RE: SAIVER - A Twin Bladed Double Edge Razor - The Efficient But Needful Razor
Day 13 The last day with this combination ...
Day 13 The face shave required three passes and the three passes on the head yielded a DFS with some pulling and tugging so the test is ended.
Overall this is a very interesting razor that brings up for me some areas of thought as to how items are viewed not only in the Traditional Shaving community but when I select what product to use.
When I received this razor I has some serious questions coming in:
1. How much extra work would the twin blade configuration require versus using the razor in a one blade?
2. Is the quality of the head good enough to handle very hot water without major distortion (a problem in some older plastic heads)?
3. Are its tolerances good enough to maintain over many uses? Would bad tolerances cause blade unevenness that could lead to razor burn or even nicks with the top blade if it got misaligned?
4. How would the larger head perform in terms of maneuverability and angle requirements?
5. How does the weight and balance feel in use and can it accept another handle?
6. Would the experience be more like using a DE or a Trac II or a mix of the two?
7. How long will a set of blades last? This also references back to question 1.
8. How does it look in contrast to other razors, or will the looks cause boredom?
Here is what I found with 16 days of total use.
1. How much extra work would the twin blade configuration require versus using the razor in a one blade? It is about as much work as if someone used a Standard Double Edge razor as a primary razor and a Shavette for clean up work. It is more work but not as much as one thinks. The key is to find a long lasting blade to allow the user to only change blades every week or better yet every two weeks to minimize the work aspect for the performance aspect.
2. Is the quality of the head good enough to handle very hot water without major distortion (a problem in some older plastic heads)? Yes, as long as it does not sit in boiling water. The ABS plastic is able to handle quite a bit of warmth in the water to clean the razor of soap and debris.
3. Are its tolerances good enough to maintain over many uses? Would bad tolerances cause blade unevenness that could lead to razor burn or even nicks with the top blade if it got misaligned? Yes it seems that the tolerances are fine on this, as much as I can gather for 16 total days of use. I did not have an issue where the razor caused any burns or nicks based on this design.
4. How would the larger head perform in terms of maneuverability and angle requirements? It is slightly more difficult for a fatter head to move around the ears and a place where my mustache and cheek meet but it is minor and does not impede shaving those areas.
5. How does the weight and balance feel in use and can it accept another handle? Weight and balance is light and neutral, so that may be off-putting to some users, but that is a preference issue and not a design issue. It can be used with other handles. I placed it on a three different handles today (Maggard, Cadet, EJ89) and it worked fine but the head is light so weight and balance would be affected with different handles.
6. Would the experience be more like using a DE or a Trac II or a mix of the two? The experience of this razor is in my view taking about 75% of a DE and mixing it with about 25% of a Trac II. The DE blades are stronger than blades I Have experienced in cartridge blades (all the way back to the original Trac II I had in 1975). There are less issues blade flex and the edges can be far better than a Trac II depending upon which blade you choose. In addition, the handling is much more like a DE. What it does get from the Twin blade configuration is the ability to divide the work between two blades. In this respect it functions more like the Trac II in that the individual blades have a potential for a longer life than stand alone DE blade. There was no issues of tugging or significant weepers until Day 13. Bottom line is that if you are expecting a Trac II shave out of this, then you will be disappointed when you find it handles much more like a standard DE razor, but is more efficient when an optimal blade match is made in twin configuration.
7. How long will a set of blades last? This also references back to question 1. Depends upon the blades selected. I used some Big Bens for the first three shaves to get use to the razor before putting it through a testing regimen. As to the testing, here are the results for the Rapira Swedish Supersteel.
Now we will compare this to what was achieved in the Gillette Slim using the same South to North method in the DE Blade Challenge. Note that the shaves for the head were not to BBS so the Saiver testing was more rigorous on the blades but the pattern methodology was the same.
http://www.theshavingroom.co.uk/forum/thread-13224.html?highlight=DE+Blade
Here is how the original Slim testing translated.
Now I deliberately chose not to look at the DE Blade Challenge results while testing to ensure that I was not "biasing" this test one way or another. What this shows is that I able to shave slight more than twice the number of days but with the second daily head pass there were significantly more overall passes with the quality of shaves improved overall. So it is apparent that the blades are able to wear better when their are two blades in tandem than the single blade so blade cost are not an issue for me with the Rapira Swedish Supersteel blades. That may not be the same for other blades.
8. How does it look in contrast to other razors, or will the looks cause boredom? Well yes it can because this does not win the looks category. It is very stripped down and industrial looking. There are thousands of razors that evoke more from the visual aspect than this one. Many people want a razor that is all metal, plated metal, with shine and flash. This one will not meet that high "bling" factor. In addition, the shaves will tend seem to blend in with each other creating a effect noted in the movie "Groundhog Day." For some that is exactly what they want. For the traditional shaver who is a "hobbyist" or one who wants difference for difference sake, then this razor would be boring.
Overall I wondered whether this razor could serve as daily driver during the 5 day work week with the weekends being free to use another razor. With more than a 10 day lifespan to reduce the extra work involved the answer is yes it can achieve this goal.
Now I received the travel handle version of this razor along with the half Guard Bar and half Open Comb version yesterday in the mail. Even though the travel handle is slightly shorter when assembled, the deeper knurling and small horizontal channels (grooves) allow for a better grip so it in my view the better handle. I will have to try the OC version later after some other razors along with other items are tested.
Overall, what I thought would be nothing more than a "gimmick" has proven to be a nice overall razor that may see considerably more action when some other testing is concluded.
Thanks for reviewing this thread.
