GIVEAWAY! Challenge PIF - In The Footsteps Of Legends

[Weean]

Kai edge 1 shave 4. Wilkinson Sword Classic (plastic) razor, Wilkinson Sword bowl soap, VigShaving 24mm silvertip brush.

(This was yesterday's shave - why does December always have to be so darn busy?!)

There is nothing fancy about this soap. It wouldn't know about post-shave feel if it got slapped about the face with a bit of two by four. I read some bad things about it when I first started, so stayed away, but was gifted some in a PIF recently, and it really just works. It helped the Kai deliver plenty of audible feedback, and at the same stage as the Feather was already stood down, the Kai feels like it's just hitting its stride!

 

[AZBronco]

Kai blade 2; shave 1

Razor: Gillette Fatboy set on 3
Soap: WSP barbershop

After shave 2 with the Feather chewed up my face, I used my OneBlade and Mamba the past couple of days—both great razors that never cause me any irritation. So my neck feels better and I started round 2.

I went back to the Kai but shifted from the EJ DE89 to the Fatboy. The shave was excellent, comfortable, and close. No complaints and no irritation. So far, the Kai is winning for me.

 

[FarmerTan]

So..... I decided to finally get up outta my Lazyboy and shave last night. Here's what I did!

I used Arko, my old BOAR brush that won't die (hasn't been rinsed out since July 5, 2019) and the the soap that fell to earth from the chariots of the gods, Arko! in stick form.

Razor for this shave was a lovely Schick Krona.

The left side of my incredibly handsome face I used the Kai, the right side of my incredibly handsome face I used the Feather.

Though some nice Gent on here gave me a Feather blade YEARS ago, I never used it. Can't say I was afraid of it, just never got a round tuit before.

As for the Kai: felt like the one I've had in various razors for almost a year, with who knows how many uses: not as peaceful and easy as a GSB. But.... BBS results.

As for the Feather: oh my! Had to be certain I'd put a blade in it! I felt nothing. Results: BBS.

I THINK I will be using the Krona, and of course a boar brush for the remainder of "Decem-boar" ....... But I may mix up the soaps a bit.


I need to post about that brush I'm trying to kill in my thread, "Just like Grampa used to Shave" or whatever it's called. I had a very special shave the day my only begotten got married, back in September, thanks to @sarimento1 !

 

[Pressroll]

Kai #1 - Shave #2

Definitely felt a noticable drag throughout most of the shave even though the lather was excellent. Ended with a BBS but also some weepers and irritation ony neck. Not sure I will continue with this blade in the Henson.

 

[FarmerTan]

View attachment 1373493

Kai #1 - Shave #2

Definitely felt a noticable drag throughout most of the shave even though the lather was excellent. Ended with a BBS but also some weepers and irritation ony neck. Not sure I will continue with this blade in the Henson.

PLEASE tell me the "Bergamot and Thyme" stuff ain't werthy of my time!

I don't need no more temptation!

 

[Vraad]

another slight edge to the feather

 

[talibeard]

My first shave with a KAI blade.

Set-up; Proraso pre (white), TFS Italian Fern, Mühle boar brush, Lord L6, KAI (1), Hâttric AS.

My re-encounter with the Feather was far from stellar; one nice shave and one barely ok is not what I know or expected from a Feather blade and I was glad I could move on. The first shave with the KAI blade was really nice; sharp, nice audible feedback and a nice feel on the skin. My first WTG pass was already promissing and the results almost good enough for a decent shave but it was the ease of the second ATG pass that showed the quality of the blade. Effortless and efficient and really smooth. This is what I want from a blade!

If it can hold up for a couple of shaves more this is a blade that is interesting enough to buy a few packs but considering price it is probably not going to be a substitute for any of my top 5 blades but who knows?

 

[lancre]

Feather Blade - Edge #1 - Shave #5

Equipment:
Razor: WSC Winning
Blade: Legendary Feather
Soaps:Nivea Gel
Brushes: LJS/Maggard 24mm SHD

The Results:
I was running late today, so I used the gel instead of my usual lathering soaps to save time. A squirt of gel into the Timeless bowl and start to lather. It felt a bit dry, so I started adding water. This gel can incorporate a lot of water, increasing in slickness as it goes. I stopped adding water as it approached the top of the bowl.

After lathering up my cheeks and neck, I grabbed the Winning/Feather combo and started shaving. It felt great all the way through, with even my more stubborn areas giving up their stubble. DFS+ after 3 passes without buffing, smooth and close, with no irritation.

