Just received the new ATT Calypso R1 in the mail today and immediately unwrapped it. I never owned any other ATT razor before as the stainless steel razors were out of my price range (although I have been saving up for the SE2). Upon examining the razor, what immediately caught my eye was the blue base plate. No real surprise as that was in all of the pictures of the razor. What I did find interesting was the grey top cap and handle. From certain angles, it appeared to have a bronze or brown tint to it making it an interesting looking razor. Getting past that, I found the finish to be amazing. This is a machined aluminum razor and not cast aluminum and it truly exudes quality. I started to take notice of the machined aluminum razors when I got my Ikon X3 and later the RR Hawk and Ikon El Jefe. I think this is the way to go to make quality razors for the masses. Comparing the Calypso to the other three mentioned, I found it to be a step above. The machining was very good and the anodizing had no flaws. The bottom of the top cap did show some roughness, however nothing that would affect the shave. This, I believe, is the ATT quality that many have talked about.
First thing I noticed about the head was that the two large holes and big pins were missing. In addition, there were no slots running the length of the base plate, or tabs on the corner of the top cap, or any other normal ways of holding a blade. There were just two small pins on the top cap which fit into two small holes on the base plate. I was hesitant to load a blade when there were such small guides, but it worked perfectly. Screwing on the top cap, the blade held securely and upon examination, the blade was properly aligned and the gap appeared even. The blade ends did stick out a little, but not significantly enough to make it hard to hold the head when assembling the razor. I initially did have some problems with screwing in the handle as it wanted to cross thread at first, but keeping it straight and a couple of times screwing the handle on and off corrected this problem.
According to the ATT site, the Calypso weighed 40 grams fully assembled, which is about the same as the RR Hawk. The Calypso is definitely a very light razor, but felt very balanced in hand and the medium sized handle with deep grooves definitely helped. According to what I read, the handle was an Atlas pattern on a Kronos length and it worked great. I decided to have my first shave with the original handle just to see if things worked out right.
Whenever I try out a new razor, I will take a previously used blade from another razor because I have found in the past that a semi dull blade has a tendency to accentuate the attributes of a new razor so that I can better get a feel for it. I took the blade from my Schick Krona (which I shaved with the night before) and loaded it into the Calypso. I also used the same brush and soap from the night before, which was a very worn VDH boar brush and a sandalwood scented glycerin soap from a local Farmer's Market. Not very exquisite, but it gave me a thick lather loaded with a ton of Bentonite clay.
First pass was WTG and I noticed that the Calypso preferred a shallow angle. The head I was using was the R head which was the mid aggressive one. It did that perfectly. I could feel the blade on my face, but it did not feel like it was taking off layers of skin. Auditory feedback was present, but not very loud. In shaving with my Ikon X3 and RR Hawk, I am believing that auditory feedback is just the nature of a lighter head. The first pass was very efficient and comfortable.
Second pass was ATG and because the first pass was so efficient, there was almost no auditory feedback. One thing I found out quickly was the ease in changing my shaving angle. There were times with this pass when I lost the head on my face because the Calypso was so light and it was cutting efficiently. Again, a very comfortable pass with no effort.
I could have stopped there, however I decided to go with an XTG pass under my chin as I have a lot of loose and soft skin there. After pulling my skin taut, I went XTG with a more steep angle and the Calypso responded well without any problems. Overall, a very smooth and comfortable shave. Definitely a DFS maybe even a BBS.
My overall impression of the Calypso is that this razor fits in on the higher side of the mid range spectrum and is an excellent example of the group of machined aluminum razors coming out. Fit and finish is excellent. Blade alignment is flawless along with the blade gap being even. The handle was exceptionally well done and allowed me to control a very light razor very well.
As I don't have an ATT stainless steel or bronze razor, I cannot compare the shave with any other ATT razor. I do know, however that the only different between the top cap and base plate of the Calypso an the equivalent stainless steel models is just the material used. I know that the weight of the head would be significantly different, which may make the shave different. Two of my more recent stainless steel razors were the RR Wunderbar which weighed 4 oz, and the ES Claymore which weighed 5 oz. Both of these razors were massive and even though I let the weight of the razor do the shaving, it still weighed a little more than what I was used to. The Calypso was completely on the other end of the spectrum. Although it weighed the same as the RR Hawk, it felt good in my hand and offered great control. I am totally impressed with the Calypso in it's build, fit, and shave. The fact that it cost under $100 and made completely in the USA just makes it more appealing to me and hopefully to others reading this.
