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Gillette Trac II

Introduction


In 1971, Gillette introduced a twin blade cartridge called the Trac II into the US market. It did not pivot. To install the cartridge, the user slid the head of the handle into the side of the cartridge. It was offered as an upgrade to traditional DE shaving. The head design was cloned by Gillette's disposable Good News! razor, introduced in 1976 to compete with the Bic disposable razor. Worldwide, the Trac II was called the "G II" or "GII". More recently, in an attempt to penetrate into the strongly dominant DE shaving market of India, Gillette/P&G has introduced the Trac II under the name "PII" or "7 O'Clock PII", to capitalize on the name recognition of their well-liked DE blades. The "BumpFighter" (also seen as "Bump Fighter") shaving system, introduced in 1981[1] by Personna/ASR, is primarily marketed towards African-American men and is a clone of the Trac II. The BumpFighter has a heavier handle and proprietary blades. At least recently, the cartridges pivot, unlike the Trac II. The blade has scallops along the edge to reduce the blade's tendency to cause ingrown hairs if it shears off the hair too close to the skin surface. Because of its weight, the heavier handle has a following among some B&Bers who use Trac II cartridges.

Cartridge


The cartridge holds two blades at a fixed angle and does not pivot. The user slides the head of the razor handle into the cartridge from the side, while the cartridge remains in the plastic tray with other cartridges. Later, Gillette added a lubricating strip to the cartridge and branded it "Trac II Plus."[2]

Twin Injector


Gillette also introduced a double-blade injector cartridge originally called the "Trac II Twin Injector", later shortened to the "Twinjector" (coupled with a print ad campaign starring Telly Savalas). The design mimicked the twin blades in the Trac II cartridge by mating two injector blades, fused along their top and bottom faces with a slight front-to-back offset. The Twinjector later featured a Teflon lubricant strip (using Dupont's trade name "Vydax").

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