feather vs. pils - throwdown

[CzechCzar]

I have read much hubbub about these two razors, and, though they be expensive, RAD has an appetite that cannot be sated.

A bit of my background, so you'll know what I've tried. I've run the gauntlet of Gillettes, EJs, and Merkurs, and had settled on the HD as king. I have recently acquired a Merkur bakelite, and, though it is impossible to cut myself, no irritation, and BBS smooth every time, it takes a minimum of 3 1/2 passes to achieve this. UNACCEPTABLE.

I am attracted to the feather and pils because they are made by new manufacturers, they look nice, and have both received good reviews. I have also seen that some do not like them. So I ask the community: which is better? Not in terms of looks or finish or design or beauty (I could care less about that), but in terms of functionality. By functionality, I mean, which one will deliver constant BBS, with a standard 2-3 passes, and minimal irritation? Please, any help is appreciated!

 

[ScYcS]

I have read of people not liking the feather. I have not read of someone not liking the Pils yet.

Draw conclusions.

PS: A razor is a VERY personal item and not one person in the world can tell you that the one is better suited for you than the other. Best you can do is simply compare them yourself or, if finances do not allow the above, maybe take an average of people liking/ not liking a razor and go with the more popular choice.

 

[nole1]

I have read of people not liking the feather. I have not read of someone not liking the Pils yet.

Draw conclusions.

Thats not a very fair assessment though. While yes, these both fall in the category of 'very expensive' when it comes to current production DE razors, they are not the same price. The PILS is $100+ more money than the feather. For that reason, most people who are looking to spoil themselves on a high-end new razor will go with a feather over PILS. You will, inevitably, get more people buying the razor and have a higher chance of someone not absolutely loving it.

If I spent $250+ on a new razor, even if I hated it I would tell the world how amazing it was and convince myself its the best thing since sliced bread. I'm not saying it isn't a great razor, just saying the ones that don't love it might be hesitant to talk bad about a razor that cost them that much coin.

EDIT: I wasn't saying (well at least I didn't mean to) that I wouldn't let people know it's faults. I was just implying that if you don't really like it, you would point to all the positives and not as much the negatives so to not kill yourself in B/S/T. While I would hope people would give an honest review and full disclosure its just human nature. Same reason carfax was invented for the used car industry.

 

[ScYcS]

I would disagree personally (again, subjectively only my opinion). If i pay $250 for a razor (and i have in the past) and it does NOT shave to my 100% satisfaction, then i will make SURE that the world knows....loudly!

 

[mike_gman]

For what it is worth, I just recently purchased a Feather and from one of our vendors ( Bullgooseshaving ) Firstly, I can tell you Phil is a quality guy to do business. Fast shipping and delivery.
As for the razor, it is one of the best I own. I find it much more precise when it comes to blade exposure than anything I own. It is a very mild shaving razor and that fits me fine as I have a light beard and my skin does tend to be very sensitive. The Feather is a great razor, very smooth and excellent quality. I have not used the PILS, but I am very interested in one myself. Once I can save a little money, it will most likely be on my next purchase list.
What I have read on reviews is that the PILS tends to be a little more aggressive in the shaving dept. Beyond that, they are both high end, high quality, high price.
YMMV

 

[CzechCzar]

For what it is worth, I just recently purchased a Feather and from one of our vendors ( Bullgooseshaving ) Firstly, I can tell you Phil is a quality guy to do business. Fast shipping and delivery.
As for the razor, it is one of the best I own. I find it much more precise when it comes to blade exposure than anything I own. It is a very mild shaving razor and that fits me fine as I have a light beard and my skin does tend to be very sensitive. The Feather is a great razor, very smooth and excellent quality. I have not used the PILS, but I am very interested in one myself. Once I can save a little money, it will most likely be on my next purchase list.
What I have read on reviews is that the PILS tends to be a little more aggressive in the shaving dept. Beyond that, they are both high end, high quality, high price.
YMMV

That is the impression I get. With the feather reviews I have read, quite a few say that it's amazing because of how it looks, but there are other razors that shave better. Not so with all the pils reviews. The pils seems to be more of a RAD killer.

