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LRod's Acquisition and everything else Thread!

LRod

LRod

Just had a shave with the X1 slant which I hadn't used it in over 2 weeks.
I decided to try a new blade. Until now I've only used Schick Proline's with my SE's.
I gave the Proshave (Made in Japan) blades a go. These are the ones I bought cheap
from Connaught shaving in the UK.
Let me clarify something first, the X1 is incredibly smooth!
Well, the Proshave blades aren't. They made the beginning of my shave a nightmare!
I don't know if I got a dud or what but these are in the top 3 worst blades I've ever used.
Rough, tugging, terrible!!
Mind you, they cost what any other AC blade costs if you were to pay normal price.
Thankfully I didn't pay the full price if not I'd be really upset!
I figured that "Made in Japan" meant that they would be a good product.
What a letdown!
I'm gonna try another one at some point though to make sure it wasn't a dud!
I had to change out blades after the first pass.
But it did give me a chance to also try out the Kai Captain Titan Mild (Pink).
What a phenomenal blade. First time trying out a Kai blade!
I normally do 2 passes but not this time (because of the blade).
This is how my shave went:
1st. pass WTG (Proshave Blade)
2nd. pass WTG (Kai blade)
3rd. pass XTG (Kai blade)
My shave turned into a wonderful shave that ended in a perfect, smooth, close and irritation free shave.
X1 is amazing and so are the Kai blades! They're as good as the Schick Proline's but a tad milder.

The Proshave blades:

full


The Kai's:

full
 
LRod

LRod

LRod said:
Just had a shave with the X1 slant which I hadn't used it in over 2 weeks.
I decided to try a new blade. Until now I've only used Schick Proline's with my SE's.
I gave the Proshave (Made in Japan) blades a go. These are the ones I bought cheap
from Connaught shaving in the UK.
Let me clarify something first, the X1 is incredibly smooth!
Well, the Proshave blades aren't. They made the beginning of my shave a nightmare!
I don't know if I got a dud or what but these are in the top 3 worst blades I've ever used.
Rough, tugging, terrible!!
Mind you, they cost what any other AC blade costs if you were to pay normal price.
Thankfully I didn't pay the full price if not I'd be really upset!
I figured that "Made in Japan" meant that they would be a good product.
What a letdown!
I'm gonna try another one at some point though to make sure it wasn't a dud!
I had to change out blades after the first pass.
But it did give me a chance to also try out the Kai Captain Titan Mild (Pink).
What a phenomenal blade. First time trying out a Kai blade!
I normally do 2 passes but not this time (because of the blade).
This is how my shave went:
1st. pass WTG (Proshave Blade)
2nd. pass WTG (Kai blade)
3rd. pass XTG (Kai blade)
My shave turned into a wonderful shave that ended in a perfect, smooth, close and irritation free shave.
X1 is amazing and so are the Kai blades! They're as good as the Schick Proline's but a tad milder.

The Proshave blades:

full


The Kai's:

full
Click to expand...
I did some more research on the Proshave blades. I should've done more research on them before ever buying them. Very little info on B&B but I did find some more info on some other websites. I guess the consensus is
that the Proshave's are "tuggy". Most users reported the issue on the first 2-3 shaves and then an improvement.
I honestly don't get the "it's a great blade after a couple shaves" thing. If it doesn't shave good right out of the gate,
I'm passing on it. I don't see the purpose of suffering a couple bad shaves in order to eventually achieve a good result with a blade. Coincidentally I read someone that tried one out on the X1 slant after strictly using Schick Prolines (like me) and they had my same experience with the Proshave. So bottom line is that it wasn't a dud. It's simply a rough blade that tugs. I'll see what I do with them since I have 2/24 packs!
Someone's gotta like them somewhere!
I'll stick to my Schick Proline's and the Kai Captain Titan Mild's.
Both have given me fantastic results and I have plenty of them.
No need to keep experimenting with other AC blades if these work so incredibly well.
 
APBinNCA

APBinNCA

thombrogan said:
I believe it’s from the manufacture being especially generous with the PTFE layer near and on the edge.
Click to expand...
Yes and in fact I would have taken the blade out and made a few slices through printer paper and tried again before giving up.

@LRod
You don't hear much about it anymore, but I get at least 1 truly defective blade out of a pack of Prolines. In fact the first time I ever actually cut myself with a blade was a defective Proline so I have some mixed feeling about those.

About the Proshaves, I am not able to read the Kanji, but they may not be made in Japan actually. The Prolines are made by Accutek in the US and shipped to JP for domestic use, then shipped grey market back here! It is probably something to do with the use of the Schick name being used in the US. There are also true injector blades with key and metal cartridge that are also US made for JP use. It's pretty stupid that Accutek doesn't offer injector blades for shaving to the US, or the AC blades. The funny thing is Supply is getting injector blades made in JP, for sale in the US.
 
