Great review. As a 62 year who has used disposable multi blade razors all of my life, know that you convinced me that I should try a DE safety razor. I picked up a Merkur 34C and used it for the first time today. As the saying goes, never too old to learn something new. Wow! Smoooooth. Thank you!
Hay Nick. I've been using the Feather Stainless Safety Razor with feather blades since you did your review that convinced me to switch to a safety razor after abandoning using a safety razor several decades ago. Very sincerely, thank you so much for pointing me to the Feather Stainless razor. Which adjustment number on the Muramasa would you say corresponds to the nonadjustable Feather Stainless?
6 years ago I bought a Merkur 23C long handle on your recommendation and I loved it so much, I bought them for my nephews as well. This has likely cost Gillette several thousand dollars over 3 lifetimes. Thanks for the advice Nick
That certainly looks to be a lovely razor , and i’m even not totally horrified by the price. However, there are a few things that you have missed here. Firstly, there are a number of races which allow you this level of saved adjustment, and it was very common in the past. Racers like the Mercure future and the classic Gillette racers of the 50s and 60s, such as the fat boy and the slim. Secondly, the adjustment feature on a eraser can be very important where you have different amounts of hair over your body, or overtime. For example, if you shave every morning, seven days a week, a non-adjustable razor may be the best thing for you. However, if you for example shave Monday to Thursday, and then leave three days growth till Monday morning, you might want to do a two or three pass shave starting with an aggressive number and finishing with a one or two against the grain.. For this reason, I have a number of adjustable razors, but for every day I use a feather razor. I find it lighter and much slimmer and beautifully made. Sometimes though, I need more of a machete, and that’s where the adjustables come out! PS feather blades are my go to also!
Gilette Sensor is a great system that was phased out in favor of the Mach series starting in the late 90's. The hidden benefit of the system is you can strop with a reverse stroke on your arm. This preserves the sharpness of the blade cartridge for a LONG time. Literally months. This brings the cost WAY down. Could be this discovery resulted in Gilette's decision to phase it out. Reverse strop cannot be done with Mach blade cartridges.
I am not interested in razors and wouldn't pay $50 for a razor but i watched the whole video to hear and see Nick do another review. I hope you have a great New Year Nick!
@@NeoPortaPotty I doesn't matter what I'm paying for cartridge refills that wasn't the point.The point was I just wanted to see a Nick Shabazz review.Refills are expensive enough,why the hell would I pay $350 for the razor?
@cgarrand78 because I hadn't seen the full video and price but what you actually said was I wouldn't pay $50 which I thought odd given their are cheaper good safety razors but 50$ isn't a bad price. I just thought you were being u reasonably cheap lol
If you're using cartridge razors you are paying well over $50 for that razor after a short while. You don't need to buy this $350 razor obviously, but a Merkur and a package of blades will last you years, is better for your skin, and produces significantly less waste.
Safety razor is the way to go. This is beyond my budget for the amount of money but may I recommend the manscaped plow for those wanting to get into the safety razor. Along with my ol Schick and wilkinson… It’s a solid instrument. Thanks Nick!
Hey Nick, have you ever handled a Rex Ambassador? I‘ve been using it for 3 years and absolutely love it. The knielang seems a bit more aggressive than this one and I kinda like the mechanism better. A comparison would be awesome. Cheers from Germany.
Muramasa is one of the famous sword smiths in Japan and Tatara is traditional process of making steel used for sword making so there's that reference here
Nick do you need to perform much prep hot water etc or can you just lather up and shave without worry for razor burn? I love the process of warm hot water to open pours. Lather up and then stroke down up and sideways to get a close shave. However I more often then not get burns and or some cuts. Curious to know if you are just able to lather and shave or to go thru the process to avoid cuts etc
The adjustable mechanism is cool feature and I really like the overall aesthetic and machining but I'm kinda put off by the copy on the Tatara website. I don't like the fact that the proprietary key is required to disassemble it. (I don't know if the dimensions have been posted online) The claim that it has a "blade chatter free" design is just silly. the clamping force is provided by a screw, just the same as any other basic safety razor. And the price being 5 times that of an (equally heavily marketed) entry-point CNC metal safety razor example like the Henson HL15 is a tough pill to swallow. Appreciate your thoughts Nick and I continue to respect your critical analysis of everything that crosses your desk, while also encouraging your audience to recognize when a luxury item is expensive for impractical reasons.
