Comparing the Blackland Dart

For the past couple of week I've been comparing the Blackbird to various other razors (including the Dart). Starting this week I will compare the Dart. I has been my feeling since I got the Dart that it is the most aggressive DE that I have ever used. andrewjs18 graciously sent me a Muhle R41 and the Ikon Tech to compare to the Dart. Lets get started!!

SOTD NOvember 7th


Stirling Mentholated Pre-Shave Soap
Blackland Dart
Muhle R41
Rapira Platinum Lux(3)
Hardright Anchorset (24mm, Frigate class)
Soap Commander Refreshment
Stirling Glacial Lemon Chill PSB


In left corner we have the undisputed champion, the infamous, the iconic, the Muhle R41. In the right corner we have the heavyweight contender, the deceiver, the Blackland dart! Their arena for today's match is the super slick Soap Commander Refreshment.

Round 1 : Ding ding

The Dart comes out swinging using its weight advantage to press the advantage and has the R41 backpedaling to the corner. Its all the R41 can do to keep its guard up

Round 2: Ding Ding

The Champion come out cautiously looking for an opening but the Contender gives him none. The Dart lands a heavy left hook and a right cross and staggers the Champion

Round 3: Ding Ding

The Champion come out with a heavy assault trying to regain some ground but his attempts are buffeted away and with a stealthy jab-jab-cross counter the Champion falls

The Referee calls the match, we have a new champion!! The Blackland Dart is victorious!!

Throughout the shave it was clear that the Dart was both more aggressive and efficient then the R41. There was nothing really left for the Dart to do on the third pass whereas the R41 needed the third pass to pull off the BBS finish. We will have a rematch next shave to see if the R41 can benefit from some fine tuning of the angle.

Here are my two comparison shaves with the Blackbird and the Dart:

https://damnfineshave.com/thread-compari...#pid232108

https://damnfineshave.com/thread-compari...#pid232423

Curious. As I'm working slowly back into right-handed shaving, I am experimenting with using the Dart as a daily driver. My skin really likes the workday one-and-done it allows, or two passes on date night.

I originally learned to use it left-handed, and found that it favors following the contours of my face more than following the grain.

SOTD NOvember 9th


Stirling Mentholated Pre-Shave Soap
Blackland Dart
Muhle R41
Rapira Platinum Lux(4)
Ever-Ready 200T (22mm, Corvette Class)
Mickey Lee Soapworks "Pantie Dropper"
Country Club Sweet Water AS

Round two of the showdown between the Blackland Dart and the Muhle R41. I gave the R41 a little bit of a steeper angle and it was able to match the Dart in efficiency today. Blade feel was very similar. I think once you get to a certain point with positive blade exposure all you feel is the naked unguarded edge of the blade on your skin. This is a great reminder to keep the pressure off and just let the sharpness of the blade do the work. When you are truly able to shave with no pressure both razors feel less harsh. Three passes was overkill but I did them anyway because I was enjoying the scent and slickness of MLSW Pantie Dropper so much.

My perspective is the Dart is the best sub $200 razor ever used even though prefer a less aggressive razor (duFour razors in 0,54 thru 0,67 and BBS1 are only DEs retained in rotation).

Find an Astra SP delivers a consistent bbs shave even if have to skip a day between uses.  Preferred to alternatives mentioned in this thread although the most aggressive of the lot to my reckoning

I think once you get to a certain point with positive blade exposure all you feel is the naked unguarded edge of the blade on your skin. This is a great reminder to keep the pressure off and just let the sharpness of the blade do the work.

Fwiw, I think positive exposure (on any razor) makes it important to pay more attention to the blade corners. For example, trying to shave where neck meets jaw parallel to the jawline is tricky. If that's the way the hair grows, try going XTG or diagonally.

SOTN NOvember 11th


Blackland Dart
Ikon Tech
Rapira Platinum Lux(5)
Yaqi Ruby Red (24mm, Frigate Class)
Stirling Pumpkin Spice
Stirling Glacial Unscented PSB

This was the first comparison between the Ikon Tech and the Blackland Dart. First of all, with a blade loaded in the tech you can see a rather large blade gap and visually you can see that the edge of the blade extends well past the "safety bar", a very menacing looking razor. I started with the Tech in the left side of my face. Even though I was trying to use a very shallow angle I could still feel the edge of blade very clearly and also the corners of the blade. On top of that there was a sensation that the blade was gripping the whiskers before cutting them and that the razor was skipping over my face, not a very comfortable shave from the Ikon. The Dart side was much a more comfortable controlled aggression. I only did two passes because the shave was so uncomfortable with the tech. Next shave I will switch out the blades and see if that makes any difference with the Tech. I do feel that the shave was closer with the Dart, but that may be because I'm more familiar with it.

Sent from my Galaxy using Tapatalk

Andrew, the Ikon Tech is one of the most aggressive razors I have tried. Good luck taming it. I was never able to.

Great job on these reviews. I’m enjoying your shave offs. Keep up the great work

Andrew, the Ikon Tech is one of the most aggressive razors I have tried. Good luck taming it. I was never able to.

Great job on these reviews. I’m enjoying your shave offs. Keep up the great work

Thank you Gentlemen!

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