So a week or so ago I was the lucky recipient of a drive by PIF of a Futur razor courtesy of CyanideMetal. Said razor and a pack of Voskod blades arrived over this weekend and I've given it a couple of shaves. I'm not much of a reviewer but here are some thoughts, observations and experiences about it. All shaves have been using a Voskhod and Stirling lime shave soap. In no particular order... 1. Ever since I first saw pictures I thought it was a good looking razor. In person, the razor is gorgeous, but I can see how people would think it's super ugly. The one I was given is the satin finish and it appears like it has the potential to scratch quite easily if you're not careful. 2. It's a lot heavier than I was expecting. Maybe because it looks kind of space aged I thought it would be on the lighter side. Not so, it's got weight to it and feels nice in my hand. 3. It's very grippy. Since it's so smooth I was expecting it to be a more slippery than the Parker 26c handle I normally use, but it's got pretty much the same amount of grip. 4. The head is kind of bulky which makes shaving round the nose a little hard. My Lord L6 head is pretty svelte and I can get a very nice shave under my nose very easily. The Futur, not so much. You have to work it a little to get it done. The head is also significantly wider than the blade so there is a fairly large gap either side where there is no blade. Sometimes it can make placing it a little awkward as you think you are shaving something but in reality the blade is not there. 5. Even on the lowest setting, it seems pretty aggressive. I never really knew what aggressive vs mild felt like since my razor experience is limited but as soon as I started the light bulb went off. On my cheek I could barely feel that I was shaving and it gave a very close shave on the first pass. But on my chin and neck I could really feel it and at times it was uncomfortable. I put a lot of that down to shaving too fast. The L6 seems so forgiving that you can be pretty brutal with it in terms of speed and angle and it will just feel like a cool breeze blowing against your face so I probably shave a little quicker with it than is appropriate for other razors. 6. The second shave I took much more time each stroke and it felt a lot better. I still need to work on a few areas but it was probably the best shave I've ever had in terms of overall closeness and comfort. 7. It feels springy when you shave. It's hard to explain but the blade just feels kind of bouncy when you shave. Maybe other Futur users can chime in and help me out, or maybe I'm crazy, but it just has a feeling that I've not experiences with any other DE or cartridge razor before. Overall I really like the razor and I think with a little bit more experience it will be excellent. I'm pretty sure that it will be my go to razor from now on, and even though I'll try out other settings it seems that the lowest works just fine for me so I'll probably just stick to that. Many thanks to CyanideMetal for being most generous and thoughtful.
Futur can be a handful but is an extremely effective and efficient razor. Dialed wide open, it's deadly: but find the proper setting & you're in for some quality shaves!
I agree with all of your thoughts. I actually looked at one at an AOS store before I bought mine. The weight was one of the main things that kind of pushed me into purchasing one. I've never had mine slip out of my hands despite the apparent lack of grip. The head is huge. I've actually given up trying to get under my nose and I just use my shavette. I'm a complete noon when it comes to aggressive... The only other De razor I have is a feather popular which is super mild from every account so I'm not sure how the futur rates. I have mine set on 1 and I'm very happy with the shaves. I'm not after a BBS so I want a comfortable shave first and foremost. With the skipping I've actually found that shaving before I shower really helps me. I don't know if its the oil on my face or what since I don't you any sort of preshave oil. You might try that, or a preshave oil. I really enjoy mine despite some of the flaws. InNae