I collect & use safety razors. These are cool, but i can't afford or justify the price for a razor. My 1957 Gillette, red tip, Super Speed is my favorite & does the job for a fraction of the price.
I’m out on this one. Not because of the price but because the spiraling rows of dots on the handle can potentially be out of symmetric alignment depending on your setting of choice. That would drive me nuts.
I think the Rex Ambassador and Rex Konsul did a better job when it came to creating an adjustable. The Rex razors, for me, fit into the heirloom category and the Tatara does not. And besides I'd rather buy American. Interesting video.
Honestly, a $375 razor you use for the rest of your life that works well isn't the worst thing. Granted, my own razor was like $80, had it for ten years plan to use it until I no longer can, but a lot of people would say $80 is ridiculous.
Man I don’t know about that. My wife got me a Merkur Vision over a decade ago. It’s not my everyday razor but when I do use it I often use different settings for different blades and also different settings based on the amount of beard growth. There’s definitely a use case for an adjustable for some people.
Ok so this is a bit of a pointed question - I have freakishly large hands (XXL gloves fit like they are painted on) and find the handles on safety razors to be uncomfortably small. Does anyone make razors with oversized handles? I currently use a Harry’s razor (the slightly thicker handle with the rubberized grip) and am curious about making the switch. Does anyone have recommendations? Edit - the thickness of the handle doesn’t seem to be as much of an issue as the length.
I don't have any experience with these, but I was just checking out the website for the muramasa and noticed they have a masamune nodachi that is a longer handled version of the masamune. That is the more basic version of the razor in this video, but it's still €174.00. I'm sure there are other options but I have no specific recommendations
Check out Yates Precision Manufacturing. You can order a specific razor with your choice of materials, finish, comb style, blade gap, and handle length. I made a Yates and it’s probably the best shaving razor I own.
$375 is alot, but for someone you use everyday its a little more justified. My work boots are Red Wing. Expensive, but im in them all day. Buy nice or buy twice.
As someone that's in the same city as that razor is made, i'd say that they're full of shit. A proper straight razor, i can understand the high price, often the scales are a nice piece of horn or ivory, the blade isn't easy to grind, has to be high quality steel, etc. I understand that the razor itself is handmade, but why make a razor so expensive to only sell to a very small target audience?. I'm sure that it's a good quality razor but there are so many good quality razors under 50€. Also, is that rust at 5:07
i'm glad i have a beard i can trim with a cheap pair of scissors lol, 375 bucks is completely insane! i wouldn't even pay half the price, even if it was made out of titanium and not the cheapo 316L steel it comes in.
Screw unscrew handle is so cumbersome to wash 🧼 the blade during shaves , the butterfly type system used in safety razors 🪒 is much more convenient This video shows the feature of a razor 🪒 which is absolutely unnecessary, it is overkill, save your money
Thanks, Nick. Always good to hear from you!
Great review. As a 62 year who has used disposable multi blade razors all of my life, know that you convinced me that I should try a DE safety razor. I picked up a Merkur 34C and used it for the first time today. As the saying goes, never too old to learn something new. Wow! Smoooooth. Thank you!
Thanks a lot for getting me into wet shaving back in 2020, I've enjoyed the thing much more ever since
Leave it to Nick Shabazz to lubricate a safety razor lmao
*Over lubricate
Hay Nick. I've been using the Feather Stainless Safety Razor with feather blades since you did your review that convinced me to switch to a safety razor after abandoning using a safety razor several decades ago. Very sincerely, thank you so much for pointing me to the Feather Stainless razor. Which adjustment number on the Muramasa would you say corresponds to the nonadjustable Feather Stainless?
I'm thinking we need a shaving tutorial with you wearing the Batman mask. 😆
Space balls.... the adjustability of this razor looks interesting. Thank you.
