Blackland Blackbird

Gentlemen I'm a Canadian following this thread closely. In the last 10 posts we were talking about the Blackbird - we started with the Dart. As I understand it the Dart gap is set - a mid to aggressive. And the Blackbird has 2 plates - mid aggresive and aggresive. I hope thats correct.
Perhaps when mentioning Blackbird's you could mention if you're using the mid aggresive or aggresive.
Thanks all. Great thread. The Dart is a very affordable razor.
Thanks Shane for chiming in. Very helpful.
-Bill Wood-

Welcome to the Forum, Bill. You are correct on Dart - it is on a more aggressive side. But the BlackBirds do not come in two levels of efficiency, the Sabre (SE Gem type) razors do - L1 and L2. The blackBirds however have two baseplate options - standard safety bar and open comb (which is considered more aggressive, though the blade gap is the same). I use the two interchangeably and enjoy them both. The open comb is more fun to use when i have more than 48 hrs growth, but both baseplates are equally effective and efficient. The Dart t me feels a bit "harsher" than the BlackBirds, but with a good soap (Grooming Dept, Declaration Grooming, Wholly Kai, etc) it gives me very close and delightful shaves.

Hope it helps!

Alex

Polished Vectors (and everything else polished) will be here next month. Stainless 101mm handles will be available about mid-year. They are currently slated to begin production in late spring.

Love my new bird. And i prefer long copper or brass handles! Can't wait for the summer. My first  virgin bird ride documented in pix. Shane, any shot you will make a copper bird down the road?

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Glad to hear that you’re enjoying it! The razor in that picture is a Dart, though . I don’t see a copper Blackbird being added in addition to the brass one in the foreseeable future.

Thank you sir

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Opinions on the Dart are all over the map. Shane expected it to be slightly less aggressive than the Dart. Some consider it MORE aggressive. I suspect the reason is the rounded ends that expose more of the blade corner. It’s great for trimming around the nose, but can be treacherous in a hollow. Also, the Dart works over a relatively wide angle range, but that does not mean it shaves the same over that range.

As already said, there’s not much difference between the Blackbird OC and SB baseplates. The gap and exposure are the same. The OC shaves slightly more aggressively, but not much.

The Blackbird OC (machined finish) has become my daily driver. It gets along very well with my skin.

I cannot say it enough, I love my Blackbird, last week I shaved with my Wolfman 0.74 and my BBS-1, this week I'm using my Blackbird and one thing I notice is zero irritation and zero stubble. My Wolfman and BBS-1 can also get me there but the feeling is different, the Wolfman has blade feel and can leave irritation if not careful, Blackbird nada, zip, zero, zilch, the Blackbird I dare say would have to be in my top 3 razors for sure now, likely 1 or 2 it's too hard to call. All I know is it feels different than any other razor I own and it works amazingly.

I cannot say it enough, I love my Blackbird, last week I shaved with my Wolfman 0.74 and my BBS-1, this week I'm using my Blackbird and one thing I notice is zero irritation and zero stubble. My Wolfman and BBS-1 can also get me there but the feeling is different, the Wolfman has blade feel and can leave irritation if not careful, Blackbird nada, zip, zero, zilch, the Blackbird I dare say would have to be in my top 3 razors for sure now, likely 1 or 2 it's too hard to call. All I know is it feels different than any other razor I own and it works amazingly.

+100%

I have a question now since we’ve been talking a lot about the crazy bird
Does any of you experience some kind of drag on the skin while shaving with it ?
I have the machined finish and I experience this issue very often regardless of the cream or soap I’m using.
Is it the machined finish or what is it ?


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I have the machined finish and do not notice any drag.

I have the black oxide OC and I don’t notice any drag. I noticed a little with the SB, but only if I used too much pressure or had a steep angle where a lot of the bar was on my face.

I have all there finishes and I cannot detect any difference in glide/drag