One day love affair with OneBlade...

[AFP]

I have been drooling over the OneBlade for a while; I can't afford the Genesis, and was not sure if the Core would be worth it, considering that I can get an all stainless DE for the same price. Then OneBlade had the $8 Try-a-Blade special. I immediately ordered it, and fell in love with the Hybrid (granted, the Genesis is nicer, but the Hybrid performs the same at a more reasonable price). The Core just didn't feel right against my face, for some reason. It was the best shave I've had (been wet shaving for about a year now). I have course, but slow-growing and sparse beard growth. With a decent shave, I can go every other day, without a problem. This morning I went for shave #2 with Hybrid. The blade dragged, and it was nowhere as close of a shave as shave #1. The Hybrid is expensive. I can rationalize that as a good one time investment that will last the rest of my life. The blades are expensive, but if they last me a week shaving every other day, then I can begrudgingly put up with that. But having to change it with every shave? I can't justify that cost.

So my question is, what would you recommend to replace it? I know nobody else has the pivoting head, but in terms of angle, mild/aggressive, this was perfect for me. Again, I don't mind putting out money for the one time investment, as long as the blades are not going to cost me an arm and a leg.

 

[shave/brush]

I had one and I felt it gave a perfect shave. Close and very smooth. I ended up selling it because it was boring. Shaving is my hobby and want something that requires some skill.
To answer your question, I think it is a good investment. The overall price for blades is not going to break you I would think.

 

[gvw755]

The ONLY time I used a Feather FHS blade in a OneBlade was when I tried it in a pass around a couple of years back. After getting my own Genesis, I have taken the time and trouble of despining and notching regular Gem blades. I usually get about 5-6 shaves with those blades and they are just as smooth (if not smoother) than the Feather blades it was designed to use. You are able to get away with just despining a Gem and not notching it as it will hold in place through friction alone, but I found that the blade angle is different and not as efficient. Because I use my OneBlade only on weekends, preparing two Gem blades at a time usually last me a month.

 

[naughtilus]

 

[AFP]

The ONLY time I used a Feather FHS blade in a OneBlade was when I tried it in a pass around a couple of years back. After getting my own Genesis, I have taken the time and trouble of despining and notching regular Gem blades. I usually get about 5-6 shaves with those blades and they are just as smooth (if not smoother) than the Feather blades it was designed to use. You are able to get away with just despining a Gem and not notching it as it will hold in place through friction alone, but I found that the blade angle is different and not as efficient. Because I use my OneBlade only on weekends, preparing two Gem blades at a time usually last me a month.

How do you notch it?

 

[Shavemd]

One blade is having a 50% off sale on almost everything this weekend.

 

[AFP]

One blade is having a 50% off sale on almost everything this weekend.

I just went to their web page and didn’t see anything on sale.

 

[Shavemd]

I just went to their web page and didn’t see anything on sale.

I received this email on the 13th from OneBlade saying nearly all items are half price

 

[gvw755]

How do you notch it?

GEM PTFE Modification Instructions for OneBlade

 

[gdawg55]

I took advantage of the 50% sale and splurged for a Genesis. I've had the Core for a bit, but never developed a real liking to it. It shaves okay, but nothing great. My DE's run circles around it. So I decided to see if the Genesis is better. Got it yesterday and had my first shave with it this morning. Night and day better than the Core. Very efficient and smooth. For my first shave I'll give it an A+. Got a real close, irritation free shave. My neck could be a little closer, but I'll take it for the first try. Way better than any shave I got with the Core. Will wait for my final judgement after a couple of weeks of daily shaves.

 

[Chandu]

I have a core and hybrid. The hybrid shaves a bit closer than the core. The core is one of my travel razors. One thing about these is it's very difficult to get razor burn no matter how much you try. A great razor for shaving when you need to do it fast I might grab the Genesis in the future if they are on at 50% off again, which I'm betting will happen for Christmas.

I can push one of the blades for 4 shaves and I have a heavier beard than the OP it sounds like. I have to shave daily. Every other day would leave me looking like a total bum (or trendy in 2019) by noon the following day. The best shave is shave 1, shave 2 you can tell the blade has dulled a bit. Shaves 3 and 4 feel a bit tuggy, but still no irritation. I usually do two shaves and grab a new blade.

At first it didn't shave as close until I figured out I needed to hold it flatter to the face and use enough pressure to activate the pivot head at times. Then I got great shaves and decided to keep the razor. Look online you can get blades for this from Maggard and others. They will still be a spendier blade compared to DE or other SE formats. Both on initial cost and the shorter life they have.

I will put up with the blade cost as it shaves so nicely.

 

[dfoulk]

A friend lent me a OneBlade razor to try and it was surprisingly good. Kinda like a cross between a DE razor and a cart razor. Pretty much brainless to use as for the most part it's like a cart razor. The head pivots, you jam it into your face and you shave. Pretty simple and brainless for someone with poor technique or someone new to wet shaving. So, not much skill needed to get a really great shave. I really enjoyed the razor and would certainly consider purchasing one.

Things I liked about it. First off it was super comfortable to shave with. I'm talking as comfortable as the very best de razors I've tried. The shave was exceptional. It was completely brainless to use to the point where I'd consider giving it to my wife to shave her legs with in the shower. She won't use a DE razor as it's too time consuming for her, so she's happy to use an overpriced cart razor. This might be a good alternative if not for the largest negative.

The things I don't like about it. Well, really the only thing I didn't like about it when I tried it was the blade cost. The Feather made blades are terribly expensive for what they are and while I have taken a feather de blade to thirty shaves without a decrease in shave quality I can't seem to get more than two decent shaves out of these blades. The first shave is exceptional. The second slightly less so, but still very good. During the third shave performance seems to fall off a cliff. These blades were initially offered by some suppliers at a lower price but they quickly shut that down and now sell them exclusively. So they likely told the manufacturer (Feather) that if you sell these blades to anyone else then we will no longer purchase them from you. All said and done the prices were locked at a higher markup.

Once you get past the high razor price of $400 (for the nicer models) the blade prices can't help be leave me feeling like I'm being taken advantage of. The cheaper razor that they offer doesn't solve this problem for me either. I'd rather pay more for the razor up front and use a universally accepted blade. I mean they surely could have created this razor using a de blade, a Feather AC blade or maybe a Gem style blade with the spline attached. However in doing so they wouldn't have the steady revenue stream that the proprietary blade gives them.

So, while I've certainly bought several razors that cost more than the OneBlade, some quite a bit more, I likely won't purchase a OneBlade because of the blade prices. If I could get quite a few more shaves from a blade I'd consider it but that's not the case. I've tried employing some technique to it as opposed to the smash and go approach and it doesn't seem to help increase longevity at all. I like it quite a bit and would love to find a way to make it work, but I can't. I can afford to buy the blades for it but I can't get past the feeling of being taken advantage of. Someone going from carts to the OneBlade will likely be thrilled with the pricing but when I'm coming from 100 Feather de blades for something like $25 the price they're charging leaves me feeling like they're ripping me off.

So instead I'll seek out a smooth comfortable de razor to shave with. I'll generally use a Wolfman WR2 SB .95 razor but the Timeless .68 is another exceptionally smooth razor to shave with. The Paradigm AC that I own is exceptionally smooth as well. Sure you'll have to practice your technique with these razors and it's not totally brainless, but I don't feel like I'm being taken advantage of with these choices.

Just my opinion though, which is probably worth what you paid for it.

 

[BigJ]

Congratulations!!