Thank you, I have never shot Syrah through my nose before lol. Speaking of shovel collecting, this SS blade is both smooth and efficient and a bargain at $150!
Is the 'Bird the "performance pinnacle"?
- Thread starter corlay
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a lot of what you have listed, I have no knowledge of.
different strokes, for different folks.
I guess part of the fun (challenge?) is determining what tools are best for YOUR use.
Yep. That is part of what makes this hobby so much fun. It is the journey, finding out what works for you and what doesn't. The blade forward design of the Blackbird together with its lack of clamping helped me to determine that I like a razor with neutral or only slightly positive blade exposure that firmly clamps, top and bottom, close to the edge of the blade. My experience with the Blackbird helped me to identify what I like and don't like.
She? Seems in your language razors are female, that also adds to the poetry!
I also like the Wunderbar.
But you are damn right, the Wunderbar is one of my favorites that I have a love-hate relationship with. I usually don't feel it cutting and then touch my skin/face and wonder that the stubble is really gone. I almost cut myself when looking at my face in the mirror and feeling so next-to-nothing feedback. I usually shave blind/by feeling.
I once lopped off a slice of my chin, didn't even bleed much, but it was quite some skin, lol...
While it is going a bit astray, a not quite as efficient but with lots of feedback similar looking design that is not really a copy (at a closer inspection its a quite different design, it just looks like the Wunderbar at first) from DSCosmetics, the DS-XT, has a lot of feedback. But it isn't as smooth and not quite as good.
I agree the Bird is a great razor (I have 3 Brass, Stainless and Ti) It is in my top 5 with a Carbon ++, Ti WR2, WR3 but razors just seem to be something where the YMMV completely applies. As an everyday shaver my R41,Wunderbar and Stirling don't see much use
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The Blutt and Stando might have somewhat similar appearances, but they shave differently.
The Stando has probably double the blade exposure, and thus has a *lot* more "blade feel".
It's definitely the more aggressive shaver of the two.
(not sure about gap differences, but I suspect Stando is wider there, also)
The Blutt is my finest example of a "mindless shave" - it's ultra-smooth, *and* efficient.
The Stando, however, will bite if angle is off, or pressure is too much, etc.
I'll take some comparison macro-pics of the heads of each, to illustrate the geometry differences,
and post-up soon....
Something interesting to note is that the Stando Chors and Leschy are both neutral exposure with a 21.9mm blade (Stanislaw specifically mentioned the Gillette Platinum as a design point). Most of the blades I own are closer to 22mm, and they do have significant exposure on my Leschy. Perhaps the Blutt is, in fact, slightly negative in comparison, which would correlate with your experience of it not shaving quite as close as a Blackbird, which is a small-gap-high-exposure razor.
I've noted in the past that some people like high exposure, rather than high gap. You could say that the two razors are on the opposite ends of the design spectrum. Timeless's razors below 0.4mm gap also share the high-exposure philosophy.
Edit: Personally, with my hair and my skin, I vastly prefer the Leschy.
Everyone is different. My thought is that I don’t like aggressive razors. The Blackland Tradere SB had moved to the top of my razor choices. It was my primary razor for about a year and a half. The Blackbird was a razor I always liked the look of but feared based on its reputation. I spoke with Shane who told me it was generally a love it or hate it razor but I should give it a try and return it if I don’t like it. He clearly let me know that the return policy was part of his business model and that returning it would not be a problem.
Fast forward 257 shaves (159 SS; 98 Ti), there is no razor I like better. I have experienced a BBS shave with almost every use, no irritation, and the longest lasting BBS.
The SS is a goldilocks razor for me and the Titanium even improves on that with its nimbleness. These could be my last razors.
Fast forward 257 shaves (159 SS; 98 Ti), there is no razor I like better. I have experienced a BBS shave with almost every use, no irritation, and the longest lasting BBS.
The SS is a goldilocks razor for me and the Titanium even improves on that with its nimbleness. These could be my last razors.
As a prelude, I am fairly new to wet DE shaving, and despite my study of shaving angles I find myself just doing it intuitively. I always go for BBS results, even at the expense of some irritation. I have several timeless SS razors, Slim SB, .95 scalloped, .68 open and closed comb), a Tatara Nodachi, SS blackbird, and a Haircut and a shave .076. The slim is the only one that I have problems with. The BB may be the most efficient, but I can't say because it may be confirmation bias. I do like the blade forward feel, though my handle is too shot. I have used a Crown Ti handle on it and it worked great. If you like the BB, you would likely like the Nodachi as it gives very similar if not identical results. Possible a bit harsher but only by a hair. The Haircut and a shave Ti P076 has that same blade feel, but the Ti gives it quite a unique feeling. I really like it a lot. It is very special. The Timeless razors are different, and I like them a lot too. Heavy and smooth. The .95 scalloped may be my favorite, with the .68 open comb right up there. The .95 may be just as efficient as the BB. I seem to be developing a preference for somewhat lighter razors with slimmer profiles, however when I use the Timeless razors they really are undeniably smooth and close shaving. In summation, the BB, Tatara, and Haircut and Shave are causing me to have a preference for blade forward efficient razors. Any new purchases would likely be blade forward and very efficient, ie., Yates H plate, Greencult, Tradere OC,
I have a Timeless SS .95 Scalloped and a SS Slim straight bar. I prefer the .95. I have problems getting a close and irritation free shave from the Slim. Probably my technique.
