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Blackland Sabre Arrived

You have a point.
Probably because there is a large numer of modern De razors and people are familiar with the modern De offerings.

As far as I have read, there are only 2 or 3 modern GEM razors. This is why they get more critical attention too. I would say to use the feedback for good. Maybe an economical offering? :)

The Sabre actually has great user feedback. With regard to cheaper options, there isn't a way to do a three-piece GEM in a more affordable way that meets my design requirements. Specifically, the head should be as compact as possible and centered over the handle for proper balance and handling. This requirement is what led to the creation of the narrow center post which allows the Sabre to be uniquely compact and robust. It's extremely expensive to machine. PAA has a nice lower cost option that breaks my design requirements which is necessary to get to that price point. I don't mind the comments at all; they're just perplexing to me. :)



I took my old vette for a test spin today. The main different for me between the Sabre and the MMCP is the feedback from the Alum and AS. Both razors get me the results I am after. The Sabre doesn't make me pay for it as bad. Same blade, mind you, in back to back days. I know I can make the MMCP not burn afterwards, but to use the old car analogy again, it's a lot easier to put a modern car through the paces on the track than an old one. The Sabre give me the results I want with much less effort. I'm going to give them all a run on the track, but I'm only going to keep the ones that don't burn my face afterwards

Perfect :). This experience was the exact goal of the Sabre. It's all about ease of use. The angle is intuitive and anyone can pick one up and get a great shave without much thought or focus.
 

Old Hippie

Somewhere between 61 and dead
I realize this thread is about Blackland -- and I heartily salute them for their effort to keep the Gem format alive in a modern iteration. I may pick up a Sabre this summer when I have some bandwidth in the bank.

Sabre...that's funny to me because I have fenced sabre, also because my father was in the US Army Cavalry in the late '30s and early 40's and he taught me REAL sabre. And there's my nice combat-ready sabre hanging on the wall here as I write...

However it seems like a good spot to relay an email exchange I had with Matt at ATT about the G1. I contacted him to enquire whether an open comb was ever considered for the G1 (which would make it a "G2" in their nomenclature). His reply was that they'd essentially achieved their design goal for the G1, which apparently not a lot of people understood. Certainly I didn't until he explained that the design goal was to match a Gem 1912.

They did that; I get the same stubble left by the G1 as by all three of the Gem 1912s in my cave. It's the same stubble I get from most SB razors including a lot of DEs except for a slant or a Wardonia. At present the only razor in my shave cave that gets me a fine BBS is a PAA Starling V2 with an OC plate. I tried the SB plate with it at first...stubble.

Matt's comment was that the Gem is kind of a niche in a niche -- which makes it hard to justify tooling up and redesigning to pitch to a small subset (who prefer Gem + OC), of a subset (Gem users), of a subset (SE fans).

Since I have both the older, milder plate for the G1 and the newer, more aggressive plate -- I'm giving some cautious thought to whether I can rework the mild plate into an OC. Only got one, don't want to screw it up, but if it can take that razor and make it work for ME I'm open to it. I'd be more than happy for ATT to work up a "G2" but I understand they're going to stick with what has a larger audience -- as they properly should, I think.

I'm not married to the Gem format, but I like it. I like the rigid blades, I like the way the razors look, I even really dig my Damaskeene which just seems so ***-kickin' old school. I'll explore the AC format next with a SE1/SE2 combo.

Well. Lots of thoughts; no real answers.

Cheers all...

O.H.
 
I realize this thread is about Blackland -- and I heartily salute them for their effort to keep the Gem format alive in a modern iteration. I may pick up a Sabre this summer when I have some bandwidth in the bank.

Sabre...that's funny to me because I have fenced sabre, also because my father was in the US Army Cavalry in the late '30s and early 40's and he taught me REAL sabre. And there's my nice combat-ready sabre hanging on the wall here as I write...

However it seems like a good spot to relay an email exchange I had with Matt at ATT about the G1. I contacted him to enquire whether an open comb was ever considered for the G1 (which would make it a "G2" in their nomenclature). His reply was that they'd essentially achieved their design goal for the G1, which apparently not a lot of people understood. Certainly I didn't until he explained that the design goal was to match a Gem 1912.

