Yet Another Journal of Razors and Blades and Stuff

[T Bone]

This seems as good a time as any to try out the journal section, I've been discussing these razors with a couple of victims over PM, might as well bring the discussion over here.

I started the year with 4 razors: 3 Hensons and a Lupo 58. Henson medium (++) was my preferred tool, but I was still struggling with some things, so after soliciting some suggestions, I've spent the year trying out a bunch of others. I'm currently breaking in a Tatara, which I believe is the 11th razor I've tried now (19th if you count different plates for the same razor), and the 7th razor (9th-11th plates) that I own right now.

But since I only have 1 face and am a minimalist at heart, I feel like I really only need and want 1 daily driver. I suppose there's something to be said for variety, but I'd prefer to get to where I'm actually decent at using one of these tools instead of rather bad at 7 of them. While I won't rule out adding razors to the mix, I'm mostly looking to reduce the collection at this point. So I'm starting this journal as I come back to some razors to see what's worth keeping.

So here are the candidates I'll be comparing over the next couple of months:

• Henson++
• Henson+++
• Blackland Blackbird Lite
• Tatara Nodamune CC (Nodachi cap / Masamune CC plate)

Why these? All were recommended to me. Most clamp the blade very close to the edge. Most have slightly positive blade exposure. All are safety bar. And all are available in titanium, as I have an irrational desire to get myself a titanium razor.

I don't want to just ramble on to myself, so if anyone reads along, I hope you'll join in the conversation. We'll see if anything comes of this, or if it recedes into the back pages of the journals section.

 

[Phoenixkh]

T Bone, I'm glad you started your journal. I've been watching your progression/journey from afar. I've hmmmmm how do I express this.. I've watched your struggle and wished I could help. You started here at B&B a few months before I showed up: November of 2021 for you and February of 2022 for me. I still don't feel qualified to give people advice, but I have found a couple people upon who I rely to help guide me. You might be doing that same thing in PMs... out of view. I hope so.

In any event, I'll be reading all your posts here and will join in if I have something worthwhile to add, though this of course will be subjective. <eg> evil grin

 

[T Bone]

Since I got an intro entry out of the way, I guess I should journal something. I'll start with a picture.

Tatara Nodamune
Indian Wilkie (2)

When I get a new razor, I'll usually give it a few shaves to get to know it, and the Tatara is getting a bit more since I have 3 base plates. Thus far, I've had 2 shaves with the Nodachi OC, 2 shaves with the Nodachi CC, and this was shave 4 with the Nodamune CC.

There's a lot to like about it. The head is slim and maneuverable. It feels light for a steel razor, though I haven't weighed it, so maybe it's just very well-balanced. The blade is well-clamped. And it's easy to find the shave angle.

The full Nodachi is more aggressive that I like - blade exposure is 0.13 mm, which is on the high side, and it shaves like it. But that's ok. I was worried the Nodamune would be too mild, but after a few shaves, it might even be too bitey and aggressive too. I'm going to give it 2 more shaves to finish out the blade then move on to another razor, but if it still feels too aggressive when I circle back to it, I'll have to see if I can trade for or buy a Masamune cap. In that case I'll be very glad I have the Nodachi CC plate. I can't imagine I'll have any use for a full Masamune with its -0.13 mm exposure, but maybe the Masadachi configuration will hit the spot.

I'll probably ask the Tatara thread this too, but if anyone's tried multiple configurations of the Tatara, I'd be interested in hearing about the differences - particularly the mixed cap/plates, Nodamune and Masadachi, but the regular Masamune and Nodachi as well.

 

[cajunrph]

Thanks for sharing your journey with us. I only have the Henson Mild of the razors you mentioned, I moved on from that fairly quickly. I looked into the others but I am not ready to drop that much money on them. I have other ADs that are calling after those funds. Haha.

 

[spacemonkey42]

Glad you started a diary, @T Bone, I'm excited to read this journey. It was great following your blind shave-off with the Henson + and ++ that you chronicled in the Henson club thread, that was terrific and came down to the wire!

