Comparing the Blackland Blackbird

SOTD OCtober 22nd


Stirling Mentholated Pre-Shave Soap
Blackland Blackbird OC
Blackland Dart
Gillette Silver Blue
Simpson's CH2 "The Soap Destroyer"(27mm, Destroyer Class)
Stirling Vanilla Sandalwood (RIP)
Nivea Sensitive PSB


My shave this morning featured the Blackland Blackbird on loan from Jim jluc  to which I am going to compare it to the Dart and maybe a few of my other SS razors over the next couple of weeks. To make the comparison fair I loaded up a brand new GSB in both razors. I set to loading up the last few grams of my Stirling Vanilla Sandalwood soap into The Soap Destroyer into which I made a silky smooth, creamy, goopy, slick lather. The stage was set for this epic duel.I shaved the left side of my face and neck with the Blackbird and the right side with the Dart. First few strokes with the Blackbird were taken to find the optimum angle which was very intuitive because you can basically use the flat of the cap as a guide. Reduction was good and audible feedback was moderate. On to the Dart. The Dart requires a slightly steeper angle and has you coming off the cap and into a more of a neutral-guard riding angle. Audible feedback on the Dart is much louder then the Blackbird and it has slightly more blade feel as well. After the second pass (ATG) on the third pass (XTG touchups) I could hear more whiskers still being cut by the Blackbird, On the Dart side the pass was nearly silent. After the shave there was no irritation to speak of and the finish was identical on the face, BBS. On the neck where I only do one pass WTG the Dart was slightly closer. Round one efficiency goes to the Dart. Where the Blackbird excels over the Dart is smoothness. You get the distinct feeling with the Dart that if you aren't paying attention it will bite you, the Blackbird feels much more forgiving. I think this is primarily due to the Dart having slightly more blade exposure while having very minimal blade reveal, this makes for a very rigid blade clamping.

Interesting. I didn't get on with the Blackbird, perhaps the non rigid design. It performed poorly ATG on my head (my $8 Tek 2 would be more effective). The Dart with it's totally different head might be a better choice for me.

SOTD OCtober 22nd


Stirling Mentholated Pre-Shave Soap
Blackland Blackbird OC
Blackland Dart
Gillette Silver Blue
Simpson's CH2 "The Soap Destroyer"(27mm, Destroyer Class)
Stirling Vanilla Sandalwood (RIP)
Nivea Sensitive PSB


My shave this morning featured the Blackland Blackbird on loan from Jim jluc to which I am going to compare it to the Dart and maybe a few of my other SS razors over the next couple of weeks. To make the comparison fair I loaded up a brand new GSB in both razors. I set to loading up the last few grams of my Stirling Vanilla Sandalwood soap into The Soap Destroyer into which I made a silky smooth, creamy, goopy, slick lather. The stage was set for this epic duel.I shaved the left side of my face and neck with the Blackbird and the right side with the Dart. First few strokes with the Blackbird were taken to find the optimum angle which was very intuitive because you can basically use the flat of the cap as a guide. Reduction was good and audible feedback was moderate. On to the Dart. The Dart requires a slightly steeper angle and has you coming off the cap and into a more of a neutral-guard riding angle. Audible feedback on the Dart is much louder then the Blackbird and it has slightly more blade feel as well. After the second pass (ATG) on the third pass (XTG touchups) I could hear more whiskers still being cut by the Blackbird, On the Dart side the pass was nearly silent. After the shave there was no irritation to speak of and the finish was identical on the face, BBS. On the neck where I only do one pass WTG the Dart was slightly closer. Round one efficiency goes to the Dart. Where the Blackbird excels over the Dart is smoothness. You get the distinct feeling with the Dart that if you aren't paying attention it will bite you, the Blackbird feels much more forgiving. I think this is primarily due to the Dart having slightly more blade exposure while having very minimal blade reveal, this makes for a very rigid blade clamping.

Interesting. I didn't get on with the Blackbird, perhaps the non rigid design. It performed poorly ATG on my head (my $8 Tek 2 would be more effective). The Dart with it's totally different head might be a better choice for me.

SOTD OCtober 22nd


Stirling Mentholated Pre-Shave Soap
Blackland Blackbird OC
Blackland Dart
Gillette Silver Blue
Simpson's CH2 "The Soap Destroyer"(27mm, Destroyer Class)
Stirling Vanilla Sandalwood (RIP)
Nivea Sensitive PSB


My shave this morning featured the Blackland Blackbird on loan from Jim jluc to which I am going to compare it to the Dart and maybe a few of my other SS razors over the next couple of weeks. To make the comparison fair I loaded up a brand new GSB in both razors. I set to loading up the last few grams of my Stirling Vanilla Sandalwood soap into The Soap Destroyer into which I made a silky smooth, creamy, goopy, slick lather. The stage was set for this epic duel.I shaved the left side of my face and neck with the Blackbird and the right side with the Dart. First few strokes with the Blackbird were taken to find the optimum angle which was very intuitive because you can basically use the flat of the cap as a guide. Reduction was good and audible feedback was moderate. On to the Dart. The Dart requires a slightly steeper angle and has you coming off the cap and into a more of a neutral-guard riding angle. Audible feedback on the Dart is much louder then the Blackbird and it has slightly more blade feel as well. After the second pass (ATG) on the third pass (XTG touchups) I could hear more whiskers still being cut by the Blackbird, On the Dart side the pass was nearly silent. After the shave there was no irritation to speak of and the finish was identical on the face, BBS. On the neck where I only do one pass WTG the Dart was slightly closer. Round one efficiency goes to the Dart. Where the Blackbird excels over the Dart is smoothness. You get the distinct feeling with the Dart that if you aren't paying attention it will bite you, the Blackbird feels much more forgiving. I think this is primarily due to the Dart having slightly more blade exposure while having very minimal blade reveal, this makes for a very rigid blade clamping.

