Thread: The Infamous ZY Razor Arrived

A month ago I ordered a ZY razor just to see what one would get for $8.00 including shipping half-way around the planet. It took a week to cross the Pacific and then languished on a loading dock in L. A. for most of the following three weeks. Yesterday, it arrived. I love ordering stuff from China, by the time I get it I forgot what it was that I ordered. The first thing I noticed was that the scales are of a quality that one would expect to receive after successfully popping balloons with darts at a traveling carnival. So far, so good. Next I examined the blade and noticed that it did indeed seem to be made of some sort of metal resembling steel. I laid the blade on the desk top and it appeared to lay flat. Check and check. I followed that with a TPT and that was surprising. While I had been told in the advertising that the blade would be hand sharpened by their expert and aged master honer "Master Shifu" I did not find this to be very likely. Unless, of course, Master Shifu died half way through the honing process, which is possible, I suppose, considering his advanced age. Possibly, he is still alive and when he was sharpening this particular razor the lunch alarm sounded for his allotted 10 minute lunch break. Who knows? What I do know is that it was utterly dull from the heel to the midpoint on the razor. Well, I wasn't disappointed at all, considering that it did, indeed, seem to be made of some sort of steel-like metal. The truth is that I was happy just seeing the blade lay flat on the desk. After all, performing ugly honing tests and practicing scale replacement on a throw-away was my original objective. At least that's the conclusion I came to after an hour of trying to remember why on earth I had ordered this thing. So...

I got out the Nortons and reset the bevel. It wasn't as easy as it had been on the real razor I got from eBay, but eventually the blunt edge was ground away leaving behind a decent bevel. Moving through the rest of the stones went smoothly enough and in the end I had an edge that would easily whittle off the few remaining hairs on my arms. After stropping on crox and leather I decided to give it the ultimate test. I shaved earlier this morning, so there was only a bit of growth to practice on. I gave it a WTG pass, nevertheless, just to be sure that I hadn't created a weasels ripped my flesh razor. It took the lather off smoothly. I relathered my cheek, held my breath and gave it a go ATG. Surprise, surprise, it ended up BBS again just like this morning.

So here's the deal. There are some people who say, "You get what you pay for." Well, I paid $8 for this razor, including shipping half-way around the world. So that puts that to rest. This razor has got to be worth at least $9. Would I shave with this razor every day? Heck no. The point is, I could shave with this razor every day if I had to. I think this razor (well oiled of course) would make a really good razor for an emergency preparedness bag, bug-out bag, get-home bag or the like. It will shave and shave well, but if something happens to it -- who cares? It also makes a good razor for those who, like me, want something to experiment on without risking a good razor. So, if you're looking for a good $9 razor that you can get for only $8, this one is a pretty good bet. As always, YMMV.