PAA Slant and Open Comb

[EdHeart]

Greetings to all...

Would appreciate any/all experiential feedback on the following. I've read through the product descriptions and various reviews and am still not clear on particulars. Here's what I'd appreciate feedback regarding:

1. What difference(s) is/are between PAA LA Critura (clear) and El Fantasma (glow) slant/open comb razors. I've read the descriptions multiple times and must be missing something.


First are these razors the same geometry or is there some difference?

Aggressive or mild shaving?

PAA Ascension DOC...aggressive or mild? Thoughts on the copper/rose gold version.

I've a rather sensitive easily irritated neck.

Currently using vintage Gillette Techs, circa 50s with Persona Red, Wizamet or Persona Blue, Sudsy Soapery, and PAA CK6 with PAA synth brushes and one badger no name from Australia.

My gratitude for the education.

 

[Markdad2]

The Creatura is Green. The Filament is clear. I don't think there is really any difference in the geometry of the fakelite slants, they are based on or ripped off from the Fasan open comb slant design. It's not a hyper aggressive shaver, kinda middle if the road in its efficiency. IMHO YMMV

 

[Old Hippie]

1. What difference(s) is/are between PAA LA Critura (clear) and El Fantasma (glow) slant/open comb razors. I've read the descriptions multiple times and must be missing something.


First are these razors the same geometry or is there some difference?

Aggressive or mild shaving?

As far as I know the "Monster" series slants are all ABS plastic razors, OC, and pretty much the same design except for colour. There may be some differences based on different moulds or other production tooling. Interestingly, the Monster series razors I've seen are highly helical and very closely match the fabled Fasan Double Slant and the even more fabled Merkur "Super Slant."

I find them pretty mild shavers out of the box, due to the blade lying right down on the baseplate. Too mild, in my case. An easy fix is to do the "twist adjust" thing and loosen the handle about a quarter-turn. Locking the loosened handle with a screw run up through the bottom of the hollow handle is a good idea. Like so:

The screw is a 7.5 mm long M5 x 0.80 thread pitch. Old guy tip: A 3-inch long 10-32 pitch is basically the same thing. Open up the razor a quarter-turn, then tighten that screw up against the bottom of the cap stud. Adds just enough aggressiveness and keeps it fairly safe so the handle doesn't loosen up further in use.

The drawback I see is that as a plastic razor it doesn't clamp the blade as well as metal, then you're loosening it up further. It's a noisy shave, I'll say that. Mildly aggressive; you will learn when to add a bit of pressure and when to hold back.

But for $30 more or less it's a lot of fun that won't land you in front of a judge.

PAA Ascension DOC...aggressive or mild? Thoughts on the copper/rose gold version.

Can't help with that. I tend to use mainly slants.

O.H.

 

[Rob72]

I have the Blue Phantasm, and it is mild and fairly efficient. Far milder & less efficient than the PAA Bakelite slant I was fortunate enough to obtain. I have heard that the Critura and Phantasm do shave differntly, but I personally can't say.

The Ascension is a delightful shaver and works as advertised. I use a thicker lather, otherwise things get drippy unless I shake some water off the razor. It is genuinely adjustable from very mild to moderately aggressive. The copper is significantly heavier than the SS version and a completely different handling tool than the aluminum version. I have the SS & copper and would not be in a hurry to get rid of either one.

 

[Calyshaver]

The geometries appear to be different among the various colors, which could be a difference incurred by multiple vendor sourcing. I have the filament and El Fantasma and when you place the top caps next to each other, they are definitely different. I think the Filament is a more gentle shave.

Here is a comparison with the Blue Phantom

Slantember (Used to be September) Is For Slants! | Version 6 | 2023

RR German 37 Shark Stainless (2) Yaqi Moka Express PAA Boomtown Bay Rum This razor (like several other slants) needs a little fiddling to get the blade alignment right. It's worth the few seconds it takes though. I sliced off 3 days of growth effortlessly. Lots of bladefeel, but not uncomfortable.

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[EdHeart]

The Creatura is Green. The Filament is clear. I don't think there is really any difference in the geometry of the fakelite slants, they are based on or ripped off from the Fasan open comb slant design. It's not a hyper aggressive shaver, kinda middle if the road in its efficiency. IMHO YMMV

Thank you. Indeed I erred, I meant "El Fantasma", which is the glow. Regardless, these all appear to be the same geometry.