They did that; I get the same stubble left by the G1 as by all three of the Gem 1912s in my cave. It's the same stubble I get from most SB razors including a lot of DEs except for a slant or a Wardonia. At present the only razor in my shave cave that gets me a fine BBS is a PAA Starling V2 with an OC plate. I tried the SB plate with it at first...stubble.

Matt's comment was that the Gem is kind of a niche in a niche -- which makes it hard to justify tooling up and redesigning to pitch to a small subset (who prefer Gem + OC), of a subset (Gem users), of a subset (SE fans).

Since I have both the older, milder plate for the G1 and the newer, more aggressive plate -- I'm giving some cautious thought to whether I can rework the mild plate into an OC. Only got one, don't want to screw it up, but if it can take that razor and make it work for ME I'm open to it. I'd be more than happy for ATT to work up a "G2" but I understand they're going to stick with what has a larger audience -- as they properly should, I think.

I'm not married to the Gem format, but I like it. I like the rigid blades, I like the way the razors look, I even really dig my Damaskeene which just seems so ***-kickin' old school. I'll explore the AC format next with a SE1/SE2 combo.

Well. Lots of thoughts; no real answers.

Cheers all...

O.H.

I have endless respect for the guys at ATT, but I disagree with them on the size of the GEM market. The Sabre has been a strong and consistent seller since it debuted almost two years ago. Sure, it's outsold by the Blackbird and Vector, but it's no slouch. For the G1, it's a beautiful design so I think it largely comes down to that fiddly extra piece and that it's too mild. I think that extra piece is actually a very clever approach to the problem, but it also brings its own issues.
 
Ahh the Vector. So not to be a kiss up, but your razors are my favorite two (Sabre and Vector) and causing me to go Marie Kondo on the rest of my razors. I've noticed a lot of my razors just sitting there gatheirng dust and taking up a lot of space. If they do not spark Blackland joy, they are going to pay a visit to the BST.
 
Neffarious, "Marie Kondo", that's funny. Honestly, I had to google Marie Kondo. Maybe the "Cleaning out the Den" posts could just be listed an MK sale.

I agree the Vector is an excellent razor. Would like a handle option that has a couple of mm more diameter. 13mm or 14mm would be good instead of 11mm.
 
I have endless respect for the guys at ATT, but I disagree with them on the size of the GEM market. The Sabre has been a strong and consistent seller since it debuted almost two years ago. Sure, it's outsold by the Blackbird and Vector, but it's no slouch. For the G1, it's a beautiful design so I think it largely comes down to that fiddly extra piece and that it's too mild. I think that extra piece is actually a very clever approach to the problem, but it also brings its own issues.

Shane, I'm surprised the Dart is not your biggest seller, given its price point and performance. I enjoy the Sabre L2 and Blackbird a ton, but I'm not sure either is a better performer on my face than the Dart.
 
Shane, I'm surprised the Dart is not your biggest seller, given its price point and performance. I enjoy the Sabre L2 and Blackbird a ton, but I'm not sure either is a better performer on my face than the Dart.

The Dart is massively underrated in my opinion. It suffers from wildly varying reviews that range from “mild” to “most aggressive razor I’ve ever used”. That lack of a consensus makes it tough for a customer. I still use the Dart all the time and it could easily be my only razor.
 
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It's hard for me to imagine anyone finding the Dart more aggressive than the Blackbird. Then again, I'm often an outlier.
 
So my thoughts after a couple of shaves. I really like it. It's definitely a keeper. It provides the same BBS shave at the end of the day that I get with the MMOC, MMCP or G bar. I am not an OC Fan so the MMOC probably gets the least love. It tents to grab things like my goatee and mustache. The Sabre is as smooth as the Gbar, which IMHO is the smoothest of the three. It is as efficient as the MMOC though. The current blade is getting a little tired, but I suspect i could do two passes with a newer blade and call it a day. 3 passes leaves me BBS for 12+ hours. I absolutely love the feel of it with the UFO Handle. The handle it comes with is SLIPPERY when soapy. That's really the only knock against it I can make. I would have bought just the head if I could have, but they didn't have it available in polished at the time. I keep looking at my DEs and thinking to myself, Why am i keeping them? I know I better tho, because I'll get the stupid bug to try them if I do not have them.
Why do I need my DE's, good question. I have the Sabre and the Vector. If I just owned the Vector I would be just fine.
 
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