It arrived in yesterday's mail.
Background: I don't like aggressive DE razors and I don't like blade feel in a DE razor. Right, so why in the world did I buy a Knight Helmet, known for blade feel and extreme aggression?
I don't really know, except that the idea of the fearsome DE that couldn't be safely wielded was intriguing to me. I also have always thought that it looked cool, design-wise. As far as how fierce it is, I saw a video on YouTube of an elderly woman shaving her face with it. She kept saying that the blade feel was tremendous, but I didn't see her getting horribly disfigured. That, and the fact that I shave with shavettes 4 times a week made me think maybe I could handle it..........
I was buying a Sagrada Familia brush with birthday money, and I saw the Knight Helmet there for something like $5 and I thought, why not?
Disclaimer: I only use DE for certain clean-up duty, because I use shavettes for every shave, so I haven't actually had a full shave with it yet (and may never). I usually get the sideburns and about a half-inch down from the sideburns with a DE, and the corners of my mouth after the first pass. After the second pass I usually clean up along the jawline, and sometimes below the mouth +/- the chin and mustache area.
So, how was it?
I loaded it up with a Polsilver SI blade and attached it to a UFO Titan Fine L handle. Right off the bat I could definitely feel the blade, that's for sure. Loaded up it has a lot of blade reveal and you can see that the exposure is high, too, if you hold it just right. But the sideburns went ok. I did a bit more on the right side of the face on the cheek just to see how it felt, and it shaved great with a fair bit of blade feel.
When i was doing the corner of the mouth on the right it felt a bit harsh at one point. I think I got too steep there on one swipe. I was really worried about the jawline, which is a tough spot on both sides that I usually clean up with an extremely mild razor like a post-war Tech. But I went at it with the Knight Helmet, and it went fine.
Here's how I did it: 1) I went EXTREMELY shallow, so much so that at first I could see in the lather the cutouts in the topcap, then just barely moved it from there. 2) I had an EXTREMELY light touch. It almost felt like I was lifting the razor OFF of my face at times, but I was still maintaining contact. I could hear the stubble being cut, but could barely feel the razor on my face.
Used in this way, the razor did a great job on clean-up and I had no irritation or redness whatsoever.
So, after a partial shave, I'd have to say that the Knight Helmet would definitely not be a great choice for a beginner, but for someone with experience and good technique, it can be tamed by using an extremely shallow angle and light touch. I didn't really feel like the blade had a lot of chatter, despite the large amount of blade reveal; the blade seats into the top cap pretty firmly, and is bent to a point that allows a fair bit of stiffness of the blade despite the overhang.
In short, it's actually not a bad razor, but you have to know what you are doing. I have been doing old-school wetshaving since 2009 and have tackled straight razors and shavettes, so for me it wasn't bad at all. The price was certainly right. If you have good technique and want to try a more challenging razor, give it a go!
Background: I don't like aggressive DE razors and I don't like blade feel in a DE razor. Right, so why in the world did I buy a Knight Helmet, known for blade feel and extreme aggression?
I don't really know, except that the idea of the fearsome DE that couldn't be safely wielded was intriguing to me. I also have always thought that it looked cool, design-wise. As far as how fierce it is, I saw a video on YouTube of an elderly woman shaving her face with it. She kept saying that the blade feel was tremendous, but I didn't see her getting horribly disfigured. That, and the fact that I shave with shavettes 4 times a week made me think maybe I could handle it..........
I was buying a Sagrada Familia brush with birthday money, and I saw the Knight Helmet there for something like $5 and I thought, why not?
Disclaimer: I only use DE for certain clean-up duty, because I use shavettes for every shave, so I haven't actually had a full shave with it yet (and may never). I usually get the sideburns and about a half-inch down from the sideburns with a DE, and the corners of my mouth after the first pass. After the second pass I usually clean up along the jawline, and sometimes below the mouth +/- the chin and mustache area.
So, how was it?
I loaded it up with a Polsilver SI blade and attached it to a UFO Titan Fine L handle. Right off the bat I could definitely feel the blade, that's for sure. Loaded up it has a lot of blade reveal and you can see that the exposure is high, too, if you hold it just right. But the sideburns went ok. I did a bit more on the right side of the face on the cheek just to see how it felt, and it shaved great with a fair bit of blade feel.
When i was doing the corner of the mouth on the right it felt a bit harsh at one point. I think I got too steep there on one swipe. I was really worried about the jawline, which is a tough spot on both sides that I usually clean up with an extremely mild razor like a post-war Tech. But I went at it with the Knight Helmet, and it went fine.
Here's how I did it: 1) I went EXTREMELY shallow, so much so that at first I could see in the lather the cutouts in the topcap, then just barely moved it from there. 2) I had an EXTREMELY light touch. It almost felt like I was lifting the razor OFF of my face at times, but I was still maintaining contact. I could hear the stubble being cut, but could barely feel the razor on my face.
Used in this way, the razor did a great job on clean-up and I had no irritation or redness whatsoever.
So, after a partial shave, I'd have to say that the Knight Helmet would definitely not be a great choice for a beginner, but for someone with experience and good technique, it can be tamed by using an extremely shallow angle and light touch. I didn't really feel like the blade had a lot of chatter, despite the large amount of blade reveal; the blade seats into the top cap pretty firmly, and is bent to a point that allows a fair bit of stiffness of the blade despite the overhang.
In short, it's actually not a bad razor, but you have to know what you are doing. I have been doing old-school wetshaving since 2009 and have tackled straight razors and shavettes, so for me it wasn't bad at all. The price was certainly right. If you have good technique and want to try a more challenging razor, give it a go!
