Safety Razor of the Day

[Squire]

Schick Krona with Yellow 7 o'clock blade.

[brothers]

Darwin stainless w/Rubie blade

[jaguar]

Feather AS-D2

[brothers]

The razor stays the same but the Rubie was replaced today by a new Kai blade. Yes!

[pausted]

Schick G1 Injector with a China made Schick blade. These old razors provide a very, very good shave and the readily available blades are sharp for at least a week of daily shaves. I have noticed that the ebay sellers have figured it out. Prices of the razors are climbing fast.

[jaguar]

Feather AS-D2

[brothers]

Same razor, new Brazilian Platinum Plus blade.

[brothers]

Time to replace the Brazilian Platinum Plus. Today's new blade is a Gillette Swede.

[Squire]

Schick Gillette Krona razor with Gillette Bleue blade.

[brothers]

Blade: For today's shave the Swede was replaced by the Super Stainless Spoiler, also from Gillette.

[pausted]

I've been using my Muhle R89 for the past two days. As always, it gives me a great shave with a 7 O'clock yellow.

[brothers]

Tuesday May 31

The razor's the same but the blade has changed to the Personna hospital use blade for the next few days.

[brothers]

The razor stays the same but today the Personna hospital use blade was replaced by the Kai blade.

[brothers]

Someone gave me a nice gift a while back, it's one of the old German-made Bakelite Slant razors that were discovered a few years ago by the guys over at Italian Barber when they were traveling in Europe. It's been residing in a box far too long.

Yesterday I spotted it and decided to give it a whirl this morning. What a delight! With the standard bakelite handle, it's about 0.5 ounce. Because it was so lightweight, I used moderate pressure and got an outstanding close and smooth shave with the Kai stainless blade (today was shave #4 on the blade). No nicks or cuts whatsoever. For tomorrow I've switched to a moderately heavier alabaster handle, custom made by the late Bob Smith at Bob's Razor Works in California.

The Merkur 37 Slant is a fine shaver, but in my experience pretty much middle of the road performance. Close but no cigar, just an average everyday shave. However, the Bakelite Slant is curved and slanted more severely more than the Merkur. The blade is under more torque and the design does more with the gaps provided by the slant. I'm going to be using this razor exclusively for the next few days so I can find out how it compares in everyday use to my best performing DE razor(s). Here's my SOTD, except for the handle change.

[brothers]

Day 2, the replacement BRW handle seems a natural match to the Slant head. In defiance of common practice, I think I'll apply a bit of pressure tomorrow in certain areas of my whiskers so I can gauge the effect it might have.

[brothers]

Day 3, (shave #6 for the Kai blade) I used pressure, probably a little too much in some areas, but it appears that the design of the Bakelite head responds positively to pressure. This is also a trait of others, namely OneBlade and carts in general. The use of pressure is certainly not appropriate with DE or SE razors in general. The face wasn't torn up and the skin doesn't feel raw. It's a smooth and close result. Tomorrow I'll try to dial in the comfortable middle of the road.

[brothers]

Day 4, final day on the Kai blade (7), and the Bakelite Slant is finding its stride. No fear of using pressure in certain areas, there's a feeling of protection against cuts and nicks. Unusual for a DE razor, certainly the slant design. Unfortunately for anyone who finds this of interest, this razor doesn't appear to be easy to find but I might be wrong.

[brothers]

Same razor but the Kai was replaced today by Super Iridium blade.

[brothers]

I've been using the Bakelite Slant for the past 8 days. I have learned that the Fine company has commissioned an exact duplicate and is currently selling it through their website. Rather than Bakelite which is apparently brittle and subject to chipping and breaking with very little impact, the newly manufactured duplicate is ABS which is much more durable. The Fine is a different color - metallic instead of alabaster/ivory. Common sense tells us that the plastic handle/head is going to be lightweight. Some of the less-adventurous seem to be of the impression that the shaving police have prohibited the swapping of handles from one head to another. Don't be intimidated, just use a heavier handle and throw caution to the wind. One piece of free legal advice - I guarantee you will not be prosecuted.

[brothers]

Same razor today but the Iridium blade was replaced by the Gillette Rubie.