You and I have very similar tastes in razors, I just have a much worse case of RAD. Whatever you learn will benefit me a lot, happy to be here.

 

[thombrogan]

Thank you for sharing both your journal and your Nodamune experiences, @T Bone

 

[Balin]

Woo hoo! I'll be following your journal!

 

[T Bone]

I'm usually an every other day shaver so for the off day, I'm going to correct this

So I'm starting this journal as I come back to some razors to see what's worth keeping.

That's not quite true, I actually went back to the Blackbird Lite a few weeks ago, just before I got the Tatara.

Now the Blackbird was originally suggested by @APBinNCA. My RAD started months ago when I asked others on the Henson club thread (who presumably all like their Henson) what their favorite razor is if it's not a Henson, and Blackbird was his. No offense to those who love it, which is seemingly almost everyone, but for me this was by far the worst razor I've ever used. Frankly, I have no idea how anyone shaves with the thing. Obviously people do since it's very popular, but for me it was a total weeper-fest, regardless of blade or how careful I was.

The Lite, on the other hand. It still took some adjustment and a sharp enough blade, but I was able to get a some pretty good shaves. It was a bit inconsistent - or I should say, I was a bit inconsistent - but overall it performed rather well. This may even be my closest shaver, bar none. Areas that other razors always seem to leave stubble had much less or were even smooth after shaving with the Lite. I still got a weeper or 2 on most shaves, but not all, and rarely more than a couple. (And that's pretty typical of me with most razors, though it's something I'd like to fix.) Post-shave was generally comfortable with minimal irritation that didn't last. The shaves took a bit longer than I'd like, but I feel like this is a razor I can work with. I expect that it's done enough to stick around for another rotation, but we'll see after comparing it to the other 3.

 

[T Bone]

Tatara Nodamune (Noda-mune? Should the hybrid Tataras be hyphenated?) and Indian Wilkie (3rd shave) today. I was really careful to avoid any pressure, I didn't want any premature weepers on the neck or jawlines. No blood was spotted until the second pass (ATG) going up the right handlebar. Then a second spot on my chin, went over it 1 too many times I guess. Couple more pinpricks on the mustache, but by that point I'd kinda given up. They were all tiny specks at least and the alum took care of it easily.

Apart from a little bit of blood, a nice DFS+ result. 1 more go with the Tatara over the weekend or on Monday then I'll be back in evaluation mode to thin the razor herd. Have a good weekend!

 

[T Bone]

Probably won't get my weekend shave in until tomorrow so I'll take this off-day to mention my pass routine. I started to yesterday, but cut it because I didn't want to wall-of-text my journal. Tl;dr: Pass 1, XTG on trouble areas, ATG the rest; pass 2, ATG and cleanup.

I'm not quite @thombrogan style all ATG all the time, but I do like to get to the point. First pass, I start ear-to-chin along the jawline through the chin, which is ATG on the jawline and then XTG on the chin. On my neck, I go N-to-S and a bit diagonally so it's kinda XTG on the top half but ATG on the bottom half. Cheeks and 'burns I go S-N ATG, same with the little soul patch area. N-S WTG on the handlebars, and towards the center across the mustache.

Second pass, I relather the jawline and below and shave S-N, j-hooking to the center. This is mostly ATG, with the j-hooks helping to pick up those neck whiskers that just want to grow in their own random direction. Relather my jawline and above, so the jawline really gets a third pass. That used to be a problem area for missed stubble and/or weepers, but going over it 3 times like this at slightly different angles gets me BBS or nearly so with no buffing, and weepers are rare. Quick ATG on the cheeks and sideburns to clean up anything missed on the first pass. Then S-N ATG on the goatee area. That's where I get probably 80-90% of my weepers nowadays, as that's where my skin is most sensitive (especially the mustache), and as my salt-and-pepper goatee has become mostly salt and not much pepper, the whiskers are particularly tough. But forgoing ATG would make me sad since it feels really nice when it's smooth there, so I need to figure it out. Lately, I've tried going R-L all the way across my mustache on the first pass and L-R on the second, then dab more lather there to finish up S-N to see if that extra bit of reduction helps any. Jury's still out there.

