What razor really surprised you?

[retturn2blades]

A Valet AutoStrop with Feather blade. They don't make em like the used to...

[John_Roger]

Aristocrat Jr.- The little unassuming razor that could.

For some reason this flare tip gave me a better shave than my Aristocrat Jr...

[Azarius]

The GEM 1912. I was not expecting it like it at all, now it has become my favorite razor of all time.

[global_dev]

Cobra Classic: I thought it was just going to be another razor but it's an excellent razor, my favorite so far. You get a really close shave, as close as with the Muhle 2011 R41, but with much less irritation, especially when using Kai Captain Titan Mild blades.

HD slant, I was expecting a blood bath, ended up with the best shave of my life.

i was "scared" of the cobra classic and slant prior to using them based on hype.. they turned out to be very smooth

i thought maybe the R41 2011 would be similar, but it was obnoxiously aggressive, super close shave, but way way too close.. felt like my epidermis had just been peeled away...

[PugslyCat]

Lord Premium/L6. Twelve bucks, great shave.

+1 - This was my first DE razor. I expected a bloodbath, but got a much more comfortable shave than I had ever gotten with carts.

Another fun, inexpensive razor is the Yuma I have been shaving with since Friday night. It looks like junk. There is just no weight to it. You would think that all of the exposed blade would make it an agressive razor, but but the extreme curvature closes the blade gap so it is actually quite mild.

[kingfisher]

The blue-tip Superspeed. Thought it would be way too mild and not provide a good shave.

Found, instead, that with the aluminum handle the balance is really nice and it provides an effortless DFS.

[Den]

Lord L6 - I use it more than any other razor lately.

[John_Roger]

The little G-2 Flare Tip that could! Starting line up to a nice Sheraton, Aristocrat Jr, and a Fat Boy (E-1), Blasphemy!

[xraygun]

My new Joris. I expected it just to look pretty. It's a real machine though.

[ggamyang]

Lord L6 - I use it more than any other razor lately.

Same here. :) It retired most of my other razors in rotation, including slim and LC New. Seriously. :)

[rxonmymind]

These two. Yes, the Red tip is talked about extensively, but until one tries it it's a surprise. Also th 58 tv special. An dfs shave on two passes. Both keepers in my book. Can't wait to get a minty one cased.

[John_Roger]

These two. Yes, the Red tip is talked about extensively, but until one tries it it's a surprise. Also th 58 tv special. An dfs shave on two passes. Both keepers in my book. Can't wait to get a minty one cased.

I keep passing on red tips in the wild. I guess I'd only buy one if the paint was
intact. I actually walked away from a cased red/blue for 25 bucks each.

[stvince71]

The set up I used today. The Wilkinson Empire with it's wedge blade. Thought it would be too hard to control because of the weight of the razor. It gave me a DFS with only a couple of weepers, most likely caused by my inexperience with the set up. I hope to keep it in my rotation with my G-Bar, Gem Jr, and Ranger Tech.

[dpmtherrien]

+1!! so many horror stories about the R41, but it has now become my heaviest rotation razor...just nothing but BBS for 12hrs plus...

+1 here. This razor really surprised me with the closeness of the shave. It did take a couple of shaves to get used to it though, as I found it to be quite aggressive. But a very very light touch is all that's needed.

I also found that getting back into the Merkur slant, and using it the correct way has also proved to be a very nice DE razor.

[Chester]

What razor/blade really took you by surprise?

Easy. There are two:

- Nicplata
- Fasan Slant

The latter was probably more amazing, but I was also making my way through my bakelite collection and had come through some totally atrocious shaves and was starting to get a bit jaded.

-- Chet

[Sullybob]

Cobra Classic: I thought it was just going to be another razor but it's an excellent razor, my favorite so far. You get a really close shave, as close as with the Muhle 2011 R41, but with much less irritation, especially when using Kai Captain Titan Mild blades.

Same here. The Cobra has become my favorite razor.

[Teddyboy]

Muhle R89 - absolutely shockingly smooth shave; I thought that I had forgotten the blade. I would still have to say it is my favorite nonadjustable, and among my favorite three razors.

[bakerbarber]

Flare tip Rocket: Just the right mix of blade gap and balance.

Slotted base plate Tech | late 30's style: Smooth shave with my eyes closed and no cuts or weepers.

[CGW409]

Two razors, one in appearance and the other in use.
First razor: Spotted a red tip in a local antique mall for 11 bucks and some change with just some flecks of red on the tip,figured the razor was a bit rough but for under 12 bucks I could hit the tip with a little IH red if I really wanted to.
After a good soaking and cleaning of gawd only knows how many years of residue and gunk I had a red tip in actually a bit better condition than the one in rxonmymind's pic a few posts up.
Second razor: Gillette Old type about 19 teenish figured it to be a bit of an aggressive monster but manned up, loaded that bad boy with a Feather (hey figured if I'm going to eff my face up I might as well go full out) and set out and ended up with a two pass BBS shave and is in my current rotation now.

[Eddieb208]

I was surprised by the smooth, irritation free, shave of the 'Rolls Razor', after honing and stropping it for about an hour to get it in shape. It was a leap of faith to complete the first stroke...I thought I would fillet my face!