Blackland Dart: Taming the Beast

[GrizzlyCA]

Objective: I just wrapped up a 7 day experiment where I challenged myself to use the Blackland Dart as my daily shaver for seven consecutive days. It was a great success. Below are a few things o learned and my impressions. For those interested, keep on reading.

Background: I am two years into this hobby and shave daily for work. I have very coarse and fast growing whiskers. I started with a gamechanger and have used many different razors. My daily driver before this experiment is the carbon cx, a moderately high aggressive razor that I love.
I recently added the dart to my collection and thought it would be a cool experiment to figure it out by using it for consecutive days of use.
My shaving style is three passes with the last against the grain. I do spend time making a good lather and use top soaps. I also always experiment with different blades as I have found certain razor / blade combinations work amazingly well for me.

What Did I Learn:
- The dart is the most blade forward razor I have ever used
Blades
- I started out thinking more mild and less sharp blades would work well. I was mistaken.
- Sharp blades work really well. Feather blades produced my best shave.
- Bic and Personna Israeli Reds also worked well.
-my favorite blade (Kai) was not a great match for this razor for me. The additional dimensions compounded the blade feel. I will try it again at some point .
Technique:
- The dart has a good weight to it which to me, makes it safer to use
-this razor commands respect and attention or it will bite hard. I did loose some skin on my first use with a Kai. I was getting overly confident and…
Performance:
-My experience with this razor reminded me of some similarities to the ss blackbird but it has way more blade feel.
-the blade clamping and alignment was outstanding and there was no blade chatter.
-I did experience some dragging on my chin with the less sharp blades on occasion . This went away when I went to feather and other sharp blades. This could be my technique too.
-paired with the right blade and with proper technique, this razor can deliver an outstanding bbs

Final thoughts:
The dart has earned a spot in my den. Right now, she sits at number two. I will rotate her in on a regular basis.
I plan on using feather and personna platinum blades with this razor. I will be trying a big list of other blades over time, but this razor seems to let me know when she did not like a blade.
This razor is no longer made but will show up on BST once in a while. It’s a really well built razor that has been a blast to learn…

I hope this helps anyone… and as always, your mileage may vary. I love crazy aggressive razors and I am very impressed with this beast.

Cheers all,

-Quinn

 

[Eben Stone]

Great write up. I love the Blackland Dart. I prefer Nacet and Suneko blades.

 

[JimL911]

Love the Dart.
You might like the Rocca and Ikon Tek.

 

[tube_guy]

It's kind of interesting how razors can be so different for different people. I find the Dart not all that aggressive at all. I can just mindlessly whip it around on my face with no fear whatsoever. I find the Blackbird safety bar similar feeling to the Dart. Maybe a small amount smoother and a slightly closer shaver, overall. But I love both the Dart and the Bird. They're great razors.

 

[Blackland Razors]

Love to hear it!

Use the safety bar as your pivot point to adjust the blade engagement. Bringing the top cap to your skin adds more blade engagement (shallower angle). Pulling the top cap off the skin pulls the blade back for a milder shave.

We covered this in a video and the animation is of a Dart head so it's pretty helpful.

 

[GrizzlyCA]

Great write up. I love the Blackland Dart. I prefer Nacet and Suneko blades.

I will try both. Thank you!

 

[GrizzlyCA]

Love the Dart.
You might like the Rocca and Ikon Tek.

The Rocca, ikon, and superslant level three ++ OC are my next buys. Thank you for confirming my research

 

[GrizzlyCA]

It's kind of interesting how razors can be so different for different people. I find the Dart not all that aggressive at all. I can just mindlessly whip it around on my face with no fear whatsoever. I find the Blackbird safety bar similar feeling to the Dart. Maybe a small amount smoother and a slightly closer shaver, overall. But I love both the Dart and the Bird. They're great razors.

Totally agree. I have had the ss bird. Very similar. I don’t think I am ready to do a bunch of zig zags yet. But I don’t fear the razor at all. It makes me wonder is the r41 is more or less aggressive….

 

[GrizzlyCA]

Love to hear it!

Use the safety bar as your pivot point to adjust the blade engagement. Bringing the top cap to your skin adds more blade engagement (shallower angle). Pulling the top cap off the skin pulls the blade back for a milder shave.

We covered this in a video and the animation is of a Dart head so it's pretty helpful.

Thank you Shane!!! I love your products. This was a good video for me to go look at. Much more to learn on this pup.

 

[Eben Stone]

It's kind of interesting how razors can be so different for different people. I find the Dart not all that aggressive at all. I can just mindlessly whip it around on my face with no fear whatsoever.

That's now I feel about the Yaqi Knight Helmet

 

[StewB]

I haven't used the Dart in many months. I need to dust it off and give it another go.

 

[Mr Konrad Dundee]

I really like the Dart, but I find the Blackbird more efficient

 

[StewB]

This thread reminded me about the Dart, so I used it this morning. It's a fine tool that provides me excellent performance.

 

[Steve_in_CT]

I really like the Dart, but I find the Blackbird more efficient

I know I'm in the minority, but I while I could never get the Blackbird to work for me, the Dart is one of my favorite DE razors.

 

[StewB]

It might be the angle, as the Blackbird is designed to shave at a relatively shallow angle. The Blackbird's designed angle somehow feels "unnatural" to me. This morning's use of the Dart reminded me of it's much more "natural" (to me) angle. I got a very efficient and irritation-free shave from the Dart. I can get a great shave from the Blackbird also but it takes some concentration for me. I think I'm in the same boat that the Dart is a better "fit" for me than the Blackbird.

 

[JimL911]

It might be the angle, as the Blackbird is designed to shave at a relatively shallow angle. The Blackbird's designed angle somehow feels "unnatural" to me. This morning's use of the Dart reminded me of it's much more "natural" (to me) angle. I got a very efficient and irritation-free shave from the Dart. I can get a great shave from the Blackbird also but it takes some concentration for me. I think I'm in the same boat that the Dart is a better "fit" for me than the Blackbird.

Same here. Kept the Dart, pif'd the Bird.

 

[gdawg55]

I bought the reissue Dart when they were offered. I found it much harsher than my Blackbird and ended up selling it. I was surprised by its aggressiveness as I thought it would be milder than the Bird….it was not.

 

[DesertIguana]

It's kind of interesting how razors can be so different for different people. I find the Dart not all that aggressive at all. I can just mindlessly whip it around on my face with no fear whatsoever. I find the Blackbird safety bar similar feeling to the Dart. Maybe a small amount smoother and a slightly closer shaver, overall. But I love both the Dart and the Bird. They're great razors.

People use works often that really have no meaning at all or little meaning in someone else's world.

Taco Bell is not Mexican Food, it is in some people minds. They Taco Bell use to do an Enchereto, not bad, what I called starving student special.

Want real Mexican food, go the part of town that is heavy populated by Mexicans, your chances of finding local place that serves the real deal.

 

[never-stop-learning]

Love all of my Blackbirds, and my original Dart.

It might be the angle, as the Blackbird is designed to shave at a relatively shallow angle. The Blackbird's designed angle somehow feels "unnatural" to me. This morning's use of the Dart reminded me of it's much more "natural" (to me) angle. I got a very efficient and irritation-free shave from the Dart. I can get a great shave from the Blackbird also but it takes some concentration for me. I think I'm in the same boat that the Dart is a better "fit" for me than the Blackbird.

I use all of my Blackbirds steep. Steep with my original Dart, too. SASA all the way!

 

[WThomas0814]

I missed out on the dart, but, I love the Blackbird (started with SS, then went to Ti). The Rocca seemed to be more aggressive to me. So much so that I have my R94 on BST. I just couldn’t use it more than two days in a row and I’m an every day shaver.