 

[ScYcS]

There is no such thing as a RAD killer. There might be a RAD smoother but sooner or later (sooner!), you'll be back into RAD.

I would like to elaborate on this:

We are all chasing the "holy grail" of shaving, trying to find that one razor that gives us BBS in one single pass, without any irritation, anywhere. The sooner you admit to yourself that there is no such thing and probably never will be, then the sooner you will enjoy this for what it really is: A Hobby about collecting razors. A $250 razor named Pils or a Feather razor or a $10 Gillette 1951 Superspeed essentially give you a very similar, close shave with similar passes and similar amounts of irritation (excluding allergies or some other weird thing you could have that is in one of those razors). We should be honest here: A good prep, good lather and superior technique is WAY more important than the piece of metal (or plastic) that you shave with. It's only a small part of the equasion and, i think, one of the smaller parts. However, we tend to spend more than $100 on a razor but are very careful not to spend more than $20 on a soap or a cream or so.

Treat this as a hobby with the added benefit of removing facial hair and be WAY more comfortable spending $250 on a razor, because then it becomes more than just a tool to remove hair, it becomes part of a hobby.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[shawnmaze]

I am new to the shave world abbreviations. I get BBS and DE etc. Not aware of RAD or RAD Killer. ?

 

[ScYcS]

RAD= Razor Aquisition Disorder. Basically, the addiction of buying razors constantly. I had bad RAD fairly bad for a while and aquired more than 100 different razors. Then my wife got really sick and i sold most of my stuff and kept only 3 Razors. I'm slowly getting back into the hobby now but will not be able to buy that many razors anymore.

However, collecting razors and restoring them from "ugh that looks bad" to "wow, awesome how this turned out" is one of the most fun i ever had.

 

[Laughster72]

I would disagree personally (again, subjectively only my opinion). If i pay $250 for a razor (and i have in the past) and it does NOT shave to my 100% satisfaction, then i will make SURE that the world knows....loudly!

I have no reason to doubt you, and doubtlessly there certainly are others who would react likewise. However, there are plenty of people who would do everything they could to convince others -- and themselves -- that they have not spent their money foolishly. Just look at some of the silly arguments a few people use to justify the fact that they spent $25,000 on a two-chanel amplifier. (I'll shut up now and look for the bricks that are inevitably going to be hurled my way!)

 

[DFrancis]

The Feather I tried (part of a traveling Pif) was an amazing shave, as smooth as my superspeed, that being said, my superspeed did not cost me $150, though if I have the spare funds down the road the Feather may still find it's way into my den.

 

[DE Shaver]

IBy functionality, I mean, which one will deliver constant BBS, with a standard 2-3 passes, and minimal irritation? Please, any help is appreciated!

Both of these razor can deliver BBS shaves with minimal irritation. The limiting factor is your technique and to a secondary degree, the quality of the razor blade. The best razor in the world will not mitigate irritation due to bad shave approach or dull blades. Almost decent razor can delivery a shave within your specification. As far as I'm concerned, both of these razors are functionally equivalent, with the PILS being a little more aggressive than the Feather.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I have both. Each is an excellent shaver and I can't think of any criticisms. For me, the Feather is a little easier to get BBS with, though the Pils will also do it.

But these are luxury products. Sure, they're nice, but I'll get BBS shaves off the DE89L, Fatboy and others. If you want to spend the money on one of these, go ahead. But keep in mind that it's a luxury and that you don't have to spend that much for an excellent shave.

 

[Aberneth]

There is no such thing as a RAD killer. There might be a RAD smoother but sooner or later (sooner!), you'll be back into RAD.

