Shavette And Barber Razor Enthusiast (SABRE) group

[HymixBB]

I wanted to share my razors. In addition to these I have a few more Zazor razors, and another Sedef, I think.
In the past I've bought and sold a Feather RG, Kai Excelia, a Kee razor, several Feather SS models....probably a few more. I'm no photographer, so please forgive the rough nature of these pics!
These are the same razors, I just took pics of smaller groups.
There are some clones in there, but they shave very well.
I think the first pic shows bottom right an older Feather model, and a Kai Captain Standard, which I just love.
There's a Daune on the top row. A few of the cream-ish ones I don't know and have never used. There's a Zazor above the Feather on the right. Some cheap and cheerful Chinese razors, including a Strong Leopard and a Huerbo (or is it Shuerbo?) I could never be sure.
Also a Schick Proline.

 

[Dave himself]

I wanted to share my razors. In addition to these I have a few more Zazor razors, and another Sedef, I think.
In the past I've bought and sold a Feather RG, Kai Excelia, a Kee razor, several Feather SS models....probably a few more. I'm no photographer, so please forgive the rough nature of these pics!
These are the same razors, I just took pics of smaller groups.
There are some clones in there, but they shave very well.
I think the first pic shows bottom right an older Feather model, and a Kai Captain Standard, which I just love.
There's a Daune on the top row. A few of the cream-ish ones I don't know and have never used. There's a Zazor above the Feather on the right. Some cheap and cheerful Chinese razors, including a Strong Leopard and a Huerbo (or is it Shuerbo?) I could never be sure.
Also a Schick Proline.

Thats an amazing collection, thanks for sharing .

 

[madmedic]

I wanted to share my razors. In addition to these I have a few more Zazor razors, and another Sedef, I think.
In the past I've bought and sold a Feather RG, Kai Excelia, a Kee razor, several Feather SS models....probably a few more. I'm no photographer, so please forgive the rough nature of these pics!
These are the same razors, I just took pics of smaller groups.
There are some clones in there, but they shave very well.
I think the first pic shows bottom right an older Feather model, and a Kai Captain Standard, which I just love.
There's a Daune on the top row. A few of the cream-ish ones I don't know and have never used. There's a Zazor above the Feather on the right. Some cheap and cheerful Chinese razors, including a Strong Leopard and a Huerbo (or is it Shuerbo?) I could never be sure.
Also a Schick Proline.

Nice collection. I have always fancied a Zazor but never taken the risk. The drop down menus for Postal destinations place my county in England. instead of Wales. That would probably be enough to ensure that a patriotic Welshman in the Royal Mail would 'mislay' the package!

 

[WThomas0814]

Can someone tell me if there is a difference between the Kai Kasho Captain and the Kai Captain Standard? I can't find anything online. Pictures show the Kasho version has “KASHO” on the blade holder, the Standard does not. Descriptions sound the same. The Kasho is on Amazon from a seemingly reputable seller, the Standard is available through conventional sellers, albeit at a higher price.

TIA.

 

[madmedic]

Can someone tell me if there is a difference between the Kai Kasho Captain and the Kai Captain Standard? I can't find anything online. Pictures show the Kasho version has “KASHO” on the blade holder, the Standard does not. Descriptions sound the same. The Kasho is on Amazon from a seemingly reputable seller, the Standard is available through conventional sellers, albeit at a higher price.

TIA.

I don't think I am incorrect but I think the Kasho labelled versions are just a more recent production of the same razor.

 

[WThomas0814]

I don't think I am incorrect but I think the Kasho labelled versions are just a more recent production of the same razor.

Thanks, mate. What I was thinking.

 

[HymixBB]

Nice collection. I have always fancied a Zazor but never taken the risk. The drop down menus for Postal destinations place my county in England. instead of Wales. That would probably be enough to ensure that a patriotic Welshman in the Royal Mail would 'mislay' the package!

The Zazor is a great razor. I have about 4 or 5 I think, in different colours, but I've never opened more than two packs.
Regarding the address issue, you could maybe contact the website, I remember them being very friendly when I've communicated with them in the past.

 

[HymixBB]

I don't think I am incorrect but I think the Kasho labelled versions are just a more recent production of the same razor.

Yeah, I don't know the official answer either, but they look VERY similar to me.
Can't seem to find the Kasho on Amazon Japan, other than one seller in the US who prices it at nearly 4 times the price of the Standard....

 

[WThomas0814]

Yeah, I don't know the official answer either, but they look VERY similar to me.
Can't seem to find the Kasho on Amazon Japan, other than one seller in the US who prices it at nearly 4 times the price of the Standard....

Amazon US has the Kasho for $20-30 less than other online sellers list the Standard. Makes me think I should buy it. Just not sure about the handle… some reviews say it is kind of crappy plastic.

 

[HymixBB]

Amazon US has the Kasho for $20-30 less than other online sellers list the Standard. Makes me think I should buy it. Just not sure about the handle… some reviews say it is kind of crappy plastic.

Yeah, I saw a few of those reviews. Also one review that said it "broke in half" while trying to change the blade, but the picture just showed it had been opened as one does to clean the inside...

 

[WThomas0814]

Yeah, I saw a few of those reviews. Also one review that said it "broke in half" while trying to change the blade, but the picture just showed it had been opened as one does to clean the inside...

Do you have one? What do you think of it? I’d rather go by reviews here.

 

[HymixBB]

Do you have one? What do you think of it? I’d rather go by reviews here.

