That's gotta hurt.
YAQI KNIGHT HELMET
- Thread starter Mitzie
- Start date
That's gotta hurt.
As luck would have it I used mine for the first time this morning. Loaded with a Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellow and using Proraso Green it was fine. It is aggressive but honestly it wasn't a big deal. Like others have mentioned it's in the R41 neighborhood but it falls a little short of that.
I love my R41 but it does not cut though 2 days of growth with a new Feather blade without tugging. I'd like to try something more efficient. I'm curious if you remember which blade you used?
I've used several. Astra, Crown, Personna, Nacet to name a few...
M
mtcn77
Hi, that is not so bad for guard-riding. Some good 'blade feel' DE blade is a must, though - less than sharp, but not skipping any beard. I use Shark with the slant in perfect harmony.
I have one , I quite like it but then I like the R41 and Ikon Tech , it is definitely fairly efficient.
Earlier in the thread I posted a morbid fascination with this razor despite my overall preference for mild DEs. Well, I was ordering a brush from aliexpress and I just had to throw one of these heads into my cart.
I have shaved with it three times. I never have more than 48 hours growth.
As others have mentioned, it is incredibly blade forward. More blade feel than my AC shavettes! Having said that, it actually shaves pretty well, with a light touch. I always ride the cap and shave as shallow as a razor will allow. I have not tried it with a steep angle.
It holds the blade more solidly than one would expect because of how tightly the blade fits into the top cap.
I don't really love shaving with it, but I don't hate it, either. For now it will stay in the den.
I have shaved with it three times. I never have more than 48 hours growth.
As others have mentioned, it is incredibly blade forward. More blade feel than my AC shavettes! Having said that, it actually shaves pretty well, with a light touch. I always ride the cap and shave as shallow as a razor will allow. I have not tried it with a steep angle.
It holds the blade more solidly than one would expect because of how tightly the blade fits into the top cap.
I don't really love shaving with it, but I don't hate it, either. For now it will stay in the den.
OK, took one for the team today, and pulled this baby back out. 2.5 days growth. Loaded it up with a Polsilver SI that had maybe two shaves on it.
Took a good look at this monster before I started the shave, pretended like i was going to run it along the inside of my forearm, just to make an observation, and that observation is this: the huge blade gap is NOT the reason this razor is blade-forward and aggressive. The blade EXPOSURE is. There is no angle at all that will allow both the top cap and the baseplate to touch your skin at the same time. If you go shallow and ride the cap, you get blade and then cap and the baseplate is floating in the air OFF your skin. Likewise, if you try steep angle shaving, the baseplate and then the blade touch your skin, but the top cap is floating in the air. If the baseplate extended out another mm or so before it curved off into oblivion, the razor would be a lot easier to use without hurting oneself.
I had originally planned to do something like shave half my face with the Knight Helmet and the other half with my Mythus shavette, just to compare them. But after I lathered up my most protective/cushioned soap into a gorgeous lather, I decided to do the entire first pass with the Knight Helmet.
I went quite slowly and paid close attention to the angle and used a very light pressure. Shaving with this razor reminds me of stunt shaving, to be honest. It felt like I had just glued or taped a DE blade onto a popsicle stick. I mean, you can shave that way, and I suppose there is a real sense of accomplishment when you finish, but it's just unnecessarily difficult; meant to show off, in a way. That's how shaving with this thing felt, although when I rode the cap and went lightly, there was no tugging and no discomfort at all. Just blade feel. All blade feel.
After a complete pass, I checked the result. Wow. Could've stopped right there and been beyond SAS; essentially CCS almost everywhere. That would be one application of this razor; a guy could shave every 3 days or so with a single pass and be done with it.
For the sake of science, though, I persevered and pressed on with an XTG pass, but this one I did with my Mythus AC shavette. This is a clone of the Kai Luffy. It has a fair bit more blade exposure than the actual Kai Luffy and definitely more than my Feather SS. It does have a tiny lip at the leading edge but it's about half the size of the one on the Feather. In short, it is my most aggressive replaceable-blade shavette.
In comparison with the Knight Helmet, the Mythus was smooth and more comfortable, with less blade feel. Yes, it has less blade feel even though it's an OPEN BLADE. There was a tiny bit of stubble left to remove after the Knight Helmet pass, and I heard the Mythus doing its work.
Final result? DFS. Needed a tiny bit of jawline touch-up and a bit just to the right of the Adam's apple. It was comfortable throughout, although there was one tiny area of mild irritation on the left mid-neck; I'm not sure if it was the result of the Knight Helmet pass or the Mythus shavette pass. But it was only a tiny bit of irritation and the rest of my face was smooth and comfortable.
Conclusions? I definitely feel a sense of pride and accomplishment that I can get a smooth, comfortable shave with this beast. It is not safe for use by anybody without a lot of traditional wet-shaving experience. My well over 600 open blade shaves were crucial training for me to use this razor without fear. NOT for a beginner or for the faint-hearted.
Took a good look at this monster before I started the shave, pretended like i was going to run it along the inside of my forearm, just to make an observation, and that observation is this: the huge blade gap is NOT the reason this razor is blade-forward and aggressive. The blade EXPOSURE is. There is no angle at all that will allow both the top cap and the baseplate to touch your skin at the same time. If you go shallow and ride the cap, you get blade and then cap and the baseplate is floating in the air OFF your skin. Likewise, if you try steep angle shaving, the baseplate and then the blade touch your skin, but the top cap is floating in the air. If the baseplate extended out another mm or so before it curved off into oblivion, the razor would be a lot easier to use without hurting oneself.
