New Supply SE - released Feb 2022

[spacemonkey42]

You're welcome! I'm glad to share my experience and learn along with others here. Here are more updates...

Third shave - this was bad, I am not sure how I ended up with about three nicks and some irritation on my neck. My cheeks were fine, but I struggled a lot with my chin and neck.

Fourth shave - much improved! Possible breakthrough for me! I decided to over-correct, holding the handle at an even higher angle from my face. I think I was doing that for my cheeks, but somehow not doing that for other areas. This seems to have helped. I did not get a BBS shave, but I didn't have any nicks or irritation. I noticed that at this angle, while the razor is still cutting whiskers, I do not get hardly any audible feedback. I am used to much more from a DE razor. I think that might have been one of the reasons I was at the wrong angle, I was expecting more feedback. As a trick to help me keep a very high angle, I stuck my elbow out almost horizontally. With my elbow at my side, the razor tends to naturally drift to a lower angle and nicks/irritation ensue. Fingers crossed, I may be getting the hang of this injector razor!

An idea for Supply - if they made the head of their razor at a steeper angle to the handle, it would more easily fall into the correct angle for shaving and it would better match the way many people using DE or cartridge razors hold their shaving-arm. Just an opinion, of course, and perhaps all injectors have a similar head/handle angle, but to me it seems a steeper angle would feel more natural.

I'll keep trying and learning, thanks for sharing the journey with me!

 

[spacemonkey42]

Fifth shave - I really need to hold the razor at a higher angle, way higher than a DE an higher than I think it should be. This shave was much like the fourth - no nicks, no irritation. Not BBS, but I feel like I am getting the hang of things.

Sixth shave - I got sloppy and let the razor angle get too low, causing two nicks. This angle does not feel natural to me, but I've never shaved with an injector before. Yes, I'm only 6 shaves in, I've got a lot more practice to do before I feel comfortable with it.

My experience very different from others who say one can't nick yourself. I do not find this razor to be forgiving of angle and the angle is not familiar to me. Since I've shaved with cartridges and some DE, I wonder how many other folks completely new to injectors would have the same experience. It seems like I am really riding the cap, if I bring it down towards the guard I will certainly nick myself if I am shaving anywhere but my cheeks. Is that how others shave with injectors? It does seem like Supply could have made this razor more foolproof by not angling the guard down as much, so that if one did rotate too far the guard would lift the blade off - basically decreasing the blade exposure. Of course that would come at an efficiency cost.

Don't get me wrong, I am sticking with it and want to learn and improve my technique. That's all part of this hobby, right?

 

[APBinNCA]

Shamelessly copy/pasted from Patrick:

"For the SE aggression level... In a way, you can think of it like this: I've essentially combined the three previous plates into one. The new setting gives you the closeness of the #3 base plate (provided by the "valleys" of the fins), with the mild feel of the #1 base plate (provided by the "peaks" of the fins). All of the user feedback has been confirming this so far.

IMO it's the best of both worlds, and negates the need for multiple plates. The only downside for some folks might be that it doesn't have a lot of blade feel - but personally I've never liked a lot of blade feel in my razors."

I don't have an SE to examine myself, only the Pro and vintage injectors. I really want to help get to the bottom of how somebody can nick themselves with one of these, no judgement intended. I am starting to wonder if what is actually happening is that having the handle up feeling un-natural is creating instability. The only time I really nick myself with razors is when I get an un-commanded arm twitch, it's a slight slice cut. Maybe that's what is actually happening? The other thought is about stretching, my vintage razors don't work well with too much of it. It's my understanding that the safety bar is supposed to displace the skin just ahead of the blade. What I have found is by pulling the skin flat, you are essentially shaving like a shavette(open blade). I have noticed that injectors are particularly susceptible to this. It's counter intuitive, but the pictures I have seen show the safety bar creating a trough of sorts ahead of the blade. With flat and tight skin, the blade may actually cut closer. Since we are dealing with tolerances measured in thousands of an inch, the difference between just right and too much is hard to understand visually.

