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Ruminations on the Edge

It has arrived. It’s even more beautiful in person. I love the feel of the deep grooves on the handle. Many little touches exhibiting exquisite craftsmanship. I think my favorite are the tiny black lambdas etched on the bottom of the top-cap posts. The length and weight feel great. Joy comes in the morning.

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First shave with my new Ares V2. Here are my first impressions.

Lambda razors are imbued with magic, at least that’s how they feel. The combination of aesthetic beauty, groundbreaking design and expert craftsmanship is…..well….magical.

The blade feel is higher than the Athena, but still comfortable, the clamping is similarly best-in-class, and the efficiency is at least as high. The chatter is so low that it feels as if you can do unlimited buffing, even while going ATG in tough spots like the upper lip or soul patch, with no fear of irritation. Only the Overlander, Meta-4, and Athena, can match this level of blade rigidity. The blade reveal is the narrowest I’ve ever seen, although this might be counterbalanced by the open comb which allows more reveal underneath.

More to follow as I get more shaves under my belt. Frankly, it belongs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Smithsonian. A masterwork. BBS/BBS-

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Thank you to @Lambda Razors for making such a beautiful razor.
 
I returned my Oliworks M3teorite today, the Dark Cherry Red with all 3 plates.

It was a beautiful razor but was simply too similar to the Envoy. I never even tried it. I know myself, and because I love the Rex Envoy, the M3teorite would simply go unused. I felt it would be redundant to own both.

I’m sure there are those who will disagree with my opinion and may even feel affronted or hurt. It’s not my intention to cast aspersion on a product you like. To each his own. YMMV.
 
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I returned my Oliworks M3teorite today, the Dark Cherry Red with all 3 plates.

It was a beautiful razor but was simply too similar to the Envoy. I never even tried it. I know myself, and because I love the Rex Envoy, the M3teorite would simply go unused. I felt it would be redundant to own both.

I’m sure there are those who will disagree with my opinion and may even feel affronted or hurt. It’s not my intention to cast aspersion on a product you like. To each his own. YMMV.

I have look at the REX’s I thought the Knurling was overkill. Felt very abrasive on fingers. That was not to my liking. So the REX for me wss a do not buy.

Don’t know why the person who designed the Knurling made it over abrasive.😢
 

Eric_75

Not made for these times.
I returned my Oliworks M3teorite today, the Dark Cherry Red with all 3 plates.

It was a beautiful razor but was simply too similar to the Envoy. I never even tried it. I know myself, and because I love the Rex Envoy, the M3teorite would simply go unused. I felt it would be redundant to own both.

I’m sure there are those who will disagree with my opinion and may even feel affronted or hurt. It’s not my intention to cast aspersion on a product you like. To each his own. YMMV.
That's why I didn't pull the trigger on that one, Lee.

YMMV, all.
 
The Lambda Athena and the Ares V2: The Strategist and the Brute

Both were gods of war. Athena was known for strategy. Ares was renowned for bloodlust. To some degree these qualities are subtly manifest in the razors and it is here that they most differ.

Both are comfortable, consistent, and easy-to-use with moderate to high efficiency. The largest departure is blade reveal, which for both is among the smallest of all modern razors, but is slightly larger on the Ares, mainly on the underside due to the open comb. The result is the Ares has about 50% more blade-feel, but slightly weaker blade clamping.

Both razors have neutral exposures and narrow blade gaps, with the Athena at 0.34mm and the Ares at 0.30mm. This keeps the shave comfortable for both even with considerable buffing but conversely bridles efficiency from reaching the highest levels achieved by some razors with higher gaps and exposures. The larger underside reveal of the Ares gives it a higher initial efficiency, but the stronger clamping of the Athena allows for more buffing with higher pressure, equalizing the advantage of the Ares and bringing the net efficiency close to parity.

I’ve noticed that many of my most efficient razors don’t achieve ultra-close shaves on the 1st WTG pass, or even the 2nd XTG pass, but only become highly efficient on the 3rd ATG pass. I suspect this is because their power is in their blade clamping which comes into play most when going ATG, even for the Blackbird. Although the Ares V2, cannot achieve the net efficiency after 3 passes of the Blackbird, Greencult 2.II, Ti95, or Nodachi, its initial efficiency on pass 1 and 2 is higher, which I believe is due to the open comb and underside reveal, which might be more aptly called underside effective exposure.

In terms of scoring, I put the composite score of the Athena at 35 vs the Ares V2 at 34. As seen below, the main difference is Comfort, which due to the higher blade feel and impact on the skin is an 8 for the Ares V2 vs a 9 for the Athena. I considered giving the Ares V2 a higher score for Ease-of-Use due to its slightly lower weight and overall design which makes it nimbler, but the Athena’s greater ability to buff due to stronger blade clamping negates this advantage.

In the end, the main difference is stylistic and experiential, where some shavers who appreciate more blade-feel might prefer the Ares V2 while shavers who prioritize comfort may prefer the Athena. Both are engineering marvels and works of art, which are as much museum pieces as functional tools, and have among the highest composite scores in my collection. Frankly, I am happy and proud to own both and intend to keep both in my rotation.

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So am i reading this right Lee that the Karve Overlander is actually the razor to rule them all? I saw a brass one on BST, so asking for a friend :cuppa:
That’s an interesting question. It has the highest composite score. But what does this actually mean? To me, it means it’s all around performance is the highest. But it is far from the most efficient. Where it really shines is comfort and ease-of-use where it is unmatched. I use it as my repair razor, meaning when my face needs a break. An absolutely fabulous razor.

For me, I rank my razors as follows:

Top High Efficiency: Blackbird
Top Medium Efficiency: Athena
Top Low Efficiency: Overlander

Desert Island Razor: Athena

😄
 
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