Item Description
I found the King safety razor at my local Indian dairy. The price sticker (for some reason was in Rupees) but in local currency, it ended up being New Zealand $5 (well, $4.95) with Indian Gillette blades at 5 for $2.
So, for price at under $5 for a starter razor, it's a really good deal.
Quality - probably aluminium, I've not done any checking on that. It feels too lightweight to be steel. Machining is acceptable to good, but again, for a fiver, you don't expect much.
User Friendly As I have said, it is my starter razor and one can only go up! I would suspect any faults are the fault of the user and not of the razor. I have found it quite user friendly for this n00b.
Grip - a nice long handle, with knurling and decoration on the handle. Not slippery when wet, though I do prefer to have dry fingers.
Blade Replacement It is a three-piece arzor and is as easy as unscrewing the handle and replacing the blade. However, there is only one central pin to hold the blade with two small bars either side. This means that there is a fair amount of lateral movement in the blade. I have to allign the blade carefully before screwing the handle tight. Minor inconvenience, but not a disaster.
Aggressiveness. One assumes aggressiveness to be an indication of how close it cuts and not whether it cuts one face to ribbons. I've tried a number of blades in this razor, including the ferocious feather. All have given me a fine save, and dare I say BBS. The feather was a serious blade in this razor, and probably a mistake for someone on L-plates, and that did cause a few nicks and an uncomfortably close shave, but again, I suspect the fault to be mine.
Adjustability It's not. Hence the 5.
Balance A light razor that feels pretty well balanced.
The chap in the shop, someone I know fairly well, tells me it is a very popular razor in India, though this may be more to do with price than anything else.
On balance, whilst you might not want to regress from your vintage Gillettes for this one, I would say it has been an excellent intoduction into proper wet-shaving.
So, for price at under $5 for a starter razor, it's a really good deal.
Quality - probably aluminium, I've not done any checking on that. It feels too lightweight to be steel. Machining is acceptable to good, but again, for a fiver, you don't expect much.
User Friendly As I have said, it is my starter razor and one can only go up! I would suspect any faults are the fault of the user and not of the razor. I have found it quite user friendly for this n00b.
Grip - a nice long handle, with knurling and decoration on the handle. Not slippery when wet, though I do prefer to have dry fingers.
Blade Replacement It is a three-piece arzor and is as easy as unscrewing the handle and replacing the blade. However, there is only one central pin to hold the blade with two small bars either side. This means that there is a fair amount of lateral movement in the blade. I have to allign the blade carefully before screwing the handle tight. Minor inconvenience, but not a disaster.
Aggressiveness. One assumes aggressiveness to be an indication of how close it cuts and not whether it cuts one face to ribbons. I've tried a number of blades in this razor, including the ferocious feather. All have given me a fine save, and dare I say BBS. The feather was a serious blade in this razor, and probably a mistake for someone on L-plates, and that did cause a few nicks and an uncomfortably close shave, but again, I suspect the fault to be mine.
Adjustability It's not. Hence the 5.
Balance A light razor that feels pretty well balanced.
The chap in the shop, someone I know fairly well, tells me it is a very popular razor in India, though this may be more to do with price than anything else.
On balance, whilst you might not want to regress from your vintage Gillettes for this one, I would say it has been an excellent intoduction into proper wet-shaving.
