My new Blackland Tradere has arrived (photo heavy)

[Sceptic Pencil]

My Blackland Tradere was waiting for me when I arrived home from work yesterday. It made good time, taking only five days from the West coast of the US to the UK. No ransom demand from UK Customs either, many thanks Shane[emoji6].

Generally the quality of the machining & finish is the same on both razors, but the Blackland handle has a few scratches & dings on its neck & TBH, I was expecting a bit better for the price. My Blackbird & Sabre have no such issues.

Here are a few comparison photos showing the Blackland (on right), against my 2nd generation OC original (on left).

Blackland on right in this photo

 

[Blackland Razors]

Please shoot me an email and we'll get a fresh handle out to you immediately.

 

[FarmerTan]

With my eyesight I'd never find it!

 

[Sceptic Pencil]

Please shoot me an email and we'll get a fresh handle out to you immediately.

Wow!! Many thanks, I will get that email over to you right away. We are not used to customer service like this in the UK.

 

[FarmerTan]

Wow!! Many thanks, I will get that email over to you right away. We are not used to customer service like this in the UK.

Lol, that's how he does business. I have a feeling he's more concerned about storing up his riches were moth and rust will have no effect.

 

[Blackland Razors]

Wow!! Many thanks, I will get that email over to you right away. We are not used to customer service like this in the UK.

Not a problem! The new handle is heading out today. Hopefully it ships just as quickly as the razor did.

 

[shaveSymptomatic]

What a beauty!

 

[santamariasteve]

Now that that's settled, let's talk turkey. How do the shaves of the two razors compare? How does the new razor shave?

 

[emwolf]

good use of reputation management. I'm impressed.

 

[blantyre]

Very nice. My OC arrived yesterday. It has number 2022 on the baseplate. The polish on the top cap and baseplate are nearly as good as any I’ve seen on any razor. The handle is also good. All the bits that show when assembled look great. The underside of the top cap is not polished but it doesn’t show. I’d rather keep the price point than pay additional for purely ‘because I can‘ polishing work. Not that I object to the latter but if it’s not offered I really don’t miss it. Would I pay an extra $150 for a WR mirror finish all over? Let’s see how it shaves but probably not. There were 5 Personnas in with the razor. A nice touch. The razor is quite heavy and large. Weight is similar to a WR2WH1 I would say. The Tradere carries quite a lot of its weight in the thick top plate so the balance leans towards the top. I played with some handles and although the stud is quite short it was easy to swap in the usual suspects so there is room to experiment with UFO, Tibam, Triad.... a project for another day.

I loaded a Light Brigade that I have a dozen or so shaves on. On my cheeks the Tradere seemed quite mild. Around and under my chin it had more bite. At no point did it seem overly aggressive. It gave a decent two pass shave with no fuss and didn’t require any extraordinary skill on my part. I’ll try a few different blades and might play with handles (the Tradere handle looked very nice on a WR1 as well). Overall, I would rate this as a good value razor that’s well made and has a distinctive style and feel.

 

[kingfisher]

The original SB was never particularly aggressive, so I wouldn't expect this one to be so, either.

 

[Blackland Razors]

Very nice. My OC arrived yesterday. It has number 2022 on the baseplate. The polish on the top cap and baseplate are nearly as good as any I’ve seen on any razor. The handle is also good. All the bits that show when assembled look great. The underside of the top cap is not polished but it doesn’t show. I’d rather keep the price point than pay additional for purely ‘because I can‘ polishing work. Not that I object to the latter but if it’s not offered I really don’t miss it. Would I pay an extra $150 for a WR mirror finish all over? Let’s see how it shaves but probably not. There were 5 Personnas in with the razor. A nice touch. The razor is quite heavy and large. Weight is similar to a WR2WH1 I would say. The Tradere carries quite a lot of its weight in the thick top plate so the balance leans towards the top. I played with some handles and although the stud is quite short it was easy to swap in the usual suspects so there is room to experiment with UFO, Tibam, Triad.... a project for another day.

I loaded a Light Brigade that I have a dozen or so shaves on. On my cheeks the Tradere seemed quite mild. Around and under my chin it had more bite. At no point did it seem overly aggressive. It gave a decent two pass shave with no fuss and didn’t require any extraordinary skill on my part. I’ll try a few different blades and might play with handles (the Tradere handle looked very nice on a WR1 as well). Overall, I would rate this as a good value razor that’s well made and has a distinctive style and feel.

