I got the WR2 1.15 SB in stainless first, and it’s remained the undisputed champion in my den. I had purchased a bunch more Wolfmans up to 1.55 gap. They were all amazing. But the 1.15 has the best combo of efficiency and maximum luxurious comfort.Wow, which Wolfman did you get? This is all such great stuff!
I have seen Paladin brushes, but on first pass, they are not the sexiest.. can I ask what makes them so incredible? I have a Grizzly Bay (v23 fanchurian) and a Chisel and Hound (v22 fanchurian) for my badger brushes and think they're incredible. How do the paladins compare, or what makes them so good? I am very curious now.
Mmm, good to know about the stainless! You have certainly caused me to reconsider a little. Thank you so much!
The Paladin brushes just feel amazing on my face. There may be other awesome looking brushes out there. But the face feel of the Paladin is what got me hooked. Soft. But not quite gel-tip soft. A bit of scrub. And it has some good backbone. I just love it. They’re not for everyone. But I stopped looking at any other badgers after getting a couple Paladins. And sold all of my other natural brushes. All of them.
Regarding the commentary about the Razorock razors…. The Game Changer 84p is wonderful. I had one for many years. Right from its first run. Smooth and efficient. I prefer the SB over the OC. I find that the GC OC is a bit rougher than the equivalent SB gap, but offers no more efficiency for me. I have had a large number of GC plates, and the 84p is my favorite by far.
The Lupo 95 is a terrific razor. It kind of kicked the GC and the Mamba razors to the curb. It ramped up the efficiency factor by quite a bit for me, while remaining very comfortable. It has a nice amount of blade feel, which I like. But it never feels like it’s going to bite. A nice controlled and effective shave.
Quite honestly, the RR stainless offerings are all excellent. The are well made, and look great. They have brought some interesting designs to the table, which have been thoroughly imitated by yaqi and the other knockoff vendors. So they must have done something right. If I had never heard of Wolfman or Charcoal Goods or Blackland razors, I could have been happy using a GC or Lupo for the rest of my days. But that cat was let out of the bag, and there’s no going back.
The Lupo 95 is the only RR razor that can hang with the big boys for me. It is most comparable to the WR2 and the Blackbird. It has blade feel and efficiency. They even have a Lupo 127 now, but I have not tried it yet. A while back I did a comparison test between all of my mid tier razors. The Lupo, GC, Flexi, Flexi OC, Progress, and Pearl Hammer, among others. The Lupo slayed them all. And I sold all the rest. I am in the middle of a big downsizing because the misses and I are nomads now. Hundreds of razors doesn’t fit that lifestyle any more. So the testing was needed and the Lupo prevailed.
Lastly, as I mentioned before, the Blackbird is in another class above all of those mid tier razors. The fit, the finish, the shave dynamics, are all a cut above. So make sure you factor that into the equation as well. And the Ti version does seem to shave better despite (or because of) the lighter weight. But I enjoyed the Ti version less due to my preference for heavy razors, even though it shaved me closer. It’s really a lot to think about. It may be worthwhile to spend the extra coin now to save yourself from trying a dozen more razors before you get there. The Blackbird is a RAD killer for so many. But like some, I thoroughly enjoyed working my way through a huge number of razors. It was fun! And this is a hobby for a lot of us. So you do you, and enjoy the journey.
And as always, these are strictly my personal opinions. So ymmv.