Does anyone have both of these razors? If so, what are your impressions comparing the two? Thanks in advance for sharing your experience.
I own or have owned pretty much the full range of R41s and its knock offs:
2011 R41
2013 R41
R41 GS SS
DSCosmetic Z0 v1
DSCosmetic Z0 v2
The special edition titanium is the exception I haven't tried or owned.
Both of the DSCosmetic razors are decent shavers. I think both are slightly more aggressive than the 2013 R41 design, with the v1 being a tiny bit more aggressive than its later sibling.
My personal favorite of all of them is the 2011 R41, but that's in large part sentimental as it was the first DE razor I really came to love and I strongly prefer aggressive razors. The 2011 is by a pretty wide margin the most aggressive of all of these. It does "feature" quite a bit of blade chatter.
I liked the R41 GS, but ultimately sold it as a) I had moved on to other modern razors, b) I thought it was fairly expensive for what it is, and c) the DSCosmetics were both pretty similar shavers to the GS.
I found the R41 GS (like the DSCosmetics) to be a bit more aggressive than the zamac 2013 R41. I attribute this largely to the extra weight of the SS material rather than the design. I also found the the SS versions, including the knock offs, clamp the blade a bit better than the zamac versions.
GS and titanium aside, none of these razors is particularly expensive if you want to try more than one. Without knowing more about your preferences, I am hard pressed to make recommendations. I would not buy the R41 GS again, but it is better machined than the DSCosmetics and I do like supporting a longtime manufacturer in the wet shaving space. It might be nice if they sold the head only.
Any of these SS razors is going to last a lot longer than the zamac versions too, and I have had issues with long term use of my Muhle R41 zamac razors, especially the 2011 version, but I have owned it much longer and made the mistake of storing it in Muhle's upside down stand which lets water collect in the head.
What attributes are you looking for in the R41 style razors?
I would not buy the R41 GS again, but it is better machined than the DSCosmetics and I do like supporting a longtime manufacturer in the wet shaving space. It might be nice if they sold the head only.
The r41 is so affordable I can’t imagine why the other is an option. But then that is my PRC stance showing. Nothing against the people there.It will be interesting to read the comparison of the Chinese counterfeit compared to the original R41.
Yes, it's not like we are looking at a large price difference. You can get an R41 shipped to your door pretty fast for a little more than a Chinese knockoff shipped out of China with a possible Customs import charge after a long slow boat ride.The r41 is so affordable I can’t imagine why the other is an option. But then that is my PRC stance showing. Nothing against the people there.