Thread: "A good razor". What is it?

There are people out there that put up reviews when they first get something and the excitement has not worn off, or when they are disappointed in the product.

Yet there are sensible reviewers out there that try something for a while before reviewing it. When it comes to razor performance this may be important due to the fact that how the razor holds its edge overtime will maybe tell you more.

Unfortunately when it comes to the performance of the edge there are too many factors such as is the reviewer stropping properly, who honed it, in the razors life was the temper of the metal ever damaged. It would be impossible to look for any accuracy for the ability of the razors edge unless we deemed a few people as official reviewers and made everyone send their razors in for review so at least the person reviewing would be more consistent (but that is not realistic).

For me the important factors that would tell me if I felt the review was usefully for me is knowing what type of metal it is made of. If the steel is German or English then I know that the metal under usual circumstances should take and hold an edge.

As for the subjectivity of the review and the performance of the shave I would say if the reviewer simply listed how long they used the razor before reviewing and what other razor they prefer, I would get a very good idea if I would get the same results.

If a reviewer lists their top 5 preferred razors and I don't like their razors picks. Then I would know that a good review from them may be a blade I wouldn't prefer.

Something such as balance is pretty easy to say it is good or bad but as for quality of the razors construction. I would have to take the information with a grain of salt if the reviewer was not an active razor restorer. If Max or GSSix says a razor has good construction I would take it as fact, if I said it I would consider the information as advice from an untrained eye.

Perhaps the best way to make all the reviewer more useful there should be reviewers profiles. If all reviewers are required to fill out profiles of themselves that link to their reviews, the readers could get a better idea of where the reviewers opinions may line up with their own.

that is my 2 cents

A razor that takes a good edge, takes that edge readily, holds that edge as long as can be reasonably expected, and is comfortable both in your hand and on your face. The first part has to do with design, manufacture, and material. The next two are almost pure material (with a little manufacture and design influence). The last part is pure opinion, but is a huge part in my approval of a razor. I have a generic Sheffield extra hollow that shaves a dream, but the scales are such thin flimsy plastic that until I get it rescaled, I'd consider the razor as a whole below average. The Sheffield/Solingen/US rule from the noob FAQ (though I've had more bad US steel razors than good ones so far personally) helps cover the bases... but with such a wide field of razors that we can be confident share similar quality steel, we have to focus on and be more demanding of design, manufacture and comfort. Obviously the metal in all Sheffield or all Solingen razors is not identical; however since most of these manufacturers probably did not own their own foundries comparing the quality of the steel itself across manufacturers of the same era/steel is an impossible task. One Duck may have better steel than one Puma while another Puma may have better steel still. It would all be relative to batch quality which short of some damn significant assumptions you really can't connect to a manufacturer... and for a GOOD foundry, these differences will be undetectable to begin with.

I recall a few years back reading many product reviews for computer parts. The most memorable ones were for power supplies. Not too long ago, a typical user would get a PSU, hook it up to his machine and play video games and monitor the motherboard rail readings. Maybe try an overclock. Put some simplistic numbers together and slap an A+ sticker on the power supply. Then a few testers started buying professional electronics measuring and monitoring hardware, and the reviews started actually meaning something. Razor reviews are in the prior category. Now, when someone starts buying several identical razors, shaving filings off and inspecting them using lab equipment to find impurity levels, using a machanized grinder and polisher to put an edge on them and again using lab equipment to measure and discover problems with the edge, performing various stress, impact, etc tests on the blades and scales... then we're going to see much more meaningful reviews happening. At the moment though it's a matter of knowing how level-headed, experienced, and demanding the particular reviewer is of his razors, and just using good old common sense to take away from their reviews what you feel is appropriate. If a poster who brags about only ever using Gold Dollar razors and how they're the best thing since sliced bread reviews his latest GD and declares that it magicked the whiskers off his face I may be less inclined to immediately place an order for one than if a fellow who has a 100+ collection of Sheffields that he uses reviewed the same razor and stated that the shave is of similar quality to many of his razors with likened grinds and dimensions, and well worth the asking price.

One review is more glowing. One review is more worthwhile. It all comes down to the reader being as informed as possible and in the end deciding for him or herself.