Blackbird vs Barbaros vs Seygus

The pictures on their website look WAY better than that. When you fork out that much cash for a razor, it should be flawless. I can understand if it's a $20 used Gillette off of ebay, but any new item should not have any scratches or dents, obviously.

I have to admit, the $25.00 Rocknel is much nicer in every way possible.

When I got my Bird months go I was one of the first to to comment on the sharp edges and the drag. I felt the Bird gave a good shave but had a major limitation, it's bottom plate edges was just to sharp which greatly limited maneuverability. Most people at that time gave the Bird 2 thumbs up I did not, the shave was not enjoyable but I felt with a little modification I could make the Bird fly, and I was right. I sent the Bird out to have the sharp corners round out and when I got it back I took off the Black finish and polished it to get rid of the drag. I took pictures and posted them. The Blackbird now with these modifications became an excellent razor. Other people followed, Shane listen and offered these improvements, either a smoothing down of the corners or a polish with handle or both for $30 if you wanted to send him back your Blackbird. As of now through announcements from Shane/Blackland the current production of Birds have adapted these modifications but offers a polished Bird for additional $30.

This is only my opinion. How is the Barbaros in comparison to the Blackbird and Seygus? I'm talking about the polished rounded edge Bird. The Bird has a distinct personality that is like no other. It's shaving angle is steeper and the sound is very distinctive throughout the shave, lets say like a Harley Davidson, it roars. It's shave with the blade of your choice is comfortably mild, smooth and efficient. Like the Barb if you desire it would be a very good daily razor. The Seygus I found to be very mild and not efficient for me. No matter what blade I put into it I could not get a DFS, I could not cut down my whiskers. So I sold the Seygus. The Bird because of it's personality is complex yet a joy to use. The Barb is the opposite it is simple while also being a joy to use. So why not have both, then add a Wolfman, Oneblade and a BBS 1 and you shall have arrived in heaven. Again this is only my opinion, YMMV.

As far as it's finish my Barb came to me in very good condition the head was polished, not like the Wolfman but clean the handle was on the matte/dull side, Neither the finish of the head or handle bothered me. Though it would have been nice if it were a better finished product but in the end the question is "can it shave" the answer, It certainly can in spades" All this is just my opinion, YMMV.

By the way if you like the Barb handle you can use it on the Bird, it fits nicely inside the bottom plate groove.

Is that grime around the edges?

It would take at least a couple of shaves to build that up...


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I was thinking polishing compound. It becomes black gunk and gets wedged everywhere. No clue if that's the case here or not.

You may be right. Besides the gunk, I had three noticeable dents/nicks on my baseplate. As soon as I looked a bit closely, my smile turned into a frown. After noticing this, I re-examined the handle and found tiny dents everywhere. Hasan posted a photo of where he had all his razor heads and/or handles in a pile, they may have been damaged in the process of all that. I saw that photo and had wondered to myself if they were going to be damaged or not, but I believe that was the cause. I will message him to see.

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I apologize, it was the heads. But I believe he may have handled his handles the same way (no pun intended).

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just checked mine again it is not polishing compound under the top cap. it does not come off. its also shiny on some of that excess stuff in one spot on mine

Hmm, Shane...you have much experience with machining, sir. in your perspective, does the top cap look machined or some type of mold/cast according to the photos other members have posted? To my untrained eye, it looks like it was casted rather than fully machined.

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The problem about sending this thing back is, USPS would be a big gamble and using FedEx, it would be almost as expensive as the freaking thing itself. I'm so mad at myself! I know some people will settle for a mediocre product, but dang it, I can't, lol......

Hmm, Shane...you have much experience with machining, sir. in your perspective, does the top cap look machined or some type of mold/cast according to the photos other members have posted? To my untrained eye, it looks like it was casted rather than fully machined.

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It definitely looks machined. You can see the route that the CNC machine took around the blade tabs and the screw. On the curved portion you can also see machining marks in a back and forth pattern.

The problem about sending this thing back is, USPS would be a big gamble and using FedEx, it would be almost as expensive as the freaking thing itself.  I'm so mad at myself!  I know some people will settle for a mediocre product, but dang it, I can't, lol......

For what it's worth, I've sent a lot of packages overseas and, to my surprise, I've never lost one with USPS. Just make sure to add insurance.

New updates, it was not him that really messed with any of the machining or polishing. I believe he has contracted them out to others. He has told me that he has bought at polishing wheel. He also informed me that he will be paying for all the shipments. Please get with him about a return. He is willing to work with us and he is genuinely disappointed as we are it seems. He plans on doing the returns and also I believe maybe a discount for those who want to keep the razors. I would contact him on TSN. That is where I have been speaking to him lately. He is real good about my concerns and he asks for feedbacks. I believe if you are sincere and not a jerk to him about things, he will make things right. He has been very kind and apologetic

He plans on redoing things from scratch and I believe he learned from this lesson. We should see a big, positive come back from him later on (it may take a while to recoop from the potential losses).

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Well, that's good news I guess, since I haven't been offered anything. That aside, I used the razor this morning, it is mild, but good. Unfortunately, I'm a visual guy and this is an eye sore, but just wanted to give a try and it was ok.