What to Expect When You’re Expecting? RazoRock Hawk V2 Edition

[dmshaver]

This is a great thread to read, I love the sharing of information from numerous folks! AC razors sure provide a wonderful shave, it just takes time getting the technique down for using the wider blade. Enjoy the journey.

 

[thombrogan]

The width of the blade is fantastic. It's the world's sharpest putty knife! Hoping I keep some; but not too much; water out of the suds tonight

 

[thombrogan]

Got a wee bit better with the lather, but not good enough. Shave was slightly worse, but my fault. Have more rest and more ideas for next

 

[thombrogan]

After shave #3 was worse than the preceding, I moved back to the FaTip and tried learning shallow-angle shaving better. Tried buffing passes and had a variety of “why’d I ever pack up my 2013-R41 Mühle?!” moments.

During that time, I kept reading the sacred texts (journals and clubs and brotherhoods posts here) and ordered stuff from Tryablade (a few Schick Proline P-30 blades for the Hawk V2 and various DE blades) and kept ’buffing’ away at a glacial pace wondering when it’d get faster.

Friday and the Schick Proline P-30s arrived. Would they transmogrify my shaves back into joy and efficiency and my beard area into a baby-smooth and irritation-free patch of dermis? Maybe if I knew what I was doing and maybe if my buffing strokes were at a speed associated with buffing and maybe if I could shallow-angle from bottom of chin to front of chin without planting the blade into my face, all the aces it would be.

To get around my chin and clean up around my jawline, I used a steeper angle. And it worked! Made a furtive look around the shower to make sure no one would correct what I was about to do (because that’s the worst thing that could happen if a stranger was lurking in my shower…) and redid my whole shave with the RazoRock Hawk V2 at a steep angle. At great cost of time and skin irritation, BBS achieved. Alum block had words for me.

So last night, went all steep, all ATG, no buffing, and single pass over most of face (AC blade has some overlap…) and got somewhere between clean comfortable and socially acceptable shaves with only one wiry neck hair left behind and the alum only pinged a teeny spot on my upper lip! And it wasn’t time-consuming!

So the can’t waits are:

Going for a closer shave than last without extra irritation and without spending significantly more time.

Digging out Kai Captain Mild, sterilizing it, and seeing how well it stacks up to Schick Proline P-30 and then seeing if the currently more affordable Feather Pros and Super Pros are also steep-angle champs

Seeing if my skin will stop looking like I shave with deli equipment.

I feel very bad I couldn’t use the razor properly - especially after receiving expert help, but I’ve unlocked the power the RazoRock BlackHawk V2 ! So that’s nice.

 

[Rosseforp]

So last night, went all steep, all ATG, no buffing, and single pass over most of face (AC blade has some overlap…) and got somewhere between clean comfortable and socially acceptable shaves with only one wiry neck hair left behind and the alum only pinged a teeny spot on my upper lip! And it wasn’t time-consuming!

Well there ya go, now you need to check out some of the SASA threads. I just got my SE1 and have found I can shave ATG on the first pass with a VERY steep angle, the handle is almost parallel to my face, and get ZERO irritation. I am using Proguards now, got some Prolines on order, but they are on a slow boat from Japan...........

 

[thombrogan]

Thanks so much! I’ve read it in the past (as a fanboi of steep-angled shaving with the Mühle 2013-R41, it was the second place I grokked after nomming wisdom in the Beast fan club thread), but should re-read it again.

Next two steep-angled shaves with the RazoRock BlackHawk V2 and Schick Proline P30 were better. First was a mostly single pass and no buffing one again. No alum sting that time. Today was three passes, teeny bits of clean up, 80% BBS and DFS and the alum block said I was only partially an idiot - much less so than when I usually get a BBS finish (probably because I stopped at 80% or so…). Oops. Felt my chin. Make that 65-70% BBS…

Anyways, don’t know if the Prolines made everything better or just gave me courage. Hope they’re everything you’re wanting and more.

 

[thombrogan]

@Rosseforp, I've gotten back into the SASA thread and panning its gold again. Thanks!

I feel bad using the RazoRock BlackHawk V2 steep so soon because it looks like I took @never-stop-learning ' so guidance and chucked it. I think; done properly; shallow angle shaving is more skin-friendly than how I shave, but I haven't got the knack of it yet. Maybe after I get what I'm seeking with steep shaving I'll check back on shallow angle

 

[4ckb]

I like my Hawk V2 for an occasional change of pace but it can't hold a candle to my go-to Type E injector regardless of which blade is in the V2.

 

[thombrogan]

Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, @4ckb! Have heard others praise the same Injector lineage and found myself looking at some on Etsy and the 'Bay. The synthetic butterscotch and brass pairing looks top notch.

