Razors I have known and....NOT Loved.

I've finally got my RAD under control (really!) and I spent some time writing up a list of Razors I have sold, traded, or given away.  I'm going to paste that list here not to show the world how much money I've wasted on razors, but with the thought that someone may want to discuss one (or more) of them to learn why I let it go from my collection.  The razors are listed in no particular order of preference.

To be fair, there are a few on this list that I wouldn't mind having back, and they were sold to gain funds to buy the next razor.  I will mark those with an asterisk *

At the bottom of this post I will list the razors that have made the cut (pun intended) to currently be in my den.

Henson+
Henson++
Henson+++
Yates 921M
Yates 921H
Parker Semi-Slant
Parker Adjustable Injector
Merkur 37C Slant
Merkur Progress
Fatip Lo Storto Open Comb Slant
Fatip Piccolo, nickel
Muhle R95 Rocca
Muhle R41, Yaqi handle
Yaqi Mellon Rose Gold Color
Yaqi Katana
Yaqi The Final Cut adjustable
Yaqi Mellon w/ Yaqi black and chrome handle
Tatara Masamune
Tatara Nodachi
Gillette Heritage Set
King C. Gillette
Razorock Aluminum Baby Smooth, Blue
Razorock ECO, hulk green
Razorock Aluminum Lupo
*Razorock Gamechanger 68OC, 68P, 84P
Razorock Lupo 58, 72, DC
Razorock Superslant L2++
Razorock Hawk & A, V3
Timeless Ti 68OC, 95SB
Timeless Aluminum Slant
Leaf Twig
Leaf Thorn
Karve Bison
Karve Christopher Bradley brass C, E, F
Weishi 9306 Gunmetal Finish
High Proof Original Razor
Razorine Flatboy
Snmirn Adjustable
PAA Phantom Blue plastic slant
TRC/SCS Razor
Pearl Flexi
*Rex Envoy
Edwin Jagger DE89
*Rockwell 6C
Goodfellas Smile Syntesi stainless steel
Wolfman Guerrilla .84, .99 aluminum
Mossei Mono Injector Razor
Shield Stomper Ti
Asylum Rx-V2 artist club
Blackland Vector stainless steel
*Alpha Claymore Evolution

VINTAGE
Gillette Short Comb NEW, replated
Gillette A3 Red Tip
Gillette L2 Tech
Gillette L1 Flare Tip Superspeed
Schick Krona
Schick E4 Injector
Wardonia Bakelite Razor
Gem Micromatic
Gem Featherweight Deluxe


TOP DOGS CURRENTLY IN MY DEN
Atelier Durdan La Faulx Classic and + stainless steel
Karve Overlander stainless steel
Timeless stainless steel .95 & .68
Lambda Athena bronze
Blackland Blackbird stainless steel Standard & Lite

And find the BlackLand Vector in Ti or SS, hands down the best razor of any type (even perfectly honed straight) ever used...period, hard stop.

I've finally got my RAD under control (really!) and I spent some time writing up a list of Razors I have sold, traded, or given away.  I'm going to paste that list here not to show the world how much money I've wasted on razors, but with the thought that someone may want to discuss one (or more) of them to learn why I let it go from my collection.  The razors are listed in no particular order of preference.

To be fair, there are a few on this list that I wouldn't mind having back, and they were sold to gain funds to buy the next razor.  I will mark those with an asterisk *

At the bottom of this post I will list the razors that have made the cut (pun intended) to currently be in my den.

Henson+
Henson++
Henson+++
Yates 921M
Yates 921H
Parker Semi-Slant
Parker Adjustable Injector
Merkur 37C Slant
Merkur Progress
Fatip Lo Storto Open Comb Slant
Fatip Piccolo, nickel
Muhle R95 Rocca
Muhle R41, Yaqi handle
Yaqi Mellon Rose Gold Color
Yaqi Katana
Yaqi The Final Cut adjustable
Yaqi Mellon w/ Yaqi black and chrome handle
Tatara Masamune
Tatara Nodachi
Gillette Heritage Set
King C. Gillette
Razorock Aluminum Baby Smooth, Blue
Razorock ECO, hulk green
Razorock Aluminum Lupo
*Razorock Gamechanger 68OC, 68P, 84P
Razorock Lupo 58, 72, DC
Razorock Superslant L2++
Razorock Hawk & A, V3
Timeless Ti 68OC, 95SB
Timeless Aluminum Slant
Leaf Twig
Leaf Thorn
Karve Bison
Karve Christopher Bradley brass C, E, F
Weishi 9306 Gunmetal Finish
High Proof Original Razor
Razorine Flatboy
Snmirn Adjustable
PAA Phantom Blue plastic slant
TRC/SCS Razor
Pearl Flexi
*Rex Envoy
Edwin Jagger DE89
*Rockwell 6C
Goodfellas Smile Syntesi stainless steel
Wolfman Guerrilla .84, .99 aluminum
Mossei Mono Injector Razor
Shield Stomper Ti
Asylum Rx-V2 artist club
Blackland Vector stainless steel
*Alpha Claymore Evolution

VINTAGE
Gillette Short Comb NEW, replated
Gillette A3 Red Tip
Gillette L2 Tech
Gillette L1 Flare Tip Superspeed
Schick Krona
Schick E4 Injector
Wardonia Bakelite Razor
Gem Micromatic
Gem Featherweight Deluxe


TOP DOGS CURRENTLY IN MY DEN
Atelier Durdan La Faulx Classic and + stainless steel
Karve Overlander stainless steel
Timeless stainless steel .95 & .68
Lambda Athena bronze
Blackland Blackbird stainless steel Standard & Lite

And find the BlackLand Vector in Ti or SS, hands down the best razor of any type (even perfectly honed straight) ever used...period, hard stop.

