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(06-13-2021, 02:21 PM)george1906 Wrote:Right on brudda. I'll play with it some more...and keep some fingers crossed that they will come up with an XL version.(06-13-2021, 02:03 PM)LOOT Wrote:(06-12-2021, 02:03 PM)AQU Wrote: LOOT I would love to hear Muramasa comparisons to the Sailor. I love mine, but this Sailor fella sure sounds interesting.The Muramasa is attractive, well built, well balanced, and shaves great. I have no issues there.
The ends of the head, where the finger grooves are needs to be deeper to get a better grip. The corners are rounded off. So those little grooves are all you have to grip. This isn't a problem to load a blade, but it isn't the most positive grip when disassembling with wet, soapy fingers. I tend to be heavy handed so I kinda lock the parts together pretty good...and that makes taking it apart harder. I could see myself cutting my fingers or figuring out alternate methods. Not really a big deal, but worth mentioning.
I found the dimples attractive as I said but beauty doesn't provide grip. The M is kinda slick. Its the only razor I felt like I was gonna drop in quite some time.
I didnt measure the handle but it is short. I can make short handles work but I need to be able to rest tte base on my pinky. A flat, or better yet a concave bottom, rests on the first pinky knuckle and provides a solid base to control the blade to skin interface. The M has the opposite. The base is convex or rounded. Convex doesn't rest on my pinky well. So now I am 3 fingering a slippery razor, not good. Convex makes a short handle even shorter, for me.
The handle diameter feels small to me, like the primary grip on a Wolfman Darwin...or most vintage Gillette razors I have used. I can tolerate them on occasion but they just aren't comfortable in my hand. I actually like larger diameter and 98mm long as all of my custom handles are, weight be damned.
As I mentioned, I think the M is quite attractive. However, I think form took a back seat to function during design and I identified them the first time I used it. This is just one man's opinion. I really hope I am in the minority here and I will keep my negativity about the M confined to this thread. I hope they sell every razor they make.
The shave...I loaded a new Feather in the M and set it on 5. The razor is very smooth with little blade feel. It is deceptive in efficiency given the feel on the face. I went to bed 8 or 9 hours later and was still 90% clean. The other 10% was likely my fault. I got a couple of odd growth directions along my jaw line. If I dont hit them just right on the ATG pass, they will pop up a little early as they did in this instance. Not the razors fault.
The dial needs to go up to at least 8, 10 would be nice. I find myself tackling some pretty thick growth at times and like larger gap options. I really like the floating guards tho. Big points for coming up with something unique.
The other big advantage of the M is user serviceability. It can be taken apart while the Sailor can't. Big points for the M here.
The M would be a great razor for smaller hands, daily shavers, and guys who lean toward milder razors. I totally get the appeal, this one just isn't for me. I would rarely use it as I've got many other options that perform better and are more comfortable to use.
For me, the 2021 Sailor is a far superior tool, albeit bulkier and heavier. I think the Sailor glides better with the polished rounds on the top cap. The matte finish on the M drags a little. Both are very smooth. Too close for me to call on one shave and even with more time with the M, I'd likely not argue if you said the M was smoother. It is pretty close.
The Sailor gets the edge on grip, ease of loading/unloading, and ease of adjustment.
The Sailor has much more headroom in gap. I think the M on 5 is close to a 3.5 or 4 on the Sailor...and the Sailor can go crazy higher on gap and stay smooth.
Both are quite handsome but the Sailor is my favorite. The contrast between polished and brushed surfaces and overall proportions just ticks my boxes.
I will run the M a couple more times to see if my opinions change and report back if they do.
Hopefully, this post doesn't come off as terribly harsh, its just honest feedback, from one pretty insignificant guy.
This is a great assessment and in depth review my man! As I told you, run it a couple more times on 5 and 4. I put my 2021 Sailor in the top spot as well but for some reason, I am really liking the Muramasa and you know I hate short handles. With that being said, Tatara is thinking about doing an XL version at my request so we shall see how and if that comes to fruition! I asked for a longer and thicker handle and a few more settings going up the dial and their response was, “You really got us thinking about that request.” We shall see but if they did that, I would purchase it in a second!!
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