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Free scuttle - a loaner for feedback

Dammit Captain! What do I do with my Georgetown pottery scuttle and the Captain's Choice lather bowl that you sold me? To be honest, I haven't used my scuttle in weeks since I discovered how well your shave bowl makes lather. I miss the warm lather but now I always have extra lather to dump down the drain.
 
Have you given any thought to putting a black rubber wafer on the bottom? That is the one thing I hate about my current scuttle, it rocks as i lather and makes an annoying clanking sound.

If you go to your local hardware store they will have just what you need in the plumbing section. There is a very thin rubber sheet that is used as a gasket and cut to size. Buy some and cut it to fit the bottom. Then glue it on and you are set.
 
So trial number one using a 24mm Shavemac D01 silvertip fan with Stirling Sharp Dressed Man and the Razorock BBS-A with a Gillette Nacet on use #3.
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The good:
Lots to put in this. Firsts off, it's very pleasing to the eye. The design is first rate, easy to hold unlike another scuttle I have that is named after an east coast city. Loaded with really hot water and the heat held throughout the entire shave, no question it did its heating job. It's very stable, no need to hold it down while lathering unless you're mashing the brush all the way down to the handle. When I do lift it, the water doesn't spill out easily. I was thinking that a rubber stopper or cork would be needed for this, like I have on another similar scuttle. But because of the design or materials, it isn't needed at all. The bowl itself has nice ridges for making lather. The resulting shave was very close and comfortable.

The bad:
I had a hard time loading it with water. It didn't spill easily, but it didn't fill easily either. I also found the bowl a bit on the small side. I had lots of lather over the sides so it was a particularly messy shave. It's no deeper than a traditional Captain's Choice lather bowl, but diameter is smaller. I have no spill issues making lather in the traditional CC bowl design. Finally, vanity for me, but I would really like it to have the CC medallion just like the lather bowls, perhaps on the thumb indent on the handle?

So, my overall take away is that it does what it's supposed to do very well. Tomorrow I will be using a hard soap and loading from the puck, rather than the Stirling snerdle pressed into the bottom of the bowl. Perhaps I'll use a smaller brush and see if that prevents the lather spills.
 
Scuttle arrived safe and sound. It's a beauty. Wondering if it's dishwasher safe?

Oh yes, like the coffee mugs and lather bowls they can all be put into the dishwasher. So long as they are ceramic they are both dishwasher and microwave safe.

Somewhat related but our copper lather bowls are NOT dishwasher safe. The heat will ruin the finish so we had to add a note to the listing indicating such.
 
So trial number one using a 24mm Shavemac D01 silvertip fan with Stirling Sharp Dressed Man and the Razorock BBS-A with a Gillette Nacet on use #3.
View attachment 1306719
The good:
Lots to put in this. Firsts off, it's very pleasing to the eye. The design is first rate, easy to hold unlike another scuttle I have that is named after an east coast city. Loaded with really hot water and the heat held throughout the entire shave, no question it did its heating job. It's very stable, no need to hold it down while lathering unless you're mashing the brush all the way down to the handle. When I do lift it, the water doesn't spill out easily. I was thinking that a rubber stopper or cork would be needed for this, like I have on another similar scuttle. But because of the design or materials, it isn't needed at all. The bowl itself has nice ridges for making lather. The resulting shave was very close and comfortable.

The bad:
I had a hard time loading it with water. It didn't spill easily, but it didn't fill easily either. I also found the bowl a bit on the small side. I had lots of lather over the sides so it was a particularly messy shave. It's no deeper than a traditional Captain's Choice lather bowl, but diameter is smaller. I have no spill issues making lather in the traditional CC bowl design. Finally, vanity for me, but I would really like it to have the CC medallion just like the lather bowls, perhaps on the thumb indent on the handle?

So, my overall take away is that it does what it's supposed to do very well. Tomorrow I will be using a hard soap and loading from the puck, rather than the Stirling snerdle pressed into the bottom of the bowl. Perhaps I'll use a smaller brush and see if that prevents the lather spills.


The first review was terrific and this second one expands on it nicely. This is what we are after in order to refine it. What do you like? What do you not like? Answering those questions will help us a good deal. Mind you, a good deal went into it before we even sent out this prototype. But that was just to give us a starting point and ask, "What do you think of this?"