I'm impressed with the endurance of this blade. Feathers have a reputation of having sharp edges and short life spans. I normally shave with just one edge of a blade until it dulls or I get bored, then switching to the opposite side of the blade for a similar number of shaves from that side.

Yet I'm 5 shaves in, and still getting great shaves on the first edge of the blade.

 

[Demolition]

Third shave with the Mysterous Kai Stainless blade #1

Razor: Fatip Lo Storto Originale (aka FOCS)
Brush: Yaqi Black Marble 24mm Silvertip Badger
Soap: RazoRock Green Label

An excellent performance by the FOCS/Kai duo.

All three of my usual passes were quick and trouble-free. Blade-feel has increased, but not to an uncomfortable degree. This is the only reason that today's shave was not an "autopilot" shave; I was keenly aware (and wary) of the sharpness of the blade.

Otherwise, the overall shave quality was very high. There was no post-shave irritation and my face felt refreshed, afterwards, for a pleasant change!

Perhaps the only letdown was the brush. Since I've owned the Yaqi Black Marble Silvertip, it has been a prodigious lather hog. Making lather isn't much of an issue. However, getting the lather onto my face has been a constant challenge. A minor thing, but still annoying.

PLEASE tell me the "Bergamot and Thyme" stuff ain't werthy of my time!

I don't need no more temptation!

Dave, the PdP Bergamot and Thyme is definitely worthy. Don't hesitate; just buy it.

(Sneak it in behind the War Department's back if you must! )

 

[lancre]

PLEASE tell me the "Bergamot and Thyme" stuff ain't werthy of my time!

I don't need no more temptation!

DERAIL ALERT!

I believe the Bergamot & Thyme is a re-labeling of the original PdP. So it's definitely worthy of your time.

The real question is "Are you worthy of it's time?"

Seriously though, why not put it on the Christmas list you give to the WD?

/DERAIL

 

[BigJ]

Kai Blade One, Shave #4

Razor: Wolfman WR1
Brush: EverReady/Rudy Vey 2-band
Soap: Haslinger’s sage
AS: Pitralon classic

Rating: 9.5/10. Yet another very fine, comfortable shave!!

 

[slimshavy]

Feather: Blade Two, Shave Two
Gillette Super Speed Red Tip

Well, the first shave in the Feather-Red Tip pairing didn’t last that long, so I had a decent 2-day beard going before the shave. Still, I cut through it like butter on the first two passes WTG and XTG. I could have easily stopped there, as it would have been a great shave for the day. However, I’ve cursed myself with getting a shave close enough for two work days, so I proceeded with trepidation.

I ended up with a BBS shave that was very nice but gave myself a few cuts (weeped a long while) and ended up with some neck irritation at the very bottom of the neckline the next day. Feather isn’t really a gentle cleanup tool, so it’s too bad I went in for blood. I’d have a glorious every-day two-pass shave with this combo if I went that route.

 

[Mike M]

Feather shave#4

Razor: Rockwell 6C R5
Blade: Feather
Cream: Proraso Wood and Spice
Brush: Yaqi Lucky dice

I have never completed a 4th shave with a Feather blade, so I was breaking new ground with this shave. The first WTG pass simply went well, no tugging or irritation and reduced the stubble well. Pass 2 XTG also a good pass and finally the third pass ATG was amazingly comfortable bearing in mind this was a Feather blade which has never been one of my favourites. It did however leave a slightly rough patch on either side of my neck.
I must thank @Grundi @AnimalCatcher and @Space_Cadet, if it wasn't for this challenge I probably wouldn't have tried this blade again and wouldn't have got to realise that it wasn't as bad as I remembered.

 

[gvw755]

Shave 3 with the Feather blade loaded in my CG Brass Lvl1 OC. After last night's two pass BBS shave with the Kai blade, I wasn't sure how the Feather could beat that. Tonight I found out that the Feather blade could not beat it, but was so close that I had to call it a tie. Starting with the WTG pass, the Feather just started taking down as much whiskers it could find. It was so efficient that I could have stopped with the WTG pass and just do touch up, but I could have done that last night also and so I did the ATG pass. Another great shave.

I am beginning to see now that the Feather is definitely the more efficient of the two blades, however the Kai is starting to hit it's stride and is just as efficient, but definitely smoother and more forgiving.

