I go hot and ... warm as to whether I want a Blackbird. After getting (and loving) the Karve SS D plate, which holds the plate with high rigidity, I'm wondering whether it makes sense to take the plunge on a Blackbird, which apparently isn't so rigid. For reference, I shave daily and can do a one-pass ATG BBS shave with the Karve SS D plate. I suspect that having a rigid blade it good for a ATG BBS shave.
Anyone have any thoughts or recommendations on this?
The thing that’s really different about this razor is optimal technique. Shane posted on one thread that it should be used with a steep angle (as close to parallel to the face as possible).
I go hot and ... warm as to whether I want a Blackbird. After getting (and loving) the Karve SS D plate, which holds the plate with high rigidity, I'm wondering whether it makes sense to take the plunge on a Blackbird, which apparently isn't so rigid. For reference, I shave daily and can do a one-pass ATG BBS shave with the Karve SS D plate. I suspect that having a rigid blade it good for a ATG BBS shave.
Anyone have any thoughts or recommendations on this?
Sounds like a nice spot to be in maybe someday I can obtain that. I'm liking the Dart and the Blackbird both, just haven't used them enough to choose.For me compared to the Karv
Not trying to fanboy or anything, but I tried the Karve, two different Timelesses and a bunch of the Razorock stuff. All great razors but the Blackland stuff is next level to me.
I’ve been using the Blackbird daily since I got it two months ago; only razor to last as long was my Timeless .95 and that didn’t come close in efficiency, just comfort.
The Blackbird is my end razor. No desire for anything else, it makes my SOTD pics sort of boring but it killed my RAD dead. I don’t even look at razors anymore.
I go hot and ... warm as to whether I want a Blackbird. After getting (and loving) the Karve SS D plate, which holds the plate with high rigidity, I'm wondering whether it makes sense to take the plunge on a Blackbird, which apparently isn't so rigid. For reference, I shave daily and can do a one-pass ATG BBS shave with the Karve SS D plate. I suspect that having a rigid blade it good for a ATG BBS shave.
Anyone have any thoughts or recommendations on this?
The Blackbird is my end razor. No desire for anything else, it makes my SOTD pics sort of boring but it killed my RAD dead. I don’t even look at razors anymore.
Didn’t you just say your were looking for BB vs Wolfman comparisons? What was that all about?
Yeah one of the guys that posts in the B3 thread was talking about switching between those, just wondered how it compared was all. Shave angles, efficiency etc, same stuff we all wonder about. No real desire to own one, haven’t even looked except at SOTD pics.
That’s good to hear my friend!I feel compelled to share the incredible response I got from Shane regarding the unusual finishing marks on my machined BB top cap. He emailed me back saying that, while some small variation in the finish can occur between batches and even razors within a batch, the marks on mine did not look correct to him based on my pics. So he already sent out a replacement top cap, along with a pre-paid mailing label to return my top cap, and he said to just keep using my old one until the new one arrives. Talk about amazing customer service. I truly couldn’t ask for any better! Proud to be a Blackland razor owner!!
WOw, now that’s what I call Great customer service!I felt bad contacting Shane about the surface finish on my Blackbirds, but sure enough, I heard back and Shane wants to fix the problem. He apologized for the error and he's sending me two new top caps along with a pre-paid return label for the caps that have surface finish problems. I'm really happy that I'll be able to give my Dad a razor with a perfect surface finish for Christmas.
I must say that I'm very impressed with Blackland's customer service, as well as the quality of their products. I couldn't ask for anything more and I'm getting the best shaves of my life.
I feel compelled to share the incredible response I got from Shane regarding the unusual finishing marks on my machined BB top cap. He emailed me back saying that, while some small variation in the finish can occur between batches and even razors within a batch, the marks on mine did not look correct to him based on my pics. So he already sent out a replacement top cap, along with a pre-paid mailing label to return my top cap, and he said to just keep using my old one until the new one arrives. Talk about amazing customer service. I truly couldn’t ask for any better! Proud to be a Blackland razor owner!!
I wanted to bump this one more time.
I've gotten a few PMs from members having some issues with their Blackbirds.
We have all been noobs at one time or another, and we've all gotten the same advice from the old timers, which is to do the One Month thing, where you use the same gear for a month. It's fantastic advice and it took me a long time to get there, but I did it.
I tried to 3017 a puck of WSP Matterhorn; I didn't finish, but I got close and it'll be gone before summer. Point is, I used that soap, the same blades and the Blackbird for almost 6 weeks.
There is no better training than using the same gear over and over again, to learn where you're going wrong and to correct your technique.
I learned the crap out of that soap, and that razor too....I can load that soap with any brush in any water and get a great shave, I know instinctively when I've added too much soap, when I've used too much water, and know immediately what I need to do to correct it and get a great shave.
Same goes for the razor, I know from the first stroke when blades are shot, if I'm on the wrong angle, etc.
I'd urge anyone having issues using their Blackbird to drop everything else and just use the BB for a month. By the time you're done, there's no mystery anymore, and you'll be able to (I don't recommend this but you COULD) shave in the dark using it with any soap and any blade, guaranteed.
Before switching to the BB, my most used razor was my Timeless .95, and that was maybe 3 months.....I could whip that thing around my face like nothing, never get a weeper, never get cut etc....and despaired of ever feeling that was about the BB.
I've vastly increased my technique, my confidence and my skill at using this razor just from that 3017 trial, and most of the gains came in the 1st month. I can confidently say than I'm faster and more confident with the BB than I ever was my Timeless, and I'm sure most of you know that the BB is a more aggressive razor than even the .95 is.
It transfers over to less aggressive razors too; I keep a RR SLOC around for days I don't want to think about shaving, and to check how my technique has progressed....the SLOC was one of my first DE razors and is a great benchmark for me to check against past performances.
I did a lazy shave the other day and after months of using the BB, got pretty darn close to BBS using the techniques (2 pass XTG/ATG) that I've developed using the Blackbird on the SLOC.
Point being, this is not a razor you're going to learn using it once a month. If it's biting you, it's going to continue to bite you until your skill improves, and the only way to do that it to keep using it, over and over until it's not a trick anymore.
Bruce Lee famously said "I fear not the man that's practiced 10,000 kicks once but I fear the man that's practiced one kick 10,000 times."
Get your 10,000 kicks in with the Blackbird, and you'll be rewarded for a lifetime of shaving, every time you pick up a new razor.
Happy shaves fellas.