Side note, this is how we have developed our scents as well. It was way back but B&B is where I came when I had developed a scent and wanted to see what others thought. It was about twelve years ago now and that was a bay rum aftershave, our first. I had worked on it already for over four months so it was time to see what others thought. We sent out forty free samples and thirty-five volunteers said, "Hey, you need to come up with a website." "I have a dozen aftershaves and that sample is amazing." "The sample I loved, can I send you money and have you ship me a bottle?"

I turned to the First Mate and told her, "You know... maybe we have something here." And it seems we did!
 
Shave number two, slightly different setup.
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I went with a hard soap, the old formulation of Fine American Blend, coupled with a Paladin brush and loaded directly off the puck (instead of the croap from yesterday loaded in the bowl of the scuttle). Not nearly the amount of spillover, however whether that's due to being more used to the bowl size and more careful with my lather making, or that I loaded the brush prior to using the scuttle, I don't really know. Regardless, the mess was not nearly what it was the day before. I can definitely see me adding this to my den. Also, I'm not usually a basin shaver (except on vacation). I have a shower shelf that holds my other scuttle during the winter months and lather while standing in the shower stall with the water off. Sloppy lather is less of an issue when you can turn a spigot and hose yourself down. I would never use a loaned scuttle or lather bowl in a shower that has claimed the life of one lather bowl and one scuttle in the past (that's why the copper bowl is ideal for the warm days for me).

Great lather, did have to add more water to the lather for subsequent passes, and using an American Aristocrat with a Bevel blade had a really outstanding shave.

Overall takeaway is this is a high quality scuttle that can easily compete with a Georgetown (I've never used a Dirty Bird). I would still like to see a CC medallion on this somewhere, but I don't think that's a deal breaker. For me, I see this in the priced similarly to the heavyweight copper bowl as far as quality and I'm pretty sure when these come on the market there will be one in my basket...perhaps with another bottle of North aftershave.
 
I can't wait till these go on sale. I think it's a great idea.
Right now it's 88 degrees where I am in Mass. so it wouldn't get much use this week.
 
I may have been accidentally overlooked, which is totally fine (warm lather is not a high priority in SC during August :)). I am still interested in participating before the scuttle goes back to The Captain.

Oops, @Davidkimberly please give it a good workout. Once you have done so please do send it to @ewk. Then @ewk can give it a good trial and when done, return to The Captain.

Thank you.
 
When do you think this will be available? A ballpark guess.

Our goal is October 1.

I have another scuttle that is somewhat different but very similar that I have been using. So I had two prototypes made initially. We will combine feedback from this traveling scuttle as well as mine into the new design. My hope is that the prototypes are already 90% there and if we can refine it that next 10% that will make all the difference.

My habit - as with other new releases - is to solicit feedback from customers. If we can tweak it another 1% long term we do so.

Somewhat related - we do have a new coffee mug that is under way simultaneously. So watch for that in another new thread pretty soon. Not going to do the traveling coffee mug like this scuttle but we have had customers ask how much l-o-n-g-e-r until our mug is available.
 
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Got the scuttle last night. First impressions were 1. It's very nice to look at. It definitely looks like something that would be nice to have sitting on the shelf in the shave den. As a matter of fact, my darlin' wife, who has never responded to any shave gear with anything but disdain, said "you should buy that, it's beautiful."
2. It's big. I'm going to need a bigger shave den.
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First use this morning. I lathered Captain's Choice Venture with a Razorock Big Bruce. It worked well. I did have an issue with s spillage but, full disclosure, I always do. The lather was rich, warm, voluminous, and made my face happy. The handle is great. It fits my thumb well so I'm able to hold it comfortably for lathering. I didn't have any trouble holding and didn't need to leave it on the counter as another reviewer mentioned.
One criticism is the size and shape of the spout. The small spout makes it slightly challenging to fill and drain.
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Second use. Today I went with an old standby, Proraso Blue and the DS Cosmetics Sinatra/Lennon brush. I'm even more enamored with the size and general ergonomics of the scuttle. It's very nice to have something made for a man's hands. I would appreciate a bigger lather bowl. Also, The shape and size of the stout is a bit inconvenient. It was difficult for me to fill it without getting too much water in the lather bowl. Then, it is a bit tiresome pouring the water out, I find if I hold the scuttle sideways it pours faster. In summary, this is a really nice tool that I look forward to purchasing.
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