I would like to elaborate on this:

We are all chasing the "holy grail" of shaving, trying to find that one razor that gives us BBS in one single pass, without any irritation, anywhere. The sooner you admit to yourself that there is no such thing and probably never will be, then the sooner you will enjoy this for what it really is: A Hobby about collecting razors. A $250 razor named Pils or a Feather razor or a $10 Gillette 1951 Superspeed essentially give you a very similar, close shave with similar passes and similar amounts of irritation (excluding allergies or some other weird thing you could have that is in one of those razors). We should be honest here: A good prep, good lather and superior technique is WAY more important than the piece of metal (or plastic) that you shave with. It's only a small part of the equasion and, i think, one of the smaller parts. However, we tend to spend more than $100 on a razor but are very careful not to spend more than $20 on a soap or a cream or so.

Treat this as a hobby with the added benefit of removing facial hair and be WAY more comfortable spending $250 on a razor, because then it becomes more than just a tool to remove hair, it becomes part of a hobby.

Just my 2 cents.

SHUSH! The RAD gremlins will hear you. Then it will be aaallll over for you.

 

[CzechCzar]

I cannot easily get a perfect BBS. There's almost always some stubble left on my neck, maybe because I shave using only one hand.

I have tried:

Gillette red tip
Gillette Superspeeds (two of 'em)
Gillette fat boy
Gillette NEW open-comb
Merkur travel razor
Merkur futur
Merkur HD
Merkur HD slant
GEM
Edwin Jagger 89L
Merkur Bakelite

The bakelite is the only one that gives me consistently BBS shaves.

With all that being said, I am always looking for a better shave. So, I am potentially willing to buy another razor, even if it is expensive.

 

[ScYcS]

I cannot easily get a perfect BBS. There's almost always some stubble left on my neck, maybe because I shave using only one hand.

I have tried:

Gillette red tip
Gillette Superspeeds (two of 'em)
Gillette fat boy
Gillette NEW open-comb
Merkur travel razor
Merkur futur
Merkur HD
Merkur HD slant
GEM
Edwin Jagger 89L
Merkur Bakelite

The bakelite is the only one that gives me consistently BBS shaves.

With all that being said, I am always looking for a better shave. So, I am potentially willing to buy another razor, even if it is expensive.

I'd say 99.99% that a different razor won't help you with that. If you can't get a BBS shave with ANY of the razors above, then you simply need to improve your

1. Technique
2. Prep
3. Lather

and not the razor.

Or, and that is also very likely, you are simply one of the people that CAN'T achieve BBS. It happens. Learn to accept it. I cannot for the life of me achieve BBS on one part of my neck and trust me, i have shaved with a DE long enough to have tried many razors, blades, creams, soaps, techniques etc et al. Some people just have a beard that WILL not be shaved off completely.

 

[bonusmarple]

I would disagree personally (again, subjectively only my opinion). If i pay $250 for a razor (and i have in the past) and it does NOT shave to my 100% satisfaction, then i will make SURE that the world knows....loudly!

+1

I personally think the idea that someone would rate a $250 razor higher due to their cost is bullsh-t. If I put that kind of cash into a razor and it was not top-notch then you would hear about it.

 

[Harvey]

You must know by now that the Merkur Machete..Gas powered 8 inch blade and the Feather new model laser guided carbon handled titanium and diamond covered 9 inch Pope blessed razors are the ONLY ones to consider..you can made your deal at DEVIL Razor supply and sell your soul for either...but you must have both..you must ..sell a kidney or a child but get them both or your shaving life will be over. I am so sorry to tell you this but facts are facts and there is nothing you can do about it.

 

[Stubblefield]

The PILS is $100+ more money than the feather.

If they still offer it, Royal Shave has a 10% off coupon for B&B members that can be used on the Pils. Regardless, even when comparing list prices the Pils is not really $100 more. In the end, it's only money. To the OP: Buy both, sell the one you don't like.

I have shaved with most of the Gillettes (as well as the EJ and most Merkurs) and found that the Pils easily outperformed them all. I just picked up a Joris so I'll let you know how that stacks up.

And I don't see why 3.5 passes is unacceptable, unless you were getting less.

 

[Harvey]

Hey me too..nice razor the Joris..open comb..nice shaver..got the olive wood handle to jazz up the shave den...