Need suggestions from all the SE people

[Frankthetank]

Hey everyone,

So I'm absolutely loving my cobra, and finding that the single edge style razor is much easier and better to use for me. I'm wondering if I'm missing something in the SE world.

I've tried quite a few DE's, and found that the Cobra worked much better than any of them by far. Is there anything in the SE world that compares to the Cobra? Injector vs SE (Gem, ever ready, etc) comparisons?

What razor/blade combo would you guys suggest? I don't really know much about the SE world and the state of blades.

 

[slim62]

Yes there are others that are very good but they happen to be SE also...Gem/EverReady has several...the 1924 model is tops for me...in good standing is also the Gem Micromatic, the 1912 Junior Lather Cather plus the 1914 model is good too. EverReady Streamline are nice but $$. Also the regular 1912 is decent and cheap...I think all these are probably better the almost all DE's. If you try all these you still might find the Cobra better...your splitting hairs here. I have all these razors and the Cobra and still shave with DE's even carts now and then...variety trumps it all.

 

[Frankthetank]

Thanks for the reply. Which one would you suggest as the closest to the Cobra in terms of aggressiveness/overall feel? Also, which blades would I get?

 

[BlackBear]

You should look at some of the Schick Injectors, in particular the Schick adjustable - these are probably the closest to the Cobra as far as design, although perhaps not as aggressive and certainly not as wide, they are very nice to shave with.

keep your eye out for the new all stainless injector due out from Bullgoose/lee's razors, it may be the Cobra killer and I believe there will be two models, one that takes standard injector blades and another that takes the feather blades (like the cobra)

 

[KingGordon]

You've gotten great advice so far.

While I've never tried the cobra, I love my GEM 1912 with the GEM stainless blades. I have many fancier razors, but I keep coming back to the $3 gem.

 

[Galhatz]

Ever Ready 1914 and Gem Jr lather catcher work better for me than the Cobra.

 

[jrtaster]

Ever Ready 1914 and Gem Jr lather catcher work better for me than the Cobra.

Several weeks ago, I would have scoffed at your reply. After a half-dozen or so shaves
with several different Gem variants. I can say you might be on to something.

While I still tend to believe that of all the variants, the right soap/lather is the most
important determinant in the quality of a given shave, recently the razor/blade combo
seems to have made subtle but discernible differences how I judge the shave right
after I finish. The GEMS impressed me greatly. I didn't like them before learning how
to use the Cobra, but somehow now they treat me far better. Go figure!

Just my two cents.

 

[Luc]

I can't comment on the Cobra as I did not try that one. I have a Schick Injector and it works very well (using the Schick blades). I also have a pack of twin blades that I plan to try when I need to change the blade.

I found that the Ever-Ready 1912 that I got is pretty awesome as is. I also tried a Star Lather Catcher and found it too aggressive. The Valet was the same. I wouldn't ditch the injector but prefer the Ever Ready.

 

[shavefreak]

Ever ready stream line is the only contender. It was also called the gem jewel, and ever ready ambassador. You typically can't find one on ebay called streamline unless from a real collector as streamline is not on the razor or case.

 

[dparish1952]

As I have read on this forum, many users consider the Feather blade the Cobra's real secret. If that is so, the HuntLee Katana razor scheduled for 2013 Christmas release would become the only competitor in the "Cobra class" (SE razors that take disposable blades designed for straight razors).

I've been using the Schick Adjustable Injector for 6 weeks and was very excited about it, BUT it has become clear to me that trahe currently produced injector blades (Schick and Personna) are simply not up to the quality of Feathers or Personna Meds/Labs.

I bought three single edges, shaved once, and haven't tried them again.
s s
HTH.

 

[Galhatz]

Different beard/skin types and different preferences.
I found the feather artist club too harsh. (I also never cared for feather DE blades either) the Kai Milds were not much better, for me. With the Cobra's huge blade gap it is a very aggressive razor. I liked at first but it was too much for my skin.
I also fiddled with cutting a Feather blade to ''standard'' injector length. I had two hydromagics side by side, one with a personna blade and one with a trimmed feather. For me the personna worked better.


There is no ''cobra class'' or ''feather artist club class'' in my opinion, because each person is subjective and the term ''class'' denotes objectivity.

Those are indeed very sharp blades made of stiff steel so they keep their edge for a long time.

It either works or it doesn't for you. I think the GEM PTFE (aka 'pella') are as good if not better and in my Gem JR Lather Catcher I get the best shaves ever.

 

[Frankthetank]

Thanks for the suggestions, all. So I got the chance to pick up some injectors and SE razors along with blades for each from the BST for relatively cheap, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I got two schick injector razors with some blades, a GEM featherweight, and a GEM OCMM. I'm hoping these will give me an idea if the SE's/injectors are going to stick around in my den.

I'm eagerly awaiting the Huntlee, as I already have a few razors that work around the AC blades (Feather RG, DX, Cobra). It would make sense to go with the Katana, then have all my safety razors use the same blades. Then I'd also have my traditional straights. We'll see if the injectors or GEMs provide any extra benefits over the Cobra. I also want to try the injectors to see if the Huntlee injector will be something worth looking into.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

I'm also curious, I think the Feather Professional blades are quite a bit stiffer than the traditional DE blades. How do they compare in stiffness to the SE/injector blades? I think the stiffer blade is something that benefits my skin.

 

[daedpa]

I am a newbie to wet shaving (July 2013) and last week I shaved with a Gem Junior for the first time (also my first time with a SE razor) and I recommend it because it was the easiest and closest shave I ever had. I also like my G Schick Injector razor and I like it too but I prefer the Gem. I have used the Schick Injector razor once so far and it was without anything on my face except for cold water (ie. no shaving cream/foam/soap) and I only had mild irritation (why without shaving products? It was a loony idea and because I wanted to see what would happen).
The worst SE I have ever used so far is a 1912 Valet razor with a NOS Valet blade for the first 2 passes then a Feather Valet blade for 2 passes and boy was that ever unpleasant (I was using Proraso shaving cream which I like a lot). I ended up finishing my shave with another razor.

 

[Frankthetank]

So I received my razors yesterday and decided to give them a whirl. For one side of my face I used a GEM featherweight with what I think was a Gem Bluestar carbon steel blade, and on the other side I used a Schick injector. I have to say, I wasn't very impressed with the shave of either. The injector especially, which tugged and pulled in a futile attempt to cut my whiskers ATG. I ended up with a unsatisfactory shave, which needed to be corrected with my slanthammer. I have a 1912 coming and some GEM coated SS blades, so I'm hoping I those will perform better. I also have the OCMM but haven't tried it yet.

Obviously could be user error, and a little practice would help. But I just found the injector WAY too light. I might give the OCMM a whirl today.

I may just be sticking with the Cobra after all.