Greetings
Boxing Day
Friday 26th December 2014
Prep: Shower
Razor: Cobra Classic
Blade: Feather Professional
Brush: Semogue OC SE 2012 Mixed
Soap: Moullton Brown (an also ran)
Aftershave: Astral Cream (light)
EDT: Terre D'Hermes
My eighth and final shave with the Cobra kindly lent to me by UK Rob. I think eight shaves on consecutive days is a very fair test of a razor and blades and without wishing to bore you I would sum up my feelings thus:-
The Cobra is quite an aggressive razor the blade gap is just slightly greater than a Schick E and the blade protrusion about the same (ie the distance from the blades edge to the end of the safety bar) The aggression is further increased by the heavy weight of the razor but especially so by the ultra sharp blades that it utilises.
I found that presenting the razor to the face at the correct angle to be no problem at all but I am very familiar with both injectors and SE razors.
The extra width of the blades compared to 'normal' blades takes a couple of shaves to get used to.
The triangular cross section of the handle is somewhat odd but after a couple of shaves I seemed to forget about it.
The head of the Cobra is designed to take Feather and Kai blades with a large centre rectangular cut out, the razor having three rectangular studs the centre one being a large one, thus the Feather light blades with the small centre cut out were never intended to be used with this razor although strangely they will fit (after a fashion) but I did not use one as I was unhappy with it. I understand that there may be a later model of the original Cobra made with a slightly different head that may take the light blades.
I found the Cobra easy to use but unforgiving in terms of too much pressure or inattention, letting ones mind wander during the shave seemed to invite a weeper or two or even a nick.
The Feather blades I used, both the Proguard and the Professional, are without question the sharpest razor blades of any type or make I have ever used, only the old Gillette Twinjector blades (long obsolete) come anywhere close. The price you pay for this keenness, at least on my face is soreness if you are not spot on with your technique and lather, I avoided any soreness but felt every shave was at the limit of my faces tolerance.
In terms of closeness these are the closest shaves I have ever had with any razor or blade combination and the longest lasting, a morning shave lasts well into the evening!
If you have a super dense quick growing 'bluebeard' and always get a three four or five O'clock shadow this razor will certainly solve your problems.
Whilst this razor is not for me it would be (IMHO) the ultimate shaving tool for somebody who fitted the category above, for most mortal men, certainly me, it is a little too much.
Very many thanks to you Rob for this loan I have learned a lot about the razor and especially the blades and confirmed what I already knew that my face seems better suited to a less sharp blade.
Regards
Dick.