6 years ago I bought a Merkur 23C long handle on your recommendation and I loved it so much, I bought them for my nephews as well. This has likely cost Gillette several thousand dollars over 3 lifetimes. Thanks for the advice Nick
That certainly looks to be a lovely razor , and i’m even not totally horrified by the price. However, there are a few things that you have missed here. Firstly, there are a number of races which allow you this level of saved adjustment, and it was very common in the past. Racers like the Mercure future and the classic Gillette racers of the 50s and 60s, such as the fat boy and the slim.
Secondly, the adjustment feature on a eraser can be very important where you have different amounts of hair over your body, or overtime. For example, if you shave every morning, seven days a week, a non-adjustable razor may be the best thing for you. However, if you for example shave Monday to Thursday, and then leave three days growth till Monday morning, you might want to do a two or three pass shave starting with an aggressive number and finishing with a one or two against the grain..
For this reason, I have a number of adjustable razors, but for every day I use a feather razor. I find it lighter and much slimmer and beautifully made. Sometimes though, I need more of a machete, and that’s where the adjustables come out!
PS feather blades are my go to also!
Happy New Year Nick. Wherever you are
Gilette Sensor is a great system that was phased out in favor of the Mach series starting in the late 90's. The hidden benefit of the system is you can strop with a reverse stroke on your arm. This preserves the sharpness of the blade cartridge for a LONG time. Literally months. This brings the cost WAY down. Could be this discovery resulted in Gilette's decision to phase it out. Reverse strop cannot be done with Mach blade cartridges.
I am not interested in razors and wouldn't pay $50 for a razor but i watched the whole video to hear and see Nick do another review. I hope you have a great New Year Nick!
really? what do you pay for cartridge refills? Well that is unless you don't shave at all.
@@NeoPortaPotty I doesn't matter what I'm paying for cartridge refills that wasn't the point.The point was I just wanted to see a Nick Shabazz review.Refills are expensive enough,why the hell would I pay $350 for the razor?
@cgarrand78 because I hadn't seen the full video and price but what you actually said was I wouldn't pay $50 which I thought odd given their are cheaper good safety razors but 50$ isn't a bad price. I just thought you were being u reasonably cheap lol
If you're using cartridge razors you are paying well over $50 for that razor after a short while. You don't need to buy this $350 razor obviously, but a Merkur and a package of blades will last you years, is better for your skin, and produces significantly less waste.
Safety razor is the way to go. This is beyond my budget for the amount of money but may I recommend the manscaped plow for those wanting to get into the safety razor. Along with my ol Schick and wilkinson… It’s a solid instrument. Thanks Nick!
Hey Nick, have you ever handled a Rex Ambassador? I‘ve been using it for 3 years and absolutely love it. The knielang seems a bit more aggressive than this one and I kinda like the mechanism better. A comparison would be awesome. Cheers from Germany.
The Rockwell 6S (or 6C if you don’t need stainless) adjustable razor is the way to go. Adjustable via swapping out plates for a lot less.
Wet shaving since 2015. Will never go back to cheap plastic overpriced packaged razors. Great review. I see one in my future
thoughts on nextool flagship and sailor mini?
A new video from Nick "Mike Strutter" Shabazz makes my day.
XD
Oh thank God I was really jonesing for some Shabazz!
Muramasa is one of the famous sword smiths in Japan and Tatara is traditional process of making steel used for sword making so there's that reference here
Nick do you need to perform much prep hot water etc or can you just lather up and shave without worry for razor burn? I love the process of warm hot water to open pours. Lather up and then stroke down up and sideways to get a close shave. However I more often then not get burns and or some cuts. Curious to know if you are just able to lather and shave or to go thru the process to avoid cuts etc
How do you dispose the used razors?
Finally we know that the head underneath the Batman-mask is SHAVED!
The adjustable mechanism is cool feature and I really like the overall aesthetic and machining but I'm kinda put off by the copy on the Tatara website.
I don't like the fact that the proprietary key is required to disassemble it. (I don't know if the dimensions have been posted online)
The claim that it has a "blade chatter free" design is just silly. the clamping force is provided by a screw, just the same as any other basic safety razor.
