Blackland Blackbird

[Blackland Razors]

It's great to see how much of a success he has made it, and I am just guessing, but he probably tries to keep the blade gaps private to try and stop a cheap clone being made.

It's not really this as anybody with some calipers, a micrometer, or a laser measuring system could figure it out. It's pretty clear after a decade in production that a lot of our competitors have a Blackbird on hand when they design their next razor.

The real reason we don't publish specs is that it adds a lot of confusion for customers. Blade gap is the only spec easily understood by most customers so they would look at the Blackbird's small gap and compare it against another razor and decide that the Blackbird is mild. Or they'd reach some other conclusion based on nothing but blade gap. So we eliminated it. It's impossible to shave with a spec sheet so we stopped doing it and we and our customers have been better for it.

 

[Nord Razors]

Blade gap is the only spec easily understood by most customers so they would look at the Blackbird's small gap and compare it against another razor and decide that the Blackbird is mild.

Do you think the blade gap is really understood by shavers? I actually think that there is a huge misconception among people about the blade gap.
I am curious to hear your opinion on that.

It's impossible to shave with a spec sheet so we stopped doing it and we and our customers have been better for it.

And that makes a lot of sense, especially that there is more to it than the blade exposure and the blade gap only.

@Blackland Razors what's your take on the blade exposure of the Blackbird? During the Kickstarter campaign, you mentioned that it's 0.101 mm, so we know what the nominal/intended value is. But to me, it feels way too efficient for such exposure.
I know it doesn't matter for regular shavers for the reason you mentioned above, but you know we are geeks here.

 

[Blackland Razors]

Do you think the blade gap is really understood by shavers? I actually think that there is a huge misconception among people about the blade gap.
I am curious to hear your opinion on that.



And that makes a lot of sense, especially that there is more to it than the blade exposure and the blade gap only.

@Blackland Razors what's your take on the blade exposure of the Blackbird? During the Kickstarter campaign, you mentioned that it's 0.101 mm, so we know what the nominal/intended value is. But to me, it feels way too efficient for such exposure.
I know it doesn't matter for regular shavers for the reason you mentioned above, but you know we are geeks here.

I think blade gap on its own is understood reasonably well by lay customers. People know that if you have two otherwise identical razors and one has a bigger gap that it will be more efficient, having more blade feel, etc. The problem is that blade gap is useless knowledge unless the razors are identical. Comparing the Blackbird's gap to the Sabre's doesn't get you anywhere.

There's also confusion regarding how varied blade gap changes the shaving angle and blade exposure.

While we definitely pay attention to geometry specs when designing razors, I think many users would be surprised at how small a role it plays in our designing process. The spec numbers just don't matter all that much. I couldn't name the blade gap of any of our razors off the top of my head.


I wouldn't put much stakes on figures from Kickstarter. I wasn't particularly sophisticated at measuring things back then in my apartment with $10 calipers. And while we now have accurate specs, they're somewhere deep in the archives and I won't share them because they don't matter.

 

[Nav]

Guys, after months of printing and shaving with dozens of self designed razors, I started to shave again with razors which I bought in the past and Blackbird is one of them.
Is it only me who thinks that the blade exposure of Blackbird is actually more than the advertised 0.101 mm? To me, it feels much more than 0.101 mm. I would say more like 0.15-0.20 mm.

Any thoughts?

Hell yes!
I've been on about this for a couple of years now!

There's just no way it has an exposure of 0.1mm
It's just impossible considering the blackbird gives me a closer shave than razors with far bigger gaps and/or larger exposures than 0.1mm... Like Yates H, tatara nodachi, ATT H1, Karve CB- E plate, yaqi sentinal 1.5mm, GC84, timeless 95.

Someone on another forum did a measurement with CAD software and reported the exposure to be 0.22mm.
This makes a lot more sense since 0.58mm gap is practically nothing for me!

It's the only razor to give me a glass-like finish which lasts until the evening. Exposure is everything for me and the blackbird has it in spades!

 

[Chris]

As far as I can tell the Blackbird does not have an advertised blade exposure; there's no measurements on the website and Shane has said that he deliberately doesn't list measurements because he doesn't believe that they're useful.

 

[Sami]

I believe leaving out all the specs of a razor, leaves the user guessing what he is actually buying having no reference what so ever, and its up to the user to form his own opinion regardless, i believe a user who buys a razor like the BB has done his research on it as its not your average razor, but this is just my opinion i could be wrong.

 

[Blackland Razors]

I believe leaving out all the specs of a razor, leaves the user guessing what he is actually buying having no reference what so ever, and its up to the user to form his own opinion regardless, i believe a user who buys a razor like the BB has done his research on it as its not your average razor, but this is just my opinion i could be wrong.

We used to give these specs and it created more confusion and increased poor purchasing decisions and returns. Eliminating this in favor of a qualitative description of the shave performance is one of the best decisions we've ever made as a business.

Blackbird has been around for a decade, has been purchased well over ten thousand times, has hundreds of YouTube reviews, countless forums threads and posts, over 650 reviews on our site, and endless thousands of SOTD reports. It might be the most discussed and reviewed high-end razor in this niche. Those factors are infinitely more impactful for a purchase decision than a spec sheet.

 

[Randy]

The shave from the Blackbird wasn't for me but I do love the way it looks, especially in black oxide, and it just gets more beautiful as it wears.

What? Again Chris?

"The shave wasn't for you?"

I can't accept it, it's cheap and well worth the money.

 

[slapo]

What? Again Chris?

"The shave wasn't for you?"

I can't accept it, it's cheap and well worth the money.

I might be a scrooge, but it isn't exactly cheap.

Of course, to those who like them, they're probably worth it regardless.

 

[Randy]

I might be a scrooge, but it isn't exactly cheap.

Of course, to those who like them, they're probably worth it regardless.

That's the right answer

 

[Chris]

What? Again Chris?

"The shave wasn't for you?"

I can't accept it, it's cheap and well worth the money.

My problem isn’t the price, I just don’t like the way it shaves.

 

[Tonyschin]

Have you tried the Brassbird Chris?

 

[Randy]

My problem isn’t the price, I just don’t like the way it shaves.

I know.... I was kidding..

 

[Chris]

Have you tried the Brassbird Chris?

I have not, I dislike the smell of brass.

 

[Sm29]

My Ti Bird was the second most expensive razor I have ever purchased (Janus for $500 was the most and returned for a refund). My SS Bird was bought during a Black Friday sale and reasonably priced for such a great razor. While not inexpensive, it has been years since I bought another razor. The search ended, RAD was cured and I’m happy with my everyday kit.

The only downside to this is that there have been a number of razors that I have passed on, notably the Osprey, Oliblade, and new Sabre that I’m sure are all great but the Birds are my destination razors.