This handle is not for the faint of heart. 166 grams (handle only) 85 mm long, 20 mm wide, one handle to rule them all....THE ZEUS.
Here is the background story, *warning it is not very sexy. About one month ago I contacted Juan at UFO Razor Handles and started talking about creating some custom stuff. Juan shared some details about the current prototypes he and Raphael were working on and he also divulged details about some available offerings. I got to work thinking about what my "perfect " handle would be, thinking about length and width etc.
(Keep in mind I did not have the intention of creating the biggest and baddest I just wanted something that felt right in my hands and that allowed no effort while shaving.)
So after about a week of thinking and testing my handles noting pros and cons of each, I broke out the credit card and ordered 3 handles from my new buddies in Seville. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the first "Tornado" (see the picture) which I was told is a prototype that will be released some time this Christmas, the Goliath XL and my own brain child the "Zeus" which Raphael made to my specs. The Zeus is a absolute monster, I have never seen anything that even comes close to this thing plus it is even more beautiful that the Goliath's.
7 days later, 2 days shipping to reach customs in NYC and 5 days to reach upstate NY...I received the "Tornado" (Named by me) and the "Goliath XL" at the same time. The Goliath is close in length to the IKON OSS handle and although the knurling looks wicked, it is no where near the "grippyness" of the Weber or IKON handles. After using the IKON OSS handle, Weber Bulldog and the UFO I prefer the UFO knurling. I am going to get a little sarcastic but it is all in good fun . Now if I were on vaction roped in on the side of a cliff on mount Everest, and I wanted to make sure I didn't loose my grip I would take my Weber bulldog with me, not knocking the "grippyness" its just too much for me. The IKON OSS handle is one step down in "grippyness" however it has more of a brushed "bead blasted" feel and look to it which IMO makes it less aggressive, again a great choice however I find this handle to be too thin for my huge hands, I kept wanting MORE, something bigger and heavier....
What Raphael has done with the Zeus is amazing, the weight and balance makes any head a cutting machine. Its like using a Slant razor, seriously close shaves every time with no maneuvering problems.
Enter the UFO knurling : Beautiful museum quality work by Raphael. I am no curator, however I would venture to guess that after the apocalypse the Zeus will be unearthed for display of the best representation of shaving artwork. The knurling is deep and has all the grippyness one will ever need while not making shaving difficult. I find that the deeper knurling actually makes it harder to re-position the razor in my hands while shaving again YMMV. When you first see the Zeus you may think, this is just too big and too heavy, I say hold your comments for after you have tried the Zeus. Yes it cost more than probably 3 or 4 razors in your collection, yes it is heavy, yes the knurling is not as pronounced as its smaller bulldog brothers but for me it is just perfect.
Here are pictures, the Tornado and my baby the "Zeus" one handle to rule them all........ My wife is the picture taker, the pics you see are from Raphael and Juan as soon as she comes home today I will work on taking some new pictures of all my handles together.....
ENJOY and feel free to ask questions I am really looking forward to learning what everyone's thoughts are..
Best to all - MR. B.
.
Here is the background story, *warning it is not very sexy. About one month ago I contacted Juan at UFO Razor Handles and started talking about creating some custom stuff. Juan shared some details about the current prototypes he and Raphael were working on and he also divulged details about some available offerings. I got to work thinking about what my "perfect " handle would be, thinking about length and width etc.
(Keep in mind I did not have the intention of creating the biggest and baddest I just wanted something that felt right in my hands and that allowed no effort while shaving.)
So after about a week of thinking and testing my handles noting pros and cons of each, I broke out the credit card and ordered 3 handles from my new buddies in Seville. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the first "Tornado" (see the picture) which I was told is a prototype that will be released some time this Christmas, the Goliath XL and my own brain child the "Zeus" which Raphael made to my specs. The Zeus is a absolute monster, I have never seen anything that even comes close to this thing plus it is even more beautiful that the Goliath's.
7 days later, 2 days shipping to reach customs in NYC and 5 days to reach upstate NY...I received the "Tornado" (Named by me) and the "Goliath XL" at the same time. The Goliath is close in length to the IKON OSS handle and although the knurling looks wicked, it is no where near the "grippyness" of the Weber or IKON handles. After using the IKON OSS handle, Weber Bulldog and the UFO I prefer the UFO knurling. I am going to get a little sarcastic but it is all in good fun . Now if I were on vaction roped in on the side of a cliff on mount Everest, and I wanted to make sure I didn't loose my grip I would take my Weber bulldog with me, not knocking the "grippyness" its just too much for me. The IKON OSS handle is one step down in "grippyness" however it has more of a brushed "bead blasted" feel and look to it which IMO makes it less aggressive, again a great choice however I find this handle to be too thin for my huge hands, I kept wanting MORE, something bigger and heavier....
What Raphael has done with the Zeus is amazing, the weight and balance makes any head a cutting machine. Its like using a Slant razor, seriously close shaves every time with no maneuvering problems.
Enter the UFO knurling : Beautiful museum quality work by Raphael. I am no curator, however I would venture to guess that after the apocalypse the Zeus will be unearthed for display of the best representation of shaving artwork. The knurling is deep and has all the grippyness one will ever need while not making shaving difficult. I find that the deeper knurling actually makes it harder to re-position the razor in my hands while shaving again YMMV. When you first see the Zeus you may think, this is just too big and too heavy, I say hold your comments for after you have tried the Zeus. Yes it cost more than probably 3 or 4 razors in your collection, yes it is heavy, yes the knurling is not as pronounced as its smaller bulldog brothers but for me it is just perfect.
Here are pictures, the Tornado and my baby the "Zeus" one handle to rule them all........ My wife is the picture taker, the pics you see are from Raphael and Juan as soon as she comes home today I will work on taking some new pictures of all my handles together.....
ENJOY and feel free to ask questions I am really looking forward to learning what everyone's thoughts are..
Best to all - MR. B.
.