Stan did mention in his forum posts that this is just an experiment to gauge the interest from the community as he realized that there were a lot of cheap folks like me out there that would never consider spending $200 on a safety razor no matter how good it is. If it is successful, he might be coming out will the full line of heads including the SE, and so please help make it successful. You will not be disappointed.
First thing I noticed about the head was that the two large holes and big pins were missing. In addition, there were no slots running the length of the base plate, or tabs on the corner of the top cap, or any other normal ways of holding a blade. There were just two small pins on the top cap which fit into two small holes on the base plate. I was hesitant to load a blade when there were such small guides, but it worked perfectly. Screwing on the top cap, the blade held securely and upon examination, the blade was properly aligned and the gap appeared even. The blade ends did stick out a little, but not significantly enough to make it hard to hold the head when assembling the razor. I initially did have some problems with screwing in the handle as it wanted to cross thread at first, but keeping it straight and a couple of times screwing the handle on and off corrected this problem.
According to the ATT site, the Calypso weighed 40 grams fully assembled, which is about the same as the RR Hawk. The Calypso is definitely a very light razor, but felt very balanced in hand and the medium sized handle with deep grooves definitely helped. According to what I read, the handle was an Atlas pattern on a Kronos length and it worked great. I decided to have my first shave with the original handle just to see if things worked out right.
Whenever I try out a new razor, I will take a previously used blade from another razor because I have found in the past that a semi dull blade has a tendency to accentuate the attributes of a new razor so that I can better get a feel for it. I took the blade from my Schick Krona (which I shaved with the night before) and loaded it into the Calypso. I also used the same brush and soap from the night before, which was a very worn VDH boar brush and a sandalwood scented glycerin soap from a local Farmer's Market. Not very exquisite, but it gave me a thick lather loaded with a ton of Bentonite clay.
First pass was WTG and I noticed that the Calypso preferred a shallow angle. The head I was using was the R head which was the mid aggressive one. It did that perfectly. I could feel the blade on my face, but it did not feel like it was taking off layers of skin. Auditory feedback was present, but not very loud. In shaving with my Ikon X3 and RR Hawk, I am believing that auditory feedback is just the nature of a lighter head. The first pass was very efficient and comfortable.
Second pass was ATG and because the first pass was so efficient, there was almost no auditory feedback. One thing I found out quickly was the ease in changing my shaving angle. There were times with this pass when I lost the head on my face because the Calypso was so light and it was cutting efficiently. Again, a very comfortable pass with no effort.
I could have stopped there, however I decided to go with an XTG pass under my chin as I have a lot of loose and soft skin there. After pulling my skin taut, I went XTG with a more steep angle and the Calypso responded well without any problems. Overall, a very smooth and comfortable shave. Definitely a DFS maybe even a BBS.
My overall impression of the Calypso is that this razor fits in on the higher side of the mid range spectrum and is an excellent example of the group of machined aluminum razors coming out. Fit and finish is excellent. Blade alignment is flawless along with the blade gap being even. The handle was exceptionally well done and allowed me to control a very light razor very well.
As I don't have an ATT stainless steel or bronze razor, I cannot compare the shave with any other ATT razor. I do know, however that the only different between the top cap and base plate of the Calypso an the equivalent stainless steel models is just the material used. I know that the weight of the head would be significantly different, which may make the shave different. Two of my more recent stainless steel razors were the RR Wunderbar which weighed 4 oz, and the ES Claymore which weighed 5 oz. Both of these razors were massive and even though I let the weight of the razor do the shaving, it still weighed a little more than what I was used to. The Calypso was completely on the other end of the spectrum. Although it weighed the same as the RR Hawk, it felt good in my hand and offered great control. I am totally impressed with the Calypso in it's build, fit, and shave. The fact that it cost under $100 and made completely in the USA just makes it more appealing to me and hopefully to others reading this.
Stan did mention in his forum posts that this is just an experiment to gauge the interest from the community as he realized that there were a lot of cheap folks like me out there that would never consider spending $200 on a safety razor no matter how good it is. If it is successful, he might be coming out will the full line of heads including the SE, and so please help make it successful. You will not be disappointed.
