I have been wanting to try a more aggressive open comb than my Gillette New LC for a while. So I bought a RazoRock Little Bastone from IB. I also have an Ikon bulldog handle, which I really like on my New (I modified the Ikon handle to work well with the New). So today I loaded a Ladas Super Steel (2) blade into the RR head and put the Ikon handle on it. What a shave! Perfectly comfortable BBS in 3 passes. I am not even sure why this razor is called "aggressive". It's efficient, but I felt no aggression from it. It behaved like a well loved kitten. No irritation of any kind. Amazing. I may have picked a perfect blade in it or my "game" was top notch today, but this was one of the better shaves I have ever had. I must qualify this by saying that I've been getting pretty darned great shaves lately. I think I hit a pretty good plateau in my technique. There is always room for improvement, but when I shaved with my New LC in September I thought it was a pretty aggressive razor. I left it be and shaved with a Progress and Progress only for about 4 months using different blades, techniques, soaps, brushes, etc. Razor stayed the same. This has done more for my technique than most things I tried so far. Anyway, after the Progress stretch I decided to try the New LC again. Not that I wanted for a better razor than the Progress, mind you. I think it's pretty much the perfect DE razor in its versatility and range of blades that work with it. However, this hobby being what it is, I wanted a change and I tried the New LC again. After a few shaves with it I realized that it feels WAY mild to me. I even had to go back and look to make sure it was the same razor I thought was aggressive (it was). Well, the New LC is an excellent shaver, but I felt I was ready for something more aggressive. Not R41, but something that most people consider an aggressive OC shave. I also want to keep costs reasonable and so the RazoRock/Cadet was a natural choice. I went with RR because IB was running a sale on Palmolive sticks and had Proraso at a good price. I've bought from Shave-a-buck before and think it's an outstanding vendor, but I wanted to get some Palmolive sticks and Proraso. So, here we have it. First shave with a RazoRock/Cadet OC head was a resounding success and now I understand why so many people love this thing. It's beautiful, well finished (better finish than some Merkurs I've seen) and costs $20. Mine has some small imperfections in the side of the top plate that do not effect the performance at all, but other than that it's perfect and a great shaver. The handle is good too, but I really like the size and weight of the Ikon handle. I may try it with an original handle just to see how it works, but even as just a head for $20 it's a great deal. I will use it for the next few shaves to see how it goes and how different blades work in it. My favorites are Astra SP, Personna Super (lab), Super Max SP, Perma-Sharp Super, 7 O'cklock Yellow and Blue and Feathers. I may not load feathers into this razor just yet.
First shave with RazoRock Open Comb
- Thread starter vferdman
- Start date
i also have the "LB" and it's a pretty good score for less than $20 and i find it about as good as any vintage gillette open comb I've tried
- Thread starter
- #3
I agree. I use mine on top of Ikon bulldog handle and it's the cat's meow. I do like my Gillette New Long Comb on top of that same handle just as much, but the LB provides more blade feel than the New LC and is definitely more... efficient.
i agree it's efficient and the song of the blade is music to my ears
