A couple of under $3 Razors

I found a couple of razors on the Best Shave store for under $3 that I decided to pick up when I ordered a few other things.

The first is a metal 3 piece identified as a 'Yuma'. It has a hollow, 6 sided handle that is a little shorter than most of my razors. The finish is fairly 'roughish', and it is definitely not a showpiece. It also feels fairly light, though not flimsy.

The next razor is black plastic razor with an imprint that resembles 'Sik Bay' on the top. It's a 2 or 3 piece razor as well. Its another hollow handled lightweight razor, though it has a longer handle than even my Gillette Slim

I'm going to give them a spin this week.

I'm including a picture of the 2 new razors with my Gillettes as comparision.

Let us know how they do. Probably a lot of fun for $6, even if they are not great.

The YUMA is a brand sold by Bestshave.net (Turkish Vendor)

http://shop.bestshave.net/yuma-safety-ra...d-p-9.html

The second black razor may be this.

http://shop.bestshave.net/plastic-safety...p-171.html

The Yuma is ok. I made the mistake of trying to polish mine to make it look better. It shined like crazy and then tarnished fast and revealed the high zinc content. But if you don't have zinc issues and don mind the dull appearance, you can hardly beat the price.

There's also the Dorco all-plastic razor; I've seen these at dollar stores.

Here's a second photo. They are both from Best Shave.

I've loaded the plastic razor up with a Blue Lab Personna for my morning shave. I'll have a report tomorrow on how it goes.

havitn used both, here's my impression...

The plastic razor is pretty good, but very light. It isn't about to unseat my adjustable Merkurs or 1940s Superspeed, but it is seems a very servicable razor. The Yuma gets a lot of Kudos elsewhere and, if you have one that is decent, actually is a pretty good shaver, but the build quality is very inconsistent on them, and many have severely uneven blade gaps.

In otherwords, the black plastic razor is fine for a newbie on a budget, or a travel kit razor. The Yuma is a toy for experienced shavers who enjoy gambling. YMMV of course.

(03-25-2012, 04:18 PM)Sargon Wrote: havitn used both, here's my impression...

The plastic razor is pretty good, but very light. It isn't about to unseat my adjustable Merkurs or 1940s Superspeed, but it is seems a very servicable razor. The Yuma gets a lot of Kudos elsewhere and, if you have one that is decent, actually is a pretty good shaver, but the build quality is very inconsistent on them, and many have severely uneven blade gaps.

In otherwords, the black plastic razor is fine for a newbie on a budget, or a travel kit razor. The Yuma is a toy for experienced shavers who enjoy gambling. YMMV of course.

That's about what I was figuring on them. I thought the plastic one might be good for a travel kit

Be careful with the plastic one and don't over tighten. I have broken a plastic razor like that before just putting a blade in tight.

Very interesting looking razors! Good luck.

Here's my first impression of the black plastic razor I got from Best Shave. I loaded it with a Blue Lab Personna, a blade I find very easy to use in all my razors.

The razor is very easy to load. You simply twist the handle and the top plate unscrews from the bottom plate and the handle. The blade slides in easily, and the top plate even covers the side tabs on the DE blades for people who like that feature. Screwing the top plate on is easy. I noticed the top plate and bottom plate don't add much 'bend/curve' to the blade, and the blade exposure looks to be fairly even.

The razor is extremely light, which is no surprise owing to it's construction. It is easy to move around your face, but at least for me I missed the heaviness of the head that my metal razors provide.

My first pass started off a little uninspiring as I fiddled with finding a good angle to actually cut whiskers. My first few strokes didn't seem to actually remove stubble at all, but I soon found the groove and managed to start mowing facial hair.

All in all I did 3 full passes, with some extended touchup. I can't claim it was a BBS, but it was certainly socially acceptable. It was also fairly smooth, which doesn't surprise me with the Personna blade it was matched with. I did feel I needed more touchup than I normally would need, but that could just be due to being unfamiliar with the razor.

I try not to put too much emphasis on the first use of any product, but at least with this razor I identified it is capable of providing a suitable shave with no evident problems. I will definitely revisit it without fear, and I could see this being a pretty good travel setup, but frankly I'm not sure I'd use it as an everyday razor as I just prefer the heavier feel of metal as I am shaving.

Tomorrow I will test the Yuma razor from the same vendor.

Well I tried the little Yuma metal 3 piece out today.

Niiiiiiice. Not 'I'm going to throw away all my other razors Nice' but 'Dang that $2 razor can safely and comfortably cut my facial hair Nice'. Paired with the Blue Lab Personna it was an effortless, and close shave. It felt more aggressive than the plastic razor I tested yesterday , as well as my Lord 3 piece as well.

The short handle took a little getting used to, and I ended up holding the handle between my first 2 fingers fairly close to the head. I think this resulted in having a lot of control. I did a 4 pass shave because I had plenty of lather, and I wanted to give it a good workout.

I had to do some touchup, but that's to be expected with a new piece of equipment. I did have a bit of trouble directly under my nose getting the blade to actually contact skin, but I have that problem to a degree with most razors.

So ... as far as shaving with this I am well pleased. I was afraid it being lighter would be a turnoff to me, but I think the higher aggressiveness counteracts that to a bit.