 

[EdHeart]

The geometries appear to be different among the various colors, which could be a difference incurred by multiple vendor sourcing. I have the filament and El Fantasma and when you place the top caps next to each other, they are definitely different. I think the Filament is a more gentle shave.

Here is a comparison with the Blue Phantom

Slantember (Used to be September) Is For Slants! | Version 6 | 2023

RR German 37 Shark Stainless (2) Yaqi Moka Express PAA Boomtown Bay Rum This razor (like several other slants) needs a little fiddling to get the blade alignment right. It's worth the few seconds it takes though. I sliced off 3 days of growth effortlessly. Lots of bladefeel, but not uncomfortable.

www.badgerandblade.com

Thanks for posting your experience. The pics appear to show some uneveness with regard to blade exposure. Of course you're aware the coloring, light bounce, shading of an object can contribute to the illusion of uneveness. (I'm NOT suggesting this is the case here, just stating an observational fact I've seen in other things.) And there does appear to be a clear difference in the geometry of the clear razor vs the monster series.

I wonder if these plastic razors are injection molded or machined? (Just curious.)

Jury still out for me, but I'm very curious to try a slant given I've heard/read these are good for sensitive areas on the face/neck. I'm never able to shave my neck without irritation (regardless of my prep or blade) and I'd very much like to minimize/eliminate this.

 

[EdHeart]

As far as I know the "Monster" series slants are all ABS plastic razors, OC, and pretty much the same design except for colour. There may be some differences based on different moulds or other production tooling. Interestingly, the Monster series razors I've seen are highly helical and very closely match the fabled Fasan Double Slant and the even more fabled Merkur "Super Slant."

I find them pretty mild shavers out of the box, due to the blade lying right down on the baseplate. Too mild, in my case. An easy fix is to do the "twist adjust" thing and loosen the handle about a quarter-turn. Locking the loosened handle with a screw run up through the bottom of the hollow handle is a good idea. Like so:

View attachment 1766168

The screw is a 7.5 mm long M5 x 0.80 thread pitch. Old guy tip: A 3-inch long 10-32 pitch is basically the same thing. Open up the razor a quarter-turn, then tighten that screw up against the bottom of the cap stud. Adds just enough aggressiveness and keeps it fairly safe so the handle doesn't loosen up further in use.

The drawback I see is that as a plastic razor it doesn't clamp the blade as well as metal, then you're loosening it up further. It's a noisy shave, I'll say that. Mildly aggressive; you will learn when to add a bit of pressure and when to hold back.

But for $30 more or less it's a lot of fun that won't land you in front of a judge.



Can't help with that. I tend to use mainly slants.

O.H.

Really appreciate your input. Also, absolutely love your tag line...

 

[Old Hippie]

Some days I get it wrong.

I originally wrote, "...The screw is a 7.5 mm long M5 x 0.80 thread pitch."

Despite frequent declaration that the metric system makes doing math in my head easy, I dropped the decimal point on this one.

That should read, "The screw is a 7.5 cm long M5 x 0.80 thread pitch."

O.H.

 

[Old Hippie]

I just wrapped up another lovely shave with the El Fantasma. Your questions were rattling around in my mind, looking for something to connect to and I had a couple of thoughts with reference to them.

Personally I tend to like slants. One thing I've noticed though is that I also tend to prefer slants (or razors of any kind) that firmly clamp the blade and have relatively low "reveal" meaning that the cap extends further toward the edge of the blade. As a head shaver I appreciate a firmly-clamped blade that does not jitter or chatter. The "ElF" isn't as well clamped as a comparable razor in metal would be, but on the other hand it's better than PAA's old Alpha Ecliptic in Bakelite. Probably ABS is stiffer than Bakelite, which would account for most of that observation.

Some people like the noisy shave. I can deal with it but it's not a defining criterion for me. Perhaps something like the Parker SemiSlant might work for you. It's a very mild slant (mild shaving plus not very slanted) and it's a zamak razor. I keep saying zamak isn't evil; it just has its own context -- while also admitting that I don't tend to buy zamak razors. But I have owned the SemiSlant and it was OK. My son has it now and likes it.

O.H.

