I jumped the gun yesterday and did a review of this razor before I shaved with it which was a mistake on my part. My apologies ladies & gentlemen. So lets get started. The first thing I noticed was the weight of this Colonel Conk Track 2 replica. To me a heavy razor is right up my alley because I have a tough beard that grows fast and a heavier razor does make a difference for me in that regard. The finish is excellent and far better looking than the original handle is and I can't remember exactly where I saw it or by whom, but someone does make custom handles for some of these cartridge razors. I think I saw it on Etsy but I'm not entirely sure. This razor shaved like a dream and unlike the other cartridge razors, this one is NOT mindless shaving. In fact you just about have to use it like you would a DE safety razor no joke:
These were released in 1971 and below is the original handle which is about as attractive as a box cutter is in my opinion. I could have gotten the original handle but I'm glad that I did not because I would still be waiting for it to arrive from India and the handle I bought is far better looking than the original is. Now for you guys who are wondering what DE blades that are equal to these cartridges, that would be the Gillette 7 "o" Clock Yellow double edge blades. I've shaved with both these and the 7 "o" clock yellows and can't tell the difference between them:
The quality of the shave with these Gillette Track 2 cartridges are awesome. I had no tugging or pulling at all and the glide was even better than I expected which is always a good thing. Another thing that I noticed was how easy it was to strop these carts after shaving with them and how well the lubrication strip held up during and after the fact. My other cart's lubrication strip didn't hold up that well during stropping specifically my Gillette Proglides. The lubrication strip on the Proglides is already gone just with one stropping session:
If you see another handle or would like to get this one, just search on Amazon's website and you can still get these Track 2 blades at many big box stores including Walmart if you want the actual Track 2 cartridges. West Coast Shaving supplies & Amazon also carry an alternative which can be seen below and are even more affordable:
You can get 100 of these for $14.25 + shipping from Amazon which makes these more affordable than some DE blades. I know I paid nearly double this for Feather DE blades that I still have here in my shave cave and it's only about $1 U.S. Dollar difference for a 100 pack of their Lab Blue DE blades. These Twin Pivot blades also fit the Gillette Atra razors which were released in 1977 when I was born and are easily obtainable as the Track 2 blades are:
All in all I'm extremely pleased & happy with this purchase. I also consider this specific razor to still be traditional wet shaving due to the fact that you still have to slow down and pay attention to what you are doing or it can turn ugly really quick just like it can with a DE safety razor. Another reason I consider is because these are still considered a vintage type of razor or N.O.S. (New Old Stock/Replica) and yes you can still find these on EBay as well. Now to look for some Schick cartridges and Vintage Schick Cartridge systems.
