I think I’ve worked out how to get the best from this razor now.
I don’t have a coarse or dense beard stubble, mine’s a northern European blond beard (with dignified and attractive dashes of silver.) However, many people seem to get more shaves per blade than I do. I suspect it’s less to do with how quickly my stubble blunts the blade and more to do with my (in)tolerance to any slight tugging during the shave.
@Nishy summed this razor up for me when he stated:
(the) Feather Pro was the smoothest for me, but really blunts quickly with this razor. To my thinking a
razor can’t blunt a cutting edge, only stubble can. However, I think Nishy hit the nail on the head.
Because of its reputation as the closest thing to a straight shave on a handle I’d used a Kai Mild and then previously used Schicks or Pros, thinking that would make it more manageable. With these blades I’ve been getting some mild razor burn and a harsh feeling during the shave along with some tugging from the Milds. Using a fresh Pro (Saturday) I had a brilliant shave, the second use on Sunday was nowhere near as good but better than all the others, but it felt harsher than Saturday’s. There’s something about this razor that only gives me a comfortable shave when the blades is very, very sharp. That is why it feels like this razor blunts the blades quickly.
Prior to using this I had four reservations: aesthetics, weight, price and the shave.
The handle looks like a dog’s dinner in photos and it doesn’t improve when held. The head looks great from certain angles, and it’s a clever design, but mostly, I think, it looks clumsy. The Cobra is a slim-line pretty razor, this head is just too bulky and triangular and has more metal in it than is necessary. And that leads to the second issue I have. Yep – it’s too heavy. A lot too heavy for my tastes. The price, I could stomach (there’s a lot of very good machining in it) if it shaved well – it doesn’t, for me.
Conceptually, this could be perfect but in my experience the execution is half-baked (why are the tabs at the cutting edge of the blade there??? They are completely superfluous). I’ve never had a AC SE razor so sensitive to blunting, to get just 2 shaves out of a Feather Pro is ridiculous. I did not enjoy using this razor very much at all.
A huge thank you to all those who have made this pass-around happen – it’s been as epic as Nico’s Wolfman pass-around. It’ll be on its way to Blademonkey this evening. Thank you, Paul.
over on TSR.