A friend of mine gave me his titanium .95 SB Timeless to test it out and after a couple of shaves I wasn't really impressed by it. It's a decent razor, but it doesn't compliment my shaving style very much and I did get some irritation on my neck. It felt nice WTG, but XTG and ATG were not very comfortable for me.
I like razors that allow it's user to perform as many passes and strokes as he wants without feeling uncomfortable. My face is a total mess and if I want to get a nice BBS, I have to do a lot of work and I can't achieve that ''perfect'' balance with absolitly every razor. I still think that the razor is great, but at that price point, I'd rather use the Blackbird.
The only thing I don't like about the Blackbird is that it's slightly unrefined and it has sharp edges here and there. I might send it to someone to fix that in the future. Shave wise though, very few razors can match the overall shaving comfort of the Blackbird. I can basically go over and over the same spot as many times as I want and I won't get any irritation whatsoever.
I think you are maybe the 2nd person I've ever read that thinks the Blackbird is more comfortable than the Timeless!! I used my Ti Timeless for over 3yrs as my sole shaver until the Ti Blackbird was introduced and it wasn't very long before the Ti Timeless was sold. I love my Ti Blackbird and doubt any other razor will ever dethrone it as it just shaves so great, but more comfortable than the Ti Timeless it was not!! Personally and from reading quite a bit on these razors, generally the Timeless wins out as being more comfortable than the Blackbird by a pretty large margin I might add too, so this is very surprising to say the least.
Maybe it all boils down to technique...
Like I said, the Timeless is awesome WTG, but I don't like it ATG and WTG. Also, people are using the term ''technique'' very vaguely and what I mean is that nobody talks about shaving style. Sure, I can try my best to meet the requirement for the Timeless razor to shave me and get a relatively good shave, but it won't be as enjoyable and as close as I would like to.
Because my face, skin and beard growth are unique to me and the other thing is that no two people shave the same like doing the same number of passes, strokes, shaving WTG or ATG etc. and in order for me to get my best shave possible, I have to use a razor in a way that it might not agree with my personal style.
Also, lets not forget that everyone has a angle preference as well. Some folks find the very steep shaving razors odd while others find the very shallow razors odd, so I think it's time for people to get a much better understanding and look at the bigger picture here instead of just blaming or praising everything on ''muh technique''. Things are way more complicated than using the black and light analogy and just because something works for my face and it doesn't work for someone else, it doesn't mean that the issue comes from his technique on 100%.
I'm not saying that the Blackbird is the most perfect razor ever made. It most certainly has its pros, but there are cons as well and it wasn't able to cure my RAD.
Same!
I wasn't trying to insinuate there was anything wrong with your technique in my post as I am very aware that people are different and hence, shave differently, but was leaning more on your comments that the Blackbird was a smoother razor than the Timeless... I've not seen it posted but maybe once and certainly my personal experience was the Timeless was the more comfortable razor of the two.
In fact my technique has changed since switching full time to the Ti Blackbird in that I went from a steep angle to a more neutral or shallow angle and the shaves have now become more comfortable and last a little longer...
WR3! Nice to see it mentioned. Still fairly rare. I also have the Brass'Bird, Carbon, WR2, WR1 and am looking forward to receiving a WR3 this month. Based on my GEM experience with the Sabre, I have high expectations.
re.
So question: is this the top of the mountain for me?
In our case there is no top of the mountain. It's all about the climb.
Just jumped on the BB Ti train. Already have 2 BB in brass, a BB in polished SS, a Dart and the ERA. Can you tell I love the BlackBird? Only wish he’d bring back the BB in black oxide or DLC or PVD black coatings.
A question since I have an Era on the way: how does it compare to the Black Birds you have and with what base plates? I ordered the 4SB, 4OC and the 5OC... the 5SB was sold out at the time I made my purchase.
I have so many razors and I never compared them back to back. They are both nice but different. The BB to me has more audible feedback, and is heavier which is what I prefer, and not sure I’ll like the lightweight of Ti. I have 5 and 5-OC on the ERA and I think the BB is still more efficient and percievably more aggressive. I think the Black Bird is in another league to me at least. To be honest the Dart was such a nice razor but got discontinued but will be offered again in limited quantities. I also prefer the Dart to the ERA. Having said all that I still bought another ERA 4-OC and a spare 4sb plate. Sorry I can’t be more helpful.
