Having decided to add a few more razor handles to my shaving kit, I decided to add this Parker handle as one, that uses standard Gillette (or third party) ATRA style cartridges. When I feel like taking the time to enjoy face shaving, I will use the tried and true DE razors to which I have three handles a Weishi Classic Double Edge, Merkur Futur Double Edge and Colonel Conk Classic Double Edge. I have reviewed the Futur here and will also add a review for the Colonel Conk. But for now it's about the Parker Heavyweight for ATRA.
Knowing I was soon to receive my Fendrihan order of the Parker and the Colonel Conk, I let my face hair grow two days which will generally give me the best shave. Once I received the order I began to open the Parker and Colonel Conk handles. I was to shave half my face with the Parker and the other half with the Conk. Again for the Conk I will review elsewhere on its listing here.
The Parker is a nice handle upon opening, satin metal with rubber trim rings and very solid heft. Compared to a multitude of cartridge razors from the major makers, Gillette, Schick, Dorco an Harry's etc. Parker definitely gives us the nicest feeling and weighted handle. The big guys IMO can over stylize their handles, I bet it adds to costs. Parker just makes a nice fitting, feeling and weighted handle.
Currently I have as a multi blade cartridge razor a Schick Quattro. IMO a nice big branded razor. Easy to use and such, but still pricey for replacement cartridges. I have and keep a cartridge razor as they are down and dirty quick to shave with. I have used similar handles from Gillette and the two onliners Dorco and Harry's. All these multi-blade razors get the job done, have things I like and not like in design and fit/feel. But even Dorco and Harry's are still more pricey for replacement cartridges compared to DE blades. Shaving with each brand gets the job done and without much thought. But with the value of DE blades notably our choices here at Fendrihan, it's so hard to want to buy cartridges for these others. But I have kept one or more cartridge systems in my kit for when I want or need to get a shave done quickly and without much, fuss, fan fare or enjoyment. Sorta like driving a cheap econobox car from yesteryear, it gets you to your destination but you are not enjoying the drive. When feel like the ritual of a proper DE shave, I want to take my time and soak it all in, sorta like driving a stylish car with a sense of pride.
So I saw the Parker handle for ATRA cartridges and figure, Hmm could it offer the similar get to it shave that the big multi-blade guys offer but using less pricey ATRA or third party ATRA based blades? Will it work as well for me as my current Schick Quattro?
OK, so the handle is KICK BUTT GOOD! Feels better in hand than any other branded cartridge based handles I used ( IE: MACH3, PROFUSION, SENSOR, QUATTRO, HARRY'S TRUMAN and DORCO PACE 6). I liked the feel of the Harry's Truman handle in hand as best of the multi-blade razors. IMO Harry's offers fair value for the shaver, but still more pricey than any DE system and the Parker/ATRA set up.
The Parker handle action for fitting on ATRA blades was stiff out of the box and I had to exercise it a few times to get it moving smoothly. I guess that may mean nice and tight tolerances. I never used ATRA blades before so it took a bit of working to get the handle to click on the blades. To be fair I am using third party ATRA style blades from London Drugs branding. Maybe Gillette ATRA blades work better for fitment but the LD branded blades are much less costly. So once attached though it all works well. The pivoting head is not as wide ranging in movement as any of the big brand multi-blade pivoting heads are. But it does pivot. Shaving using currently at my disposal Williams shave soap and a proper lathering up, I shaved half my face with this Parker set up and the other half with Colonel Conk. I really want to see how the Parker ATRA set up works as compare to my Schick Quattro as I would lie to keep a cartridge razor set up that uses less pricey blades as in ATRA, for when I need to get down to a quick shave that cartridge systems can give you.
The Parker handle feels darn good, nice heft, long length and not too slippery as it's satin and has rubber banding at its base. The Schick Quattro with the now standard over styling of these types of razors fits easy in hand but is lighter than the Parker. The Parker was as easy to shave with as the Quattro has been and any of the others I have used. Twin blades cut through my two days growth on my rather sensitive skin no problem. It was as close a shave as my Quattro has been. Whether pivoting heads make much a difference I don't know. The Quattro pivots much more though. Twin blades do not clog up and can give me more strokes before rinsing. But the Parker set up feels better and almost as good in hand as a good DE set up. It's cheaper to use than any other multi-blade system. I will
