Thanks to a fellow B&B member I was able to acquire a Blackland SS Vector with both base plates, plus a crap ton of Kai Titan Mild Protouch MG blades for a very fair price. This is only the second SE razor I've owned and the first was a Supply that I sold after one terrible shave.
I was shaving on two days growth, using PAA Cube 2.0 pre shave, PAA Tribute soap in CK6 formula, followed up with Tribute Star Jelly AS.
I had watched the Blackland video on how to get the most out of your Vector and right off the bat I noticed the tugging that Shane mentioned I might feel if i didn't apply a little bit more pressure than one would normally use with a DE razor. This was a somewhat strange experience. I'm so used to having to consciously keep pressure very light in order to avoid irritation, especially since I have been using the very aggressive/efficient Blackbird lately.
It was surprising to use so much pressure (relatively speaking) and not get any irritation on the first pass (WTG).
Second pass (XTG) was mostly smooth sailing as well until i got to the sensitive skin around my lips. I got a couple of tiny weeping doing my XTG pass under the bottom lip. Nothing too bad but I could start to feel how the added pressure might not work so well on 2nd or 3rd passes in very sensitive areas. I finished up the 2nd pass and was fairly happy with the results but could see I needed some touch up in my usually trouble spots. That would be my mustache area and the under side of the jaw line and chin.
The jaw line and chin I had no trouble with. I felt I could clean up that area without even giving it much thought which is an improvement over using some DE razors. The mustache/upper lip was not as good. I felt the pressure I had been using for the entire shave was too much for this go around. My sensitive skin couldn't handle it and i ended up with a handfull of very small weepers. Perhaps I can try for the old tried and true super light touch on that area next time.
One positive I noticed was that this razor didn't seem to pose any threat to the moles I have on my face. I've got two annoying moles, one on my neck that is very prominent and I have to be extra careful around and another much less prominent one on my right jaw line that I'll cut only if I'm being very careless in that area. The blade gap and geometry of the Vector seemed to make it pretty unlikely that I'd nick those annoying moles even if I wasn't being extra careful. I was worried that the extra stiffness of the AC blade might make it even more likely to cut my moles but that doesn't seem to be the case.
All in all it was a good shave but I have to experiment a bit more to see if I really like it. It was a reasonably efficient shave but not Blackbird level closeness. It might be more of a daily driver than the Blackbird if I can iron out the issues around the lips.
If any one with some Vector experience has any tips and pointers I'm all ears.
I was shaving on two days growth, using PAA Cube 2.0 pre shave, PAA Tribute soap in CK6 formula, followed up with Tribute Star Jelly AS.
I had watched the Blackland video on how to get the most out of your Vector and right off the bat I noticed the tugging that Shane mentioned I might feel if i didn't apply a little bit more pressure than one would normally use with a DE razor. This was a somewhat strange experience. I'm so used to having to consciously keep pressure very light in order to avoid irritation, especially since I have been using the very aggressive/efficient Blackbird lately.
It was surprising to use so much pressure (relatively speaking) and not get any irritation on the first pass (WTG).
Second pass (XTG) was mostly smooth sailing as well until i got to the sensitive skin around my lips. I got a couple of tiny weeping doing my XTG pass under the bottom lip. Nothing too bad but I could start to feel how the added pressure might not work so well on 2nd or 3rd passes in very sensitive areas. I finished up the 2nd pass and was fairly happy with the results but could see I needed some touch up in my usually trouble spots. That would be my mustache area and the under side of the jaw line and chin.
The jaw line and chin I had no trouble with. I felt I could clean up that area without even giving it much thought which is an improvement over using some DE razors. The mustache/upper lip was not as good. I felt the pressure I had been using for the entire shave was too much for this go around. My sensitive skin couldn't handle it and i ended up with a handfull of very small weepers. Perhaps I can try for the old tried and true super light touch on that area next time.
One positive I noticed was that this razor didn't seem to pose any threat to the moles I have on my face. I've got two annoying moles, one on my neck that is very prominent and I have to be extra careful around and another much less prominent one on my right jaw line that I'll cut only if I'm being very careless in that area. The blade gap and geometry of the Vector seemed to make it pretty unlikely that I'd nick those annoying moles even if I wasn't being extra careful. I was worried that the extra stiffness of the AC blade might make it even more likely to cut my moles but that doesn't seem to be the case.
All in all it was a good shave but I have to experiment a bit more to see if I really like it. It was a reasonably efficient shave but not Blackbird level closeness. It might be more of a daily driver than the Blackbird if I can iron out the issues around the lips.
If any one with some Vector experience has any tips and pointers I'm all ears.