I had originally planned to do something like shave half my face with the Knight Helmet and the other half with my Mythus shavette, just to compare them. But after I lathered up my most protective/cushioned soap into a gorgeous lather, I decided to do the entire first pass with the Knight Helmet.
I went quite slowly and paid close attention to the angle and used a very light pressure. Shaving with this razor reminds me of stunt shaving, to be honest. It felt like I had just glued or taped a DE blade onto a popsicle stick. I mean, you can shave that way, and I suppose there is a real sense of accomplishment when you finish, but it's just unnecessarily difficult; meant to show off, in a way. That's how shaving with this thing felt, although when I rode the cap and went lightly, there was no tugging and no discomfort at all. Just blade feel. All blade feel.
After a complete pass, I checked the result. Wow. Could've stopped right there and been beyond SAS; essentially CCS almost everywhere. That would be one application of this razor; a guy could shave every 3 days or so with a single pass and be done with it.
For the sake of science, though, I persevered and pressed on with an XTG pass, but this one I did with my Mythus AC shavette. This is a clone of the Kai Luffy. It has a fair bit more blade exposure than the actual Kai Luffy and definitely more than my Feather SS. It does have a tiny lip at the leading edge but it's about half the size of the one on the Feather. In short, it is my most aggressive replaceable-blade shavette.
In comparison with the Knight Helmet, the Mythus was smooth and more comfortable, with less blade feel. Yes, it has less blade feel even though it's an OPEN BLADE. There was a tiny bit of stubble left to remove after the Knight Helmet pass, and I heard the Mythus doing its work.
Final result? DFS. Needed a tiny bit of jawline touch-up and a bit just to the right of the Adam's apple. It was comfortable throughout, although there was one tiny area of mild irritation on the left mid-neck; I'm not sure if it was the result of the Knight Helmet pass or the Mythus shavette pass. But it was only a tiny bit of irritation and the rest of my face was smooth and comfortable.
Conclusions? I definitely feel a sense of pride and accomplishment that I can get a smooth, comfortable shave with this beast. It is not safe for use by anybody without a lot of traditional wet-shaving experience. My well over 600 open blade shaves were crucial training for me to use this razor without fear. NOT for a beginner or for the faint-hearted.
M
mtcn77
Wow!
Mr. John Shaves 101 has made short work of this razor;
Mr. John Shaves 101 has made short work of this razor;
I use my KNIGHT-HELMET in rotation, but shaving session is a little longer because the razor more aggressive than my other stuff. But if you like super aggressive head you'd better buy Slant - Open Comb Head v3 - Advanced – The Wet Shaving Co ~ YAQI Shaving or YAQI GlobeTrotter Slant DE Safety Razor - Brass (Agamemnon) – The Wet Shaving Co ~ YAQI Shaving.
M
mtcn77
I haven't noticed Yaqi GlobeTrotter was made of brass until you mentioned. The Knight's Helmet should rather be named Thor's Hammer, or was it due to copyright that they didn't?
I bought my Yaqi Knight Helmet 10 days ago. I tried with different blades and today I made a side by side comparison with R41.
Once I received the Knight Helmet, the blade exposure, rather then the blade gap drew my attention. I gave a try with Gillette Platinum(1). I noticed that this is an aggressive razor but not scary one, like Yaqi Slant.
Aggressivness wise, I placed somewhere close to R41.
Today I Started a side by side comparison. I had two days growth and I used fresh Shark platinums on both razors.
I had two pass WTG on both side of my face.
R41 side is more comfortable, Yaqi Helmet side is a very tiny amount of more effective. Yaqi Helmet makes you feel the blade more then the R41.
Both R41 and Knight Helmet covers the blade tab, so there is no danger of ear or nose nicks due to the blade overhang.
If you already have a R41 there is no reason to give a try to Yaqi Knight Helmet. If you are a daily shaver, there is no reason to buy Yaqi Knight Helmet after a few shaves this might irritate the sensitive skins.
If your shave routine is weekly and if you don't have a R41 you can buy the head only and use with any handle compatible with M6 type screw.
On the long run I will keep R41.
Once I received the Knight Helmet, the blade exposure, rather then the blade gap drew my attention. I gave a try with Gillette Platinum(1). I noticed that this is an aggressive razor but not scary one, like Yaqi Slant.
Aggressivness wise, I placed somewhere close to R41.
Today I Started a side by side comparison. I had two days growth and I used fresh Shark platinums on both razors.
I had two pass WTG on both side of my face.
R41 side is more comfortable, Yaqi Helmet side is a very tiny amount of more effective. Yaqi Helmet makes you feel the blade more then the R41.
Both R41 and Knight Helmet covers the blade tab, so there is no danger of ear or nose nicks due to the blade overhang.
If you already have a R41 there is no reason to give a try to Yaqi Knight Helmet. If you are a daily shaver, there is no reason to buy Yaqi Knight Helmet after a few shaves this might irritate the sensitive skins.
If your shave routine is weekly and if you don't have a R41 you can buy the head only and use with any handle compatible with M6 type screw.
On the long run I will keep R41.
Lefonque
Even more clueless than you
I don’t know, just the look scares me.
I agree the cap is down right ugly, but the razor works pretty darn good.
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