Reading again, that is interesting about rotating down should lift the blade off. My vintage razor does that, but I just checked and my Pro doesn't. I thought the finned guard would have solved this, but it appears this is the inherent Supply razor geometry. I am going to recommend holding the razor further back than you think you should, this way the slight head heavy balance will naturally cause a shallower angle. Then you can start bringing your arm down until it cuts and hopefully any lapse in concentration will simply result in the razor going too shallow.

 

[spacemonkey42]

No judgement taken and I really appreciate your and anyone's help as I learn to use this tool! Nobody taught me how to shave in general, so I'm trying to learn myself in my middle-ages. Thank you so much!

I think it is related to the angle, but am happy to learn more. When the angle of the handle is too low, I get the amount of blade feel and audible feedback that I expect from a DE razor, but then I nick myself. No, it isn't a twitch, these are small nicks and not slices. I have relatively stiff whiskers and I shave daily. I'm using the new black blades with as thick of a lather as I can get from tallow or glycerin soap. If I don't hear the blade cutting or feel it, then I am either not going to get a nick or have gone too far and the blade isn't actually cutting.

The cartoon-y video of the SE on Supply's site doesn't match up to the angles of the actual razor. Here is a picture of the razor. I hope you can see that if one put the razor head and guard fins flat against your face, there would be a lot of blade protruding. The blade follows the angle of the head and the guard fins deflect downward from there. So I am finding I need to be more towards the angle of the head and not the fins. Please tell me if this is making sense, advice you have, or if I'm doing all of this wrong. I want to learn.

 

[APBinNCA]

I can understand your frustration, my first razor was electric. I didn't start wet shaving until a couple years ago. I was fortunate to get both Henson razors for the current price of one! It really is a foolproof confidence builder. I think you are on the right track and there are just a lot of things going on and throwing a non foolproof razor into the mix complicates things. You will get it figured out.

You are right that you need to use the head as your guide. That geometry looks the same as my Pro and I can see how it seems like the guard doesn't do anything. What it is doing, is displacing more skin than the older designs and distributing pressure better. I hesitated to mention this, but with razors like this, you can actually press a little. Like a cartridge supposedly. You need to find the angle, press the head(above the blade only) and keep your angle while shaving. This might actually help engage the safety bar and feel what is happening. I am NOT recommending this, but you can do it with the Pro. One major difference from many DE razors is that you need to make straight strokes without curling through like you might with a curved top cap. That motion would produce wildly different results in one swipe. Finally, you might want to try as short of a stroke as possible. Some people call these buffing strokes, but basically you make a series of short strokes as you move in your intended direction. Long strokes are very much possible with these razors, but if you don't have the angle figured out yet, I could see how that could go wrong. I have to dynamically change the angle with the curvature to maintain the correct angle across a large distance, if that makes sense.

 

[MNshaver71]

I had my first shave with the Supply SE, and my initial impression was very favorable. Had no problem finding the proper angle, and it cut through 4 days of growth with ease. Got a very nice, comfortable 2.5 pass shave with it. Not BBS, but close.

After a few hours I did notice some redness and two very small weepers around my Adams apple, which is an area that tends to give me problems with most razors. Also, I was probably going a little faster than I should have been with a brand new razor. I'll have to monitor that in subsequent shaves.

As far as a comparison, I like it a lot more than the OneBlade Core, which I was just never satisfied with. But I do not yet see it replacing the Razorock GC 68 as my razor of choice.

 

[MNshaver71]

Second shave: Again, very favorable overall. For the most part this is a very easy razor to use. Went a little slower on the neck this time, and I don't have as much irritation as I did with the first shave, but the area right above the Adams apple is still a little tricky...having some trouble finding the right angle on that spot. Can't tell if I have a new weeper there or if its the one I got during the first shave.

 

[Dodger59]

Have just completed my 3rd shave with the Supply SE. The black matte razor arrived with several nicks and an overall poor finish quality. After contacting Supply customer service and showing pictures of the razor, they offered to send a free replacement. Kudos to Supply for that.

