Today was my fifth shave with the new Sabre, using the level 1 safety bar. And it was the best shave yet for me!
For the interested, here are the details. My first 2 shaves were rough, and since I have a lot of the Personna PTFE GEMs, I ditched the blade and used a new one. I stropped this blade rather than my standard corking, using a folded paper towel and doing each side twice (many thanks to Mike
HighSpeed for this tip and to
Dave in KY for the nudge to use a different blade). Each consecutive shave was better than the previous shave.
Today's shave was the 3rd shave on the stropped blade and a had a lot more growth as I shaved in the early afternoon (for laziness reasons!). This shave hit my standard of a Really Comfortable and Close Shave (RCS for ease), with no irritation and no red spots. I am getting more excited now about this revamped Sabre!
I think as I was having a comfortable shave and more familiarity with the razor, I started to notice the nuanced differences between my previous Sabre and this new one. First is the weight. My recollection was that the Sabre v1 was a lot heavier or beefier. I know that the exact weights are out on the web, but I haven't looked. The Sabre v2 feels "right" to me. And I like the increased thickness of the handle up by the head. Shane mentions that in one of the later videos on the development, and he got it perfect. I find my hand gravitating to that "collar" for better control and even for ease of use. So, the beefiness has lessened and has been replaced by a beautiful look and feel. That new head design is a winner. I found myself twice just holding the razor to appreciate the refined look. Folks who read my Journal know I am a Karve Overlander fanboy, but while I love my Overlanders, only a couple handles are striking and the head is, well, a normal looking DE head. The Sabre v2 head is sleek, looking like it means business but has aesthetics as well! This head and handle combo is approaching, for me, the GEM Damaskeene or GEM Junior look, with the cool look of those heads with the "wire" guard and the scroll work handles.
This is a razor that I am looking forward to getting to know better!
One thing I haven't mentioned is the changing of the safety bar or the unique storage location for the bar not being used. But I'll leave that for someone else to write about, as I haven't changed the bar but once. I will reiterate what I wrote in my first impression post, I find the magnets such a unique and clever idea, Shane
Blackland Razors!
- Eric
Put your message in a modem,
And throw it in the Cyber Sea
--Rush, "Virtuality"
Overloader of brushes, Overlander fanboy, Schickhead, and a GEM in the rough!