The World Shave Off Showdown

[loot]

Great review, Mr. Beard. Now you have me wanting a Ti1. Just when I think I've got all I need, you come up with some unobtanium gear to tease me with. I suppose if they are this close, I could just be content with the 94. It is a fantastic shaver.

Thanks again for all you do, my friend.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[Sharp_Obsession]

Thanks my friend!

Well I blame it on Mark for sending that awesome razor to me. I’m not sure any of us really knew how good a shaver the Ti is. Now I have to go on a hunt to find one that’s at a reasonable price which will probably not happen. I can tell you it’s been hrs since I’ve shaved and my face still feels like glass!
I said I wasn’t going to wait till the morning to name a winner or have to go to the scoring system but it’s late and I feel it’s only fair to evaluate this Shave in the morning as this is the for the Championship of this category.

Ha Ha, I win. It sounded like so close a shave I figured it would take until morning to decide or go to the point system.

 

[beisler]

Great write-up Frank

 

[Sharp's]

Now Frank, after that shave, did your face have that beautifully raw, Barbershop back of the neck, nirvana feeling that we all chase?

 

[Sharp's]

Was also wondering .. where there any razors that were unenjoyable? Or surprisingly underperformed? Lead to knicks or gashes?

 

[BigJ]

WONDERFUL!!! Two of the best razors ever made!! (No loser in this round.)

 

[Shavemd]

Tic,Toc,Tic,Toc just waiting for those results after 24 hours. LOL

 

[J 5]

UPDATE: Shave Off Championship round complete!

Paradigm Titanium 1 vs Wolfman WR1 .94 DC

Finally this Shave Off is complete! Being a Sunday I had some time to take my time with this Shave Off and man oh man was it a good one as I expected it to be as these two razors are wonderful shavers in every way! We all both of these razors are not easy to find or obtain. One being only 1 of 51 made and the other is basically having patience to watch a website for who knows how long and getting it in your cart and checking out before you miss out. The Paradigm Titanium 1 was Andy's first release and unfortunately for all of us more than a few of the initial buyers complained it was to aggressive or this man has a lot of neave for an unknown to charge the price he's charging for this razor and Andy I'm guessing and from what I've heard did not want to upset his future potential customers and took it off the market after releasing 51 for sale. I have the 17 4 which was Andy's next release and I think most of you know that story and a wonderful extremely well balanced razor it is! To me the Ti 1 exceeds the 17 4 in efficiency and although it has a bit more blade feel is still a very smooth shaver and again I'll say I have no clue how anyone could call this razor " Aggressive " as I find it a very efficient but smooth razor with wonderful maneuverability! In fact I'm going to be the first one to message Andy and call for the return of this great razor and I hope some of you will take my word for it how good it is an join me in sending in a message to Andy in hopes if he gets enough requests he may make it available again. Especially to this fan! What can you say about the Wolfman WR1 .94 DC? Well I can start it off by saying what an amazing razor. James fit and finish on his razors is well known as the best in business and even in my talks with other artisan razor makers they all give him a thumbs up on his work and some are fans as well who have one in their den. My good friend James aka @loot pushed James at Wolfman to up the gap for him from the highest offered .86 much to James warning that it was maybe be to aggressive. Well if James is reading this thread my friend this is not aggressive in anyway. Very Efficient YES! Smoothness is comparable to a few lesser efficient razors I can think of and in my opinion James nailed it with this gap as well as his .86 and my two personal favorites. I feel very fortunate to own one of these 2 razors ( Wolfman ) but also thankful that I got to use the Paradigm Ti 1 that Mark aka @Shavemd was kind enough to lend me for this Shave Off Showdown. It will be difficult to pack it up to send back but I'm hoping to be able to have one in my den one day.

Gear used: Well has you can see I had to pull out the PannaCrema Verde for todays Shave Off which is one of my top tier soaps that has amazing post shave properties and in fact other than my normal post shave routine using my Ice cube and refrigerated Thayers unscented witch hazel there was no need for an aftershave so I just went right to my Thierry Mugler Cologne for a great refreshing finish to a great shave! Used my Thater beehive two band and as I mentioned earlier a couple of brand new Feather blades for maximum efficiency out of these two razors.

On to the Shave Off: So I decided to two a two pass shave going WTG and ATG as I wanted to make sure to put them to the ATG test and how they handle it. Using my SSSST the whole shave with moderately aggressive skin stretching throughout the Shave Off again to get make performance out of the razors. I've had a lot of pm's about the SSST and more than a few phone conversations with members and I'll stress again. What you want to be thinking as you use it and move around the face is " I'm shaving a balloon " so I've got to keep my stretch tight and consistent while not putting any pressure on the razors!