LRod

LRod

Phoenixkh said:
Congrats.... well done, FedEx... My Athena is still MIA..... I have no idea where it is, let alone, when it will show up.
Click to expand...
That stinks! I guess shipping is a mess right now.
I just saw the Fedex guy through my Ring camera leaving the Rocnel at my door.
Luckily it isn't made of glass if not it'd be toast! He literally launched the envelope through the air
like a frisbee :mad:
My wife retrieved it but for obvious reasons didn't tell her to open it to check🤣
 
Last edited:
Phoenixkh

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
LRod said:
That stinks! I guess shipping is a mess right now.
I just saw the Fedex guy through my Ring camera leaving the Rocnel at my door.
Luckily it isn't made of glass if not it'd be toast! He literally launched the envelope through the air
like a frisbee :mad:
My wife retrieved it but for obvious reasons didn't tell her to open it to check🤣
Click to expand...
We have that too.. packages sailing through the air. We hear the thump.. we don't have a ring camera.
 
LRod

LRod

First shave report with the Rocnel Elite! (I'll be posting this in the Rocnel Elite thread as well!)
2 pass WTG/XTG using a Personna Lab Blue blade.
Well, I've said this before that I'm up front with results when I try something no matter what!
First the razor's physical attributes:
It's beautiful, the workmanship, finish and details are absolutely perfect. You can tell that the metal used is
top shelf. It's perfectly balanced and the weight is pretty much spot on for a razor. The head geometry/size is
middle ground (medium sized).
Rinsing during shaving is probably the best I've seen on any razor. A one second pass under running water and
everything flows out with zero effort.
Now the shave:
It's definitely a steep shaving razor. I prefer neutral (about 30 degrees). I tried several angles and it performed
best while steep. At my normal neutral angle, it lost it's efficiency. So for the sake of getting the closest shave possible, I completed my passes at a steep angle. The problem is that at a steep angle you lose the smoothness factor.
And at a neutral angle, it's not much smoother!
I detected some chatter while shaving which I believe is what makes it so audible (it's wonderfully loud!). @Phoenixkh mentioned in his shave report how it sings. I agree!
I'll probably get ripped for this but here goes:
It gives a good shave but not a Tatara Nodachi shave! As of today, the Nodachi is still the "GOAT" for me!
The Tatara is the epitome of smooth and it's efficiency (close shave result) is only matched by my ATT X1 slant.
My Executive Outlaw shaved better too!
What I've paid:
Rocnel Elite: $320
Tatara Nodachi $130
A $190 difference!
Obviously the Rocnel is a work of art, it looks incredible! Plus it carries the Rocnel mystique
that commands that price.
But the Tatara's workmanship and materials are up there too!
Granted, this was my first shave. I'll continue to use it by trying a different blade and dialing in the angle.
For the first shave, the razor impressed my eyes but unfortunately didn't impress my face!
As always though, these were my results and YMMV!
We'll see how it goes with subsequent shaves!
LRod
 
APBinNCA

APBinNCA

LRod said:
It gives a good shave but not a Tatara Nodachi shave! As of today, the Nodachi is still the "GOAT" for me!
Click to expand...
Ah, now I can sleep in peace! 🤪
(and so can my credit card)
I bought another Blackbird
You heard it here first

Reading slower... this reminds me of when I got my Timeless Ti thinking it was going to be the unsurpassable pinnacle and facing the fact that it didn't match my preferences. At least it's an incredibly effective tool at an incredibly reasonable price, can't bring myself to ever selling it.
 
LRod

LRod

APBinNCA said:
Ah, now I can sleep in peace! 🤪
(and so can my credit card)
I bought another Blackbird
You heard it here first

Reading slower... this reminds me of when I got my Timeless Ti thinking it was going to be the unsurpassable pinnacle and facing the fact that it didn't match my preferences. At least it's an incredibly effective tool at an incredibly reasonable price, can't bring myself to ever selling it.
Click to expand...
That's funny you mention that you bought another Blackbird. I like the Nodachi so much that I'm thinking of buying another one🤣 (the silver one since I already have black). I started thinking about getting it and just putting it away in case mine ever gives up. At the current prices, I'll never get one this cheap in the future.
 
APBinNCA

APBinNCA

LRod said:
That's funny you mention that you bought another Blackbird. I like the Nodachi so much that I'm thinking of buying another one🤣 (the silver one since I already have black). I started thinking about getting it and just putting it away in case mine ever gives up. At the current prices, I'll never get one this cheap in the future.
Click to expand...
If you really want to make me envious, not that I am that important, you would just get a Muramasa and get it over with! :devil:
(Well, wait until the upcoming 15% off at least. I can't even look at the website or I will order a brush as an "add on item.")
 
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