thisISjoel
Member
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2015
- Location
- Australia
Hey gents, well after owning the Hawk for almost a month and a half I feel like I can confidently share my thoughts on it with you blokes.
The first thing you'll notice when you take this razor out of its modest packaging (simple black box) is how light it is. The hawk is machined aluminium and weighs in at around 35g. For me personally this felt too light, and after using it with the original handle for the first 7 or so shaves I swapped it out for a maggard stainless steel handle, adding about 30g, for a total of 65g. Still on the lighter side, but comparable to the gillette slim in weight.
The machining on the hawk is excellent, with large posts to hold the blade and absolutely no issues with alignment. There are large holes in the base plate for the lather and hair, and I have had no issues with clogging. The finish, as explained in the description on the IB website isn't perfect and my top cap has plenty of little dimples in the finish, nothing that effects the performance, but something to be aware of. The handle looks and feels good, but is just too light for me.
This is my first SE razor, and my first razor that uses the feather pro style blades, and so far I'm super impressed! The razor is efficient, without being overly aggressive. As with any safety razor a light touch is definitely required and a lack of care/respect and you can certainly get bitten. I find that a two pass shave (either WTG and XTG or WTG and ATG) is plenty for a comfortable, close shave. The traditional three pass shave can also be completed without irritation for that real BBS feel if so desired (normally if I shave at night I go three passes, if I shave in the morning I just do two).
With the current exchange rate and expensive overseas shipping the hawk set me back just over $50au landed, and in my opinion it was well worth it. I was also considering the colonial razors general, but that would have been around $100au or so landed so the hawk got the nod.
Overall I have been extremely happy with the hawk and would certainly recommend it. I think there may very well be a few more feather pro SE razors in my future (mongoose, I'm looking at you).
Below you will find some reflections on my experiences shaving with the hawk and some (badly taken) pictures. Thanks for reading and sorry for the long post
Since I got the razor (and waited a few extra days for some blades) I haven't shaved with anything else. The first maybe 7 shaves I used the feather pro guard blade, with mixed results. The first shave was quite possibly the best shave of my life! Two passes, WTG and ATG, for an irritation free BBS shave (well, everywhere but a couple trouble spots on my neck). The next 5 or 6 shaves were a completely different story. Cuts, razor burn, irritation. On reflection I think I was overthinking the shaves and just not getting the angle/pressure right. The first shave was effortless, the subsequent shaves no matter how hard I tried (too hard, I think) I just couldn't get a decent shave. So I tossed the pro guard and loaded up a kai captain original.
With the new blade loaded the next shave was much better, but still left something to be desired. I decided to swap the handle out for a maggard MR20 stainless steel handle that I had adding around 30g to the overall weight. That was the real difference maker, and since changing handles I have gotten consistently great shaves from this razor. I used the kai blade for, well to be honest I completely lost track of how many shaves, but it would have to be at least 12, probably more, and it never missed a beat. I only swapped it out this morning because I hadn't shaved in a week.
So this mornings blade was a feather pro, and again the shave was great. Smooth, comfortable and irritation free. I have some pretty weird grow patterns on my neck and I think the the extra rigidity of the thicker blade allows a cleaner slice when cutting across the the grain.
The first thing you'll notice when you take this razor out of its modest packaging (simple black box) is how light it is. The hawk is machined aluminium and weighs in at around 35g. For me personally this felt too light, and after using it with the original handle for the first 7 or so shaves I swapped it out for a maggard stainless steel handle, adding about 30g, for a total of 65g. Still on the lighter side, but comparable to the gillette slim in weight.
The machining on the hawk is excellent, with large posts to hold the blade and absolutely no issues with alignment. There are large holes in the base plate for the lather and hair, and I have had no issues with clogging. The finish, as explained in the description on the IB website isn't perfect and my top cap has plenty of little dimples in the finish, nothing that effects the performance, but something to be aware of. The handle looks and feels good, but is just too light for me.
This is my first SE razor, and my first razor that uses the feather pro style blades, and so far I'm super impressed! The razor is efficient, without being overly aggressive. As with any safety razor a light touch is definitely required and a lack of care/respect and you can certainly get bitten. I find that a two pass shave (either WTG and XTG or WTG and ATG) is plenty for a comfortable, close shave. The traditional three pass shave can also be completed without irritation for that real BBS feel if so desired (normally if I shave at night I go three passes, if I shave in the morning I just do two).
With the current exchange rate and expensive overseas shipping the hawk set me back just over $50au landed, and in my opinion it was well worth it. I was also considering the colonial razors general, but that would have been around $100au or so landed so the hawk got the nod.
Overall I have been extremely happy with the hawk and would certainly recommend it. I think there may very well be a few more feather pro SE razors in my future (mongoose, I'm looking at you).
Below you will find some reflections on my experiences shaving with the hawk and some (badly taken) pictures. Thanks for reading and sorry for the long post
Since I got the razor (and waited a few extra days for some blades) I haven't shaved with anything else. The first maybe 7 shaves I used the feather pro guard blade, with mixed results. The first shave was quite possibly the best shave of my life! Two passes, WTG and ATG, for an irritation free BBS shave (well, everywhere but a couple trouble spots on my neck). The next 5 or 6 shaves were a completely different story. Cuts, razor burn, irritation. On reflection I think I was overthinking the shaves and just not getting the angle/pressure right. The first shave was effortless, the subsequent shaves no matter how hard I tried (too hard, I think) I just couldn't get a decent shave. So I tossed the pro guard and loaded up a kai captain original.
With the new blade loaded the next shave was much better, but still left something to be desired. I decided to swap the handle out for a maggard MR20 stainless steel handle that I had adding around 30g to the overall weight. That was the real difference maker, and since changing handles I have gotten consistently great shaves from this razor. I used the kai blade for, well to be honest I completely lost track of how many shaves, but it would have to be at least 12, probably more, and it never missed a beat. I only swapped it out this morning because I hadn't shaved in a week.
So this mornings blade was a feather pro, and again the shave was great. Smooth, comfortable and irritation free. I have some pretty weird grow patterns on my neck and I think the the extra rigidity of the thicker blade allows a cleaner slice when cutting across the the grain.