 

[thombrogan]

@T Bone , using the search engine to look up techniques from @Tallships , @Whilliam , @psfred , @KQY61 , and @Ankerwycke (to name a few) can help increase the closeness and reduce the weepers.

 

[T Bone]

Tatara Nodamune (Nodachi cap / Masamune plate)
Indian Gillette Wilkinson Sword (4th shave)
AP Shave 24mm G5C
Southern Witchcrafts Carmilla soap & splash samples
Stirling unscented glacial ASB

Besides testing out razors, I also have a metric crap-ton* of soap samples that I'm going through right now. Carmilla is one of my favorite Southern Witchcraft scents, kindly sent to me by @awk_m4. Imagine sitting in a plush leather chair in the library of a vampire's castle, surrounded by ancient books, sipping brandy as incense burns. That's Carmilla. Unfortunately, this scent is discontinued, and I only have enough for 1 more shave, but I've really enjoyed the chance to try it out.

Very nice shave with the Tatara today - my face is BBS apart from my mustache, jawlines are smooth except back by my left ear, neck is about 50/50 BBS/DFS. Just 1 tiny weeper today, on my jawline. I wouldn't have noticed it but for the red spot coming through the lather when I reapplied. It didn't even last until the final rinse, but it means the Nodamune will have to wait until its next rotation to join the list of razors I can get a weeper-free shave from. The Indian Wilkie went into the bin, and I'll be pulling out my Henson+++ for my next shave.


*For Americans not familiar with the metric system of weights and measures, the size of a metric ton is directly proportional to the severity of the swear word between the words "metric" and "ton". So my supply is down from 2 months ago, when I had a metric f-ton of samples.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I know nothing about the razors you have chosen to explore. I couldn't even pick them out in a line-up. However, I'm another believer in sticking to one razor, and relying on something else for the variety.

The last time I swapped razor (March 2023) it took me 14.1/2 weeks until I started getting shaves that were as good as what I got with the previous razor. That was moving from an Edwin Jagger DE3D14 to a RazoRock Game Changer 68.

I can happily bounce between a few different soaps and brushes without too many problems, but swap the razor, and the calibre of my shaves plummets to mediocre at best. I can stomach the occasional shave with something else, but not frequent changes.

 

[T Bone]

However, I'm another believer in sticking to one razor, and relying on something else for the variety.

I can happily bounce between a few different soaps and brushes without too many problems

Oh good, so I’m not the only one here! That’s really my mindset. I didn’t come to DEs or to B&B to collect or to pick up a hobby. I wanted to figure out how to get a good shave with a DE without cutting myself all the time.

I used a Henson AL13 (mild) exclusively for months. When I got to where I wasn’t improving anymore, I tried the AL13-M (medium). It was better, I used mostly that for a few months.

Still not satisfied though, that’s when I decided to try some others. I don’t change razors frequently, I usually use the same one for 2-3 weeks at a time. And I think it’s been helpful. I think my technique has improved somewhat as I adapt to the slight differences. And I’ve learned that there’s probably no razor out there that’s going to blow away the rest of the field. So I’ve got 4 that I’m working with, from which I hope to decide on 1 to stick with.

I do enjoy soaps though, I’ll get some variety from those. And once I’ve settled on that daily driver razor, I think it would be fun to do a deep dive into the world of blades.

 

[spacemonkey42]

Sounds like a great shave! If the weeper was gone by the final rinse, does it even count?

Any comparisons between the Nodamune and the Henson++/Overlander? Although the specs are different for each, it sounds like they are in the same ballpark?

Looking forward to your thoughts on the Henson +++. You've used several aggressive razors lately, can't wait to hear what you think now that it gets another turn.

