If you've used a slant, what are your observations?

[Leisureguy]

Yeah, it does seem that—like so much else in shaving, from blades to brushes—slants work very well for some and are nothing special to others. I'm still wowed by slants, but that's me—and I'm certainly not wowed by all slants, since some do not work well for me at all (and much the same is true about regular razors: some work great, some not so great).

 

[Vespasian1]

Yeah, it does seem that—like so much else in shaving, from blades to brushes—slants work very well for some and are nothing special to others. I'm still wowed by slants, but that's me—and I'm certainly not wowed by all slants, since do not work well for me at all (as is much the same with regular razors: some work great, some not so great).

Is your ultimate razor, a slant?

The only slant that really wowed me is the stealth DLC. The rest of my slants are eclipsed by my favorite SB.

 

[Leisureguy]

Well, an ultimate razor is sort of like an ultimate dessert: there are too many good choices to settle on one. But I did notice after taking a series of trips, in which I took along just one razor, I always ended up picking the iKon 102. The X3 came out later, and it ties with the 102 for among my favorite razors (which include the Baby Smooth, the Stealth, the Rockwell, the Maggard V20c (or Parker 24C: essentially the same head), the Dorco PL-602 (plastic but wonderful feel and performance), the RazoRock Old Type, and some others.

SB? Meaning a regular razor with a bar guard?

 

[morr]

I voted "pretty much the same as my conventional razors" but it's not that I didn't notice any difference when shaving with my slant - iKon X3. When compared to my Standard, X3 falls behind in efficiency while slightly less agressive, but where I found the X3 excels is the neck area; I can get a near BBS with very little effort and minimal risk of irritation.
So I find the slant not overall better, just having it's own pros and cons, like most other razors I guess.

 

[Leisureguy]

@morr - "Aggressive" seems to be ambiguous: it can describe the feel of the razor (where it means "harsh, uncomfortable, tending to nick unless used with perfect technique") or the performance of the razor (where it means "efficient and effective, removing stubble easily"). So I would say that for you, the X3 is less efficient than the Standard but more comfortable.

Your experience on the neck (where apparently the X3 is more efficient as well as more comfortable than the Standard) is consistent with what others have reported—e.g., this report and also this report. It's odd that on your neck the X3 is more efficient than the Standard while on your face the Standard is more efficient than the X3. One possibility is that you change the X3 angle slightly on the neck, shaving with the razor closer to its optimal angle than when you shave your face. Just a guess. I would think that, all things being equal, the efficiency would not vary by region of the face.

 

[morr]

I personally use the term aggressive only for describing the feel of the razor, not it's effectiveness (just as you said: "harsh, uncomfortable"), therefore your understanding should be about right. Please bear in mind that when talking about the Standard and the X3, the difference is minimal, I've only written my subtle observations.
Regarding the neck area, I probably should've been clearer as I still find the Standard slightly more effective but the X3 more comfortable and much more forgiving (even more so than with the face area). Since I often shave in a hurry (in the morning, before work), the carefree neck shave that I get with the X3 is valued

 

[Leisureguy]

The problem, of course, is that different people use "aggressive" and "mild" in different ways, so it's difficult to know if a reader is understanding what you wrote in the way you meant it. That's why I have gone to using "comfort" and "efficiency" to describe feel and performance respectively.

It will be interesting to see how you experience the razors with another few months of use: more practice sometimes improves the experience.

 

[Leisureguy]

I was pondering the poll results, present and past, and posted some of my reflections. (I may have already posted this somewhere, but it certainly belongs in this thread.)

 

[Johnus]

Now Riverrun has me even more confused. Twisted?!?! Now I have to worry about the blade being in the form of a double 'helix'? When I last used my 'slant' I just had to worry about having to figure out if I had to shave with the head pointing 'up or down' and if it was the same when I shaved WTG/XTG/ or ATG [emoji33]?? On the wicked 'twist' is thrown into the mix?? You guys are double downing on me!!


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[Steve Bowles]

Now Riverrun has me even more confused. Twisted?!?! Now I have to worry about the blade being in the form of a double 'helix'? When I last used my 'slant' I just had to worry about having to figure out if I had to shave with the head pointing 'up or down' and if it was the same when I shaved WTG/XTG/ or ATG [emoji33]?? On the wicked 'twist' is thrown into the mix?? You guys are double downing on me!!


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There's one thing you can say about @riverrun, he does have a flair for the dramatic, don't he? I've checked my 39c and I'll be damned if I can find a "twisted" blade anywhere between the bottom plate and top cap. The blade may be "curved", or "angled", but you'd be hard pressed to call it "twisted", no more than you could call upside-down Andreas "twisted".

 

[Ferrum]

Now Riverrun has me even more confused. Twisted?!?! Now I have to worry about the blade being in the form of a double 'helix'? When I last used my 'slant' I just had to worry about having to figure out if I had to shave with the head pointing 'up or down' and if it was the same when I shaved WTG/XTG/ or ATG [emoji33]?? On the wicked 'twist' is thrown into the mix?? You guys are double downing on me!!


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I generally just check that the blade edge is parallel to the leading edge/safety bar/comb. Whether it's in a Bakelite, Ikon, ATT, Razorock,loaded flat or twisted, there is, as far as I can judge, no razor where the eventual blade position is meant to be non-parallel. If they were, you'd get an interesting uneven double-stripe shave on each pass.

 

[riverrun]

There's one thing you can say about @riverrun, he does have a flair for the dramatic, don't he? I've checked my 39c and I'll be damned if I can find a "twisted" blade anywhere between the bottom plate and top cap. The blade may be "curved", or "angled", but you'd be hard pressed to call it "twisted", no more than you could call upside-down Andreas "twisted".

Have a look at this 'proper' slant razor and tell me the blade wouldn't be twisted...

That's a proper slant.

 

[efsk]

Most definately twisted, or torqued as I prefer to say. Unless you have one where the head is placed diagonally on the grip. Then you have a diagonal ;-)

 

[Steve Bowles]

Only @riverrun could come up with an example to back up his assertion of a "twisted" blade. I will stick with my 39c, however; putting a twisted blade to my face first thing in the morning does not fill me with confidence.

 

[efsk]

Your 39c is twisted as well. Just not as extreme. The point of a slant IS that the blade is twisted. You can find out more about that here.

 

[riverrun]

Your 39c is twisted as well. Just not as extreme. The point of a slant IS that the blade is twisted. You can find out more about that here.

Indeed. And thank you very much for the link to that very informative post. I hadn't seen it before. Bookmarked. I might have to read one or two of the patents mentioned.