1st Pass - WTG - On my face and neck. As you can see from the drawings as always I seperate my face in quadrants in order to give each razor one difficult part of my beard which are on my right side and one more easier side which is my left side to make things fair for both razors as doing a half face would certainly give the razor that got assigned to my easier to shave left side an advantage in a Shave Off like this just in case anyone was wondering. Anyway I picked up the Paradigm for the first WTG N to S pass and from the first couple of strokes I knew I had chosen the right blade and soap for this Shave Off as the Paradigm was gliding along like it was on ice skates all while mowing down my 3 day growth with no problem. Also the maneuverability of the razor is wonderful as was proven as I shaved under my nose and around my mouth. Excellent pass! Heading south I grabbed the WR1 and using the OC side of the dualie I continued the WTG pass and there's that cool sound that this razor makes! It's kind of odd and going back to my auto racing days we'd say the V8's that were in both the Chevy Corvettes and Ford Mustangs had their throating sound but the Dodge Viper had a unique almost hollow sound and I know this sounds strange but the Wolfman razors have sort of a hollow unique sound of their own. Yeah call me crazy! LOL Anyway gotta stay focused on the shave and the Wolfie was spot on in the way it basically wiped away my beard growth while not paying any attention to my nasty cowlick while providing me with another excellent pass! With the WR1 in hand I headed over to the left side of my face for the N to S pass and what can I say other than for such a very efficient razor it is so easy to shave with. Yes the sweet spot on this razor like all the Wolfman I have used is a small window but once found your in what I call shaving Nirvana! This razor with it's small profile head holds the blade very rigid if that means anything to you. I know for some this means nothing but for those with very sensitive skin this seems to be an subject of discussion so I thought I'd let you know what I've observed. So as expected on my easier to shave left side another excellent pass! Picked up the Paradigm and continued downward to the base of my neck using my 3 movement strokes and once again it was like the razor was ice skating across my neck. No hesitations just full throttle and I was done in no time with another excellent pass from the Ti 1. So finished with the WTG pass I rinised and I did a quick face feel and I can say if I wasn't trying for a level 2 BBS shave I just would have stopped right there and been more than happy with the shave I had gotten in just 1 pass with these two razors! WTG pass is done and it was a very enjoyable one to say the least!

2nd Pass - ATG on both face and neck. After lathering up, grabbing my barber towel for some good skin stretching along with the Wolfman I began my journey north with the ATG pass I decided as long as I had gotten such a excellent pass with the OC side of the DC I'd see how the SB does on the this pass and boy did it deliver! It was so smooth and because it had already devoured most of my growth on the last pass the audible feedback was noticeably much quieter than on the last pass. Shaved up to under my jawline and hand the reins over to the Paradigm to continue on the northbound trial. Oh and I almost forgot..excellent pass from the WR1! Paradigm is so easy to shave with on this pass with it's lighter than SS weight. I'm normally a high polished guy when it comes to my razors but I think on the Paradigm Ti the matte finish helps with grip and it's a wonderful razor as far as hand feel not to mention the great face feel from the Titanium. Audible noise was also lower than on the first pass and i forgot to mention the Paradigm has just a tad more blade feel than the WR1 but nothing off the charts for sure. Another wonderful pass from the Paradigm and I have to stop for a second to give props to the PannaCrema Verde soap for not only providing me with some awesome lather but for some really nice glide and I love the complex citrus scent of this soap! Heading over to my left side on my neck I did my towel stretch and heading N with the Paradigm and on this easier to shave side it was a walk in the park for this razor as it removed any stubble that might be peeking out from under my skin. Excellent quick pass. So on to the last and final pass of this Shave Off and the Wolfman just took over for the Paradigm and continued upward and I have to say at this point I'm really in my rhythm with both these razors and so can quote from the movie " Gone in 60 seconds " was whatever was remaining on my face as the Wolfman razor finished up what was a wonderful shave! In fact I have to be honest I almost wanted to do another pass to try for a BBS Level 3 as I was really enjoying this shave and didn't want it to end. I'm sure a lot of you can relate to that! But I restrained myself as I didn't want to have to wait 24 hrs to name a winner which could have happened with another pass if I went for a BBS level 3. So rinsed with warm water did an alum block test and no stinging to speak of on any part of my face or neck. Raised that and went to the fridge for my ice cube and Thayers for a rub and a splash. Headed back in to clean my gear and let my face dry. I did a face feel and pulled out the cotton and it was as I expected a solid BBS Level 2 on all 4 quadrants of my face! So at this point a tie ballgame!