 

[T Bone]

Any comparisons between the Nodamune and the Henson++/Overlander? Although the specs are different for each, it sounds like they are in the same ballpark?

They don’t feel all that similar to me. I wrote elsewhere that the Overlander feels about like a Henson++1/4. I don’t think that’s just an aluminum thing (you can answer that better than me since you have the steel Overlander too), but they have a similar feel when shaving. Both are mild but very efficient. Either is still capable of weepers with too much pressure or buffing, but overall both are relatively safe to use.

Nodamune reminds me of a lightweight Winning. Neutral exposure, but surprisingly efficient. Still not super-aggressive, but I have to pay closer attention to what I'm doing at all times to keep from drawing blood.

I’m hoping I might find it easier to use the next time around though, as I was bouncing between baseplates some these past couple of weeks. This last shave was the best with the Tatara yet, and it was also I think the only time I used the same configuration 3 shaves in a row. When I come back to it again in a couple of weeks, I’ll only use the Nodamune combo, so if there are more similarities to the Henson and Overlander, it should be apparent then.

 

[spacemonkey42]

That is so interesting that the neutral Nodamune can be more efficient (or even bitey) than razors with a 0.05mm or 0.07mm positive blade exposure! The gap is similar among them too. Specs only tell one part of the story.

 

[T Bone]

I wouldn't say that the Nodamune is more efficient than the Henson or Overlander. I would say at this point that for me, the latter 2 seem to be smoother shavers, but not less efficient. It is interesting that the Nodamune has been more bitey. We'll see if that continues next time around, or if I'm able to tame it a bit with a couple weeks of consistent use.

 

[T Bone]

Henson AL13+++
Nacet (1)
AP Shave 24mm G5C
Chiseled Face Santa Paula soap sample
Stirling unscented glacial ASB

Late night shave after playing soccer tonight, one of those things to pretend I’m younger than I really am. My first game in about 5 months, I’m going to be hurting tomorrow.

This soap sample, I won’t be sad when it’s used up. Performance is fine, but for me fruity/citrusy scents are just ok, and this is an orangey scent.

This was also my first shave with the +++ in several months. Got a neck weeper trying to get that pesky spot to the left of my Adam’s apple. Another one trying to clean up a pesky spot to the right of my chin. And another one, plus a second tiny pinprick just shaving my mustache as usual. So not the best first outing for the +++.

Neck is about 60/40 BBS/DFS. Mustache, chin, soul patch - pretty much the whole goatee area - has some rough spots ATG. The rest of my face and jawlines are smooth. That’s about an 8/10 DFS+. If I’d just left pesky spots alone, I would have saved time and 2 weepers. Whatever small amount of closeness was gained was not worth it.

 

[T Bone]

I should mention the scale I use for how close a shave is. I use more of the scale than most people, so many good shaves won't score as high for me as most folks' lowest scores.

10 = BBS: 100% smooth everywhere in all directions​

9-9.9 = BBS-: at least 2/3 of shaved area smooth ATG, the rest smooth XTG​

7-8.5 = DFS+: at least 1/3 of shaved area smooth ATG, the rest smooth XTG​

5-6.5 = DFS: smooth XTG everywhere, less than 1/3 of shaved area smooth ATG​

3-4.5 = DFS-: at least 2/3 of shaved area smooth XTG, the rest smooth WTG​

It goes down from there, but I'm unlikely to shave less than DFS unless I don't finish or I'm trying out a seriously dull blade. Most of my shaves are in about the 6-9 range, I've never had a shave above 9.7 I think, and I doubt I'll ever rate a 10 since that would mean perfection and not a single a single missed whisker. So an 8/10 is pretty good.

Besides closeness, I'm also tracking cuts, efficiency, and to a lesser extent, post-shave comfort and how much the blade tugs. (The latter being more of a factor when I'm evaluating blades, which I'm not doing right now.) All of those will factor into my decisions on which razors to keep and which go into the BST pile.