Thread: Koraat 14 2.0 Impressions

When I purchased my Korrat 14 2.0 a couple weeks ago, a few folks asked me to post my thoughts on the razor when it arrived

It arrived early this week and I have shaved with it daily since this past Tuesday.

Before I comment on the razor, here’s a bit of info. on my beard. I have a very coarse and heavy beard type with a few wild whorls on my right neck and lower cheek and other growth that maps in opposite directions in several areas.

When I was active duty with the USMC and not in the field, I usually had to shave twice a day. Even now, with a straight BBS, my bread grows in fast and heavy enough that I still can easy do a 2nd full face shave after about 7 hours.

To achieve a BBS, I need to do 4 passes: 1 WTG, 2 XTG, and 1 ATG
For a DFS: 1 WTG and either 2 XTG or 1 XTG and then a 2nd WTG
Most often I shave one of the DFS options.

This past week, I did both BBS and DFS with the 14 2.0 and then today I did a comparison with it to a Filly EPBD on each half of my face.

The 14 2.0 performed great! Ulrik puts an excellent edge on his blades, so no issues there.

On most full hollow blades, I get a bit of blade chatter/stutter on my 1st WTG pass and usually use slide vs scyth strokes to deal with that (I often get a similar effect with some of my old Sheffields too), so no big deal when this happened with the 14 2.0. After that, my other passes with the 14 2.0 were basically smooth sailing.

I tend to usually not go after BBSs because, regardless of blade type and their level of sharpness, I often have some post-shave irritation from ATG passes. This always is a 4th pass for me, and while I use very light strokes, the light irritation is, I think, due mainly to a too much skin exfoliation by this point. With that said, the 14 2.0 was an excellent performer on my ATG passes and I was impressed.

Today I did a side-by-side comparison with one of my Filly EPBDs. EPBDs are some of my favorite full-hollow shavers—they perform exceptionally well on my beard. And while the 14 2.0 is smooth and held its own, in the end, the EPBD was smoother.

Do I like and recommend the 14 2.0? Yep, sure do—I liked it well enough to order a 2nd one from Ulrik with translucent red scales! If someone were considering building a 7-day set of modern straights, these babies would be one of my recommendations. The scale options are wonderful, the blades are superb, and the shaves are excellent.

As others have mentioned, Ulrik did drop having his logo on the scales as an option. At 250 Euros (about $300 US / $400 CAD; those prices include a polished blade option that I selected and is 30 E more) with shipping to the US, I think these razors are very high quality and a decent value—ya ain’t gonna come close to touching a NOS EPBD at those prices—and their popularity is already showing. When I ordered my 1st 14 2.0, there was about a 1 week wait until Ulrik shipped it; now, the wait is about 6 weeks before shipping!

What does EPBD in the Filly world stand for?

Seems there never was a prettier razor either! On my short-list.
I like the double stabilizer feature, personally. There is a 15 dollar option of a thinned belly. I would like to know more about that.
Also, what about the logo in the scales? seems some are coming without that. I sort of like it, myself.

You cannot go wrong with Ulrik’s razors. More than fair priced for what is delivered and a great selection of options to build a dream razor with.

Lovely razor and great shavers.

Yepper, I'm with Jamie in that it's a great razor and I've really enjoy shaving with it, and Bob's spot on with building a dream razor with Ulrik! The options for a 14 2.0 build are excellent and will meet most folk's preferences.

@Learner: Especial Para Barbas Duras

@Tom: I think it might have been Andrew who mentioned Ulrik discontinued the logo due to, I think, it not holding up too well and possibly some other problems. I didn't do a search on that, so I could be completely wrong with my statement! He definitely did kill the logo for now though. I'm with you, I like it and am fine if it doesn't hold up...I think it's a fun feature of the razor. Maybe if Ulrik is on the forum, he'll mention the logo.

I am in line for a 14 2.0
I requested if possible the scale logo. As I liked the pics of the ones with them.
Ulrik replied that he was having some "technical" issues with them. And assured me if he found a solution he would put it on mine.
Either way I am chuffed to be getting one. Just patiently waiting for his email notifying me that it is ready.

Hi,

thank you for the kind review Jay! I am very glad that you enjoy your shaves with the razor so much.

I am wondering if your EPBD is stiffer than your other hollow ground razors? Because that would be my way to optimize the shave for very heavy and coarse beard on a full hollow.

Concerning the Logo:

The problem is, that we must heat the scales to stamp the logo in. And it has shown that the temperature range between a nicely embossed logo and a completly warped scale blank is veeeerrrrry small. Further it can happen that the logo looks nice, but isn´t stamped deep enough and will be removed during final grinding and polishing of the scales.
We have lost many scales due to this technical issues.
We will try another technique to stamp it within the next weeks, and if that works we will offer it again.

I like the double stabilizer feature, personally. There is a 15 dollar option of a thinned belly. I would like to know more about that.

This option is a further grinding step which reduces the dimension of the belly, makes the blade even thinner and louder while shaving. This grind is the closest to the original filarmonica 14.
Here is a comparison:

Normal bellied grind:

http://www.koraat-knives.at/7.jpg

Thinned belly:

http://www.koraat-knives.at/fotos/14-2.0/neu/3.jpg

best regards,
Ulrik

Ulrik, thank you for sharing about the logo challenges you're experiencing and wish you success in finding the perfect solution!

Yep, the EPBD grind is stiffer than most my other hollow ground razors. The smoothness difference between your blade and the EPBD wasn't huge and your grind is one reason why I was so impressed with your 14 2.0! The 1st time I shaved with the blade, I knew your 14 is a razor I'll regularly reach for in my rotation!

Originally Posted by SemperFi

Yepper, I'm with Jamie in that it's a great razor and I've really enjoy shaving with it, and Bob's spot on with building a dream razor with Ulrik! The options for a 14 2.0 build are excellent and will meet most folk's preferences.

@Learner: Especial Para Barbas Duras

@Tom: I think it might have been Andrew who mentioned Ulrik discontinued the logo due to, I think, it not holding up too well and possibly some other problems. I didn't do a search on that, so I could be completely wrong with my statement! He definitely did kill the logo for now though. I'm with you, I like it and am fine if it doesn't hold up...I think it's a fun feature of the razor. Maybe if Ulrik is on the forum, he'll mention the logo.

Thanks for the teaching, Semperfi. I should have known EPBD but I didn't. I have a NOS Sub Cero 14, a Jose Monserrat Pou Especial 14 and a C Mon Filarmonica. I love them all. I have been searching for a Palmera but haven't crossed paths with one yet.