I've been using a safety razor for some time now, but just recently I decided I wanted to upgrade to THE razor....the best of the best for me to use for the rest of my life and pass down to the next generation. An heirloom quality, solid stainless CNC'd, razor.
The Feather AS-D1 is all the rage right now so I ordered one up. The Feather was built great and looks nice and I really wanted to like it. The problem was that it was so mild I could not get a BBS out if it. I tried many angles, blades, and shaving soaps, but I finallly gave up and resigned myself to the fact that the Feather was not up to the task that is shaving my coarse stubble.
I'd had my eye on this OSS and emailed iKon with some questions about its build and shave. I got a very quick (like within 5 minutes) response from the owner Greg. His answers solidified my thoughts that this might be the right razor for me. I'm a sucker for quick customer service, and for a pretty razor, so I ordered up the OSS.
Straight Razor Designs shipped immediately and packaged this thing well enought that it could have easily survived a fall off of the Empire States building without a scratch. Thank you! So a couple of days later it was sitting on my doorstep.
Upon opening the box I was immediately impressed with its quality. I am very particular and this razor does not dissapoint. Everything fits perfectly together and the blade allignment is spot on. The Feather has nothing on this razor. The OSS is heaftier, more asthetically pleasing, and just as precisely built as the Feather, if not better. It truly holds tolerances exptected only of surgical grade instruments.
Then I shaved with it. I'm used to shaving mostly with a Merkur HD 34C because it just seems to give me the best shave out of everything I've tried. I do three passes and a touch up for a nice BBS. I did pass one wtg using the open comb side, and pass 2 xtg and 3 atg with the closed comb side of the OSS. Extremely smooth and glides over the face easier than the HD due to its finish. No touch up needed because BBS was already achieved without it!
Long story short the OSS is a winner. I did find THE razor I was looking for and I look forward to using it for a long time to come. If you're looking for the highest quality build and shave you can get, buy this iKon OSS.
