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The Two-Pass (CONUS) Passaround Box

I hope you enjoy the Bay Rum! I'll be curious to read your take on the TWSBI pen...I was looking at a similar one.

The initial impressions are:

- I love the piston filler
- I'm not wild about the broad/wet nib
- That said, it writes smoothly
- I would choose a color other than white
 
The initial impressions are:

- I love the piston filler
- I'm not wild about the broad/wet nib
- That said, it writes smoothly
- I would choose a color other than white

One nib on that one is the 1.1mm stub; I picked it because I didn't think you'd tried a stub yet. Though I haven't tried a TWSBI yet, I've enjoyed the few stubs I have because they tend to add some line variation when writing which makes my poor handwriting look a little more elegant. The good news is if you don't like the nib, TWSBI makes interchangeable nibs for their pens, so it should be a fairly cheap fix.
 
So I thought I'd add some initial thoughts on a couple of my takes. I didn't post reviews of my takes from the first pass because I wound up PIFing them to some new wet shavers.

Anyway, from this pass, so far I've managed to use the Mikey Lee pre-shave butter twice, the 444 twice and the Draggon Noir once.

I have mixed feeling on the pre-shave butter. The ingredients in it are great. I've heard complaints that it makes the hands too messy, but this hasn't been a problem, I wipe them as I would after applying any pre-shave and have no slipperiness with my straight. The peppermint scent in the tub is nice. It reminds me more of junior mints than a peppermint patty, meaning the peppermint is a little subdued. I can smell it when rubbing my hands together, but on the face it doesn't really give an aroma, which I suppose is good (you can use it with any soap without clashing scents) but also bad (I'd love to get a peppermint blast--there was none of that in the application). I can't really tell if it helps with the shave. It certainly doesn't hinder and my skin feels nice after the first pass. Both times I've used it, I've had about 7 days growth and no issues shaving. I've been regularly using AI pre/post shave and this seems about on par performance wise, AI might have a little advantage in skin feel.

444- I've used this twice so far. I took this hoping to have a nice menthol blast at the end of my shave. I don't really get that from this. In fact, I don't really feel the menthol at all. I'm not certain this really adds anything to the post shave feel either.

Draggon Noir- I've used this once so far, Sunday at the end of my shave (followed by some 444). The scent is nice and seems to last at least a few hours. At times it seemed a little sweet, but I'll have to wear it a few times to get a real feel for it. My skin did feel a bit dry after my shave, something that didn't happen the previous shave when I'd used the same line-up, but used the veg instead of the DN. Not certain the DN was the cause of the dry feel, but time will tell.
 
One nib on that one is the 1.1mm stub; I picked it because I didn't think you'd tried a stub yet. Though I haven't tried a TWSBI yet, I've enjoyed the few stubs I have because they tend to add some line variation when writing which makes my poor handwriting look a little more elegant. The good news is if you don't like the nib, TWSBI makes interchangeable nibs for their pens, so it should be a fairly cheap fix.

I'm really appreciative of the fact that you were considerate enough to include the pen - and unused, to boot! I'm going to give it a fair shake and see how I feel about the stub. My trepidation comes from the fact that it's pretty wet and I've had trouble with the cheap paper I've been using, but now that I have the Rhodia pad, that won't be an issue and I'll see how I feel about the nib without worrying about the paper.
 
I'm really appreciative of the fact that you were considerate enough to include the pen - and unused, to boot! I'm going to give it a fair shake and see how I feel about the stub. My trepidation comes from the fact that it's pretty wet and I've had trouble with the cheap paper I've been using, but now that I have the Rhodia pad, that won't be an issue and I'll see how I feel about the nib without worrying about the paper.

I'd suggest trying it with different inks as well as each ink reacts differently. I know some inks seemed to wet to use with my stubs while others work well. One of the fun things about fountain pens is that not everything works the same out of the box. Then of course personal preference plays a large role as well. So it may turn out that stubs just aren't your thing. I did just take a closer look and I may have misspoken. The nibs on the Ecos may not be replaceable.
 
Glad to see the discussion continuing... [MENTION=93851]Al_S[/MENTION] - what are some of your favorite inks? I've only tried a couple...

I got a great date night shave with the New and Improved that I picked up on the first pass. Followed it up with an alum block and Pinaud Special Reserve AS. Did anyone pick up a sample of that? I think I sent some over to Brandon to include in the second pass...
 
To be honest, other than the sample box in the nib where I dip tested probably 30-50 inks, I've only purchases and played with a few inks myself. I got into fountain pens a couple years ago, began splurging on inks and pens and then had to put myself in a self-imposed restraint. I haven't really picked it back up since then. That said, I'd purchased a number of Noodler's inks---of these, Liberty's Elysium was my favorite color, though it tended to run wet in some pens. I purchased Montblanc's Leonardo Divinci. This was a fun color with lots of shading that tends to write a little dry. My favorites were the two Iroshizuku inks (Tsuki-yo and Asa-Gao). Both of these performed really well, but these inks also take a greater hit on the wallet even if you find them for a discount.
 
In other news, I have some thoughts on the Razorock Tobacco #1 I took from the box. I was a little leery taking this one as it isn't a tallow soap, and early on I developed a strong preference for tallow-based soaps. I'd originally intended to use this soap on Saturday morning. I'd gotten out of the shower, prepped and lathered up, then the doorbell rang--an appointment I thought was coming at 9:30 rather than 9. That said, my initial lathering did provide some insight into the soap. First, the scent. I'd decided to prep with Alt-Insbruk's Pre/post. This has a slight scent which to me is a bit citrusy. The scent completely overwhelmed the tabacco #1 though to the point that all I could smell was the AI. I'd used a little too much water blooming the soap. The lather worked up nicely, but a lot more foamy than I generally prefer with straight shaves.

Sunday morning, I went for attempt #2. I was running late for church, so at the last minute, I decided to switch to the r41 instead of a straight. instead of the AI pre, I decided to use the mikey lee pre-shave butter. This didn't overpower the scent of the soap, the two complimented each other nicely. I'm not sure I could pick up tobacco in the scent, but it was nice. As I began the shave, the first couple strokes felt a bit rough. I wasn't sure if it was the soap, or the blade. I only use my r41 once every month or three, so I couldn't remember how many shaves the blade had on it. I had one more GSB in my pack, so I decided to swap out (this added enough time that I could have used the straight). From there, the shave went ok, but I wound up with a few minor nicks & weepers, something that never has happened when using a GSB in my r41. It's possible it could be the blade, but also possible the soap wasn't providing enough slickness and protection. I was cutting off a week's worth of growth, but that's something I haven't had any problems with with straight or the r41. Anyway, overall the shave wasn't bad and resulted in a nice close BBS. I'm a bit skeptical of the soap's performance (and especially concerned about how it might perform with the straight) but will likely try it one or more times before PIFing it if it doesn't work out.
 
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