Yet Another Journal of Razors and Blades and Stuff

[Galibier_Numero_Un]

Tatara Masadachi CC
Nacet (2)
AP Shave 24mm G5C rocket engine
Proraso green soap
Stirling unscented glacial balm

Much better shave today. Just a couple of mustache weepers and 1 on my chin, so better than Friday. Got that chin nice 'n smooth too, so the only stubble left in on the 'stache and part of my neck. 9/10 BBS-.

If I wind up keeping Tatara for the Masamune, I'll surely keep the Nodachi plate around too.

Same here. While the straight on Masamune is the closest to being a daily driver for this face (and current skill set), having a Nodachi base plate in the wings makes sense to me as well.

... Thom

 

[T Bone]

Tatara Masadachi CC
Nacet (4)
AP Shave 24mm G5C rocket engine
Southern Witchcrafts Desairology
Stirling unscented glacial balm
Southern Witchcrafts Desairology splash

First 3 shaves revisiting the Masadachi, all it seemed to want to do was give me mustache weepers. Just those tiny little pinpricks that produce a spot of blood and close up with a splash of cold water, but enough of them to be bothersome.

I must have rediscovered my touch today, because there was none of that. Usual alum sting on my neck, but it was like ice above the jawline. 8.5/10 for closeness today, post-shave feels awesome. (Smells awesome too, though I killed my Desairology samples. My wife doesn't care much for the scent, but I think I'll get a tub with my next order anyway.)

After 8 shaves, Masadachi still slots in just behind my other razors under consideration (Henson ++ and +++, Masamune, and Athena), but still ahead of the 2 I recently let go (Tatara Nodamune and Blackbird Lite). I'm not sure I'll come back to it again in the near future, but if the full Masamune is a keeper, I'll keep the Nodachi plate around. Maybe I'll feel like trying it again in a few months.

 

[Eric_75]

 

[T Bone]

LOL that one was painful!

Good luck with the move, @Eric_75, moves are a pain but hope you get all settled in quickly!

 

[Eric_75]

LOL that one was painful!

Good luck with the move, @Eric_75, moves are a pain but hope you get all settled in quickly!

Thanks, T. Hope all is well with you, sir.

 

[T Bone]

Tatara Masamune CC
Nacet (1)
Wald A1 Nimbus fan
Proraso green soap
AoS eucalyptus balm

This begins a week of shaves revisiting the straight-up Masamune.

Comparing it to the hybrid Masadachi: I can shave every bit as close with the milder Masamune (9/10 today). 2 small weepers today (mustache, chin), so as I've said before, nothing is idiot-proof, but I do get fewer weepers on average with this configuration. It takes me slightly longer to get there, but the difference is pretty negligible. Mild alum sting, and post-shave feels great, which has been typical with the Masamune.

This reinforces my slight but distinct preference for Masamune over Masadachi.

Have a great weekend!

 

[T Bone]

Mail call - my first shaving order of 2024!

I started my second-to-last Nacet today, so I'm hoping that 30 more will be enough to finish out my razor evaluation project. 31 Nacets will take me almost through November if I use them exclusively and at my normal rate.

I only got 30 though because once I've established the best razor, which I hope to use as my primary one for a very long time, I'm planning to try all blades to find the best blade. So to that end, I also got RazorBladeClub's massive sampler: 164 blades (if I counted right) from Abest to Zorrik!

 

[Darth Scandalous]

If you run short on Nacets let me know. I have a few to spare. Although I do like them well enough.

 

[T Bone]

If you run short on Nacets let me know. I have a few to spare. Although I do like them well enough.

Thank you kindly! I will be sad if I'm still trying to figure out which razor is top dog 7 months from now, but if another razor or 2 enters the picture, I may end up taking you up on your offer.

 

[T Bone]

Tatara Masamune CC
Nacet (4)
AP Shave 24mm G5C rocket engine
Southern Witchcrafts Samhain
Stirling unscented glacial balm

Finished my week of Masamune shaves today. My mustache is only DFS, but otherwise just a little stubble on parts of my neck. No blood today, and what's remarkable about that is that I last shaved just 24 hours ago. I usually go 36-48 hours, but sometimes you have to take it when you can get it. With most razors at 24 hours, I seem likely to have weepers and some skin tightness after, but not today. If I needed to shave every day, Masamune would be an excellent candidate.

And it's still a great razor for my 4x/week. This was the only shave of the 4 where I drew no blood, but it was usually only a couple of little weepers. Some razors are better able to get that upper lip smooth, but at least I had the sense today to pull up before drawing any blood. Compared to others I'm looking at, closeness is middle of the pack, cuts is near the top (as in, fewest), efficiency is slightly below average, and post-shave is the best so far. Overall, I'd put it about even with Athena, maybe slightly behind Henson++ for now, but Henson is on deck for Friday, so that could change.