Went shallow last night despite not being ready with my protective, surfactant layer. Top lip was stoked and neck is raw. Neck and alum block bickered like Matthau and Lemmon in the 'Grumpy Old Men' franchise, so back to steeper shaves until I develop a bulletproof lather.

I'm sure the dire warnings on the DuPont wax/Teflon bottle are serious, so searching lots of posts here for the less toxic alternative for whiskers.

Used steep, the RazoRock BlackHawk V2 is a whole lot of awesome, but it makes scarcely forgiving promises about the magic it can wrought shallowly.

Feel foolish even wanting the promise of its steely boi V3 version

 

[Rob72]

I will say, I have the Hawk V2, Mongoose, the Asylum RX, and multiple Schicks, and have had the ATT SE 1. The RX is it for me. Not as toothy as the Mongoose, much more efficient than the Hawk and ATT, and not nearly as forgiving as Schick.

 

[thombrogan]

The RX is it for me.

In photos, it sure is one spiffy stubble slaughterer.

You said it's less forgiving than your Injector. What about it makes you prefer it? Efficiency? Post shave feel? Walking the wire edge between insanity and more insanity?

 

[Rosseforp]

Went shallow last night despite not being ready with my protective, surfactant layer. Top lip was stoked and neck is raw. Neck and alum block bickered like Matthau and Lemmon in the 'Grumpy Old Men' franchise, so back to steeper shaves until I develop a bulletproof lather.

 

[thombrogan]

Make that bloody buddy chonky and it's my second shave with a Maggards V3A head.

Sweet razor: cuts efficiently, but mixes the inability to ride the comb with a flexible blade. When not gutting my jowls, riding that razor's cap gave the same long-lasting BBS shave one obtains from booping the comb of a Mühle 2013-R41

 

[Rob72]

In photos, it sure is one spiffy stubble slaughterer.

You said it's less forgiving than your Injector. What about it makes you prefer it? Efficiency? Post shave feel? Walking the wire edge between insanity and more insanity?

If you THINK you know what "No Pressure" means, you'll definitely learn. Hey, I'm honest- the first time I used a Gen 1912, I was a bloody mess. It took 3 shaves to not look like an extra in a zombie movie.

My first night with the RX was, "Wow! I have to really step my game up!", and that was after 2 years having and using the famed Le Coq cage-comb.

The RX gives me a 12 hour shave, without fail. I don't need one, but darn, it's nice! And, once you have the feel for using it, it really is effortless.

 

[thombrogan]

Thanks, @Rob72 ! Sounds like a ninja that rededicated its life to making smooth miracles: Wicked helpful, still heckin' deadly. I'm not a No-Pressure muchacho, so that'd be an early grave or impetus to get a Billy Gibbons beard like my Pop has.

Shave before last had slightly overwatered Aveeno Therapeutic Shave gel bowl lathered. Almost let me get away with idiocy. Shave lasted past 12 hours, but soo irritating.

Last night's shave featured Aveeno Therapeutic Shave Gel schmeered unceremonioisly on my face and neck. Odd, as I have a ceremony rehearsed…. Started steep, but got greedy. Barely any residual slickness this time made me choose between paying a little and paying a lot for shallow, push the cap deep/avoid feeling blade/seek feeling "sound" of cutting shenanigans. Went steep to get the persistent wire hairs sporadically inhabiting neck and then took punishment from the alum. Most of the 'missed' hairs on neck are uniformly trimmed.

I want a non-irritating long-lasting BBS shave. I don't have the skills, so it's up to alchemy for now

 

[thombrogan]

Thanks to ShaverAZ’s Cremogena Plus, the alchemy is there, but it only prevents most of the damage. It‘s tough keeping steep when there’s a promised land of 12 hour-plus BBS smoothness just lurking under the surface. The razor itself would do it easily if it was in anyone else’s hand, so pretending I have patient hands is the next step.

 

[thombrogan]

The RazoRock BlackHawk V2 might need a wee bit more blade exposure for easier shallow-angle shaves based on @Esox’s observations of my struggles.

Will the Hawk V3 and its new plates work even better? I’d like to find out.

 

[thombrogan]

Changed shaving creams last night and the RazoRock BlackHawk V2 lived up to all my expectations. Still want that V3 Hawk with two of its plates, but my joy with this bub increased once its blade liked my whiskers more than my skin.

Used dollar store conditioner. So I’m expecting even better when I get better lathering real shaving cream.

 

[thombrogan]

So I found the neutral position on this razor last night. It looks like there’s only steep or shallow.

If you start from either extreme and tilt its head until you feel the edge of both the cap and comb, it’s like finding a hidden video game level. The blade feels far more prominent and everything just comes together.