Thanks so much Dave, both for the concise notes and efficiency. I'm sure other participants appreciate it very much
EDIT: You mentioned a couple of things that you were a little unclear on in the video, so I'll respond to those here if that's ok
To the point about the cost being a little higher than a Yates 921, that is due to a few things on this initial launch offering. The first is just the complexity of the geometry. If you look at a 921 handle, its essentially a cylinder with a few lines on it, which is incredibly simple to machine. For those who prioritize price over feel and aesthetics, then maybe that is preferable. The Drakkant handle, which most people have really enjoyed in both the feel, grip, and appearance, has a much more distinctive and complex design, and so takes more operations to machine, which will naturally increase the cost. There are also some cosmetic features, such as the CNC engraving on the bottom of the handle and base plates. These details might be more closely compared to those on a Timeless or Blacklbird, which are actually more expensive for machined finish than the Drakkant.
The other contributing factor is just the price per part produced at startup production volumes in the dozens, rather than the prices you would see for mass runs in the hundreds or even thousands. As the business achieves some success and so can take on more risk, we should be able to order much larger volumes in a single run, which will significantly lower the cost per razor, and which should then make lower everyday prices more feasible.
To the point about this being a prototype but appearing to have already entered into production, both of those observations are actually true at once. This passaround was meant to serve multiple purposes:
- The first was to test the current version of the razor and validate it's function as a medium aggressive shaver, in order to greenlight it for production, as well as gain any minor production notes or tweaks that could be applied during production. This was actually accomplished within the first 8 or so participants, since there was a more or less unanimous consensus that it worked as described, with the minor caveat of the finishing and hard prototype edges which will be addressed in production.
- The second was to gather notes for future options that could make the razor desirable and functional within a wider range of shaving parameters. This is obviously still ongoing and has been extremely fruitful with each new participant!
- The final purpose was merely to allow anyone who would either like to try the razor before they buy it or try it without buying it to do so, and with over 60 participants to date I would say that that's working out pretty well too
Hopefully that helps give some clarity to a few of those questions! Thanks again for the thorough reviews and feedback. This has honestly been amazing.
![[Image: RI67I06.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/RI67I06.jpg)
