Today’s shave is more interesting than usual, since Victor Marks arranged for me to be one of the few evaluating this one-off of a slant-oriented head made by Stringbag (his Reddit handle). For now he is not planning on doing any production, so please don’t bombard him with requests, wanting to be on a wait list, etc. There is no wait list and he has not made any plans to produce razors. He just made an interesting head and wanted to see what others thought of it after using it. He is happy to answer questions about the design.
I received the head (which seems to be unplated brass), and I used an iKon Bulldog handle.
First, of course, I did a good prep: the usual beard wash with MR GLO, then the Chiseled Face brush shown, which I like a lot, made a superb lather from Meißner Tremonia’s Black Beer No. 1. I continue to be a big Meißner Tremonia fan. In the US, you can get their shaving soaps and shaving paste (sort of a dense shaving cream) from StraightRazorDesigns.com.
Then the razor. It seems to be a slant of sorts:
Note the slanted guard, though the blade didn’t seem to slant a lot. The cap also slants, but horizontally rather than vertically. Indeed, the razor almost seems to be a slant with the slant done in the horizontal plane, so that in shaving position it does seem to assume the guillotine position: a blade slanted in the plane in which cutting occurs.
I don’t quite understand the design, but then I don’t understand the details of many of the razors I use, details that are absolutely crucial to manufacturing the razor but that are of little use to the person using the razor. The user is not so much interested in knowing the detailed specifications necessary for manufacturing (that is, in how the razor achieves its results), but rather in the results themselves: whether the razor is comfortable, giving a smooth and trouble-free shave without requiring perfection in technique, and whether the razor is efficient, easily and effectively removing stubble to achieve an effortless BBS. I actually was just discussing this in a thread on Wicked Edge with someone who was interested in the details (measurements, etc.) of the specifications, details that I, as a user, have always found to be irrelevant to me (though obviously of central importance to the manufacturer). If you start giving me details of dimensions and angles and materials, my interest starts dwindling to, “Yeah, yeah, okay” because I don’t have the knowledge and experience that would give meaning to those. I get my impressions of the razor from using it, not from knowing detailed measurements. For example, blade exposure is doubtless important—too much makes the razor harsh, too little makes it inefficient—but I don’t know the right amount in terms of a number or in terms of the effects of guard shape, cap curvature, and so on. But let me shave with it, and I can definitely offer opinions on feel and on performance.
So with this head, what do I find? An amazingly good and comfortable shave. My first impression (and I’m going to shave with it again tomorrow) is of a comfort and efficiency on par with the iKon Shavecraft 102: extremely comfortable and extremely efficient. I had no problem at all in locating a good angle, though it’s always important to experiment a bit. The blade is a Personna Lab Blue, a good all-round brand for me.
Three passes, no problems, BBS result. I really like this razor.
A good splash of Anthony Gold Red Cedar aftershave (from The Copper Hat in Victoria BC), and the day begins on a very nice note.
Filed under: Shaving
