SE Shave Off - Budget Edition

[Steve_in_CT]

After many, many years of DE shaving, I recently re-visited SE's. My prior use was about 50 years ago with the old Schick injectors. I was immediately very impressed, and for the last couple of months I have mostly used my Supply injector, RazoRock Black Hawk and Gem MMOC. Occasionally I still pick up my Game Changer .84.

While I would love to try some of the high-end SE's out there, e.g. Blackland Vector, ATT SE1, Paradigm SE, Blackland Sabre, SS Mongoose, etc., I just have a problem spending more than $100 on a razor. (If the SS Hawk ever comes back in stock, it will probably be my next SE razor). In any event, I thought it would be worthwhile to compare the 3 different SE's I currently have - each with a different type of blade. My methodology is very simple. I shave one side of my face with one razor and the other side with the competitor. The next day I switch sides to make sure that any differences are due to the razor and not variations in my beard pattern. I always do a two pass shave with a bit of touch-up.

Day 1 was between the Black Hawk and the Supply. These two razors seem to have nothing in common beyond being single edged razors. The Black Hawk is a lightweight aluminum Artist Club razor with a rather minimalist design and very contoured handle for grip. The Supply is a heavy, stainless steel injector with substantial heft and a smooth handle that requires me to use my alum block to maintain a good grip. (That may not be true for most of you; I have arthritis and shave early in the morning when my fingers are not at their most supple.)

I used the Supply first for no particular reason on the right side of my face and neck. This razor is remarkably smooth, gliding over the skin with very little tactile or audible feedback. When I switched for the left side to the Black Hawk, the difference was quite stark. It's like pitching to one batter with a baseball and then switching to a wiffle ball. Also, the blade width seems enormous after the Supply. That said, I find the Black Hawk very enjoyable to use. Yes, you can feel (and hear) it scraping off the whiskers, but for me it's a pleasant sensation. With the extra width, it also made a quick job of my left side. Pass two and the touchup were just more of the same. Post shave with the alum block revealed no difference between the results from the two razors. No nicks, cuts or irritations and no perceptible difference in the closeness of the shave.

Round 1 was a clear draw. If tomorrow's shave produces the same results, I'll be hard pressed to choose between these two. Of course, I don't have to, since I already own both of them. The Black Hawk, at $30 plus shipping is less than half the cost of the Supply so it is clearly the price winner.

 

[kingfisher]

Thanks for posting this thorough comparison.

Sorry to hear about your arthritis.

 

[Zoost]

I really want to try the Supply razor! My favorite vintage Schick is the Type I2 Hydro Magic. Would love to see a shave off comparison of those two!

 

[GearNoir]

It took me about a week to get comfortable with the Supply Injector (2-dot plate), having never used an injector before. It’s buttery smooth on the WTG and XTG, though you do have to be pretty mindful on the ATG.

What plate are you using?

I have switched mine to the 1-dot mild plate and the comfort has only increased. Still get a BBS.

 

[Steve_in_CT]

It took me about a week to get comfortable with the Supply Injector (2-dot plate), having never used an injector before. It’s buttery smooth on the WTG and XTG, though you do have to be pretty mindful on the ATG.

What plate are you using?

I have switched mine to the 1-dot mild plate and the comfort has only increased. Still get a BBS.

I only have the medium plate that came with the basic razor and haven't felt the need to buy the other two. For the first shave or two I thought it might be starting to irritate my neck slightly, but by the third shave it was all smooth sailing.

 

[GearNoir]

I only have the medium plate that came with the basic razor and haven't felt the need to buy the other two. For the first shave or two I thought it might be starting to irritate my neck slightly, but by the third shave it was all smooth sailing.

Thanks!

 

[Steve_in_CT]

Shave 2 with the Black Hawk and the Supply was very much like Shave 1, but this time I have to give a very slight edge to the Black Hawk on performance. I believe that I can detect a slight bit more friction when rubbing my fingers across my face neck on the Supply side. Interestingly, though, today I found the smoothness of the Supply to be much more enjoyable than the relative harshness of the Black Hawk. This does leave in a quandary when picking a winner. If I were just looking for which one to recommend to a friend, I would probably go with the Supply. If there is a real difference in closeness, it's not all that significant, and if you're a daily shaver like I am, the smooth and easy comfort of the Supply is appreciated. But since the winner goes on to the next round, and since I think it's important (at least to me) to know which gives the closest shaves, I'm going to put the Supply aside and shave tomorrow with the Black Hawk and the MMOC.