I never got to a happy place with the Vector.  Blackland came out with the Vector Lite shortly after I sold it; and the Lite may have worked better for me.  But my La Faulx is so much better for me that I will not buy a Lite to find out.  The Alpha Claymore Evolution also beat the Vector for me.

Love this. Those are some great top dogs!

I have to agree with Dan. I too have a nice assortment of mid to mid upper end DE razors and the Tatara Nodachi Ti I my best razor. My Nodachi SS was my best razor until I got the Ti. I never really found the balance of the SS to my liking but the razor really performed. The Ti changed the balance for me to perfect.

Love this. Those are some great top dogs!

I have to agree with Dan. I too have a nice assortment of mid to mid upper end DE razors and the Tatara Nodachi Ti I my best razor. My Nodachi SS was my best razor until I got the Ti. I never really found the balance of the SS to my liking but the razor really performed. The Ti changed the balance for me to perfect.

I agree the Nodachi and Masamune are excellent razors.  In fact I've had two Masamunes, the first with Masamune and Nodachi top caps.  The ability to swap top  caps as well as base plates is great, and Tatara's machining is extremely precise.  I let mine go to new homes because they just never made it to top dog status (for me).  Very close though. (mine were stainless steel, which I prefer)

The worst razor I have ever used is the ZOMCHI double edge razor. I own ten DE razors and the ZOMCHI is by far the worst. It is an extremely aggressive design, useless for me.

I know that my contribution is not going to be helpful to anybody here, and as a historical comment it isn't even relevant any more but I want to vent.

The razor that I hate the most is one of the best selling razors of all time from a company that I hate. They have complete contempt for their customers, foist faulty and fraudulent products on them, advertise the hell out of them and then insult their customers in those same advertisements.

The company is Gillette and the razor is the infamous Trac II with the "Lift-n-Cut" (a/k/a "Ingrown Hair") system. Then to add insult to injury they added a lubricating strip and a pivot so that you were dissuaded from re-lathering if you tried to do a touch up pass. I shaved with one all through college and always had at least one ingrown hair on my neck somewhere. I hated shaving so much that I switched to an electric for probably 20 years so then I never had a decent shave. No ingrown hairs but constant razor burn trying to chase a close shave. Fortunately, when my daughter started shaving her legs I would steal her Bic disposable SE razors and give myself a proper wet shave on Sundays when I had the time for one. This was a huge improvement over the electrics that I was using during the week (I tried them all). Eventually that led to straight razors (my grandfather was a barber and I remember him shaving with one) and the most comfortable, pleasant shaves I have ever had in my life.

As far as modern razors go, the Parker Injector (adjustable) was terrible for me. I couldn't get it to shave.

I know that my contribution is not going to be helpful to anybody here, and as a historical comment it isn't even relevant any more but I want to vent.

The razor that I hate the most is one of the best selling razors of all time from a company that I hate. They have complete contempt for their customers, foist faulty and fraudulent products on them, advertise the hell out of them and then insult their customers in those same advertisements.

The company is Gillette and the razor is the infamous Trac II with the "Lift-n-Cut" (a/k/a "Ingrown Hair") system. Then to add insult to injury they added a lubricating strip and a pivot so that you were dissuaded from re-lathering if you tried to do a touch up pass. I shaved with one all through college and always had at least one ingrown hair on my neck somewhere. I hated shaving so much that I switched to an electric for probably 20 years so then I never had a decent shave. No ingrown hairs but constant razor burn trying to chase a close shave. Fortunately, when my daughter started shaving her legs I would steal her Bic disposable SE razors and give myself a proper wet shave on Sundays when I had the time for one. This was a huge improvement over the electrics that I was using during the week (I tried them all). Eventually that led to straight razors (my grandfather was a barber and I remember him shaving with one) and the most comfortable, pleasant shaves I have ever had in my life.

As far as modern razors go, the Parker Injector (adjustable) was terrible for me. I couldn't get it to shave.

Started with straight and soap/brush but was ridiculed in university for not using cartridge and goop. Lived through many years of terrible shaves during momentary lapse of reason; shame that

I know that my contribution is not going to be helpful to anybody here, and as a historical comment it isn't even relevant any more but I want to vent.

The razor that I hate the most is one of the best selling razors of all time from a company that I hate. They have complete contempt for their customers, foist faulty and fraudulent products on them, advertise the hell out of them and then insult their customers in those same advertisements.

The company is Gillette and the razor is the infamous Trac II with the "Lift-n-Cut" (a/k/a "Ingrown Hair") system. Then to add insult to injury they added a lubricating strip and a pivot so that you were dissuaded from re-lathering if you tried to do a touch up pass. I shaved with one all through college and always had at least one ingrown hair on my neck somewhere. I hated shaving so much that I switched to an electric for probably 20 years so then I never had a decent shave. No ingrown hairs but constant razor burn trying to chase a close shave. Fortunately, when my daughter started shaving her legs I would steal her Bic disposable SE razors and give myself a proper wet shave on Sundays when I had the time for one. This was a huge improvement over the electrics that I was using during the week (I tried them all). Eventually that led to straight razors (my grandfather was a barber and I remember him shaving with one) and the most comfortable, pleasant shaves I have ever had in my life.

As far as modern razors go, the Parker Injector (adjustable) was terrible for me. I couldn't get it to shave.

Started with straight and soap/brush but was ridiculed in university for not using cartridge and goop. Lived through many years of terrible shaves during momentary lapse of reason; shame that

Hey, we all make mistakes.

I found that the feeling of using Masamune and Overlander is very similar.

Henson +++
Tatara Nodachi (I really wanted to love but just couldn’t)