Feather AS-D2 - Not Liking It.Yet

Thank you to everybody that replied and offered advice, as well as experience and opinion. I'm no quitter so I am giving it a shot throughout this week and will report back on which way I decide to go. Either way, I am sticking with my Mitchell's Wool Fat over Trumper's cream. For me, there's just no comparison when it comes to slickness and protection, and hopefully that will help me in learning the AS-D2.

Thanks again! More to follow...

- Flank Bell

Alright. Determination made, and objectively so. I am returning the razor. Not because it isn't gorgeous or doesn't perform admirably. In fact, I took all the advice that everybody gave and got a really great shave this morning! Just not any better than I get with my Merkur 34C HD that I can get a full 5 days out of with Personna Lab Blue blades. So I figure there's no reason to fix what isn't broken and spend hundreds of dollars doing so. I'll spend a fraction of the AS-D2 Amazon refund to try out some Personna Med Prep blades and get one of those nice looking Mitchell's Wool Fat ceramic dishes.

Thanks again to all. I enjoy the finer things in life, but the crazy cost of this thing just isn't worth the shave it gives me, which isn't really better than what I was already getting with a more "basic" setup.

- Flank Bell

At the end of the day it is your choice and it seems you have made the choice that suits you. That is how it should be because everyone is different. The Personna blades and Mitchell's dish are great so enjoy.

Having recently acquired an AS-D2, I chose this thread to revive to post my first impression.

It took a bit more touch-up than I'm used to, and the fresh Feather blade I used gave me a number of pinpricks...but the end result was a really nice BBS shave.

I heard audible feedback and found the angle adjustment intuitive. I'm sure it'll get better.

I've got an AS-D1 at home and an AS-D2 at a summer place in the mountains, and always have found either one to be a very smooth, efficient, but quite mild razor. Whenever I put one of them back into use it takes a few shaves to adjust to the differences (peculiarities?) of this razor. Maybe I don't use one often enough, but I found the Feather blade not to be the optimum for this razor. It's just not smooth enough in comparison to the Lab Blue or Med Prep Personna, and if I put just a tiny bit of pressure on the stroke (my error, I know) they can get grabby. The Personna is very nearly as sharp but in my experience much smoother. So I leave the Feathers in the drawer and break out one of the Personnas, Med Prep in my case, and get great shaves with a LOT fewer weepers. YMMV

I've no experience with the Feather AS-D2 razor, but from everything I've read it's a mild shaver (somewhat like a Gillette Tech). And as with all razors, proper handle angle and light pressure are paramount.

I understand the best results with the AS-D2 are with keeping the handle a little high, and slightly riding the cap of the razor. I believe the best shaves are from Feather blades. To reason otherwise would be to suggest the Feather Company doesn't know what they're doing.

Similarly, on the razor forums there's a lotta negativity about Merkur blades, but I find Merkur blades are fine in Merkur razors. It would be most odd it that were not so.