Chinese Feather clones

[slapo]

Had a shave with the Kai Captain CAP-R7 clone I have and a blade that came with it a few days ago.

The blades are meh at best, I tried the same ones with clones of Feather and Kai shavette I got earlier on and they feel like they're barely cutting from the start.
The one used in the shave was a dud, though. Dull, just barely cutting hair and it felt like a blade well past its prime, it actually skipped a few times (and I got a few small cuts from that). At first I'd thought my lather was rubbish and beefed it up, but ended up swapping the blade for a Feather Pro and it was smooth sailing from there.
I'm torn between PIFing the blades and binning them, but considering how poor they are, I think it's going to be the latter.

The shavette, however, it quite nice. Pretty well made, particularly for the price (~£14 delivered).

 

[Estariol]

Had a shave with the Kai Captain CAP-R7 clone I have and a blade that came with it a few days ago.

The blades are meh at best, I tried the same ones with clones of Feather and Kai shavette I got earlier on and they feel like they're barely cutting from the start.
The one used in the shave was a dud, though. Dull, just barely cutting hair and it felt like a blade well past its prime, it actually skipped a few times (and I got a few small cuts from that). At first I'd thought my lather was rubbish and beefed it up, but ended up swapping the blade for a Feather Pro and it was smooth sailing from there.
I'm torn between PIFing the blades and binning them, but considering how poor they are, I think it's going to be the latter.

The shavette, however, it quite nice. Pretty well made, particularly for the price (~£14 delivered).

It's in my cart, but as things are now, it'll stay there at least untill the chinese new year, just to see if my other items arrive after what happened with the Big 77 razor...

 

[slapo]

It's in my cart, but as things are now, it'll stay there at least untill the chinese new year, just to see if my other items arrive after what happened with the Big 77 razor...

Well, AliExpress is a marketplace, so unless you're looking to buy from the same seller, the wait is very likely redundant.
Or is it the postal/courier services that you're worried about?

 

[Estariol]

The second mentioned. Even the customer service of the Serbian post office informed me that a significant number of fake tracking numbers appeared lately... I don't know if that's for the purpose of free shipping items, but something awkward is going on...

 

[slapo]

The second mentioned. Even the customer service of the Serbian post office informed me that a significant number of fake tracking numbers appeared lately... I don't know if that's for the purpose of free shipping items, but something awkward is going on...

That's somewhat disconcerting. Pretty much all of my recent purchases (last 2-3 months) have arrived just fine, but perhaps I got lucky.

 

[Estariol]

That's somewhat disconcerting. Pretty much all of my recent purchases (last 2-3 months) have arrived just fine, but perhaps I got lucky.

I honestly don't know, but in the last two years, a lot of mechandise became unavailable for sending to Serbia or available with high shipping rates only, while still available with free shipping to the rest of Europe, Russia or the U.S. I can think of a few reasons for this, but it's not lighly that i'm right or that the true reason will ever be revealed by officials.

 

[slapo]

I honestly don't know, but in the last two years, a lot of mechandise became unavailable for sending to Serbia or available with high shipping rates only, while still available with free shipping to the rest of Europe, Russia or the U.S. I can think of a few reasons for this, but it's not lighly that i'm right or that the true reason will ever be revealed by officials.

Maybe the Chairman of The Party had been sent a dildo from Serbia so he'd know what it's like to get shafted and now he can't forget it and there's an executive order placed to randomly block shipments to Serbia.

 

[Estariol]

Maybe the Chairman of The Party had been sent a dildo from Serbia so he'd know what it's like to get shafted and now he can't forget it and there's an executive order placed to randomly block shipments to Serbia.

You're probably right, but anyway, just go to the Ali site, change the "ship to" to Serbia, and then check out the offer at Frank Shaving, Yaqi, DScosmetics, or enter a search term and check the shipping options... And then switch back to your home country and check again. I think you'll figure out that the Chairman is not the one shafted...

 

[Estariol]

As i've said in the November acquisitions thread, i've tried them out. Couldn't make up my mind, so i did a half-to-half face comparison shave. I loaded the black Irwing Barber Company clone with a Feather Pro Super, and the orange-black Featehr DX clone with a (now) 16 times used Feather Professional blade. One downside of the IBC clone is that inserting the blade can be a bit fiddly since there are no magnets in the holder like in the IBC shavette, but not overly complicated, i guess i just didn't figure the best routine out, yet. Out of precaution, because both razors require a shallower (razor laying closer to the skin surface) angle than the Feather SS clone i also have, i did a two pass WTG+XTG shave with minimal pickups on the neck. The result is a DFS on both sides. The end quality of the shave is determined only by the blades used, the Pro Super being more thorough than the Professional, no surprises at all. The only downside i noticed shave-wise, was with the IBC clone. Because of the construction of the holder, the blade can't be set exactly aligned to the tip (start of the upward curve) of the razor, so i will most likely have to learn the precise trimming around my Van Dyke beard contours, which is not the case with the DX and SS clones. All in all, these are some excellent shaving tools by my standards, and well worth the
$17-and-some-change price, including shipping costs, for both. Hell, the SS clone alone cost me the same as these two...!

SO... All in all, highly recommended for all shavette lovers, or anyone who would like to try shaving with a shavette using Artist Club blades.

 

[Estariol]

A little addition to the previous post, just if someone finds this important:
Since i leave all my gear after use to dry in the open before putting it away, i fiddled with the black one, the IBC clone, and found out that it's balance point is precisely at the pivot screw.

 

[Benz3ne]

...!

SO... All in all, highly recommended for all shavette lovers, or anyone who would like to try shaving with a shavette using Artist Club blades.

Do you have a link for this handy?

 

[Estariol]

Do you have a link for this handy?

IBC clone:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004858673886.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.3a871802eBxKrj

Feather DX clone:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004849385814.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.3a871802eBxKrj

NOTE: on the Fether DX clone page there are several options, with an SS clone as well so check the images when selecting the model. Both razors came with 2 blade samples each, but i binned them immediately, since i have no ambitions on experimenting with unknown blades.

 

[Benz3ne]

IBC clone:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004858673886.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.3a871802eBxKrj

Feather DX clone:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004849385814.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.3a871802eBxKrj

NOTE: on the Fether DX clone page there are several options, with an SS clone as well so check the images when selecting the model. Both razors came with 2 blade samples each, but i binned them immediately, since i have no ambitions on experimenting with unknown blades.

Fab, thank you.

 

[Estariol]

You're welcome, i hope you'll enjoy it! (or them )

 

[Estariol]

I got me this one:
Univinlions Kai Captain clone
My first kamisori style razor, wanted to try it out before thinking of buying an original model or forged Kamisori.
First of all, the blades that come in the package are uncomparable to the branded blades we are all used to, they are thinner and not as sharp, so i took the first one i tried out and replaced it with a trusted blade (Proline in this particular case).
After two shaves, i can say that, shave-wise, i can't make out the difference between this and my original Feather DX. The weight difference is obvious, but does not affect th eshave in any manner.
However, the handle tought me that i can hold the razor differently than the folding ones, and in some cases and/or areas of the beaard it feels more convenient, and in some cases i can hold even a folding razor in the same way, but i never thought of it! And it did pull me toward acquiring an original, but a forged one. The wheels are in motion, we'll see where they'll take me...