 

[les24preludes]

I put my ATT SE1 up against the MMOC and a 1912 with a heavier handle, and the SE1 lost out so I sold it. I found the Gem PTFE blade sharper. So I'm backing the MMOC in your shave-off.

 

[Steve_in_CT]

Round 2 pits the MMOC against the Black Hawk. These two don't seem as diametrically opposed to one another as did the Black Hawk and Supply. Both are fairly light, although the aluminum Black Hawk is noticeably lighter. Both have handles that are easy to grip, although I do use a little alum with the MMOC. Of course, they have different blade types, so the geometries of the heads are quite different. I don't have issues with either, but I could see how somewhat might take some time to get used to the width of the Black Hawk or the depth of the MMOC. Price wise they are both bargains. The Black Hawk is $30 plus shipping; my MMOC is in nearly new condition and cost me a bit less than that on eBay.

I started today on the right side (as I always do), and picked up the Black Hawk first. I was immediately surprised by how rough it felt today. Last week I was overseas and used this razor every day and never noticed that kind of roughness, so I may change the blade before tomorrow's shave. This is a new blade with only 3 or 4 shaves on it, so I doubt it's really the blade. Switching to the MMOC for the left side was frankly a relief. Sure you can feel and hear the blade, but it is closer to the smoothness of the Supply than the roughness of the Black Hawk. The second pass was just more of the same, and the results were excellent on both sides. No nicks, cuts or irritation and a smooth, close shave all around.

I've tried to feel if there is any difference in the closeness of the shave, but try as I might I cannot detect any. The MMOC wins the day based upon smoothness, but we'll see if that persists tomorrow when I switch sides and change the blade on the Black Hawk.

 

[Steve_in_CT]

Day 2 of the MMOC vs. the Black Hawk produced the same excellent results from both razors, with one notable exception. The new blade in the Black Hawk did, in fact, eliminate the roughness that I mentioned yesterday. Today there was very little in terms of the comfort or ease of use between the two. For some reason I can't quite explain, I prefer using the Black Hawk (as long as it has a sharp blade in it). The balance and feel just seem to suit me. I could easily see how someone might prefer the MMOC, but now we are talking about purely subjective factors. Neither my wife nor I could detect any difference between the side of my face shaved with the Black Hawk and the side shaved with the MMOC.

So - it's a draw. And you can probably throw in the Supply injector to make it a three way tie. Pick any one of these three and you can't go wrong. If you like hefty razors, go with the Supply. If vintage is your thing, find a well maintained MMOC. If lightweight with a wide blade intrigues you, buy a Hawk. Or buy them all! That's what I did. I have no regrets, and intend to use them all.

 

[GearNoir]

Great summary! I think most people could get along just fine and thoroughly enjoy any number of razors if they took the time to use them well.

Looks like the 3 competitors turned into 3 winners!

 

[Twelvefret]

I agree, very good summary and fair comparison.

 

[Steve_in_CT]

Now that I have convinced myself that there is no significant difference between the effectiveness of my 3 different kinds of SE razors, I decided to also compare my favorite DE razor to one of those SE's. Since the Black Hawk emerged as my favorite of the SE's it was my favorite SE vs. my favorite DE, my RazoRock Game Changer .84.

So it's an all RazoRock shave-off. I picked up the Game Changer first and was immediately struck by how enjoyable I find it to shave with this razor. I have the Halo handle and it seems perfectly balanced, wonderfully maneuverable and as smooth as you could want. The Black Hawk, even with the relatively new blade, is not quite as smooth as the Game Changer, but it did a very quick job of the left side of my face due to the wider blade. Of course, the Game Changer has two sides you can use before rinsing, so the difference in how long it takes to shave is really minimal. It's in the results where the Black Hawk has the edge. Although it's barely perceptible, there is a noticeable difference between how close a shave each razor produced. Both my wife and I judged the Black Hawk side to be smoother. Will I still use the Game Changer? Sure. I enjoy it and I get excellent shaves from it. I just get slightly better shaves from my SE's.

 

[DarkSpy]

Which blade are you using in the Black Hawk?

 

[Steve_in_CT]

Which blade are you using in the Black Hawk?

I’m using Feather Pro blades. The only other blades I’ve tried were Prolines, and I found them to be harsher than the Feathers. Most everyone else seems to prefer the Proline blades.