Summary: As you may be guessing I will give this shave some time to see if my stubble grows out to where I can see if there is a clear winner and if not I'll go to the scoring system to find the winner. At this point as we've all said in my mind right now there is no loser for sure. This Shave Off was almost like a mini Spa experience for me. Relaxing and very enjoyable and a splash of the TM cologne was the icing on the cake. So I will let this Shave Off settle in for awhile and see if a winner emerges and I'll keep everyone updated.

Great Shaves my friends!

DB


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Awesome shave off! Can't wait to see which razor wins!!!

 

[Shavemd]

That is what I call a Close Shave victory LOL. Nice job my friend The good news is I will be able to use my Paradigm again. Both are awesome razors.

 

[loot]

Yeah, go Wolfman go! The 94 is a fantastic razor. Now I know the Ti 1 is, for all intents and purposes, it's equal.

Andy...count me in on a re-release of that monster!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[Sharp_Obsession]

How do we get James to offer the 0.94 again?

 

[loot]

How do we get James to offer the 0.94 again?

Order an 86. Send a polite email about your order number and ask for a 94. He will make it for you. AFAIK it's never been in the menu. I know he's done some 91s too

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[Shavemd]

That is exactly what I did and he responded very quickly that he would make me the 94

 

[AJSharp]

I’d certainly be interested in a Paradigm Ti1 or the 17-4 as I love my Ti2 so far. If you want to offload any of those or the other “losers” from the shave off ... I’m sure I’d im not interested plenty of others might be.

And what about that shave spa

 

[smurfups77]

That was another very close one it sounds like. That is a beautiful champ. The Wolfman razors seem to be at the top or very near in most of the categories. Like I said when we talked earlier it's inevitable that I will have a Wolfman, and sooner rather than later if possible. Hope you are doing well after your procedure.
Happy shaves my friend
Jason

 

[Joncr]

UPDATE:

Paradigm Ti 1 vs Wolfman SS WR1 .94

Sorry to keep you all waiting so long but I did wait to see how my beard would grow out and if I could tell if there was a clear winner. Well it took a lot longer than I thought it would as that was a long lasting shave. Also I had forgotten I had a Doctors appointment and went in and had a little unexpected procedure done. I'm ok so no big deal but it really put my whole day behind schedule so my apologies my friends. One thing about waiting this long I was able to recognize who the winner was and before I announce which one took the Championship round I'd like to say this Shave Off was extremely close. Both razors brought a good healthy dose of efficiency, smoothness, balance and maneuverability to this Championship round and in my humble opinion there really is no loser it was just one razors day to shine just a little bit brighter than the other. My beard started to grow out and at first it was a dead even tie for hours and hours and then the winner started to emerge as the two areas where the Paradigm started to show more growth than the Wolfman and after the point when I noticed it the difference in growth till now it's become even more noticeable.

The winner of this Shave Off and Champion of this " Very Efficient " category is the Wolfman SS WR1 .94 !!!



There was no reason to go to the scoring system as both these razors are so close in every category and for that reason being a bit more efficient and giving me a longer lasting shave I felt the winner was the WR1.

Also say major props to the Paradigm as it's one fantastic razor and if Andy is reading this I can tell you I know of at least 5 people that would put one in their cart in a NY second if you re -released the Ti 1 again! As you built one helluva razor!!

Great shaves my friends!

DB

The Champ!
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As one of your final comments, would appreciate your personal comments, reactions, preferences on the razors in each category. Particularly which one you enjoyed the most, which one surprised you the most, which one you would choose if you could only own one in each category?
Lastly the big question, if you could only use one razor for the rest of your life, which one would it be?
You spent an awful lot of time and effort and if these questions seem like too much work please ignore them and accept my thanks for all the information and pleasure this thread provided.

 

[beisler]

Great job Frank and congrats to the Wolfie. Andy,if you read this thread, please re make the Ti 1. Alot of profit for you here. Lol

 

[Sharp's]

Frank,
Thank you for the 3.5 months of rock star, seat of your pants entertainment .

How do we keep this going? This has turned into the most entertaining thread on B&B

 

[Sharp's]

Good morning my friend!



I’m also going to do a more in depth presentation of the SSSST technique with updated drawings as I have not had the time to work on those and they need to be completed as I’ve gotten a lot of requests for those. So this thread is far from complete. So when the next category is over repost your request and I’ll be more than glad to fulfill it!

Thank you and again my friend an excellent post!

Will there be video?

 

[Ray Settanta]

Thanks again, Frank, for all your hard work. I think everyone appreciates your efforts. (Except my wallet). Looking forward to reading your highlights and thoughts of the entire Shaveoff.