Tomorrow, the Kai is loaded in a razor that was part of my Black Friday purchase which I just received. It is a razor I have never used before, and probably one that most folks have not either because it was just recently released. I usually do not like loading blades I am not familiar with in razors I am not familiar with, however in this case I am now familiar with the blades and they have about the right amount of shaves on them that I like to test out new razors with.

 

[cwright]

Kai #1 Shave 1
RR BBS AS, Stirling soap, Proraso Red pre shave, Stirling Vanilla Sandalwood, Stirling Splash, Stirling Balm.
Excellent no drama BBS 3 pass shave. Kai a little more blade feel than the Feather on it's first use but in a good way. 1st shave with Feather and Kai are excellent shaves, call #1 a tie.

 

[FarmerTan]

Third shave with the Mysterous Kai Stainless blade #1

Razor: Fatip Lo Storto Originale (aka FOCS)
Brush: Yaqi Black Marble 24mm Silvertip Badger
Soap: RazoRock Green Label

An excellent performance by the FOCS/Kai duo.

All three of my usual passes were quick and trouble-free. Blade-feel has increased, but not to an uncomfortable degree. This is the only reason that today's shave was not an "autopilot" shave; I was keenly aware (and wary) of the sharpness of the blade.

Otherwise, the overall shave quality was very high. There was no post-shave irritation and my face felt refreshed, afterwards, for a pleasant change!

Perhaps the only letdown was the brush. Since I've owned the Yaqi Black Marble Silvertip, it has been a prodigious lather hog. Making lather isn't much of an issue. However, getting the lather onto my face has been a constant challenge. A minor thing, but still annoying.




Dave, the PdP Bergamot and Thyme is definitely worthy. Don't hesitate; just buy it.

(Sneak it in behind the War Department's back if you must! )

Oh, I must......she rules FarmerTanLand with an iron fist!

 

[bartje-p]

Feather blade 1, shave #2 (6 dec)
Gillette Tech ball end, 1962
Grated Speick stick
Razorock plissoft
2 passes (with touch ups if needed)

Second shave with this blade, in the same razor and with the same soap as the previous time. A fine shave again. Had an extra half day of stubble, but that was no problem for the Tech/Feather combi. Very pleasant shave again. So far, having shave 2 times with each blade in same razor with the same soap, there's not much between them yet. Will keep using the same blades to see when I start noticing differences. I will keep using the same razor and soap until one of the blades is done. For the second round, I will use a different razor and soap.

 

[something better]

Me too

 

[AZBronco]

Kai blade 2; shave 2

Soap: WSP barbershop
Razor: Fatboy set at 3

Kind of like the first Kai blade—good but nothing remarkable. DFS 2 pass shave with no irritation. I’ve enjoyed the Kai blade, but it’s not going to unseat my preferred blades which also happen to be cheaper.

 

[T Bone]

Kai #1, shave #5
2.5 days growth
Preshave: shower
Cream: Cremo
Razor: Henson AL-13
Aftershave: alum, Nivea sensitive balm

Ladies and gentlemen, we're in uncharted territory now. I'd never yet used a blade for a fourth shave, let alone a fifth, but here we are. No problem WTG, but a couple of weepers on my left cheek and another on the right jawline going XTG was a bad sign. Given that, ATG was better than I expected, just a couple more weepers on the soul patch. But when I got more blood cleaning up a corner of my mustache, I decided that would be all the buffing I'd do. Alum feedback was mild on the left, medium on the right, mild-medium on the neck, and only medium on the mustache and chin. Still mostly smooth though - the only bad miss was the right side of my neck, with a couple other areas that still noticeable but not quite as rough.

So I don't know if this was a blade past its prime, or an off-day for me, but I won't be submitting my application for Excalibur Club any time soon. This blade is in the recycle bank and I'm starting Feather #1 on Wednesday.

 

[Grundi]

KAI Blade #1 - Shave #7

Equipment: Merkur 20C, Legendary KAI (7), PdP Bergamot & Thyme

The Results: Shave #7 was a near repeat of Shave #6, smooth, close, with just a hint of tugginess in a couple of places, resulting in a DFS shave. There are still some shaves left in this blade, so I'll keep using this blade. PdP Bergamot & Thyme lathers up into a nice, thick, slick lather that my face really likes; the scent is a bit lighter than PdP 63 (which is on of my favorite).

Shave #7: since there was only one entrant in the Shave #7 category, KAI receives the nod!!