Thread: Bartmann vs. Wapi (looking for an all stainless)

Originally Posted by mrgad

The well-honed razor has sold out? I didn't know that. They have them listed as for sale on the site (see link at top of this thread).

(Follow-up: just tried adding the item to my cart, and you are absolutely right - after trying to add to cart, THEN it informs you that they are not in stock). Oh well...

The Well Honed Razor seems to be out of contact for some time now

At first when I saw the title of this thread I thought I was going to get to see Bart attack a wapi lol

Originally Posted by gugi

The bartman is not a razor - at least I don't think it was made with that intention and looks like John more or less says the same thing.
I would strongly caution you to stay away from it, unless you know what you're doing.

They were originally made as medical razors. Sometimes for tissue slicing and other times to shave you for a hernia operation. The Japanese razors everyone seems to love have a single bevel!

John

Originally Posted by Del1r1um

I'd go with the wapi If it were me, those have a great track record at a very good price. I wouldn't bother with that bartmann surgical razor...you can do much better for that price, and it would add quite a bit of difficulty to actual use in my opinion (as far as I know these are not for shaving...but I'm no expert). What other gear do you have already?

When I purchased these I did not realize they were single bevel razors. If I had realized that, I would not have purchased them mearly because of the current razor paradime that it has to have two bevels. Older prized genuine Japanese katana swords were single bevel. Even modern Japanese fixed handle style razors are single bevel.

As a side note - since I know there is going to be resistance to them; I have them priced for just about what I paid for them - so I can turn them over and purchase something new.

John

By the way, I ended up picking up a new Dovo with stainless blade and handle. And now, I see that in the SRP classifieds a member is selling some NOS Wapis with the steel handles. I'm wondering if I should pick one up to do a side-by-side comparison of the two. Has anyone else already done this? Comparing a 5/8 Dovo to the 11/16 Wapi? The designs are nearly identical. One complaint I have about the Dovo is that the handle is thin and the metal a bit soft and flimsy. It's very easy to squeeze the handle too tightly and nick the blade as you're closing the razor. I wonder if the Wapi also has "soft" squeezable handles... Anyone?

The Wapis certainly take some beating on the edge - at any price - but they do tend to be maintenance-intensive as the steel is a bit soft but WOW are they sharp! I'm out of the SS scaled ones, have a few plastic-scaled left but if you see SS ones buy them now - there are NO MORE!

(except those I get!)

Originally Posted by mrgad

I'm wondering if I should pick one up to do a side-by-side comparison of the two. Has anyone else already done this? Comparing a 5/8 Dovo to the 11/16 Wapi?

if you care about how they compare on the shave you should do the comparison yourself. other people's opinion wouldn't necessarily match yours.

Originally Posted by blueprinciple

there are NO MORE!

(except those I get!)

Oh, I wouldn't go quite that far!

Update: have now test-driven the three razors discussed in this thread: Wapi, Dovo and the Bartmann -- and posted a review here on SRP. It's at http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...-bartmann.html if you're interested.

Thanks again for all the great suggestions!

Originally Posted by John Crowley

When I purchased these I did not realize they were single bevel razors. If I had realized that, I would not have purchased them mearly because of the current razor paradime that it has to have two bevels.
As a side note - since I know there is going to be resistance to them; I have them priced for just about what I paid for them - so I can turn them over and purchase something new.

John

Originally Posted by mrgad

Update: have now test-driven the three razors discussed in this thread:

Hey, I don't feel like any sacred cows have been slaughtered here... if it got you a good shave, I can accept that. I fully admit that I was making an assumption about the microtome without any personal experience. I was shooting from the hip, and that is all. In fact, now I'm a bit curious to try one out to see how my experiences mesh with yours... I'll have to think about that one. Thanks for the update.

I don't either. It IS a medical razor, it was NOT meant to shave with, and it certainly isn't like a japanese razor.

If it works for shaving, then great, I'd like to try my self - I enjoy variation - but I do think you were a little harsh with some of your sweeping statements, after all, the information they gave you was true and they didn't want to see a new guy slash 100 bucks up the wall on a bit of an unknown quantity. I don't think you should hold that against anyone.