I just recently purchased a RazoRock Black Hawk SE safety razor. I purchased this piece with intrigue, seeing as I own 1 SE (Single Edge) Safety Razor, a Gem 1912, and I wanted to see what another type of SE handles like.
Material
The razor is CNC machined entirely out of 6061 Aluminium billet, which adds to the intrigue as to how it may handle. It's extremely light, weighing in at 39.7 grams - the lightest razor I have ever held or owned. This I assumed would basically allow me to apply more pressure during each shave pass, instead of using the weight of the Safety razor head.
Safety Razor Head
The razor head size measures at 50mm wide, which is wider than usual considering That most standard DE razor heads measure in at 40mm wide. That means that when shaving in the usual areas of my jaw and neck line, the technique would need to be different - less strokes because the head covers more area, but also at a different angle, seeing as the safety razor head is going up a different incline.
Blade Gap and Exposure
The blade gap and exposure offered on the safety razor head is, to me, the second most significant part of this razor, after the light weight of the entire safety razor. The razor takes Artist Club Single edge injector blades, and for reputation's sake, they are ticker and sharper than that of your normal DE razor blades.
As the safety razor may be light, the exposure of the blade is 3mm from the top cap to the outer bevel edge of the blade, and the blade gap from the bottom cap to the edge of the bevel of the SE blade is 0.7mm.
The blade exposure and gap compensates for the light weight of the overall razor, as the blade exposure and gap of the SE injector blade will surely be able to slice through most hair, thick or not, with less effort. The one thing I found during my first shave with this razor is that it is incredibly smooth, yet aggressive at the same time with the way it cuts through the hair. I needn't apply any extra pressure at all, because the SE injector blade did all the work.
Within 2 passes, I had a BBS shave with no razor burn or irritation. The light weight of the razor actually helped in manoeuvring the wider head of the razor on my face, jawline, and under the nostrils. It was EXTREMELY easy to shave the hairs from my upper lip, under my nostrils. Probably the easiest yet out of any safety razor I have used.
Razor Handle
The handle measures at 90mm long and 12mm in diameter. This razor fits perfectly in my hand, rests easy with it's diameter, and the knurling is awesome. It prevents it from slipping out of your hand and the foot of the handle also acts as a stopper for any supposed slippage. I must note that I did not have any issue with the handling of this safety razor during my shave.
The whole safety razor is anodised in a black coating, which prevents corrosion on the safety razor long term. This adds another string to the bow of the safety razor, as there is less maintenance required to keep looking good and functioning well. A did in a bit of isopropyl is all you need after each shave.
SE Artist Club Injector Blade
As mentioned above, the SE Artist Club Injector blades are sharp. Real Sharp, as well as thicker than your usual DE Blade. They are also wider as well, and the RazoRock Hawk is constructed to suit the purpose, size and shape of these blades.
Not many vendors / companies make these types of blades (Artist Club), and 2 of the prominent names in manufacturing DE blades do (which is a plus).
KAI and Feather are renowned for their quality, sharpness and smoothness of DE Blades, and these are no exception, I find that the KAI blades are the smoothest and sharpest of the 2 within the injector blades. Below, I am holding a Kai Injector Blade, which is what I used to perform this Shave.
During this shave, I found that this blade, with absolutely no effort what so ever, sliced through the hair, mostly and majority within the first pass. I let the safety razor do all the work, with no added pressure. I thought that I would have to apply extra pressure with the safety razor, but I did not have to, which was quite amazing.
Although with the Safety Razor being as efficient as it is, it would be safe to say that this razor is not for beginners, as it has a wider head, is super lightweight than usual, and uses an ultra sharp and thick artist club blade. The beginner may apply more pressure than needed, cut too close on a particular pass, and cause razor burn. That is my observation, but again and as I always say, shaving advice is always subjective, and every shaver's face and shaving style are different.
All in all, I found this shave to be quite pleasant and smooth. I didn't have to do much in order to achieve a BBS shave within 2 passes, with very little pressure needed. The favourite part of the whole experience with the Safety Razor was the razor head, and how easy it was to shave my upper lip and underneath my nostrils (with no irritation).
I am impressed, and can't wait to use this razor more and more in my regular rotation.
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