 

[cajunrph]

Tatara Masamune CC
Nacet (4)
AP Shave 24mm G5C rocket engine
Southern Witchcrafts Samhain
Stirling unscented glacial balm

Finished my week of Masamune shaves today. My mustache is only DFS, but otherwise just a little stubble on parts of my neck. No blood today, and what's remarkable about that is that I last shaved just 24 hours ago. I usually go 36-48 hours, but sometimes you have to take it when you can get it. With most razors at 24 hours, I seem likely to have weepers and some skin tightness after, but not today. If I needed to shave every day, Masamune would be an excellent candidate.

And it's still a great razor for my 4x/week. This was the only shave of the 4 where I drew no blood, but it was usually only a couple of little weepers. Some razors are better able to get that upper lip smooth, but at least I had the sense today to pull up before drawing any blood. Compared to others I'm looking at, closeness is middle of the pack, cuts is near the top (as in, fewest), efficiency is slightly below average, and post-shave is the best so far. Overall, I'd put it about even with Athena, maybe slightly behind Henson++ for now, but Henson is on deck for Friday, so that could change.

I just finished 5 shaves with the Nacet and it seemed to get better with each shave, if that was the blade or from me not chasing BBS without additional passes touch-up for the 5 shaves of the Nacet remains the question. But I was quite pleased with them. I stocked up on them yesterday due to the great shaves they delivered.

 

[Phoenixkh]

I just finished 5 shaves with the Nacet and it seemed to get better with each shave, if that was the blade or from me not chasing BBS without additional passes touch-up for the 5 shaves of the Nacet remains the question. But I was quite pleased with them. I stocked up on them yesterday due to the great shaves they delivered.

I hadn't used a Nacet for quite a while. I used one for my last shave and it was excellent.... much better than I remembered. For me, they were as smooth and sharp as a Perma-Sharp... maybe even better. I'm going to use them for a while and see if that continues.

 

[T Bone]

I just finished 5 shaves with the Nacet and it seemed to get better with each shave, if that was the blade or from me not chasing BBS without additional passes touch-up for the 5 shaves of the Nacet remains the question. But I was quite pleased with them. I stocked up on them yesterday due to the great shaves they delivered.

I'm not sure what makes it so good, but it's my top performer in just about any razor. I could and probably should keep going past my standard 4 shaves too. I'm hoping to find others that I like just as much when I finish my current stash, preferably not made in Russia, but I haven't yet. I have 164 to try now though.

I hadn't used a Nacet for quite a while. I used one for my last shave and it was excellent.... much better than I remembered. For me, they were as smooth and sharp as a Perma-Sharp... maybe even better. I'm going to use them for a while and see if that continues.

It didn't do well for me the first time I tried one early on. I revisited it when @dmshaver sent me a tuck with a PIF a year or so ago, and after a using a couple it moved to the top of my list.

Perma-Sharp is supposed to be very similar. I like Nacets better, but my sample size with PS has been small, just a couple of blades.

 

[cajunrph]

I hadn't used a Nacet for quite a while. I used one for my last shave and it was excellent.... much better than I remembered. For me, they were as smooth and sharp as a Perma-Sharp... maybe even better. I'm going to use them for a while and see if that continues.

Same here. I don’t remember being overly impressed with them the last time I used them which was sometime in 2023. This go round was great.

 

[cajunrph]

preferably not made in Russia

I found the Lord blades made in Egypt to be great as well.

 

[spacemonkey42]

I can't tell the difference between a Nacet and Perma-Sharp. They are both my top blade.

 

[T Bone]

I found the Lord blades made in Egypt to be great as well.

I'm looking forward to trying all of those when I get to my bigass sampler. I remember liking Silver Star, a couple of the Sharks, and 1 other (Lord Platinum Class?) long ago. I don't recall them being as sharp as Nacet, which I'm sure is part of why I liked them early on - they didn't punish my poor technique as badly. I'll be curious if they still hold up now. But RK (made in India) was a similar blade that I liked early on that has very mixed reviews. I revisited it a few months ago expecting to take back my early praise of it, but it still did really well.

 

[T Bone]

I can't tell the difference between a Nacet and Perma-Sharp. They are both my top blade.

I hear that a lot. I'm guessing that my preference for Nacet over PS is simply small sample size. I need to do a double-blind trial.

 

[spacemonkey42]

I hear that a lot. I'm guessing that my preference for Nacet over PS is simply small sample size. I need to do a double-blind trial.

Let me know if you can convince your wife to load blades for you or if you train one of the pets.

 

[blethenstrom]

I hear that a lot. I'm guessing that my preference for Nacet over PS is simply small sample size. I need to do a double-blind trial.

I've been thinking about how to accomplish this, because I think that we will be very surprised at the results if we did conduct blind blade tests. I have not figured out how to make it happen and I am talking across several wet shavers.