It was nice to take a break from OCtober with this to me new Matador Deluxe courtesy of the ever generous @Jack Goossen.
Matador is a Swedish blade brand from the 1930s-1960s (give or take) and they also made razors on the side. Matador was later on acquired by Ever Sharp which I imagine was ultimately consolidated into Gillette.
It is an all brass safety bar razor with a flat bottom base plate (top and bottom). The head measures 44mm in length and 24mm in width. It weighs in at 26 grams including the blade, so ordinarily this razor will be handle heavy rather than head heavy. I had the head paired with a fat handle at first and then decided to use multiple of my new goodies so I paired it with a Lasta Blue Handle (as they are now commonly referred to).
What I particularly like about the Matador is that there is no blade overhang. The cap covers the entire blade while the baseplate has a similar design to the Karve Christopher Bradley and so blade inserting and removing is pretty easy.
Although the Matador is a safety bar Razor the blade gap is fairly considerable:
This razor is mega smooth despite the initial idea that the blade gap is somewhat huge. And I now understand why Jack really wanted me to try this razor, because like the Razorine Flatboy it sings! Wonderful audio feedback. Intuitive in usage and when paired with the right blade I can see this to be a rather safe razor as well - just light touch and let the razor do all the work Mark Szorady would say.
Here she is with the Lasta Blue Handle:
And with a Gillette Fat Handle:
An excellent razor that should be in everyone’s collection - [Enablers, Inc messaging included] it is amazing! @Jack Goossen - thank you again for this opportunity and razor. I would not have wanted to miss this! And it will feature on a regular basis in my rotation as well as shine during NOCvember.
www.badgerandblade.com
Matador is a Swedish blade brand from the 1930s-1960s (give or take) and they also made razors on the side. Matador was later on acquired by Ever Sharp which I imagine was ultimately consolidated into Gillette.
It is an all brass safety bar razor with a flat bottom base plate (top and bottom). The head measures 44mm in length and 24mm in width. It weighs in at 26 grams including the blade, so ordinarily this razor will be handle heavy rather than head heavy. I had the head paired with a fat handle at first and then decided to use multiple of my new goodies so I paired it with a Lasta Blue Handle (as they are now commonly referred to).
What I particularly like about the Matador is that there is no blade overhang. The cap covers the entire blade while the baseplate has a similar design to the Karve Christopher Bradley and so blade inserting and removing is pretty easy.
Although the Matador is a safety bar Razor the blade gap is fairly considerable:
This razor is mega smooth despite the initial idea that the blade gap is somewhat huge. And I now understand why Jack really wanted me to try this razor, because like the Razorine Flatboy it sings! Wonderful audio feedback. Intuitive in usage and when paired with the right blade I can see this to be a rather safe razor as well - just light touch and let the razor do all the work Mark Szorady would say.
Here she is with the Lasta Blue Handle:
And with a Gillette Fat Handle:
An excellent razor that should be in everyone’s collection - [Enablers, Inc messaging included] it is amazing! @Jack Goossen - thank you again for this opportunity and razor. I would not have wanted to miss this! And it will feature on a regular basis in my rotation as well as shine during NOCvember.
NOCvember 2022 - Let’s put our safety bars on for Non Open Comb November
Following High Efficiency Summer and OCtober (which is still in full effect at the moment) I was wondering if we should ease up a little bit and put our safety bars back on for a while and pay attention to those lovely razors sitting idle in our dens while we are having a ball with OCtober...
www.badgerandblade.com
