Pils 101NE Unboxing

Ferrum said:
Loading is slightly different (locate blade on baseplate not cap) but no more fiddley than an ATT or Ikon slant. I like razors which cover the tabs, like this, Standard and Ikons.

If, as I do, you switch between DE and SE razors all the time, the flat blade isn't anything to get excited about. It's a "vocal" razor, and easy to hear and feel when it's working right. The supposed difficulties in using it are perhaps overstated, and the best angle quickly becomes both obvious and instinctive. The weighting and balance are, to me, exactly right. It doesn't seem to make a lot of difference that the weight is in the head and not the handle.

With a new Polsilver and plenty of Wickhams lather, it's a 2-pass clean shave for me. My current modern DE paradigm for a perfect shave is the Standard, or any ATT, and this is close. I should add that I normally shave daily, and can't really comment on the suitability of this or any other razor for scything through days of stubble.

One way or another, the Pils contradicts much of the received wisdom on razors (balance, blade orientation) but nonetheless works. It is a masterpiece of design, manufacture and function and, although expensive (but not more so than an ATT head and handle), well worth it.

I'm glad I sprung for it.
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Great write-up thanks!

My shave tomorrow will be for 2.5 days of stubble and then the rest of the week shave daily so it'll be interesting to see how/if it behaves differently on those days.

Price wise it is right now less expensive, for US-based customers at least, to buy a brand new Pils than it is to buy say an ATT Kronos H2 razor (by about 20 dollars or so..but still).

I should pass along one 'word of advice' I heard from another Pils user and that is to not leave your blade in the razor as others have commented on this in some cases causing rust.
 
I've seen the reports of rust in other forums, but I'm still not convinced that it's the razor and not the blade. My polished (non-DLC) ikon slant occasionally gets small rust stains, but I suspect it comes from the blades.

I probably have more than two dozen different blade models, with all kinds of finishes and coatings, which I use fairly randomly. Combine that number with an inventory of 7 or so stainless razors, and the possible rust-occurring permutations get rather numerous. I'm far too disorganised to work through that, but can say that some Middle East and Indian blades are prone to rust.

I ditch a blade after three uses, without exception, shake the water out of the razor and leave it in a draining position. The closed top cap ends on the Pils look as if they'll hold water in, so I'll keep a close eye on this to see if any rusting happens.

The Euro rate is certainly good for UK and USA buyers at the moment. I bought a bespoke musical instrument from France in 2009, which cost £2400. The price of it has now gone up by 200 euros, yet the cost in sterling is now about £1980. I could have bought a lot of nice shaving items with that difference.
 
Had my first shave with the Pils 101NE today.

First impressions;
- Very heavy - almost too heavy?
I'm still probably comparing it to the Schick Krona so I will see how the weight of the razor feels closer to the end of the week.

- Surprisingly mild - almost impossible to nick myself - but at the same time an efficient shave

- The razor oozes 'quality'. Amazing design.

After my normal two passes I did notice a surprising amount of stubble in some places - under my chin and nose that required me to do some clean-up passes. Once again it's the first time with the razor - and today was 2.5 days of stubble to shave off - so I will see how it behaves throughout the week.

Day one summary: Very (too?) heavy, fantastic build quality and look, gave a great shave but required a clean-up pass.

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One really neat thing about the head design is that the blade lies completely flat inside the head and once loaded the head completely covers the ends of the blade - you only see the two edges you shave with.
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I finished my obligatory 3 days/1 blade routine with the Pils, and I'm really pleased with it.

After a little familiarisation to work out the right angles (which, whatever anyone says, vary from person to person according to physiognomy), the Pils produces a near-perfect shave-apparently mild, yet efficient.

The nice thing at the end is removing the old blade and admiring the top-quality workmanship in this razor. It's good design mated to precision manufacture at its best.
 
Second shave with the Pils today.

Pros:
Love the look and feel of the razor.
It ended up giving a good shave.
Getting used to the weight and top-heaviness of the razor.

Cons:
It is still surprisingly mild to the point that I, again, after my two regular passes felt that there were enough stubble left to justify a clean-up pass
Handle 'feels' slippery - by 'feel' I mean that it hasn't actually slipped in my hand yet but it feels like it could at any time.

I am tempted to switch out the Astra SP to maybe a Feather blade tomorrow.

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Third day shaving report

Had my third day with the razor today and this time I decided to go full out and switch the blade to a Feather as I've felt that the razor was a bit too much on the mild side with the Astra SP blade.
Unfortunately it didn't change too much. Even after being extra mindful about the area under my chin I still ended up with some stubble there - as well as just under my nose.
I've used a number of razors that have been able to clear those areas with no to little effort so it comes down to two possibilities now;
a) The razor really is this mild, and/or
b) I still have to adjust to the head and the fact that the blade lies flat.

