Blackland Adjustable: Osprey

Is there any talk of a Osprey passaround on DFS?

Blackland doesn't do pass arounds so there probably won't be one unless a member decides to pass their personal Osprey around.

Man, I purposely ignored the shaving forums for most of this year to counteract my RAD. First thing I see when casually logging back on over holiday break are reviews on the Osprey. RAD back in full effect.

Hey all- has anyone heard an update on the availability of the Ti version of the Osprey? I am holding out for that.

JP

Hey all-  has anyone heard an update on the availability of the Ti version of the Osprey?  I am holding out for that. 

JP

It’s looking like next month for titanium!

Thanks Shane- that is great!

Hey all-  has anyone heard an update on the availability of the Ti version of the Osprey?  I am holding out for that. 

JP

It’s looking like next month for titanium!

SHUT UP & TAKE MY MONEEEEEYYYY!!!!!

First shave of ‘24 with the Osprey and decided to try out a brand new blade as well for me that is, the German made Schick de blade. And I’ll be quite honest, the Schick blade was actually a very nice performer in that it was both smooth & sharp in the Osprey. WTG, ATG & XTG the Osprey and Schick combination never faltered during any phase of the shave. Granted that the Osprey delivers world class clamping that in turn gives plenty of rigidity and stability to any blade but, for a new blade that I’ve never experienced before, it works and had an excellent first outing. The Osprey just continues to prove its cutting pedigree from the house of Blackland. Started on setting #6 and finished somewhere between setting #4 & #5 for a top notch BBS finish. Probably my best shave to date with the Osprey and that’s only a good thing. Means that the shaves will only get better. I like that.

Great shaves to all…

I've been using an Osprey 1.1 (black numbers) for just over a week now. Fit and finish are excellent  - I'm a fan of industrial aestheitcs, I usually don't go for polished finishes if there's a choice. I'll give some thoughts, and given this thing's price point, I might be a little more nit-pickey than usual:

1) The feel: Feels good in the hand, nice weight and balance. I get the idea behind the hollow handle - easier to clean, but then that means you need a weight insert to properly balance the thing - but I'm not sure I like it. But then, I don't particularly not like it, either. I think I would have liked a choice between a short handle and long handle, a la Blackbird - I'm a fan of the 101mm handle on that one and how it just rolls in the hand. Having said that, this isn't that far off from the BB long handle. Also, I notice that when I'm shaving, the little bump at the tail end of the handle will occasionally brush my palm.  One last nit to be picked - would have preferred the handle end to a millimeter or two more narrow so it would fit in the stand I'm using for my Blackbird and had used for my Vector. Having to buy a different stand for a razor from the same maker kinda chafes my grits. 
 
2) Adjustability: Tabs on the razor head work great, I've never had an issue adjusting the gap mid-shave. I've generally started high for the initial WTG pass than tightened it up for a second ATG pass. People who say the adustability mechanism is too tight might want to do a few pushups. It's not that bad, and much better than the if it had been the opposite. And yes, as advertisded, the gap options are quite wide - from "is this thing on?" to "I think I can fit my wedding band in there." 

3) Shaves: Less chatter than a mime convention. Everyone's been focusing on the adjustability angle, but let me tell you - the blade is so tight you can almost imagine you're shaving with solid steel. Smooth, baby, smooth. It took me about a week with a Nacet to get the hang of it. For a good chunk of that time I could not for the life of me completely mow down a thin strip of stubble on the curve of my chin. But I've got it now. No cuts, no weepers. I've mainly been going 7.5 for first passes then dropping down to ~5 for second pass. Today I did 7.5 for both passes and got a Blackbird-esque clean BBS. Last Wednesday I had an early-morning work meeting so did 5 for both passes just to make sure I wouldn't have any weepers in my groggy state. Worked beautifully. 

Big cavaet: I've been getting a tiny bit of irritation on my second passes no matter what level I'm using. I'll see if I can tame that this week. If not, though, that might be a deal breaker - I've never gotten "hot skin" from my brass BB and frankly I'm surprised I'm getting it with the Osprey, the shave is so smooth. But we'll see if a little honing of tecnique can fix that. I hope so.

Pics or it didn't happen: 

Horsehair brush
Stirling sheep unscented mixed with WSP tobacco
B&M Fern AS
Nacet blade 

Thank you for posting your review for your version 1.1 Osprey. I have the original machined version, so there are slight differences between them, but overall the same razor regardless. I rarely get to read new reviews for this razor, so I wanted to make sure to let you know that I enjoyed the read. Hopefully Shane at BlackLand took notice of your review as well.

Hi Shane, the price difference between the Titanium Blackbird and the stainless steel version is $ 120. Is that also about the amount that awaits us at the Osprey?

I won't speculate on price because we don't really know our costs yet. In general, I think it's wise to look at material price gaps on a relative basis instead of a fixed one. That's a better way to guess where pricing might fall.

Looking at the BB SS vs Ti comparison it shows a 60% increase for the Ti metal over SS. Waving my hands with a fairly simplistic and naive approach that the relative material inputs, machining cost, and margin deltas will be equivalent, that would suggest the Osprey in Ti at $560 (from a base of 350 in SS). But given the Osprey price point I have to imagine fewer copies will be produced and therefore whatever fixed costs there might be for the Ti version will have to be spread over a smaller volume, along with potentially allocating some of the presumed R&D cost recovery in there as well. So I could see that number going higher, although Blackland might trade off unit margin for volume, depending on price sensitivity/price elasticity. And that trade off could cap or reduce the relative increase for the Ti variant.

I am going to take a humble brag on predicting the exact pricing of the Osprey in Ti.   

Look forward to the reviews on the Ti variant.




From Backland Website: