Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
"Best Quality". The ultimate misnomer. Calling it "Best" doesn't make it good. The BL is nice of course, but you expect that, for the price.
Unscientific Poll - My next New Straight Razor between a Boker or a Dovo
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One of my favorite razors is a Red Injun 102.
Boker seems to have much better quality control than Dovo.
I can't vote, I have never used either brand. To my mind they sit close together in terms of quality. I think you'll be happy either way & it will come down to aesthetics.
That pretty much sums it up - at least for current production razors.
For vintage razors the picture is more balanced.
B.
This is the Boker that I used today and a very nice shave it was.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
How long ago was your assessment of Dovo Slash? We’re getting some years under the belt you know and things change over time.
Here’s an image of an 8/8 Boker King Cutter from a friend of mine. I’m waiting for the unwarped Dovo version (not really).
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Talk about "Eye Candy". I do believe that I am smitten!
Beautiful works of art!!!
This is my modest collection of Bokers, they are quite attractive razors.
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
The most recent Dovo acquisition is a new Carre. Honed it up a few days ago, shaved with it yesterday. Performed nicely. After three lemons in a row, I won't touch a "Best Quality", a "Special" or any of that ilk. TBH they are no worse than the GD66 from 10 years or so ago, but when you pay $70 vs under $4, you have reason to expect better. I have a Pearlex Bismarck on the way and I will probably buy another just so I have 7 new ones, then maybe I will work on acquiring 7 vintage ones. I know I have three, and I think I have yet another somewhere.
I rather liked the Prima Klang, an extra full hollow, but I would like to see it in 6/8 rather than 5/8. Mostly with Dovo I stick to the Bismarck style razors, except I don't care for the Flowing or the Forme.
First experience with the Dovo brand was my first straight razor, going on 40 years ago, I guess. Of course my skill level was woefully inadequate to deal with a wonky razor at the time, but even now I would do a face palm at the usual faults. Over the next 25 years or so, I tried two more, one another Best, one a Conk rebrand. By that time I understood what had to be done but I was still not pleased. I very much learned my lesson by the third one. I won't kick the football any more and I categorically declare Dovo's entry level blades to be a bad purchase. Three for three? I am not interested in a fourth go.
I am sure every major manufacturer ends up with some crappy blades. The difference is Boker tosses them, and Dovo etches them "Best Quality" or a couple of other marks, and sells them. That's my take on it.
For a newbie, I would say a new entry level Dovo is a definite do not buy, unless it has been honed by the vendor and honed correctly, fixing the defects instead of just working with them. A newbie deserves a razor that he can hone, when he is ready to start honing, without any extraordinary preliminaries like straightening a warped blade or fixing an edge that is not in parallel with the spine. I have never had such issues with a Dovo Bismarck.
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Beautiful collection! You seem to have a Boker problem like my Thiers Issard and LeGrelot problem.
Fantastic!!!
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I have a new Boker Edelweiss that is a very nice razor and came shave ready but I need to work on it a bit more. I had a mid level Dovo in 5/8 that I didn’t care for and sold it. There was nothing wrong with it but it didn’t suit me somehow. I have three pre Dovo Bismarck’s that are spectacular: all three are 9/16 - my favorite blade width. If you ever run across one of those, jump on it regardless of size.
My Carre is a fine razor and needed nothing more than finish honing - or in my case the diamond pasted balsa strop progression.
Royal Shave used to have a heck of a deal on the Carre, maybe they still have some left.
Razors, not a problem. Photographic evidence, at my house? Could be a problem...
I have a dozen or so of each and I find them all to be wonderful razors. I even have a notorious "Best Quality" and it's a fine razor IMHO. If I had to choose one over the other, I think Bokers are generally more aesthetically pleasing and ergonomically superior.
I would go with Boker i have the vintage ones but modern bismark and a vintage one, the vintage bismark it has a wicked edge but I cannot get the modern one to the same level.
Now boker it doesn't matter they all take a wicked edge and keep it way longer. but at the end of the day its your choice
Now boker it doesn't matter they all take a wicked edge and keep it way longer. but at the end of the day its your choice
A quick count... and came up with 50. That has to be the perfect number... now you can buy and sell.... or donate.. to keep the half a century mark.
Beautiful collection, seriously.... I have my grandfather's Shumate from the early 1900s... a pedestrian razor at best, but it's a nice keepsake. I loved him a lot. But I won't buy a new or new to me straight. I know, I'd go straight down the rabbit hole, immediately. They are so beautiful. I'm too scared to learn to shave with a straight razor at my age. My hands aren't as steady as they once were. I'll have to stick with my Claymore Evolution... close as I can get to a straight.
Thanks for sharing your collection with us.
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