The Dart doesn't seem like it would be so aggressive, but looks can be deceiving. There is absolutely no give to the blade in the Dart.

Clamping distance looks a bit less than the Gamechanger and obviously more exposure..but it does look like it would perform better for me than the Bird.

Interesting. I didn't get on with the Blackbird, perhaps the non rigid design. It performed poorly ATG on my head (my $8 Tek 2 would be more effective). The Dart with it's totally different head might be a better choice for me.

SOTD OCtober 22nd


Stirling Mentholated Pre-Shave Soap
Blackland Blackbird OC
Blackland Dart
Gillette Silver Blue
Simpson's CH2 "The Soap Destroyer"(27mm, Destroyer Class)
Stirling Vanilla Sandalwood (RIP)
Nivea Sensitive PSB


My shave this morning featured the Blackland Blackbird on loan from Jim jluc to which I am going to compare it to the Dart and maybe a few of my other SS razors over the next couple of weeks. To make the comparison fair I loaded up a brand new GSB in both razors. I set to loading up the last few grams of my Stirling Vanilla Sandalwood soap into The Soap Destroyer into which I made a silky smooth, creamy, goopy, slick lather. The stage was set for this epic duel.I shaved the left side of my face and neck with the Blackbird and the right side with the Dart. First few strokes with the Blackbird were taken to find the optimum angle which was very intuitive because you can basically use the flat of the cap as a guide. Reduction was good and audible feedback was moderate. On to the Dart. The Dart requires a slightly steeper angle and has you coming off the cap and into a more of a neutral-guard riding angle. Audible feedback on the Dart is much louder then the Blackbird and it has slightly more blade feel as well. After the second pass (ATG) on the third pass (XTG touchups) I could hear more whiskers still being cut by the Blackbird, On the Dart side the pass was nearly silent. After the shave there was no irritation to speak of and the finish was identical on the face, BBS. On the neck where I only do one pass WTG the Dart was slightly closer. Round one efficiency goes to the Dart. Where the Blackbird excels over the Dart is smoothness. You get the distinct feeling with the Dart that if you aren't paying attention it will bite you, the Blackbird feels much more forgiving. I think this is primarily due to the Dart having slightly more blade exposure while having very minimal blade reveal, this makes for a very rigid blade clamping.

The Dart doesn't seem like it would be so aggressive, but looks can be deceiving. There is absolutely no give to the blade in the Dart.

Thanks for sharing this post. The Blackbird is almost twice the cost of the Dart and I've been wondering about the differences.

I agree the Blackbird delivers a more comfortable and consistent shave for me. They're both beautiful razors. I find the Blackbird hits a perfect closeness/smooth spot for my face that I can shave daily with it, where the Dart I can shave daily with but not as smooth to me.

SOTD OCtober 24th


Stirling Mentholated Pre-Shave Soap
Blackland Blackbird
Blackland Dart
Gillette Silver Blue (2)
JR#134
PAA Chocolate Bourbon
Canoe AS

Round two in the Blackbird VS Dart showdown. The results pretty much mirrored the first round. The Dart, while capable of delivering a two pass out the door BBS shave, requires one to be fully focused during the shave. The Blackbird would be more of a three pass razor for me, but feels more comfortable during use and would forgive you an occasional lapse in focus.

I liked the Blackbird; it gave me close and comfortable shaves.  I sold it under spousal pressure (too many razors).  I will probably buy another.
I didn't like the Dart; it gave me close but uncomfortable shaves.  I sold it because it didn't like my face.  I wont buy another.  Nice razor, just not for me.

SOTD OCtober 26th


Stirling Mentholated Pre-Shave Soap
Blackland Blackbird
Above The Tie Atlas H2
GSB (3)
Doug Korn Stubby (35mm, Carrier Class)
Mike's Natural Soaps "Orange, Cedarwood, and Black Pepper"
Myrsol "Agua De Limon"

Another Blackbird showdown on this fine Friday morning. This time with a razor that is in the same price tier, the ATT Atlas H2. From a visual comparison the head geometry and blade gap seem to be pretty close on these two razors with the ATT having a smidge more blade reveal. After building a super slick foundation out of the Mike's I put blade to face. I started with the Blackbird on the right. Still smooth with decent blade feel. With the ATT H2 on the left I though perhaps that it might have had a tiny bit more blade feel but it was really too close to call. The rest of the shave progressed similarly, both razors were really equally matched with blade feel and efficiency. I fact if I were blindfolded I probably wouldn't have known that I was shaving with two different razors. After 3 passes both sides were BBS and I finished with a spritz of Myrsol Lemon and experienced no sting from the alcohol.

Interesting. To me those are very different razors. Both are well built and finished but shave wise the shaving angle and feel on the face is very different.