I shaved with the PAL Injecto-Matic today:

This oddly Sovietesque Injector-compatible razor from the American Safety Razor Company, parent company of Personna blades, Burma Shave brushes (though not the “real” Burma Shave of the stalwart billboards which still dot stretches of Midwest highways and byways) and too many drugstore house brand DE blades to count, came to me in a lot of razors I recently won on eBay just to get close to the mythical all-metal D-type Schick Injector, the very first Injector ever made.

This Injecto-Matic looks like a 1950′s Russian version of a Schick Injector — all the parts are there, but it’s clunkier and more utilitarian looking. The gold-plated shave head’s safety bar takes a steep nose-dive where the Schicks exhibit a more gradual curve, but overall the PAL looks like a pretty close Rich Little of the classic Schick blade geometry.

I fed the PAL a standard Schick Injector blade, like I do all new Injectors I shave with for the first time. These vintage razors vary all over the map, and some’ll leave you a bloody pulp in the corner if you’re foolhardy enough to give it a crazy-sharp blade like a cut-down Feather. Better to start off with a forgiving Schick blade, just to get the lay of the land.

I put off my morning shave till after my workout at the Y, so I lathered in the usual locker room manner — Taylor’s Avocado shaving cream and a Vulfix #2234 brush. Today I got a full-on gawk from a guy shaving a few sinks down with a blue plastic Good News disposable and just some water on his puss. He stared at my brush and Injecto-Matic like I was shaving my legs in the sink, as he proceeded to scrape that plastic piece o’ crap across his wincing face.

I wish I could say that the PAL shaved as well as a “real” Injector, but it didn’t. Oh, it shaved me okay, but I’m so spoiled by the Schicks, especially when loaded with the modified Feather blades, that a fair-to-middlin’ shave just doesn’t do it for me anymore. The Injecto-Matic shaves like an Injector that was de-rated for nursing home use, so you can look somewhat presentable when you line up for your little paper cup full of pills. This is not a razor for shavegeeks looking to peel back the epidermis.

Tomorrow I’m going back to the Featherjector. Enough with this experimentation. I need a shave that rocks my world. This PAL ain’t it.