Thread: Feather's interpretation of the traditional Japanese straight razor

A loaded feather is a pretty fearsome CQ weapon.

Originally Posted by mparker762

A loaded feather is a pretty fearsome CQ weapon.

CQ? Like CQ duty weapon? lol You in the military?

I think in this case, CQ = CLOSE Quarters, as opposed to CQ = CHARGE of Quarters.

But, yes sometime a CQ does need an effective weapon! LOL

Originally Posted by Ben

Mikey, check your private messages.

Why the secrecy about the price and availibility?

"A knife is a great tool, but a lousy weapon. If you want a good weapon, use a baseball bat."

- Danny the Cop, whose beat was downtown Boston, MA in early '80s.

BTW - I collect knives and always carry at least two on my person. My preffered weapons of choice are a walking-stick, a kubaton, pepper spray and my trusty S & W Chief's Special. The walking-stick is the only one I've had to use. A pit-bull attacked my huskey-shepherd mix bitch and my big oak stick got its attention in a hurry.

Originally Posted by Tony Miller

Ben,
Nice razor! I really enjoy my tradional ones but imagine this has a normal "2 sided" grind and can be used either way.

Tony, you are correct. Mine uses any of the blades from Feather's Professional series.

Originally Posted by icecow

Why the secrecy about the price and availibility?

The availability is no secret. It's a special-order item. As such, it's not regularly available in the United States.

As far as the price goes, there are several sources for Feather products and Feather Artist Club razors and blades, in particular. I made several inquiries and ultimately found a vendor that imports a good amount of product from Feather (mostly for hair stylists) and could get me the razor quickly and at a good price.

I wanted to give Classic Shaving the business on it, but I ended up going with my original source for the sake of timing. Danielle (Ray Dupont's daughter) said she would give me the same price on the razor, and I forwarded her the quote I received from the vendor I used. Long story short, I ordered some other stuff from Classic Shaving instead and got the Japanese style Feather Artist Club DX pictured in my first post for $110 (razor, dispenser of Feather Professional Super blades, and UPS shipping was $131) from Jatai International in California (www.jatai.net).

If you want the Japanese style DX model (stainless steel), ask for item ACD-N.
If you want the Japanses style RG model (coated brass), ask for item ACR-N.

If you want one of these razors, please tell whichever of these two excellent vendors you select that Ben Rosenfield sent you. I would appreciate it.

- Ben

Originally Posted by xChris

I think in this case, CQ = CLOSE Quarters, as opposed to CQ = CHARGE of Quarters.

But, yes sometime a CQ does need an effective weapon! LOL

Yeah, those drunks coming in at night can get quite rowdy lol, though I think you probaby need someone more like a high powered water hose off of a fire truck to keep them in check. Although if you were still in tradoc and everyone seen the DS shaving with a straight they might get a little spooked =P

Just a quick update for those who may want to order from Jatai. I called and was quoted the following for the Feather Japanese straight - $150 for the SS version + $20 shipping. The AC DX (SS folder with standard handle) is $130 + $20 shipping. They offer the blades for $10. The ebony and wood handled folders are not available through them. May want to jump on this before the prices jump again.

From a martial arts perspective, razors are shitty weapons.

You can't stab with them.
One of your hands is fulltime ocupied and cannot be used for grabbing or hitting.
You are likely to cut yourself.
If the other person is wearing a leather jacket it is next to useless.
You have to pay so much attention to the razor that you'll have trouble attacking with your other hand / feet.

IMO the best weapons for Close Quarter fighting are hands.