 

[Phoenixkh]

I just wrapped up another lovely shave with the El Fantasma. Your questions were rattling around in my mind, looking for something to connect to and I had a couple of thoughts with reference to them.

Personally I tend to like slants. One thing I've noticed though is that I also tend to prefer slants (or razors of any kind) that firmly clamp the blade and have relatively low "reveal" meaning that the cap extends further toward the edge of the blade. As a head shaver I appreciate a firmly-clamped blade that does not jitter or chatter. The "ElF" isn't as well clamped as a comparable razor in metal would be, but on the other hand it's better than PAA's old Alpha Ecliptic in Bakelite. Probably ABS is stiffer than Bakelite, which would account for most of that observation.

Some people like the noisy shave. I can deal with it but it's not a defining criterion for me. Perhaps something like the Parker SemiSlant might work for you. It's a very mild slant (mild shaving plus not very slanted) and it's a zamak razor. I keep saying zamak isn't evil; it just has its own context -- while also admitting that I don't tend to buy zamak razors. But I have owned the SemiSlant and it was OK. My son has it now and likes it.

O.H.

I'll bet an ATT S1 would work well too... I know it's on the mild side, as you've mentioned before... the OC S2 works better for you. I only get 8 to 10 hour shaves with the S1 but it's so easy and effortless to use. If he did an "ask" or a "want to buy" on BST, I wouldn't be surprised of an S1 shows up.

It will be interesting to see which ATT models Blackland reissues next year. As you know, I just love their X1.. another mild but efficient (for me) razor.

 

[Phoenixkh]

@Old Hippie , I've been meaning to ask you..... Do you or have you had a PAA Filament? I have the blue and red Monster PAA slants but haven't used them as someone told me they were more mild than the Filament... I get 12 hour shaves with it.

 

[Old Hippie]

@Old Hippie , I've been meaning to ask you..... Do you or have you had a PAA Filament? I have the blue and red Monster PAA slants but haven't used them as someone told me they were more mild than the Filament... I get 12 hour shaves with it.

Not yet. I keep thinking I'd like to try one but I keep being reminded of one of my personal "80/20" rules.

You can improve your shave 80 per cent by spending 20 per cent of your money. Getting to that last 20 per cent improvement will cost you the remaining 80 per cent of your money.

I'm getting to the point that only incremental improvements seem possible (though I could be proven wrong) and that's making me less likely to spend money on razors right now. Even as little as the Filament costs. What I've seen of the pictures comparing the Filament to the El Fantasma is that the ElF is more helical than the Filament. While that says nothing about the quality of the shave, it does put my pursuit of extremely helical slant razors into a different perspective. I'm taking some time to mull that over.

O.H.

 

[Calyshaver]

I wonder if these plastic razors are injection molded or machined? (Just curious.)

Jury still out for me, but I'm very curious to try a slant...

Okay, nobody else has mentioned Fatip slants so I will! For the same money as the plastic Monster Series you can get an all metal, plated brass razor, that has the same old world vintage motif to mimic your Gillettes. The Fatip closed comb slant is a smooth shaving helical slant. Others love their Fatip open comb slants (FOCS) but I only have experience with the FCCS.

 

[Phoenixkh]

Not yet. I keep thinking I'd like to try one but I keep being reminded of one of my personal "80/20" rules.

You can improve your shave 80 per cent by spending 20 per cent of your money. Getting to that last 20 per cent improvement will cost you the remaining 80 per cent of your money.

I'm getting to the point that only incremental improvements seem possible (though I could be proven wrong) and that's making me less likely to spend money on razors right now. Even as little as the Filament costs. What I've seen of the pictures comparing the Filament to the El Fantasma is that the ElF is more helical than the Filament. While that says nothing about the quality of the shave, it does put my pursuit of extremely helical slant razors into a different perspective. I'm taking some time to mull that over.

O.H.

I guess I'll have to actually try my Crimson Ghost and/or my Phantom Blue though PAA includes the Filament on their "Monster" page. They've been pretty far down on the list of upcoming shaves. I just got my RR SuperSlant L1++OC from UPS last night... after they lost the first one Italian Barber sent me. I plan to use it later this afternoon.

