Cobra Classic SE Tour

[Doppelgaenger]

Second shave


Soap: Brambleberry Vanilla (someone tell me who makes that please) with 3 drops of glycerin added.
Blade: Feather PRO on it's second use
A/S: Unscripted by Patrick Dempsey, goes very well with the brambleberry

I know I said I would use proraso but I decided to try the brambleberry vanilla soap in the box. I've come to realize how badly proraso seems to lather unless you use heaps of it. Just a few swirls on this puck and I got enough soap for 4 passes and it smells awesome, but it seems to burn my skin a bit without lubricating as well as proraso does.

The shave was very nice and this time I dared to go ATG, the result was BBS in most places but some remaining roughness here and there. No blood drawn except from a couple of bumps on my neck which were sticking out like mountains and were bound to get cut. I'm still not able to tell if it's the blade that is causing some irritation or the soap (which for this shave WAS burning my skin a bit). I promise I'll use Proraso next time to see if it's true or not! And again the razor cuts whiskers like a freaking dream. Unlike my DE razors, if you work on a spot that needs touchup, you WILL get all the hairs. The lightest touch suffices.

[poonjaji]

Another member joins the tour.

North American Cobra Classic Tour
Doppelgaenger (with razor)
cpool222
Mike'sWorld
RondeB
LMTMRP
ngai
KcHighLife
<your name goes here>

Doppelgaenger - Happy to hear the Cobra is treating you relatively well, aside from the irritation. I know that a few folks have had the random dud blade in a Feather pack, and it is entirely possible the one you are using is causing the irritation. However, as I recall those blades tended to do damage to one's face which, thankfully, does not seem to be occurring in your case. In response to your question about the Brambleberry soap, someone else must have put that in the box, but there is a local gal that runs a soap making store as well as http://www.brambleberry.com/. I am guessing you might find what you are after there.

[KcHighLife]

Another member joins the tour.

North American Cobra Classic Tour
Doppelgaenger (with razor)
cpool222
Mike'sWorld
RondeB
LMTMRP
ngai
KcHighLife
<your name goes here>

Doppelgaenger - Happy to hear the Cobra is treating you relatively well, aside from the irritation. I know that a few folks have had the random dud blade in a Feather pack, and it is entirely possible the one you are using is causing the irritation. However, as I recall those blades tended to do damage to one's face,m which, thankfully, does not seem to be occurring in your case. In response to your question about the Brambleberry soap, someone else must have put that in the box, but there is a local gal that runs a soap making store as well as http://www.brambleberry.com/. I am guessing you might find what you are after there.

Thanks for allowing me to join this tour!

[craig87c]

I've just been having months of great shaves with the CC. Many thanks to poonjaji for letting get onto the tour a few months ago. This razors well worth the (ton of) money it takes to acquire one.

[Doppelgaenger]

3rd Shave
Soap: Proraso
Blade: Feather PRO
Post Shave: Witchhazel

The shave. With proraso this time, I could find out if it was the blade that was give me irritation, it turned out not to be irritating me very much and it was mostly the soap burning my skin. I did 3.5 passes and ended up with a very nice shave. But BBS is still elusive and this time I actually ended up with a little bit of razor burn. Next shave I'm trying a KAI blade to see if it makes a difference.

I'm still surprised at how well it performs on my upper lip though.

[LMTMRP]

Getting excited that its close to my turn.

[Doppelgaenger]

4th Shave

Soap: Proraso with 4 drops of glycerin
Blade: Kai Captain Mild (for about 5 seconds) and then the Feather PRO blade I'd been using so far.
2 days worth of beard growth.

So I gave the Kai blade a run for it's money, and after doing 3 square inches of face on my first pass I took it out and threw it away. It felt like a dull DE blade and made the experience uncomfortable, never again. I switched back to the Feather blade and proceeded to get a dream shave. I usually shave in the evening around 5 because I hate getting up in the morning. and over 12 hours later some parts of my cheeks still felt BBS. Before this shave I thought the razor was overpriced and not worth it, now I think it's worth mostly every penny. We'll see what the final verdict is when I go back to a DE shave after I ship it off. The feather blade is aging quite nicely.

cpool222, please PM me your info so I can have it ready to ship out when I'm done with it and get it to you that much faster.

[poonjaji]

Another member leaves the tour...due to their intent to buy a Cobra. Are you interested in participating? If so, please get in touch.

