Closed Pass Around - Feather AS-D2 - COMPLETE

Day 2 with the AS-D2. Same setup as day one, except today I used a fresh Feather blade. It was hard to believe that there was a Feather blade in the razor. Same as yesterday: razor glides effortlessly over the face and mows down stubble. For me it's the perfect weight/balance combination. It is such a joy to hold. But even with four passes it missed a spot or two, even after a little touch up. It is definitely not as close a shaver as other tools. Maybe it is too mild even for my liking. The way it tamed a Feather blade reminded me a little bit of my Standard razor. I compared the two heads and while they are similar, the Standard seems to have a bit more blade gap. So, tomorrow I plan to shave half my face with the Feather and half with the Standard - Feather blade in both. I'll report back.
 
Day 3 - Battle of the Feather tamers

As promised I did a shave off between the AS-D2 (weighing in at 91.0 grams, in in the right corner) and the Standard razor (weighing in at 47.7 grams, in the left corner). The Standard is my go to razor for Feather blades. Smooth efficient, a merciless enemy of stubble. It is quite a beautiful, elegant little razor, but can't compete with the AS-D2 in sheer engineering quality.
Same setup as in the previous shaves, both razors got a fresh Feather blade.
The AS-D2 is such a fun razor. The weight, the balance, the finish - it is such a quality tool. Everything I said about how it shaves still stands, except that I must be getting better at handling it. The bits it missed yesterday were dealt with properly today.
I've always considered the Standard razor a mild but efficient tool. Compared to the Feather it immediately feels and sounds aggressive. You can feel the blade and hear it slice stubble. It also asserted its aggressiveness by nicking me in the chin on the last pass - something it has never done before and something the Feather wouldn't know how to do. I guess I got careless after using the Feather.
Now for the important question: how did the two halves compare? Right after the shave I could not tell the difference. BBS all over - left and right. Two hours later and I could just about feel a difference: on the Feather side I could feel a little stubble rubbing ATG, while the Standard razor side was still smooth.
The winners are:
For value for money: The Standard razor, by a big margin.
For efficiency: The Standard razor, by a whisker (see what I did there?)
For style: The Feather, by a big margin.
In case of a smoothness draw I was planning a shave off with a Schick injector with NOS twin blade tomorrow, but that question has been settled now.
A couple more shaves with AS-D2 and I'll submit my final verdict and pass it on.

Andreas
 
Day 4 - Trying to get a bad shave out of the AS-D2

The AS-D2 has performed well so far. Time for a challenge. My horror DE blade is the Derby. It is the third worst blade I know. Number two is the Feather carbon blade that fits Valet Autostrop razors and number one was a dog grooming blade I once used in a Durham Duplex. The only acceptable shave I ever got out of a Derby balde was in the Standard razor and even then it was not a great shave. In all other razors the blade just tugs. I used to use Derbys in the kitchen to remove connective tissue from meat until I found that GEM SE blades are easier to handle for this purpose.
To have a fair comparison I'll use the same setup as in all the previous shaves with the AS-D2.

Half an hour later….

Witchcraft! What is this thing? I just had a smooth, pleasant, BBS shave with a Derby blade. I repeat: with a Derby blade! No nicks, no tugging, not even full on ATG under the nose. If you'd have told me that I put a Feather or PolSilver blade in by mistake I would have believed it, but I checked. It was a bloody Derby blade alright. The AS-D2 gives one great shave after the other. And it also makes you want to hold and fondle it. Who makes this thing? Feather or Harry Potter? I have to move this razor on soon or it will warp my mind.

Andreas
 
riverrun said:
Day 4 - Trying to get a bad shave out of the AS-D2

The AS-D2 has performed well so far. Time for a challenge. My horror DE blade is the Derby. It is the third worst blade I know. Number two is the Feather carbon blade that fits Valet Autostrop razors and number one was a dog grooming blade I once used in a Durham Duplex. The only acceptable shave I ever got out of a Derby balde was in the Standard razor and even then it was not a great shave. In all other razors the blade just tugs. I used to use Derbys in the kitchen to remove connective tissue from meat until I found that GEM SE blades are easier to handle for this purpose.
To have a fair comparison I'll use the same setup as in all the previous shaves with the AS-D2.

Half an hour later….

Witchcraft! What is this thing? I just had a smooth, pleasant, BBS shave with a Derby blade. I repeat: with a Derby blade! No nicks, no tugging, not even full on ATG under the nose. If you'd have told me that I put a Feather or PolSilver blade in by mistake I would have believed it, but I checked. It was a bloody Derby blade alright. The AS-D2 gives one great shave after the other. And it also makes you want to hold and fondle it. Who makes this thing? Feather or Harry Potter? I have to move this razor on soon or it will warp my mind.

Andreas
Click to expand...
Haha Andreas! Reverse the pass around we all need to try it again with a Derby ;)!
 
Mmmm... I have had minor doubts about whether I did the right thing in ordering one of these on the Massdrop but this sort of talk is making me feel better. I'm advised that DHL have it in their custody and their comprehensive tracking page is showing me it's progress on a daily basis.
 
I have definitely found the PILS more aggressive than the feather, but just feeling the blade not a rough shave at all. Comparison wise the tech is more aggressive than the EJ, as was the PILS to the Feather (same blade in all- persona blue). The PILS razor feels like a progress on 3.5
 
Just goes to show how YMMV, I couldn't feel the blade in the Pils at all. I think I'm going to withdraw from the Feather pass around on that basis.

EDIT - just realised that this is the Feather pass around thread! I'm out, the Pils was too mild for me so the Feather won't work either.
 
Am I the only one to have ordered an AS-D2 from the current Massdrop?

Is there no-one else with whom I can commiserate when the VAT invoice arrives?
 
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