What do you think about the oneblade razor

+ 1..There is a OneBlade Clique that has set themselves up on another Two Big Shaving Forums..I have been watching them & they are clearly Hyping Up this Razor and keeping it at the Forefront of Conversation..Its largely the same Handful of people that are doing this..Some Folks may like it of Course & that's Fine but these Folks Don't Tolerate any Negative Reviews on It...I have been round the block & I know a Set Up when I see One...It wont take much Imagination to know the Forums that I am referring to.. Thankfully this stuff doesn't happen around here..

Billy..

 

I had the chance to try a pass around OneBlade in the UK a while ago. Here's what I thought about it back then:

tl;dr (open) tl;dr (close)

Good razor. Not good enough. I want a Personna floating head injector

Here is what I like about the OneBlade:
The OneBlade is a good looking, unusual razor. It is well crafted and a quality piece of hardware. As a fan of SE shaving, the razor appeals to me. The Feather FHS blades are the only currently available unmodified blades available. They are very good blades, but only really last for a single shave. Fortunately, GEM SE blades are also currently available and fit the OneBlade razor if the spine is removed. They stay usable for much longer and are much cheaper.
This razor really gives you an excellent shave. No doubt about it. It shaves everything as good as the Wolfman or any other razor. This is mainly due to the pivoted head. That’s one innovation OneBlade have copied from cartridge razors and it was a good decision. It needs a little pressure to engage, but it allows you to be sloppy with the angle you use to move the handle around your face. As long as you get it roughly right, the pivoting head will take care of the rest. It’s actually fun to watch the head move around the edge of the chin to the neck and listen to the uninterrupted noise of hair being cut. Nice. A couple of days ago I was tempted to buy one of those new Flexball gadget razors to see how it compares, but I resisted. But there is another razor I want to try and compare the OneBlade to it.

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I want to try a Personna floating head injector

Here is what I don’t like about the OneBlade:
The decision to use Feather FHS blades is a dubious one. With minimal changes to the head OneBlade could have made a razor accepting unmodified GEM blades. Those blades are a third of the price of the Feathers and last six times longer. That makes shaving with Feather blades 18 times more expensive than shaving with GEM blades. While I have no problems removing the spine from a GEM blade (it takes about 5 seconds), this will not be a solution for everyone.
Next, the OneBlade shaves a bit like a cartridge razor. You need to apply pressure to make the pivoting head work. I’m in two minds about this. On the one hand it does give results. A close shave every time. On the other hand I like to shave with a very light touch. So this is not really a negative, just personal preference.
The handle is too slippery. I know stainless steel is the new black, but I wouldn’t mind a more textured stainless steel handle, or even rubber inlays in the handle. I know I’m being a stainless steel heretic again. My Schick N3 injector with its all rubber handle is one of my most favourite razors. You couldn’t add more grip to it without using superglue if you tried. I also didn’t think much of the shape of the handle. It’s awkward . The hole down the length of the handle looks cool, but makes it difficult to turn the razor with one wet hand. A case of form before function, I’m afraid.
The extras. The leather case is useless. Well made and all that, but what is it for? It is huge and it doesn’t hold the razor without the stand. It is no use for travel, due its sheer size and weight with the razor and the stand in it. Personally, I wouldn’t store the razor in the box between uses. So it’s just expensive leather packaging that is too precious to throw away. It’s just added clutter. I’m not too keen on the stand either. It’s horizontal and takes up too much space in the shave den. I don’t really need a stand for a razor, but if I did, I’d want the razor to be upright. Give me an option to buy the razor without the added hipster accessories. Please.
I’ve mentioned it before, but the blade insertion/extraction mechanism is not as smooth as I’d like it to be. Not for the price. I’d like to see some spring loaded mechanism where you push the blade in and it clicks into place, push it again and the blade pops out. As it is the mechanism is too fiddly and jerky for my taste. Maybe my dream solution is not viable and would break sooner or later. Not a deal breaker, but a classy razor should be classy.
I also find it difficult shaving very close to the nostrils. The blade does not extend to the edge of the head, making shaving in this difficult area even more difficult. I needed a Schick injector to clean up. Not ideal.
Now for biggest drawback. The elephant in the shave den. The price. £225 shipped + VAT + import duty + Royal Mail charges. It is far too expensive for what it is. A razor. I do understand that OneBlade want to recoup their alleged million dollar development cost, but they are taking the p**s. How much was the black one again? $2,500? Go away! And I’m getting expensive stuff I don’t want with it (box/stand). As much as I adore the shaves it gives me, I find it overpriced. Hugely.
So here is the final verdict. Would I buy one? No. As good as it is, there are too many little niggles to justify the cost. Drop the leather box, drop the stand, give the handle more grip, make it use unmodified GEM blades and drop the price by half and I might be interested. I’ll miss it though. Nice knowing you, OneBlade. Despite all the little niggles - it is a very good razor.

 

Of all the shave forums I belong to this is my favorite. Everyone here respects others opinions

Thanks for all the input on the razor there are some very good posts

 

I'm not averse to paying $300 (or even more) for a razor if I feel that it is worth the money. The OneBlade, while finely crafted, is a relatively simple design that is mass produced in China. In other words, it is being sold at a huge markup.