And the price being 5 times that of an (equally heavily marketed) entry-point CNC metal safety razor example like the Henson HL15 is a tough pill to swallow.
Appreciate your thoughts Nick and I continue to respect your critical analysis of everything that crosses your desk, while also encouraging your audience to recognize when a luxury item is expensive for impractical reasons.
Safety razors are the best. Been using a Merkur HD for over 20 years.
I collect & use safety razors. These are cool, but i can't afford or justify the price for a razor. My 1957 Gillette, red tip, Super Speed is my favorite & does the job for a fraction of the price.
Great Vintage razors are a very nice approach. No objection there.
*searches*
Oh that's a beautiful model.
I’m out on this one. Not because of the price but because the spiraling rows of dots on the handle can potentially be out of symmetric alignment depending on your setting of choice. That would drive me nuts.
🤡🤡🤡🤡🤣🤣🤣🙄🙄🙄
You know, I want to call you crazy, but I get what you're after. This just means you have fewer adjustment positions.
I think the Rex Ambassador and Rex Konsul did a better job when it came to creating an adjustable. The Rex razors, for me, fit into the heirloom category and the Tatara does not. And besides I'd rather buy American.
Interesting video.
Very nice and well thought out but would never pay that much for a razor
How does it compare to Henson Ti22?
Safety razor are by far the way to go! So much better than the crap razors most people buy.
Honestly, a $375 razor you use for the rest of your life that works well isn't the worst thing. Granted, my own razor was like $80, had it for ten years plan to use it until I no longer can, but a lot of people would say $80 is ridiculous.
Anyone use this and a feather asd2 and could comment how they compare in handling?
When you're right, you're right.
If you need an adjustable razor you have the wrong razor.
Man I don’t know about that. My wife got me a Merkur Vision over a decade ago. It’s not my everyday razor but when I do use it I often use different settings for different blades and also different settings based on the amount of beard growth. There’s definitely a use case for an adjustable for some people.
That's five *"None-the-less's".* Nice.
Ok so this is a bit of a pointed question - I have freakishly large hands (XXL gloves fit like they are painted on) and find the handles on safety razors to be uncomfortably small. Does anyone make razors with oversized handles?
I currently use a Harry’s razor (the slightly thicker handle with the rubberized grip) and am curious about making the switch. Does anyone have recommendations?
Edit - the thickness of the handle doesn’t seem to be as much of an issue as the length.
I don't have any experience with these, but I was just checking out the website for the muramasa and noticed they have a masamune nodachi that is a longer handled version of the masamune. That is the more basic version of the razor in this video, but it's still €174.00. I'm sure there are other options but I have no specific recommendations
Merkur makes a longer handled version too.
Check out Yates Precision Manufacturing. You can order a specific razor with your choice of materials, finish, comb style, blade gap, and handle length. I made a Yates and it’s probably the best shaving razor I own.
$375 is alot, but for someone you use everyday its a little more justified. My work boots are Red Wing. Expensive, but im in them all day. Buy nice or buy twice.
Henson Shaving does it better but not 'ajustable' just a WAY better price.
As someone that's in the same city as that razor is made, i'd say that they're full of shit. A proper straight razor, i can understand the high price, often the scales are a nice piece of horn or ivory, the blade isn't easy to grind, has to be high quality steel, etc. I understand that the razor itself is handmade, but why make a razor so expensive to only sell to a very small target audience?. I'm sure that it's a good quality razor but there are so many good quality razors under 50€. Also, is that rust at 5:07
i'm glad i have a beard i can trim with a cheap pair of scissors lol, 375 bucks is completely insane! i wouldn't even pay half the price, even if it was made out of titanium and not the cheapo 316L steel it comes in.
Take a shot every time Nick digresses.
Is this your way of telling us that you’re shaving your head and going for the bald look, now?
It's very stainless
Nick, what's your PhD in?
You lost me quickly!
Screw unscrew handle is so cumbersome to wash 🧼 the blade during shaves , the butterfly type system used in safety razors 🪒 is much more convenient
This video shows the feature of a razor 🪒 which is absolutely unnecessary, it is overkill, save your money