The Skarp lazer razor kickstarter

More info: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/10/13/laser_razor_snuffed_out_by_kickstarter/

Final statement from article:

$4m in venture capital, and this is the best they can come up with in the way of a "prototype"? I'd say they stand a more-than-decent chance of having their butts sued off if they don't get their act together.

Got anything to say, Skarp?

 

There are more problems with this concept than just getting a working laser:
- Shadow. The hair first hit by the laser will prevent the laser to continue to the next hair until the first is fully fallen away. By that time you probably already moved razor forward.
- You can not glide on a laser beam as you can with a blade. How do you keep it really close to the skin? Either you might go too deep and the laser is into the skin... or you might have it too far away from the skin, leaving plenty of stubble. They would need many laser beams in parallel to make sure at least one is at the skin surface. Already now experts consider a single AAA battery to be too weak for one single beam. It would definitely not be enough for a whole array of beams.

 

Hmmmm, this IS an interesting prototype. It appears that the active-laser head is able to remove a single hair strand with multiple passes!
At this rate of hair removal, my normally 15-minute shave just turned into a two & a half hour laser frenzy! Sign me up!

 

I read up a bunch on this while I was trying to decide to back it or not. Statements by the makers said that the laser they made was cut and produced by hand, and they needed the precision that automation would bring to make the lasers correctly. They were orginally targeting a lot less than what they had pledged for backers to get the automation to build it.

I ended up not backing it, mainly because making 800ish razors to meet the 160k original goal would have been a logistical challenge. Making 20,000ish razors for the 4mill pledged, by a company that doesn't exist yet seemed a little unrealistic. I will be curious to see if they get a private backer at a smaller level to bring a funtional prototype to market, then scale up and go big.

 

Read an article today saying this was removed from Kickstarter for not having a working prototype, so they immediately listed on Indiegogo. I'm beginning to be relieved I didn't back this one.

 

So the Skarp got skrapped?

 

This wins the internets for the day.

 

HERES the article.

 

Thanks. That's a much more informative article than the one to which I'd linked. Obviously Skarp's makers won't get sued, because they hadn't gotten the money yet. My previous comments were ill informed, since I was under the impression they had already received the funding.

In light of their instant success on Indiegogo, I guess P.T. Barnum's words ring as true now as always. Perhaps the makers will get the last laugh when they produce the most awesome razor ever, and go laughing all the way to the bank. Based on the existing prototype, however, I'm not holding my breath.

 

They are going to need at least a 5 beam laser razor to get a good shave. That single laser beam in the video just won't cut it.

Beside, who wants a shave without good smelling soap and AS to put on your face?

Greg W.