Everite...surprisingly good quick shave
I am intrigued with the "safety" razors that seem to have a foot in the SR and SE camps at the same time. I bought a Wilkinson Sword Empire set a while back because it was in great condition and the price was about half of what I had seen them going for on fleabay. I honed the blades and tried a shave with it. I was not impressed. Hard to handle (very top heavy), not a very good shave either. But its cool looking.
I saw an Everite "straight safety razor" and was impressed with its stark simplicity. A thick hollow ground blade that is drilled and tapped to have the handle screwed into the side of the blade for storage or honing/stropping and a slip on stainless guard that protects the blade during storage and is the "safety" part of the razor when the handle is screwed into the bottom of the blade.
I saw a nice one on fleabay for a Jackson and decided what the hell. It arrived a couple of days ago. Case, razor, hone and strop were in great condition and the paper instructions were ok but showing some wear. The blade is a massive piece of steel compared to the Wilkinson blades and the edge was clearly in need of attention, so I ran it through my Naniwas to a hair popping edge. With the handle screwed into the side of the blade, it is super easy to strop on my hanging strop. Using the "box strop" seems a bit awkward...Maybe it gets better with practice? Anyway it went in a drawer ready for use.
This morning I was a bit pushed for time so I decided to pull out the Everite and see if I could get a shave any quicker than one of my str8's. I did a two pass shave with the Everite and got close to a DFS while hurrying on a first use. Easy to use, much better on the balance than the Wilkinson even with that massive chunk of Soligen steel for a blade. I was impressed with the result. It may find its way into my travel kit!