Thread: Question about Wapi.

G'Day, Gents!

I was reading in another thread about "New" vs "Old" Wapi razors, and I am just a bit confused (pretty normal for me, actually).

I was under the impression that all of the Wapis on the current market were NOS from the early 90's. Does this mean that a "New" razor is one that has been bought/sold recently? As in: The supplier sold the best ones first, and now we are scraping the bottom of the barrel? Or are there actual NEW Wapis out there?

I'm just curious as I have just committed to buy one shave ready and re-scaled, and I also snagged a couple for honing and scaling practice. What should I expect or watch out for?

Thanks!

-Michael

Hi Michael,

I'm confused a bit too on this. I took it to mean that some of the NOS are not as good as the rest. However, I bought a few Wapis not that long ago and they are all fine Perhaps someone more in the know can help us out.

James.

Some of them are stamped and some are not. I have read that several members think that the stamped models are better but I have two unstamped blades and they shave great though I would say that one of the blades has two foggy spots on the toe that are visual imperfections and do not interfere with the great shave (and I'll rub them out later).
Gotta say - these things are still the best straight razor value available anywhere in the world IMHO. C'mon they're $14!

Originally Posted by DEwey

C'mon they're $14!

That's what I was thinking as I hit the "Buy it Now" button! I mean, two of them shipped are less than a tank of gas, how wrong can I really be going? I just want to make sure that I'm not sabotaging my future honing skills!

NOS means they were made 10-20 years ago by a company that doesn't make these anymore, as opposed to just 'New' which were made in the last few yeard by a company that continue to makes them.

As far as the good ones being sold first, that may be the case, but I don't think it is. The issue I believe is something else - they were made in a communist/post communist country and quality and consistency were not iin very high regard. Plus they were made for the military. One may think that would warrant a better quality as usually people tend to do a better job on things that are potentially saving their lives, however that's not the case with these razors. I grew up in that part of the world so I'm quite aware of the quality issues (same product could be awesome or a piece of junk).

I think the existence of a stamp is not correlated to the quality. It is only to the extent that there was a recent particularily poor batch that happen to not have a stamp, so the next batch (a stamp indicating that it's a different one ) is likely (but not guaranteed) to not be as bad.

So yeah - I don't think you can go wrong about this, they are cheap enough that it's worth taking a chance. Please do let us know how they turn out though,

Hopfully this isnt too ... if so I appologize

Ok, Ive been doing research for about six months now on razors and technique etc... I have not gotten my first razor yet, but I have three on the way: 1 New stainless Dovo that I bought from nashvilleknifeshop.com (with all the fixings: strop, hone, brush, soap, mug etc...) and 2 Joseph Rodgers & Sons coming from Cutz. However, I cant find anything on these Wapi razors everybody is talking about. So...

1) What are they, where can I get them and what should I look for? And $14/per...really??

I may be taking this straight razor thing a bit far, since I've only held one in my hand at a store in Germany for about 32 seconds and have already purchased 3... but I know a good thing when I see one. (I think)

2) I also think there needs to be a place on the site that has all the definitions to the acronyms people throw around on here. Being in the military, Im usually pretty good at them, I still think it would be nice to have a dictionary on here. If there is one already, sorry, Im an idiot.

For the last 6 months all I have used are Wapis. When I bought them they had a variety of dates on them wth a wide spread. Can't remember them now as the packaging's long gone but all are similarly good to shave with and to hone.

As far as quality goes, yes, they arrived with a few blemishes on them but for everyday use I can use them and drop them in the shaving bag without all the rigmarole of a normal razor AND they still haven't corroded...must be made of some spooooooky but magical rust free steel...

...and cheap??? You just can't beat the little fellas!

I love 'em