jpg
I have a Wilkinson Sword Flip-Top from 1980 and it was my first safety so it got used to death and I still use it regularly; I want a back-up but they're really rare; not seen one for sale for ages.
WILKINSON SWORD FLIP-TOP.jpg
 
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WalkingBootWeather said:
If I didn't have several razors that I like, if my favourite was particularly hard to come by or I saw another one at a bargain price I might consider a duplicate, otherwise I would look for a replacement only if something happened to the original razor.

My current fav is a Timeless which I love, but it will probably outlast me so can't see the point in buying a spare. If I had £200ish ready to drop on a razor I'd probably buy something different that I've not already tried. You never know, I might find something that I prefer even more.

If your favourite is an inexpensive zamak design there is a chance of fatigue and failure, so you might want a spare, but replacements can generally be sourced within a few days.

I started my journey, like many do, with an EJ DE89, and when that gave up the ghost I eventually moved on to a Pearl Blaze which has a similar head design but is slightly more aggressive and since it is made of brass a longer likely lifespan. I have subsequently acquired 4 additional caps and base plates, and a couple of compatible handles. The Blaze remains in my rotation and is the only DE razor that I take away from home, because I have 'spares' and could find a replacement if the original was lost or damaged.
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I've got old vintage zamac DE safetys that have been dropped onto hard ceramic floor tiles many times and they're fine after a 100 years !

I have 4-5 ounce Stainless and solid Bronze razors but nowadays I prefer lighter Zamac ,Titanium and Aluminium ones which are half the weight or less because I have bad arthritis and they're more comfortable to hold up.
 
I'm primarily a vintage Gillette collector too and I do technically have some duplicates but not intentionally so.

All of the razors which are duplicates in my collection are variations of the model.
For example the service notched vs non notched 195 Adjustable or variations of the flare tip super speed/rocket

That being said, if i were to come across something particularly rare that i already have, for a bargain I wouldn't pass it up.

And if I only had a single razor that worked really well for me, I probably would look out for a second as a backup just in case something happened to it.
Especially if it was vintage.
 
Ghostbuster said:
I'm primarily a vintage Gillette
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The ghostly slimer will be hunter you everyday, and you'll be reaching the modern double edge razors into your razor denny collection one day sooner or later.

GIF by Ghostbusters
 
nits said:
I'm toying with the idea of buying a spare or duplicate of my favourite razor. Crazy? Sensible? How many of you have done that?
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I have to admit that in my early days of shaving with Vintage SE and Injectors, I went a bit silly and had up to 30 plus Gem using Razors, and still have 6 ER Streamline type SE, and a few PAL Injectomatics.
 
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