Craftsmanship: It looks very cool. Sort of retro-futuristic. Some exposed metal surfaces on the handle, but plenty of rubber exposure to make it grippy no matter how you hold it, even if you have wet fingers. It lost points in this category because the lines were not flawless, there was a little gappage between rubber and metal materials - just a little. It also lost a point because the balancing isn't quite where I like it to be... but its not bad. It balances where the handle ends and the holding mechanism begins. I'd like for it to balance a little bit closer to the head. All said, it is a sturdy piece. Not flimsy at all and has nice weight. Quality of Shave: The KAI Captain Excelia is a holder for injector type razor blades similar to the Feather Artists Club series. In fact, the blades manufactured for the Feather AC will also fit in the KAI Captain holders, and the KAI blades are interchangeable with the Feather AC blades, and the holder accepts blades exactly the same way as the Feather AC... complete with the head notch. That said, the shave will vary largely depending on which blade you use with it, so it is somewhat customizable in that vein. Both manufacturers sell several different grades of blade for this type of razor. The sharpest blade that KAI offers for the Excelia is the Captain Sharpblade. Sharp, yes... but there is definite "feedback" when I use the Captain Sharpblades. The best shave I get with the Excelia is when I use a Feather Super Professional blade. In my opinion, the KAI and Feather combo is a match made in shaving heaven. I don't even feel the razor going through my whiskers with a Feather Super Pro equipped. That's a little too sharp for some people, but I find it perfect. No whisker left behind - which translates into a quicker shave that requires no touch ups. It takes a little technique... the same technique used with the Feather AC series. You have to use a very slight angle with this razor, almost flat against the face during the shave. The reward is outstanding closeness. I am BBS in 2 passes usually. On a scale of 1 - 10... it gets an 11... Ease of Sharpening: Insert a new blade... ...doesn't get any easier than that. Ten. Durability of Edge: I can usually get about 10 shaves out of a Feather Super Pro blade. I can't really speak to the Captain Sharpblades because I haven't used them as much. I'm still giving it a 10 because thats been my experience. Care & Maintenance: Not really much required here. No stropping, no honing. You can open up the holding mechanism to clear it of any stray whiskers or soap buildup but you shouldn't need to do that very often. Its pretty much a no-brainer. And any process that requires zero brainpower gets a 10. Price: First of all, good luck finding one of these. I literally had a crew of people helping me to track this one down. Ultimately it was Telly (Tsetsinb) who managed to help me land this catch, but it was really a process to procure. These are not sold in the United States, and a representative from KAI told me that they were not packaged for international sale - in fact I got a bit of runaround from KAI's US salesguy... not for lack of trying, there was just no way they could sell me one. They wanted my money, I wanted their razor... theoretically simple, but in practice, not so much. Telly had to go through a retailer in Japan in order to land this beauty for me. It ended up costing about as much as the Feather AC DX. Pricey, but quality comes at a premium. In the end, me and my Excelia are living happily ever after. This is my daily shaver. Once you establish rapport with this razor, it might become your daily too... if you can find one. Probably not a good first straight for a newbie, as it requires a different blade angle and different technique than a standard western straight. But the gadget appeal and the efficacy of this thing is amazing.
The differences are that the Excelia is a bit lighter and not quite as well balanced as the Feather AC DX. Other than that, the shave I get from either is extraordinary with a Super Pro blade. If you can manage to learn how to master this razor, you will shave quickly and get great results every time. In 2 passes I'm usually about 90-95% BBS. Its a bit startling that you have managed to get a Super Pro into a DE as they are a very different style of blade. But yes, they are very sharp and can be extremely unforgiving if you have too much of an angle. Here is the Feather (top) and Excelia side by side with the holding mechanism open and exposed. You can see the blades still inside the top portion of each razor:
From my point of view I like KAI Captain Excelia more then I like Feather AC DX. It is easier to shave with it by using Kai mild blades.
Having had this razor for about 2 years, its still my daily shaver. I now use the Captain Sharpblades and I guess I still get about 10 shaves out of a blade. Probably more than that, actually. The Feather Super Pro blades seemed to always be great, but the cartridge that delivers the blades failed after I bought my second pack of Feather Super Pro blades. It was like the blades somehow got stuck together and wouldn't feed through the mechanism anymore. I tried a screwdriver to get the mechanism to work properly. I haven't yet tried to open the blade cavity to see if any are stuck together. In the meantime, I've been using Captain Sharpblades with just super success. KAI makes a great blade, and while I've only seriously used the sharpblade, I get fantastic shaves from these blades. I get a LOT of shaves from these blades. I change the blade occasionally... really, when I think about it. I get lots of shaves out of these. And they're great shaves! The blade dispenser has a little space in the bottom so you can dispose of old blades. Just be careful when handling them. Super-highly recommended if you want a low-maintenance straight. Also, the Feather version is fantastic. Either version is great, but I would say you're better off with the KAI blades... just because they don't seem to get hung up in the dispenser. As long as you can find a distributor for the blades, you're gold with this thing. Honestly, if you want to shave straight, this might be all you need. This or the Feather. I have nice straight razors, and I have a nice strop. I have a Filly 13 and 14. And I have a really nice strop. But I don't really need that stuff - its a pain in the ass to deal with every morning. For other people, thats all great. Not so much for me. I try to leverage my time getting ready to get to work. I recommend this razor. This is absolutely recommended.