I have a couple of more days to use it but for now I will be completely honest, which I always try to be in these 'mini reviews', in that I think the razor is a bit of a disappointment to me when it comes to how efficient it is. I don't mind mild but I also expect a mild razor to be able to give me a perfectly smooth shave.

I am however not disappointed in the design/build/look/feel of the razor itself - it's stunning.
However, at the end of the day I'd like for it to be more than a pretty $170 razor on a shelf.
I'd say as pretty as it is....it's dangerously close to not making the cut for razors that I will keep and that makes part of me cry inside a bit.

We shall see.
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Hmmm, doesn't look like it's going to be a keeper then Darkbulb...

At the price it's pitched at, it really needs to have the 'Wow!' factor.

Great reviews BTW - I've been following them with interest. The Pils has been on my radar for some time now but, based on your reviews / experience, I can see that the likelihood of me becoming impelled to scratch that particular itch is gradually receding.
 
Nico1970 said:
Hmmm, doesn't look like it's going to be a keeper then Darkbulb...

At the price it's pitched at, it really needs to have the 'Wow!' factor.

Great reviews BTW - I've been following them with interest. The Pils has been on my radar for some time now but, based on your reviews / experience, I can see that the likelihood of me becoming impelled to scratch that particular itch is gradually receding.
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Thanks - it is however important to note that how one likes/takes to a razor is highly subjective. There are a LOT of people that love the Pils razor so it may be 'me and not the razor' :)
 
I have a PILS and until I got my mongoose I loved it. I found it mild but it was efficient for me. This and my as-d2 are my favourite DE's.

I had planned to sell it as the mongoose had taken over, but after reading these reviews and seeing all the lovely pics I think I'm gonna dig it out and give it another whirl!!!
 
Nico1970 said:
@MPH - how does the Pils compare to the Feather AS-D2?

I am a massive fan of the Feather.
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Hi

I am no expert but I found them to be similarly efficient. Entirely different beasts of course, but I get a great shave with both once you work out the angles.

Looks wise the PILs wins hands down to me, but if i had to pick one performance wise I think the feather just shades it for me. Generally i would use the feather so as not to dirty my beautiful PILs, so I have really hardly used it! Sounds a bit stupid now I write it but its sadly true.

Matt
 
Fourth day shaving report

After three days 0f the razor leaving a bit of stubble and having tried it with an Astra SP blade as well as a Feather blade I get the suggestion from "Mr Pils" - (@Slow Joe over on TSD) to try it with a Voskhod.

So, I do just that this morning and load a fresh Voskhod into the razor and go to work.
I'll be.....

Something is different. It feels 'smoother' and for some reason the audible feedback is a bit more noticeable.
I complete my two passes - WTG and ATG - and run my hands over my face. Much improved!
There are some pockets of minor stubble left but compared to the other days this is an improvement by leaps and bounds.
Had this been my first shave with the razor my initial reactions to it would had been much different.

Since I detected a change in the audible feedback I am actually thinking that the change also has to do with me finally, after 3-4 shaves, having 'dialed in' how to angle the head w/ its flat blade in a way that gets closer to optimize how it performs.

Rather excited about this change and will tomorrow, sadly on the last day I'm putting the Pils to use for now, use that same Voskhod and see what one more day of practice can result in.

Not bad at all!

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MPH said:
Looks like I need to buy some Voskhod blades now!!!!

It never ends!!! ;-)
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Tomorrow I'll actually put the Feather blade back in again...I'm curious to see how much of the change today came from the blade...and how much is due to me 'finding' the angle to use.
 
Darkbulb said:
MPH said:
Looks like I need to buy some Voskhod blades now!!!!

It never ends!!! ;-)
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Tomorrow I'll actually put the Feather blade back in again...I'm curious to see how much of the change today came from the blade...and how much is due to me 'finding' the angle to use.
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Look forward to hearing your thoughts!
 
Fifth - and final - day shaving report

Finally.
It all seem to come together now on the fifth day - I had....a great shave!
I switched back to the Feather blade today as I wanted to see how much, if anything, yesterday's improvement had to do with the Voskhod blad.
Turns out today's shave with the Feather was even better than yesterdays.

I noticed that I have started to angle the razor much like a SE razor - with the top cap getting close to being flat against the skin of my face.

The resulting shave today was effortless but more importantly resulted in a very smooth and close shave.

So, I think it was just me being slow on the uptake in terms of how to correctly angle the head.
It's a mild razor that's for sure but one that is capable of delivering a great, close shave.

Phew.

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