Until today's shave, I was wondering if I bought into a bunch of hype. But once you get it right ... wow!
I have found that I get smoother and more efficient shaves with the Overlander than with either Gamechanger. I always thought the 84 gamechanger was never worth the aggression as it never gave me more in efficiency compared to the 68. Not sure if I am in the minority there but that's my experience.
Which version of the Overlander do you have ? Do you think it makes a big difference in the shave to go with SS over AL ?I like the Game Changer; I like the Lupo; I even like the Rockwell 6s. But none of them have ever given me consistently gentle and effective shaves like the Overlander. All I have to do with the Overlander is find the neutral angle and then key in on its smoothness. It's friggin magical.
I only have the SS version. I've never tried any of the others. I've used the Bison twice and am intrigued by the light weight of the Aluminum. If I added another Overlander, it would be the Aluminum. The SS, IMHO, is very well balanced with the 3.5 inch handle.
I recently acquired the Athena as well and it's a beautiful razor ... and it shaves very efficiently. But I'm still not quite used to using it. The same goes for the Bison (I'm not quite used to using it). But I will say that the Bison seems to be similar in efficiency to the Overlander. And the Athena is more efficient than the Overlander. Having said that, I'm sitting here 10 hours after my shave today with the Overlander and I'm still BBS. Now, I've nailed down the smoothness with the Overlander. I haven't nailed down the smoothness for the Athena nor the Bison as of yet. Though I've caught glimpses from both. TBH, it will probably take me a while to get used to them.
I don't have an aluminum but I do have a brass and I have found that a titanium handle makes all the difference to me when using it. The titanium handle is approx 20 grams different and I feel the difference. That being said, I've used all my stainless steel head razors with a titanium handles leading up to acquiring it so maybe I was just not used to the substantial weight of the brass handle. I have an aluminum lupo but I am not the biggest fan of that light of weight of a razor as it requires some pressure to get through the stubble - so why not just get a heavier razor that adds that weight for me and does so more uniformly than my own hand pressure? Your preferences might be different.
I need to amend the above comment about the Bison. I used the Bison this morning and had a great shave. But, the Bison is not as efficient as the Overlander. It's a smooth shaver once you find the neutral angle. But I needed to work a little harder to achieve my nearly BBS shave.
Interesting that you found a difference. The razors are not too far off in weight. I have both as well but don't use the original handle as they both seem to heavy for me. I do think I am noticing a bit more suction or drag with the stainless steel. I am assuming that this is because I did do a semi-polish job to the head of the brass which I remember feeling the same way. I will have to do a side by side to see if the polish really makes a difference as my lather could be off today. That being said, the brass semi-polished Overlander has been my daily driver for awhile and I don't ever pay precise attention to my lather and have not had the suction issue since I polished it (to my memory).
May I ask which handle and the size you got? I am curious if you can weigh it for me? I've been contemplating that solution as I would love to use a Karve handle with the Karve razor.
Which handle do you prefer? Do they all have the same kind of 'grippiness' or is one more slippery than the other?