I have a folding Standard model, not the Kasho. I love mine, have used it a lot since I bought it in early 2013 (my review was still on Amazon when I last checked). I don't really know anything about the Kasho, sorry.

 

[Halfbeard]

Rebranded Parker shavette
Rhinoceros ½-blade (17)
Proraso soap
Brossi a/s

 

[WThomas0814]

So, whilst eagerly awaiting my Feather SR, I’ve been perusing videos on YouTube.

Is it your practice to switch the razor to your non-dominant hand for half of your face? I ask because, frankly, that scares the crap out of me.

 

[VBH37118]

So, whilst eagerly awaiting my Feather SR, I’ve been perusing videos on YouTube.

Is it your practice to switch the razor to your non-dominant hand for half of your face? I ask because, frankly, that scares the crap out of me.

You will learn to use both hands faster than you think, just take it slow and easy, good luck

 

[GoodShave]

Do you have one? What do you think of it? I’d rather go by reviews here.

I have the Kai Captain Standard folding razor. I bought it three years ago. It has a thinner profile than the Feather DX so it allows you to shave at shallower angle. I am pretty sure it has less blade exposure than the DX and weighs less than the DX. It is a good shaver. If I wasn't busy breaking in my DX, I would probably reach for the Kai Captain Standard.

 

[GoodShave]

So, whilst eagerly awaiting my Feather SR, I’ve been perusing videos on YouTube.

Is it your practice to switch the razor to your non-dominant hand for half of your face? I ask because, frankly, that scares the crap out of me.

When starting with switching hands for each side of my face, I started with just trying a little area with my opposite hand per shave and slowly expand how much I tried to shave with the opposite hand. Start with the cheeks where you don't have a lot of curves to deal with. I kept doing it and there are shaves where I don't even think about the fact that I switched hands to shave the other side of my face. There are still times where I find it easier to shave with one hand or the other due to the angle I am trying to use or the direction I am shaving.

I would say that if you don't have an alum block, get one. I wet my fingers of the non-shaving hand and run them on my alum block, then I used those fingers to stretch the skin I am about to shave. The alum will allow a good grip even with residual lather in play.

I also use a damp sponge to keep the razor clean while I am shaving. I wipe the razor on the sponge to clear off the lather/stubble between shave strokes. Once the sponge is covered in lather, then I rinse it off and return to shaving.

 

[Goblin]

Cheap shavette talk.

Today, I dug out the kamisori version of the Kure Nai GF35 1/2 DE shavette. I acquired this before Xmas and ended up stuffing it in a get-around-to-it box.

I ordered it because I like the shave of the GF35 (I know I am not alone there) and figured it would be nice to have the kami version too. I expected it to be exactly the same blade arm, but with a black kami handle instead of being pinned into the Feather clone handle of the GF35.

Well, it isn't.

Look below, and you can see that the thumb jimps on the removable part of the razor are different on each one - on the GF35 they are of an even length, but on the kami they get longer towards the heel. A more obvious difference is the colour. The GF35 head is also a bit deeper overall, but with more exposure on the blade (it doesn't look like it because of the angle of the photo, but you can take my word for it). So, they are quite different in details.

Does this mean the kami version will need a less comfortable, steeper angle in order for the blade to make contact with the skin? I will report once I have used it. However, if I was doing this again, knowing what I know now, I would probably just buy another GF35 and remove the blade arm from the scales, as it seems like a higher quality piece overall than the kami version. I may still do that.

Something else you may have noticed is the handle on the kami version is no longer original. I think they just ram on one of the plastic handles from the Kai Captain clone. It doesn't fit very well and honestly looks a bit crap. I was able to pull it off easily, and decided to wrap the arm in some paracord instead. I had a cut-off kicking about, so I took out the internal strands and just used the outer sheath. It was just a quick, basic whipping, but I actually think it looks pretty decent and feels perfectly solid.

I will use this for my next shave and post here with thoughts.

P.S. I also use my off-hand to shave the left hand side of my face. Honestly, it is surprisingly easy to pick this up. Just take it easy at first and after a few shaves it might not feel exactly natural, but it will have ceased to become scary.

 

[Goblin]

I shaved today with the 1/2 DE kami. I didn't have much growth after a very close shave yesterday with my Nodachi, but there was enough stubble to give this razor a good test run.

Pros:

- The kami format works well, and feels more nimble compared to the scaled version.
- The paracord handle wrap held up nicely.

Cons:

- As expected, it needs a rather steep angle to engage the blade, which makes it a bit too scrapey for my tastes.

I got the GF35 out and did a comparison of the shave angles. The GF35 will start shaving when lifted approximately 1/2 a spine-width off the face. This kami version needs to be lifted about 1.5 spine widths to engage the blade. That's less than ideal for me with my technique, and meant that the razor often felt inefficient and a bit uncomfortable.

So, although the final results are passable, they aren't as good as I would normally expect from a shavette shave, and there are a couple of rough patches under my jaw where I had to quit trying to clean them up because it felt like I was scraping rather than shaving effectively.

If I am being honest, I probably won't shave with this razor again. It's simply not a pleasant shaver, but I can chalk all this up as a useful learning experience. What I am going to do is get another GF35, take the scales off and wrap the handle. I think that will give me the razor I hoped to get in the first place.

 

[albsat]

Nice collection. I have always fancied a Zazor but never taken the risk. The drop down menus for Postal destinations place my county in England. instead of Wales. That would probably be enough to ensure that a patriotic Welshman in the Royal Mail would 'mislay' the package!

I can send you a Zazor Shavette razor if you accept the shipping cost. I should have one used once or twice, got to check first.