Jedi Shaving? or Thoughts on The Skarp

With all the buzz about the Skarp going around I have to wonder who's excited to try it? Could this be the end or new beginning of the hobby? Digital vs audio? Rock vs Disco? What are your thoughts?

With all the buzz about the Skarp going around I have to wonder who's excited to try it? Could this be the end or new beginning of the hobby? Digital vs audio? Rock vs Disco? What are your thoughts?

I'm willing to try it if there's a pass around.

Only time will tell. Gillette's and Schick's (Wilkinson) 5 blade wonders sell all over but did they really change the wet shaving world or just add another aspect to it?

In Watching the "demo" video they released on kickstarter It would appear that in theory the concept works. However, did anyone else watch that video and think, it would take 12 hours to shave with that as it stands now? Further, it was having a hard time cutting long hair which, by nature is softer than the short stubble we mow down daily. They are clearly miles away from a prototype that would be effective in actual efficient shaving.

Second issue here, is that their time line for for a completed, functional razor in March of 2016 is highly doubtful. Maybe March of 2017, but, certainly I have my doubts that by March of 16 they will have these out the door as they state they will now.

I still think that this was never intended to be made and sold as "skarp" I think the ideas, formulas, and patents will be sold for a mighty high fee to Gillette before this is all said and done and Gillette will be the one to ultimately bring this to mass production and market or sit on it and do nothing with it. The amount of capital needed to bring this to fruition is higher than the 4-7 million they will end up with when their kick starter campaign ends in 13 days.

I would be SHOCKED if Gillette didn't already have this technology in their Research and Development division, and the fact that it is so far away from being "product worthy" might be indicative of how far off this technology is as of today; or Gillette is sitting on it because they don't want it to come to market.

If the latter be true and Gillette has any patent they can claim was ripped off by Skarp, you can bet lawsuits will be filed and injunctions levied before this ever hits the market via Skarp. Gillette doesn't want anything in the market that upsets their highly profitable cartridge model. Gillette could potentially tie this up in court for years, make Skarp spend all their resources fighting litigation and ultimately, the project ends because litigation wipes the companies cash flow. Gillette's legal division can probably cause them to spend millions in a year's time, let alone 10, 15, etc. etc.

Gillette wants tech such as this to disappear. If you can get as close and convenient as their cartridges without having to buy a replacement cartridge, the whole idea of selling people on the replacement cartridges just disappears.

Now, that said, this shit ain't goin' nowhere.

Look at the demo video. That laser isn't cutting those arm hairs anywhere near the skin. And how many passes did it take to get it to a 5 o'clock shadow length? It's a great concept, but it's very far from being close to marketable.

If it was such a great idea venture capitalists would be all over this. Something as breakthrough as a laser razor is not the area for kickstarter, it's a 100+ million dollar venture requiring massive R&D and manufacturing capabilities. Kickstarter is for super niche products or for things like Gustin.

My .02 cents. I might be wrong.

Interesting thoughts gents. Would you mind if I brought up some of your points in our podcast? I'd give credit for sure!

Interesting thoughts gents. Would you mind if I brought up some of your points in our podcast? I'd give credit for sure!

No problem at all I look forward to the next Cast!!

There was quite a few comments about the Skarp on another thread here at DFS:

http://damnfineshave.com/thread-you-can-...ight=skarp

as mentioned above, let's keep the discussion in the thread already mentioned. I'll post it again here: http://damnfineshave.com/thread-you-can-...s-stuff-up