North American Cobra Classic Tour
Doppelgaenger (with razor)
cpool222
Mike'sWorld
RondeB
LMTMRP
ngai
<your name goes here>

[Doppelgaenger]

Hey people, quick update. Cpool222 has requested he be bumped down the line because he's going to be on vacation. Mike'sWolrd, you're up next but I don't have shipping info and I can't PM you for some reason. If you are following this thread please get back to me on this, if not it's RondeB's turn next

[Doppelgaenger]

5th and 6th shaves and final review

Soap: Proraso
Blade: Feather PRO

5th shave was rather rough, I attributed it to there not being much to shave off, the shave from the Cobra is very close and lasts a long time, long enough that by 24 hours later there really isn't enough beard growth to justify shaving. The shave result was nice, and lasted a while

6th shave I waited to have 2 days worth of growth and lo and behold, the blade was dead. It was tugging at my beard and I was forced to abort and switch to my Merkur 33C with an Astra SP with about 3 shaves on it to finish the shave. I didn't even finish my WTG pass with the Cobra, that's how bad it was. The merkur gave me as good a shave as the cobra did and even slightly better I might say.

Final impressions with the Cobra: Given how much more expensive it is than other razors and how much more expensive the blades are compared to a DE razor, I don't find the Cobra to be worth the money. It did give me some very amazing shaves, but blade life was unacceptably low; especially given that I normally get 5-6 shaves out of a DE blade anyway for nearly a tenth of the cost. It's also a slower shaving razor because that blade is so wickedly sharp while it lasts, even though I drew very little blood when using it. I don't think I'd buy one to be honest, for the price of a CC I could get a shave ready straight that will shave as well or even better.

All that said, I feel that the razor did teach me more about shaving and I'm grateful to have had a chance to try it, as well as get to sample so many scents of soap.

[poonjaji]

Updating the tour list due to some vacations, and also adding our first Canadian member to the North American tour. maxman is also on the International Tour list so depending on how the tours unfold he may get it via that list first.

North American Cobra Classic Tour
RondeB (with razor)
cpool222
LMTMRP
ngai
maxman (Canada)
<your name goes here>

[rob_NH]

I just found this thread. I'd love to get in on this tour. I'm in the US (New Hampshire).

[poonjaji]

I just found this thread. I'd love to get in on this tour. I'm in the US (New Hampshire).

Added and another member removed by request.

Any updates on the Cobra? I believe RondeB is in possession of the razor, but it has been a couple weeks since there has been a post. Just want to ensure we keep this train rolling along.

North American Cobra Classic Tour
RondeB (with razor)
cpool222
ngai
maxman (Canada)
rob_NH
<your name goes here>

[poonjaji]

Adding another member to the tour.

North American Cobra Classic Tour
cpool222 (with razor?)
ngai
maxman (Canada)
rob_NH
fcdiscus
<your name goes here>

[cpool222]

I received the razor from RondeB yesterday and used it today with one of the Captain Titan Mild blades (figured I'd better start there instead of with a Feather) and it gave an excellent close shave... no nicks or cuts as I took it slow and easy. So far, so good Thanks, Michael, for giving us a chance to try it!

[cpool222]

Today, I used the Cobra again with the Titan blade with the sample of "Portman Square - Notting Hill" shave soap that was in the box. The soap smelled like Sandalwood to me and performed very well... anyone familiar with it? The Cobra again gave a very close shave with no nicks or cuts. Thanks again for this cool opportunity. I'm going to have to be out of town for a couple of days and won't be using it so I'll start posting more about my experiences with it when I get back to town.

[Doppelgaenger]

Use the feather blade, it's in a league of it's own.

[poonjaji]

Hi Gents,

I wanted to post to let you know the tour is still rolling along, but cpool222 has had some important personal matters to attend to - yes, more important than shaving - and I have suggested he hold on to the razor a while longer so he can actually use it as he had hoped. Carry on....

EDIT: Update to the tour list

North American Cobra Classic Tour
cpool222 (with razor)
rob_NH
fcdiscus
<your name goes here>

[cpool222]

A word of caution to you guys still waiting on the Cobra. The Feather blade is WAY sharper than the other. Honestly, I didn't even enjoy the shave with the Feather blade. I'll try it again tomorrow going MUCH slower and more carefully to see if I can enjoy it the second time. The Captain Titan Mild blade was plenty sharp and gave an excellent shave with only two passes, but I had one cut and about 5 smaller weepers after the Feather shave today. Just be careful and use no pressure I guess. I used O Melhor cream so that wasn't the problem, it made an excellent lather.

[cpool222]

Second shave with the Feather was better than the first, no cuts or nicks. I actually used more of a regular single-edge angle like you'd do with a Micromatic (flat razor head surface almost on the face) and it gave a good shave, but if I were going to buy a Cobra, I'd just use the Captain blade as I don't have to be as careful.