I was very curious to try one of these and so when I found a supply of blades and a cheap one on eBay I was off.
First impressions--not good. It's a cheap,mass produced item, stamped out of sheet metal with a glued-on handle. It's a mile away from the machined and milled precision of a Gillette or a Merkur, and the look is dated and quaint rather than cool and timeless.
And it's a dirt trap: tapping it on the desk produces a great shower of verdigris and it's still got an old blade in it--eek. After a bit of a struggle I manage to get the blade out and dislodge the holding spring underneath. The razor flops open for cleaning, which is great but even so it's a maze of little nooks and crannies that harbour grime.
There's also quite a bit of effort to get it closed up again, and I worry that I might be bending the cheap metal parts, even just by vigorous cleaning. Sure enough, it's a bit rattly on the first go, so we get the big tin of Brute Force and Ignorance out of the cupboard and soon it's gripping the blade firmly. The phrase "the suffering of metal" comes to mind...
But blade changing: five stars! Dix points! The injector system itself is superb, I could run through a whole packet of blades just playing with it.
As a razor it performs OK--the head is small and manouverable, but there's none of the authority of something like the HD. It's just shaving--I'm very much reminded of my old fixed head cartridge razor. And I nick myself a couple of times, but that's probably just carelessness.
To sum up: I probably should shave a bit more with this before I review it but I'm not sure I can be bothered. If this had been all there was available from the "old days" would I have shifted from my old plastic handle plus twin-blade cartridges? Probably not.
I'm sure though that an implementation with modern materials could produce a superb, stylish and hygienic razor--if there was any market left to sell it to. Perhaps with a more modern handle this systemcould be promoted as an eco-friendly alternative to cartridge systems/disposables for people who don't fancy messing around with DE blades.
First impressions--not good. It's a cheap,mass produced item, stamped out of sheet metal with a glued-on handle. It's a mile away from the machined and milled precision of a Gillette or a Merkur, and the look is dated and quaint rather than cool and timeless.
And it's a dirt trap: tapping it on the desk produces a great shower of verdigris and it's still got an old blade in it--eek. After a bit of a struggle I manage to get the blade out and dislodge the holding spring underneath. The razor flops open for cleaning, which is great but even so it's a maze of little nooks and crannies that harbour grime.
There's also quite a bit of effort to get it closed up again, and I worry that I might be bending the cheap metal parts, even just by vigorous cleaning. Sure enough, it's a bit rattly on the first go, so we get the big tin of Brute Force and Ignorance out of the cupboard and soon it's gripping the blade firmly. The phrase "the suffering of metal" comes to mind...
But blade changing: five stars! Dix points! The injector system itself is superb, I could run through a whole packet of blades just playing with it.
As a razor it performs OK--the head is small and manouverable, but there's none of the authority of something like the HD. It's just shaving--I'm very much reminded of my old fixed head cartridge razor. And I nick myself a couple of times, but that's probably just carelessness.
To sum up: I probably should shave a bit more with this before I review it but I'm not sure I can be bothered. If this had been all there was available from the "old days" would I have shifted from my old plastic handle plus twin-blade cartridges? Probably not.
I'm sure though that an implementation with modern materials could produce a superb, stylish and hygienic razor--if there was any market left to sell it to. Perhaps with a more modern handle this systemcould be promoted as an eco-friendly alternative to cartridge systems/disposables for people who don't fancy messing around with DE blades.