Closed Pass Around: Asylum RX - Finished.

Fifth shave with the RX Asylum yesterday. Finally what I can only call a great shave, it just worked which was a relief as I've only had two good shaves with this razor! Two days growth and using the Kai Protouch blade and the I Coloniali Rhubarb sample in the box, I was nervous it wouldn't be able to deal with the two days stubble very well, but it just worked. No irritation, no weepers, no nicks, just a great two pass shave. The cream was really nice, lathered up well, interesting scent which I couldn't really place and a small hint of menthol. Enjoyed the shave, at last :D
 
There have been a few problems in moving on the Asylum (involving Royal Mail, holidays in Spain, etc), but the Asylum has now left the Looney (not the other way round) and arrived with Acer89.
Due to the slow progress so far and the size of the pass around list, the list is now temporarily closed.

  1. sɐǝɹpu∀ / riverrun (ATG/TSR)
  2. Nishy (ATG)
  3. rowlers (ATG)
  4. globalm (TSR)
  5. Looney12345 (ATG/TSR)
  6. Acer89 (ATG)
  7. MikeyJ (TSR)
  8. Fuzzyian (TSR)
  9. Dogsmro (ATG/TSR)
  10. Mr Bigmem (ATG/TSR)
  11. p.b (ATG)
  12. Blademonkey (TSR)
  13. MPH (TSR)
  14. Burgundy (ATG)
  15. Wayne (ATG)
  16. AlexNoodles (ATG)
  17. barber bear (TSR)
  18. ben139 (ATG)
  19. newbie (TSR)
  20. Betriebsarzt13 (TSR)
The list is closed.
Legend: Currently with, On the way to, Waiting, Completed
 
Thank you.
  1. sɐǝɹpu∀ / riverrun (ATG/TSR)
  2. Nishy (ATG)
  3. rowlers (ATG)
  4. globalm (TSR)
  5. Looney12345 (ATG/TSR)
  6. Acer89 (ATG)
  7. MikeyJ (TSR)
  8. Fuzzyian (TSR)
  9. Dogsmro (ATG/TSR)
  10. Mr Bigmem (ATG/TSR)
  11. p.b (ATG)
  12. Blademonkey (TSR)
  13. MPH (TSR)
  14. Burgundy (ATG)
  15. AlexNoodles (ATG)
  16. barber bear (TSR)
  17. ben139 (ATG)
  18. newbie (TSR)
  19. Betriebsarzt13 (TSR)
The list is closed.
Legend: Currently with, On the way to, Waiting, Completed
 
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Ok, shaved with the RX last night so thought I'd give a few first impressions. I've purposefully not read anything in this thread to try to avoid correlating my opinions.

Aesthetics:

The handle is ugly. There you go, I said it. Too much going on with the vertical grooves and the flared ends just don't suit the head. Something chunkier and a bit longer would fit much better in my opinion. The head looks nice enough but the horizontal groove on top is unnecessary. The finish is ok but in comparison to the supply provisions SE which is a fraction of the price I'd say there is room for improvement.

Mechanism:

The loading of the blade is simple enough but it's unique to anything I've ever used before. The blade seems to be securely held and there is no warping or chatter. I think the design is quite innovative and works well.

The Business End:

I went with the Protouch MG blades and I must admit they gave me a very nice shave indeed. 2.5 passes (WTG, ATG, XTG on the chin) with no irritation and not many touch ups required on my chin and neck which are my usual problem areas. I shaved before bed at about 9pm and woke up for work at 3am and I'm still relatively smooth which is a nice surprise. My only qualm is the balance. The head feels too heavy in comparison to the handle. As I said above, a longer, chunkier handle would improve this razor.

Additional:

Thank you to whoever included the Wickhams 1912 Parma Violets sample. I bought some SuperSmooth back in 2014 and admittedly wasn't impressed with it. This vegetal formula however is excellent and produced an extremely voluminous lather very easily. Very good protection (akin to most tallow soaps I own) and good post shave qualities too. The scent is absolutely spot on and evoked some serious nostalgia. I love Parma Violets and I think I'm going to have to buy this soap.
 
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Second shave with the RX and this time I used the Feather Pro blades instead of the Protouch MG. To overcome my dislike for the handle I used an Ikon OSS instead. Words cannot describe the improvement this has made to the feel and balance of the razor (IMO). Not only does it feel better, it also looks better despite the finish not matching and the diameter of the handle where it meets the head being different.

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Second use of the Wickhams Parma Violet and a full tub is now on order. Lovely, nostalgic scent and very solid performance.

The Feather Pro in this razor is right on the border between comfort and irritation. More efficient than the Protouch MG by a fraction leaving me incredibly smooth. The alum stings a touch but post shave is fine after some Thayer's and L'Occitane balm. I do really like the performance of this razor. It's relatively effortless to use as a result of the optimal angle of the head being quite shallow. If only the aesthetics were of the same standard.

I'm going to give the Feather ProGuard blades a try and see if they offer the closeness of the Pro and the comfort of the MG.
 
Final shave with the RX. This time using the Feather ProGuard blade. The shave was reasonable but not as close as the Feather Pros and not as comfortable as the Kai Protouch MGs which was disappointing.

I think the main question that needs answering here is would I buy one and sadly the answer is a no, not at the current configuration. Should Asylum decide to offer a longer, prettier handle and knock the price down to the $160 mark I would probably purchase it. If they improved the finish style as well (perhaps via bead blasting) I would certainly purchase it.

Pros:

Shave Quality
Head Dimensions
Blade Loading Method

Cons:

Handle Design
Finish Style
Cost

Many thanks to Paul from Bullgoose and everyone else involved in the logistics of the passaround. I will try to get this posted out to @Fuzzyian tomorrow.
 
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Razor posted special delivery this morning so should be with @Fuzzyian tomorrow.

Included a few samples too

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Thank you.

  1. sɐǝɹpu∀ / riverrun (ATG/TSR)
  2. Nishy (ATG)
  3. rowlers (ATG)
  4. globalm (TSR)
  5. Looney12345 (ATG/TSR)
  6. Acer89 (ATG)
  7. MikeyJ (TSR)
  8. Fuzzyian (TSR)
  9. Dogsmro (ATG/TSR)
  10. Mr Bigmem (ATG/TSR)
  11. p.b (ATG)
  12. Blademonkey (TSR)
  13. MPH (TSR)
  14. Burgundy (ATG)
  15. AlexNoodles (ATG)
  16. barber bear (TSR)
  17. ben139 (ATG)
  18. newbie (TSR)
  19. Betriebsarzt13 (TSR)
The list is closed.
Legend: Currently with, On the way to, Waiting, Completed
 
First try today, using the Kia Captain blade,
The Rx is quite heavy and wide, I had left beard growth for a good few days, so plenty for it to mow down, first pass seamed to cut my face to shreds, so much so that I quit using it for the second pass, maybe the head size and weight threw me off, next time I will try a milder blade, and be much more careful, and hopefully a better shave
 
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