Well, I lucked out. My Tradere arrived yesterday. I skipped shaving for two days in the hopes it would get here Monday and once again Phil did not disappoint. Due to my excitement at getting it and wanting to try it out, I did not take any pics, for now you will have to live with the pics in other threads.
My first impression was "omg the case it comes in is HUGE". It is indeed quite large. The following is not meant to be derogatory in any way, I understand how hard it is to start a business up. The case appears to me to be a basic small electronics case. Something you can get at Granger, for me it reminds me of a very small hard shelled photographic equipment case. It's a basic black case with a latch, and when you open it up there is full foam on both halves of the case and the handle, head and some blades are in there along with considerable room for other items. It cannot be confused with the packaging of a Feather AS. That said, I've bought a couple iKons and a Weber and none of them came with a box at all. So having a nice case is a plus!
On to the razor, the head was well polished, none of the very minor buff marks you see in the prototype picture Phil has posted exist on my production model. The head and handle combined have a very well proportioned weight to them. It is perhaps a few grams heavier than my iKon OSS, and lighter than my S3S. Very well crafted for a first run. The Tradere will look great in anyone's den.
On to the shave. I popped in one of the Personna Blue Lab blades and decided it was time to try this baby out. In order to not have soap / lather be an issue, I opted for my Shavemac Silvertip and Prorasso Green. Two items I never have issues with.
Now I must point out that the only OC models I have ever used are the OC sides of my two iKons. The OC side of the S3S is very mild and I have yet to ding myself with it, and the OC side of the OSS is reminiscent of an old Gillette Long Comb so there is quite a bit of protection there as well. Not so much with the Tradere, the comb is short and the blade is relatively near the edge. Noting that I took to making my WTG pass. I am not exactly sure what I was expecting, but I must say I was not surprised by the closeness of the WTG pass. Overall it shaved very smoothly and the only issue I had was around my chin and that is just me getting used to a new razor. No nicks on the pass which was a bit surprising to me considering the fact I am not used to the razor and the fact it had a nice and sharp blade in it.
My next pass was an XTG pass and this time I managed to nick myself twice. Nothing major, just little nicks, no weepers. For the ATG pass I decided to only do my neck just so I didn't end up looking like one of those bad shave videos you find on youtube. I received no new nicks from the ATG pass. Overall it turned out somewhere between a DFS and a BBS.
Overall one sweet razor, very well made (in America), pure stainless, OC, nice weight and one of the items for me which is an aesthetic must, you cannot see the blade tabs. It's going into my rotation which is saying something as I have had a slew of razors I have bought only to sell soon after purchase.
My first impression was "omg the case it comes in is HUGE". It is indeed quite large. The following is not meant to be derogatory in any way, I understand how hard it is to start a business up. The case appears to me to be a basic small electronics case. Something you can get at Granger, for me it reminds me of a very small hard shelled photographic equipment case. It's a basic black case with a latch, and when you open it up there is full foam on both halves of the case and the handle, head and some blades are in there along with considerable room for other items. It cannot be confused with the packaging of a Feather AS. That said, I've bought a couple iKons and a Weber and none of them came with a box at all. So having a nice case is a plus!
On to the razor, the head was well polished, none of the very minor buff marks you see in the prototype picture Phil has posted exist on my production model. The head and handle combined have a very well proportioned weight to them. It is perhaps a few grams heavier than my iKon OSS, and lighter than my S3S. Very well crafted for a first run. The Tradere will look great in anyone's den.
On to the shave. I popped in one of the Personna Blue Lab blades and decided it was time to try this baby out. In order to not have soap / lather be an issue, I opted for my Shavemac Silvertip and Prorasso Green. Two items I never have issues with.
Now I must point out that the only OC models I have ever used are the OC sides of my two iKons. The OC side of the S3S is very mild and I have yet to ding myself with it, and the OC side of the OSS is reminiscent of an old Gillette Long Comb so there is quite a bit of protection there as well. Not so much with the Tradere, the comb is short and the blade is relatively near the edge. Noting that I took to making my WTG pass. I am not exactly sure what I was expecting, but I must say I was not surprised by the closeness of the WTG pass. Overall it shaved very smoothly and the only issue I had was around my chin and that is just me getting used to a new razor. No nicks on the pass which was a bit surprising to me considering the fact I am not used to the razor and the fact it had a nice and sharp blade in it.
My next pass was an XTG pass and this time I managed to nick myself twice. Nothing major, just little nicks, no weepers. For the ATG pass I decided to only do my neck just so I didn't end up looking like one of those bad shave videos you find on youtube. I received no new nicks from the ATG pass. Overall it turned out somewhere between a DFS and a BBS.
Overall one sweet razor, very well made (in America), pure stainless, OC, nice weight and one of the items for me which is an aesthetic must, you cannot see the blade tabs. It's going into my rotation which is saying something as I have had a slew of razors I have bought only to sell soon after purchase.
