First, a shout-out to @brvisco for this most generous of PIF's. It's been said the best things in life are free, in this particular case, I'm in full agreement!
I've been wet-shaving since January 2019 and have only used 2 razors: a cheap VDH TTO which didn't last long, and my trusty Maggard V3 with the lovely and utilitarian MR1 handle, which I've been using since February. I've only used a handful of blades: Astra SP, Feather, Personna Blue, Rapira SS, and my ultimate go to: the Voskhod. While other blades may have been sharper in the V3, they always irritated, cut, or annoyed me in some way. The Voskhod was the best of the lot. I always had some minor tugging and had to go over the same spot in the toughest area of my chin but ultimately, I had a pretty good shave routine down with no blood. Using lightly mentholated soaps and pre-shave like Proraso, left my face feeling amazing within 10 minutes of the shave. I was on the fence about the RR Game Changer because I wanted better blade alignment, stainless steel, and a smoother shave. Well after using the V3A for the first time this morning, I am done looking for razors, for now at least!
The V3A blade gap, exposure, and angle are all more aggressive than the V3 and for these reasons, I was absolutely terrified to try it because I have very sensitive skin combined with dense/wiry stubble and am very prone to cuts and irritation. But boy, am I glad I did. I had zero tugging/pulling, and every place except for the toughest place, my chin, were one single stroke and done. I had one of those is this thing cutting? moments I always read about and had to check that the blade was in fact actually cutting. I had zero redness and irritation during the shave and after my cold water rinse, my face felt like a million dollars. I've read some say the V3A and a Voskhod are a magic combination. I can confirm this statement. This particular V3A has perfect blade alignment as well, no matter how sloppily I throw a blade in and lock it down. My V3 has horrible alignment and was always a chore to load a new blade into. I'm sure all these units have lots of variation but I hit the jackpot on this V3A. Thank you @brvisco!
I've been wet-shaving since January 2019 and have only used 2 razors: a cheap VDH TTO which didn't last long, and my trusty Maggard V3 with the lovely and utilitarian MR1 handle, which I've been using since February. I've only used a handful of blades: Astra SP, Feather, Personna Blue, Rapira SS, and my ultimate go to: the Voskhod. While other blades may have been sharper in the V3, they always irritated, cut, or annoyed me in some way. The Voskhod was the best of the lot. I always had some minor tugging and had to go over the same spot in the toughest area of my chin but ultimately, I had a pretty good shave routine down with no blood. Using lightly mentholated soaps and pre-shave like Proraso, left my face feeling amazing within 10 minutes of the shave. I was on the fence about the RR Game Changer because I wanted better blade alignment, stainless steel, and a smoother shave. Well after using the V3A for the first time this morning, I am done looking for razors, for now at least!
The V3A blade gap, exposure, and angle are all more aggressive than the V3 and for these reasons, I was absolutely terrified to try it because I have very sensitive skin combined with dense/wiry stubble and am very prone to cuts and irritation. But boy, am I glad I did. I had zero tugging/pulling, and every place except for the toughest place, my chin, were one single stroke and done. I had one of those is this thing cutting? moments I always read about and had to check that the blade was in fact actually cutting. I had zero redness and irritation during the shave and after my cold water rinse, my face felt like a million dollars. I've read some say the V3A and a Voskhod are a magic combination. I can confirm this statement. This particular V3A has perfect blade alignment as well, no matter how sloppily I throw a blade in and lock it down. My V3 has horrible alignment and was always a chore to load a new blade into. I'm sure all these units have lots of variation but I hit the jackpot on this V3A. Thank you @brvisco!
