KAI-Captain Titan Mild question

The Feather Professional blades work great in my Hawk and Mongoose V3. Plus they are a lot cheaper than other blades. I've never bothered to try Kais.

So far, I've tried the Kai Mild, Kai Guard and Feather Pro. Personally I found the Feather Pro harsh and the Kai Mild quite nice, until I bought the General. The Pros worked the best in the General and the Schick Pro-Line in my RX. The Hawk seems to work well with both the Kai Mild and Kai Guard. But, for me, nothing worked in the SS Mongoose. I'm going to try the Supers in the General to see if that combination works out. I've also tried these cut down and loaded into a couple of different injector razors.

The blade choice depends a lot on the razor choice and you have to experiment a little until you find the right combination. With the first couple of strokes from the General with the Kai Mild I knew it was a no go so I changed blades instead of suffering through a terrible shave.

So far, I've tried the Kai Mild, Kai Guard and Feather Pro.  Personally I found the Feather Pro harsh and the Kai Mild quite nice, until I bought the General.  The Pros worked the best in the General and the Schick Pro-Line in my RX.  The Hawk seems to work well with both the Kai Mild and Kai Guard.  But, for me, nothing worked in the SS Mongoose.  I'm going to try the Supers in the General to see if that combination works out.  I've also tried these cut down and loaded into a couple of different injector razors.

The blade choice depends a lot on the razor choice and you have to experiment a little until you find the right combination.  With the first couple of strokes from the General with the Kai Mild I knew it was a no go so I changed blades instead of suffering through a terrible shave.

I only have the one razor that takes the Artist Club blades so had nothing else to compare it to.  Of course, your take is just as true for traditional SE razors and DE razors so, after the second shave, I definitely should have packed it in instead of hoping the blade would smooth out.  Definitely my bad.

The Kai is a great blade, but not in the El Jefe. That's not the fault of the blade, though. It's a result of the inherent alignment slop in the razor. Why do you think the release of the El Jefe went over like a lead balloon and iKon is selling the heads as factory seconds/blems?

I tried a kai captain titan mild in my general that Freddy graciously sent to me. I honestly don't have anything negative to say. The blade shaved me close and actually felt smoother than the feather pro and feather pro guard.

I tried a kai captain titan mild in my general that Freddy graciously sent to me.  I honestly don't have anything negative to say.  The blade shaved me close and actually felt smoother than the feather pro and feather pro guard.

I'm glad to hear it, Andrew.  Perhaps, as John Clayton says, it is my El Jefe.  It is the only razor I have that takes the Artist Club type of blade.  However, I was very careful when placing the blade in the razor so it was in firmly and there was no chatter.  Whatever the reason that the blade didn't work for me, at least there are plenty of other razor and blade combinations that do work.

After an unpleasant Saturday morning, I decided to say no mas and adios to El Jefe.

Freddy, If you want a good single-edge razor, consider the Hawk and the Mongoose. Both are solid performers. El Jefe is POS because of its inherent alignment slop.

After an unpleasant Saturday morning, I decided to say no mas and adios to El Jefe.

Freddy, If you want a good single-edge razor, consider the Hawk and the Mongoose. Both are solid performers. El Jefe is POS because of its inherent alignment slop.

Actually, John, my favorite SEs all seem to be vintage.  I love my Schick Injector Adjustable, my GEM Featherweight and my 1907 Ever-Ready lather catcher.  Yes, I know the blades used are different but I get wonderful shaves from all of them and I especially like the lather catcher and the history it evokes.  

The El Jefe was a gift and I knew about its problems going in.  However, when I used it with a Feather Pro, I was very careful about blade placement and head to bottom plate placement and was rewarded with a very nice shave.  The razor will go into my collection and won't be used too often.

One thing I do not like about the El Jefe and other Artist Club type razors, at least from photos I've seen, is putting the blade in the razor is clumsy.  With the blade being so narrow, extra care has to be taken when placing it in a razor or a good cut would be sure to happen.  GEM SEs, Injector SEs, and DE blades generally do not have this problem.

This has been an interesting thread to read through. I have an AC-style shavette coming in a couple weeks, and while I realize it will be different than an SE safety razor, it's still helpful to read these experiences...

Looks like a trip to Try-a-Blade is in my very near future...

This has been an interesting thread to read through. I have an AC-style shavette coming in a couple weeks, and while I realize it will be different than an SE safety razor, it's still helpful to read these experiences...

Looks like a trip to Try-a-Blade is in my very near future...

Chris, I just tried a Schick Proline P-30 blade in both my RazoRock aluminum HAWK and my iKon El Jefe artist club razors and, so far, this blade easily tops other blades of this type that I have tried.  I shall be on shave 4 this morning in my HAWK.  When you place that order with Try-A-Blade why not get one to give it a whirl?