Then there is the website, which is one lengthy effort to justify the selling price. They claim to have spent a million dollars and a year's time to have discovered that the "secrets" to a perfect shave are blade angle, blade exposure and blade gap. Seems like it would have been easier (and cheaper) to spend a few hours reading forums such as this one. They also state that "WE discovered" that the optimal shave angle is 31.3 degrees, which sounds awfully close to the 30 degree figure that has been common knowledge among traditional shavers for many years.

They spend a great deal of time discussing "their" blade. They do not mention that Feather made them for a century old razor design and has been selling them for probably half that time. They have some questionable magnified images of the blade edge. I have a digital microscope and was unable to reproduce these - the Feather edge looks pretty much like any other blade edge. I can post images if anyone is interested.

The founder of OneBlade is a publisher of pricey investment newsletters who has been fined $1 million by the SEC. (He maintains that he did nothing wrong/illegal.) The president is a former CEO of Ronco. If you watch a lot of late night TV you are familiar with Ronco ("But wait! There's more!). If nothing else, this explains the tone of the website.

I wonder what will become of the Lifetime Warranty in a couple of years when these guys have moved on to the Next Big Thing.

I have also noticed that some of the OneBlade owners seem to take any criticism personally. Things get nasty and the mods have to intervene. It's frustrating to spend hours crafting brilliant prose only to see the entire thread deleted.

By nearly all accounts the OneBlade is a great shaver, but for $300 I have a lot of options.

--Bob

 

Well..I signed in another Forum Today & I had 2 what some people might describe as Intimidating PMs from 2 of the OneBlade Owners that are Dominating the threads over there...I found it quite Sad & somewhat Hilarious at the same time..But there aint No Democracy amongst some of these Folks for Sure..It wont take much Imagination to what Forum I am referring to because they have been Dominating it with a Number of OneBlade threads for some months Now..

Billy..

 

is why am here at The Den.

 

I don't know how long you were following some of those other threads, but to add a little perspective:

When that razor first came out, there were a few guys who had it and wanted to discuss it, a bunch more who had questions, and then 206,214 random people in troll suits who were just there to tell all of us how stupid we would be if we bought it, and how stupid the people who had already bought it, were. I was following a couple of those early on, as one of the interested, want to know more guys. The flame wars were non stop, and tons of posts were removed. The whole time, this handful of guys were just trying to talk about a razor.

So not to excuse rudeness on anybody's part, but one of those threads in particular has sort of turned into their little brotherhood/fellowship place, and they really aren't looking for criticism if you don't own one. It might be a lot better if they started a new thread with a different title to avoid confusion, but there isn't any set up/marketing conspiracy/paid off in razors thing going on.

 

Was the walk to the drug store up-hill both ways? LOLOLOLO! I crack myself up...

 

and again !

 

Ditto!

 

While I'll admit to a pretty good case of RAD, I'll feed my addiction at the fleamarket and antique shops thank you very much! For all you other guys, have at it, I say.

 

Especially when it is running $399. that is a new driver, or 47 inch TV or good qtz watch or a decent suit!

 

It's a nice Idea to have a swivel on a single edge razor but like Planofman said, Lack of an unmodified Gem blade. Personally I'm not wild about the slippery looking handle,, nor the price. Now a Swivel head Stainless long handled extra grip 1912 using a Gem blade, I'd spend money on

 

Very sad, but true that the price is close to what some people bring home a week and in this country.

 

I would rather put that kind of money towards a new mountain bike or guitar !!!

 

I purchased a One Blade Razor when I saw Mantic's video. At the time there was a discount and the razor cost about the same as many of the stainless steel specials being sold. And, I like the one blade razor very much. With its single blade it eliminates all the problems of shaving with a cartridge razor. And it works very well. I have no problem with the handle being slippery but one thing I do not like is only having one choice of blade which is foolishly expensive and hard to come by. I use the de-spined Gem blades and there is no smile in my razor but still I don't like the lack of choice of SE blades like the GEM either. You're basically stuck with one blade choice once again. I like the razor a lot and it does a wonderful job with the pivoting head. Would I purchase this razor today for $400? Absolutely not! But it is too bad the razor wouldn't accept DE blades. There are so many DE blade choices out there and many of them are seriously sharp and inexpensive. That's the one blade razor I would buy 2 of! IF the price was right? The One blade razor I have is much easier to shave with and shaves closer for me than any of my many razors. And, Concentrating on technique and angle is not so important. The pivot helps out there! And, I don't buy the made in China argument. We live in a world economy these days. I'm old enough that I remember how "Made in Japan" was once the on going buying curse of the time. Now it seems to be made in China signifies poor quality or cheapness? But, theres not much made in the USA going on these days. IT's OK to buy Canada or Spain or Israel or England or Germany or Russia, etc.? Quality is quality and chasing it is multi national now, more so then ever! IMHO!!!

 

I have the V1 OB and I used it both with the Feather and the de-spined and dremelled Gem so it clicks into place and didn't notice any measurable difference in the performance between the two blades. It will take some time to make the Gem fit but the savings are considerable, also I like to think that I have defeated the monopoly the OB team is trying to impose on us. The shave is as good as any favorite razor, only it doesn't take much skill to shave as the pivot does it for you. I know, we are all in this shaving hobby because we enjoy it, but imagine a situation that a shave has to be rushed and be out the door in 10min.
This is where the OB will shine and this is the reason I think it was created in the first place. People who don't have much time to shave like wealthy, busy professionals who might not even enjoy shaving and couldn't care less about technique. They just want a trouble free, quick BBs shave, no matter how much it costs.