I’m so glad to hear that! Nicely written review. Just to clear up one thing, the underside of the cap is lightly polished. Not much material is removed here to preserve the geometry so tool markings remain, but it is shined up!

 

[Sceptic Pencil]

I had my first shave with my Blackland Tradere SB this morning & it was pretty much what I was hoping for & expecting, based on my previous experience with my 2nd generation Tradere OC. I used a new Astra blade for my shave today & found that the Blackland Tradere was very smooth in use & provided a DFS+ shave, which is what I aim for these days. I would never judge a razor based on one shave, but my first impressions are favourable.
I always found that my Tradere OC had quite a narrow shaving angle & if I got it slightly wrong, it felt like I was shaving with a blunt blade & my face was thus irritated like I had shaved with a blunt blade. It was not too hard to keep the correct angle with the OC on the wide open spaces of my cheeks & neck, but keeping the angle whilst shavng my upper lip was more tricky & this is where I normally experienced post shave irritation. There were no such problems with my new SB today & I don't think the shave was any less close than with the OC.

I currently run a six razor rotation, with four SE razors (stainless steel General v1, ATT SE1, Mongoose v1 / batch 2, Blackland Sabre L2) & two DE razors (Charcoal Goods v1 / L1 SB & Razorock Mamba 0.70). The Blackland Tradere, although having a completely different head geometry than my CG & Mamba, seems to work best when used at the same fairly shallow angle that works best for for me with these other two razors & all my SEs for that matter.

I am a daily shaver, so I will persist with the Blackland Tradere for the next few days & see if the good shaves continue. Sometimes I get great shaves from a new razor to begin with & then the shave quality tails off, as my face suffers from cumulative damage from several days use of the razor. The last DE razor I bought prior to my Tradere was a Muhle 94, which was really smooth in use, gave no post shave irritation & left my skin as smooth as a sheet of glass. However, the next morning my skin was razor bump city! This is why I try not to get too excited about the first few shaves with a new razor.

 

[BigJ]

Please shoot me an email and we'll get a fresh handle out to you immediately.

Great service!!

 

[merovirginian]

Great photos and review. I hope for your face's sake that it continues to be wonderful and irritation free!

 

[kingfisher]

I don't know if this means anything for you, but when I had the original SB Tradere I shaved with it everyday for several weeks without any irritation accumulating.

I think if you get the correct angle and use a light touch it can be used over and over again without problems.

 

[JZDNB]

I'm very impressed with the Tradere. The razor it self is undoubtedly beautifully crafted. However the functionality and performance is what really blew me away. I loaded a Gillette Stainless onto the SB plate and found that the shave is definitely on the milder side. More importantly the efficiency it offers makes this an incredibly enjoyable shave with effortless BBS results. Although the handle is slightly longer than my personal preference, I find that it is extremely well balanced and very comfortable. Im assuming that this is needed to offset the weight from the (larger than most) razor head. Finally, it must be mentioned that Shane and the Blackland team have done an incredible job in continuing the Tradere line and allowing more people in the community the opportunity to experience this razor.

 

[never-stop-learning]

Beautiful razor.

Wonderful service from Shane and Team.

Nice addition to the @Blackland Razors stable of awesome razors.

Yes, I want one.

 

[Sceptic Pencil]

Please shoot me an email and we'll get a fresh handle out to you immediately.

The new handle arrived & it is as perfectly finished as the baseplate & end cap. Many thanks again for sorting this out for me & for doing it so quickly.

I will be keeping an eye open for your future razor releases. Any chance of you bringing out a machined Weber reboot in the future? Just a thought...

 

[Blackland Razors]

The new handle arrived & it is as perfectly finished as the baseplate & end cap. Many thanks again for sorting this out for me & for doing it so quickly.

I will be keeping an eye open for your future razor releases. Any chance of you bringing out a machined Weber reboot in the future? Just a thought...

Glad to hear the handle arrived safely!

If anyone has a lead with the Weber designer(s) I'd definitely consider it. But frankly I don't find the Weber to be nearly as special as the Tradere from a design standpoint. I think it's a great shaver at the right price point (when new), but it doesn't strike me visually. Regarding future razors, keep an eye out this fall/winter for something in a different direction.