Overall, I have achieved decent results with the razor and the black blades that came with it. I have had more weepers than normal with my DES razors (RR GC 68, Merkur 34c, RR SLOC, KCG) and substantially more irritation about 30 minutes post shave. I should also add that it was easier for me to dial in my DE's that it has been so far with the Supply. I will keep running this through a few more shaves, but as of now I would not make it part of my regular rotation and will consider trading, PIFing or returning.

 

[APBinNCA]

Have just completed my 3rd shave with the Supply SE. The black matte razor arrived with several nicks and an overall poor finish quality. After contacting Supply customer service and showing pictures of the razor, they offered to send a free replacement. Kudos to Supply for that.

Overall, I have achieved decent results with the razor and the black blades that came with it. I have had more weepers than normal with my DES razors (RR GC 68, Merkur 34c, RR SLOC, KCG) and substantially more irritation about 30 minutes post shave. I should also add that it was easier for me to dial in my DE's that it has been so far with the Supply. I will keep running this through a few more shaves, but as of now I would not make it part of my regular rotation and will consider trading, PIFing or returning.

Do try it with a different blade, I have a whole pack of bad Black Labels that turned out to be the problem from the beginning. Remember to keep the handle high, if you put it on your face with the handle less than 45 degrees the blade edge can bite.

 

[spacemonkey42]

@Dodger59, yes, keep the handle very, very high. Way higher than any of your DE razors and just as light of a touch. Don't even let the guard touch. @APBinNCA and others helped me understand that and I am continuing to learn a much different way of shaving than I used with DE razors. For me, if I feel the blade or hear too much audio feedback, I'm already too low of an angle. Good luck learning a new technique, I'm right there with you.

That is great support from Supply. I've experienced the same.

 

[Bladeforum]

I just received a supply se in black and a henson aluminum medium in tan.

I just shaved with 2 days growth and used the supply for the first pass, the henson for the second pass, and the supply for the third pass.

The injector razor has a nice hefty feel to it and the blade insertion seems kinda cool. The henson de razor has a super tight handle screwdown. Probably the tightest feeling threading I have experienced. The angle of the supply was a bit different for me but it seemed to mow down the hair without issue. The henson felt more familiar to me and seemed quite easy to use. Overall I do like them both but as of now I might prefer the henson overall. I have enough blades for any type of safety razor and will be using them along with the other razors I own.
I almost pulled the trigger on a karve razor today but stopped myself since I don't really need another razor.


I used truefitt Hill almond cream and a thater badger brush. Also used proraso green pre shave and aos lemon balm afterwards.

 

[APBinNCA]

I just received a supply se in black and a henson aluminum medium in tan.

I just shaved with 2 days growth and used the supply for the first pass, the henson for the second pass, and the supply for the third pass.

The injector razor has a nice hefty feel to it and the blade insertion seems kinda cool. The henson de razor has a super tight handle screwdown. Probably the tightest feeling threading I have experienced. The angle of the supply was a bit different for me but it seemed to mow down the hair without issue. The henson felt more familiar to me and seemed quite easy to use. Overall I do like them both but as of now I might prefer the henson overall. I have enough blades for any type of safety razor and will be using them along with the other razors I own.
I almost pulled the trigger on a karve razor today but stopped myself since I don't really need another razor.


I used truefitt Hill almond cream and a thater badger brush. Also used proraso green pre shave and aos lemon balm afterwards.

You might want to switch your strategy, it might help with the different handle angles too. The Henson is very efficient for a first pass if you use the right technique(short fast strokes). Where the Supply shines is ATG and touch ups. In fact with the Supply, I skip the WTG pass altogether and use the above technique and only need an XTG pass after.

 

[MNshaver71]

Had my third shave with the Supply SE this morning. No nicks and much less irritation on the neck this time around. It doesn't give me a BBS shave, but it's a nice razor once you get the angle right. I guess I was hoping for a little bit more, but we'll see.