 

[EdHeart]

Okay, nobody else has mentioned Fatip slants so I will! For the same money as the plastic Monster Series you can get an all metal, plated brass razor, that has the same old world vintage motif to mimic your Gillettes. The Fatip closed comb slant is a smooth shaving helical slant. Others love their Fatip open comb slants (FOCS) but I only have experience with the FCCS.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I've looked at Fatips recently and have read there are some issues with regard to blade alignment when loading them. If memory serves, something about the posts being machined/molded slightly below tolerance allowing the blades to have slop (again if memory serves.) So my question to you, "Is that the case? Issues with blade alignment and/or clamping strength on the blade?"

I finally ordered the PAA Filament and waiting for it to be shipped. Once I've used a bit, I'll come back and post my thoughts here, being a noob with a slant and a very light razor at that.

I recently stumbled upon Italian Barber's all stainless, CNC'd Razorock Superslant. Intrigued enough to want to take the plunge.

I'd love to know from some experienced users if the company propoganda on the improvements implemented in this version of their slant line are reality. I truly don't mean to sound harsh using those terms. I'm very familar with the use of language, sales techniques and the natural inclination to oversell/hype/describe improvements. They are in the business of selling product...

I'm not an engineer. Their description of the issues of torquing a short and somewhat fragile and stiff DE Blade over a short width is conceptually very plausible and likely. They mentioned the slight edge deformation when clamping the blade causing it to ripple resulting in a high probability of biting with wrong, rushed or causal technique.

The arch of the slope/curve of the cap and baseplate on the Superslant, any slant for that matter, must maxmize the bend/torque of the blade without any pinching, warping, waving of the DE blade edge; rather the edge has to remain razor thin, flat and stable in the clamping pressure and the torquing to allow for the smoothest experience.

BIG INHALE...

That said, does anyone have any comparative experience with the Superslant, their previous slants, and/or others to comment if they've truly made effective improvements?

Happy Healthy New Year to all.

Thanks...

 

[Calyshaver]

Issues with blade alignment and/or clamping strength on the blade?

The $1 million question about Fatip razors. Personally I have no blade alignment issues with my Fatip. Sure, on my non-slant Fatips I must check to make sure they are aligned well but I don't consider that a problem. Compared to the modern machined razors with tight tolerances, they do have blade slop but no clamping issues. On my slant Fatip I would get dizzy trying to ensure alignment as the geometry is too complex on a helical to determine if the blade is properly orientated, so I just load-n-go and love using it.

The Filament is good too, but its light weight takes some technique adjustment. That is another razor that I just load-n-go.

 

[Old Hippie]

BIG INHALE...

Yeah, that helps. I think I'll inhale another one...

That said, does anyone have any comparative experience with the Superslant, their previous slants, and/or others to comment if they've truly made effective improvements?

The TL; DR is: Heck Yeah! So far having used several iterations of the Superslant I can say they've done a good thing.

As for that comparative experience, well...search for "Tilted Picnic" -- an occasional review of a whole bunch of slant razors that I did for the last few years. I didn't do it in 2023 because the L2OC and L3SB Superslants pretty much took over my world for a while.

Now that we're in January I'm thinking about what I might do this year. Got a couple of ideas but they need to ripen up a bit.

O.H.

 

[EdHeart]

Yeah, that helps. I think I'll inhale another one...



The TL; DR is: Heck Yeah! So far having used several iterations of the Superslant I can say they've done a good thing.

As for that comparative experience, well...search for "Tilted Picnic" -- an occasional review of a whole bunch of slant razors that I did for the last few years. I didn't do it in 2023 because the L2OC and L3SB Superslants pretty much took over my world for a while.

Now that we're in January I'm thinking about what I might do this year. Got a couple of ideas but they need to ripen up a bit.

O.H.

Thanks for chiming in on this. Really appreciate it O.H. and if you got 'em inhale 'em!!!

 

[Phoenixkh]

I think I'm about to put my SuperSlant up for sale.... I have the L2++ base plate... and it's too efficient for me... then I got the L1++OC... and it's a bit too mild. I like the way RR makes their open comb base plates.... but if the L2++ is too efficient... the L2++OC would be more than I could handle, I think.... that leaves only two options and neither appeal to me at this point.

I don't have any problems with the Filament or the ATT S1... though I haven't quite figured out the S2 OC base plate. And the ATT X1 works like a charm.. I'm sure it's me, but I can't figure out why I can't get the SuperSlant where I want it to be.