Stirling Soap 316 Stainless Steel Razor

Second and final shave with the Stirling ST tonight. After my experience the previous night, I tried using a shave angle that still rode the cap mostly, but lowered it enough for the safety bar to gently rest on my face for the WTG pass. Blade feel was still significant, but not as much as the night before. I still used slow and deliberate strokes, and I did end up with a slightly more efficient pass than last night. For the ATG pass, I was able to actually rest the bar against my face . I still had to stretch my skin and buff a little, which produced slightly better results. I ended up doing an XTG pass along my jaw line and under my chin area and ended up  with a BBS. Definitely the ST is capable of giving a smooth and efficient shave.

My overall assessment of both the Stirling HA and ST razors is as follows:

First of all, the quality of the build, fit, and finish are top notch. Even the travel kit it came in was outstanding.

The handles were not the friendliest handles. They were very unique in design, and the angled areas where there wasn't knurling was a great idea, mostly because it allowed a firm grip in areas the knurling didn't cover and where my fingers went. The bad part was that many areas of the handle where my fingers usually rested lacked knurling. Of the two, I prefer the handle with the knurling on the bottom because it allowed a natural low grip, which helped guide a heavy head. the handle with the knurling on top did not appeal to me because it was in an area where I did not naturally grip.

As for the heads, the blade seating being a bar along the base plate took some time to adjust to. I prefer the regular way of having the blade seat in the cap only because it is easier to position the base plate and screw on the handle.  Still, the RR GC and Mamba, and the Gillette Goodwills align the blade on the base plate, but they use pins and not a bar. This is not a  deal breaker, just something to get used to. The cap with the grooves was a nice touch, but did not lend much to the shave.

What I really did not like about the design of the heads were that the guard was just squared off without any type of taper. This did not allow for the bar to assist much in the shave. Also the curve of the base plate clamping the blade allowed the bade edge to stick outward instead of downward. For the HA, that and the huge space between the blade and the guard made for a situation that was prone to cuts and weepers for those not careful (and even for those that were).

Personally, I saw the HA as one of those razors that fall into the Paqui Chip category where it was made just to say it it the most aggressive razor ever. The ST also had significant blade feel, but was in the higher end of the mid range. I believe that both razors missed the point. Both had significant blade feel and were aggressive, however I believe that razors should be efficient and not necessarily aggressive, and YES I believe there is a real difference between the two. Excellent example is the RR Mamba and GC series where you don't even feel the blade when you shave with them, however after two passes, you have a BBS without even enough stubble to touch up with. The Stirling razors missed that, although the ST came close. To be honest, a lot of the new razors coming out recently also missed that (which is why I have them on BST right now).

I truly want to thank ezlovan  and andrewjs18  for making this pass around possible. I am just sorry that I was not impressed, which was a shock to me too considering that I use a lot of Stirling soaps and AS products and am totally satisfied with them.

Next up is keto  and I will drop the razors in the mail on Monday.

Razors have been sterilized and packed up. Sending to keto tomorrow.

The Stirling razors arrive to and are in hand. I'll get a shave in tonight and give a report tonight or early AM

I decided to start with the ST razor because I only had one day of growth, and I've been battling this Zingari Man soap the last couple of shaves. 
      I usually do about a half of a bowl lather and finish it up on my face, so are used about three times the soap that I normally do because I've been getting a weak lather.
   I loaded up the razor with a two or three use feather, I lost count in the package with my dots indicating the number of shaves. Sometimes I can tell a difference between the second and third shave on a feather, due to my tough whiskers.
   I did at 3 pass shave with some touch up like always around the lower neck how much depends on the razor and the protection of the soap.
   It went pretty good the first 2 passes fairly efficient it seem from just 1 shave.
   When I went against the grain it was not as comfortable as some shaves.  This confort level could be my soap or the slightly used blade not sure at this point. It was as smooth as the majority of razors,give or take so I wouldn't hold that against  the Stirling ST razor.
    I was using the handle with the knurling toward the razor head, whichever one that was, I'll try to show a picture. I got along with the handle it's a pretty nice handle in my opinion. A lot of times I will swap out of handle for a titanium that's a little bit different weight and balance, but the balance part doesn't really seem to bother me, for some reason, like a lot of fellows.
   I ended up with a pretty good shave though with all things considered. I'll give it another go tonight on a one-day growth shave.
  
   

Second shave with the ST razor.
Perma sharp blade, in the gold pack first use. 
DG milksteak soap.
Basic three pass shave with plenty of chasing especially below the jawline.

Well this with the smoother shave than the last one I'm going to say that's mostly the Declaration Grooming soap.
There was still plenty of blade feel involved, but I didn't do a lot of the gets the grain on the below jawline area that just wasn't happening on this shave just a little bit too painful, because those whiskers are tough and resistant.
  That's about the extent of that shave next go-round will be with the big boy HA.

3rd shave was with the HA  Stirling.
Blade:Gillette sharp edge (yellow)
Soap: A&E Kaizen 

I eased into this shave with ole big boy razor HA.
The razor was taking care of business and did a great job the first pass, got about as close as any razor has in one pass.
     2nd pass was a hybrid  XTG/ATG . I say hybrid because I wanted to go against the grain but on some areas my whiskers were so tough and resilient all I was getting was Major hop out of the razor no matter what blade angle and that wasn't going to end up good so I changed to across my hybrid across the grain ATG and was able to keep going.  I'm supposing this is because of my tough whiskers the grab, exposure and all of this aggressive razor. A lot of razors give me a little bit of, some i can lather heavy and go on with it but not this one, this shave, nope. On the positive note going slightly against the grain in those areas was enough to bring the whiskers down to very smooth level quickly which I like.  
Some of my below the jawline shaving was pretty good considering how aggressive the razor. On other below the jawline places I just had to switch my angle ( directions) and sneak into the ATG with varying degrees of whisker attack. 
    I ended up with a couple of tiny weepers but we're not talking about my eyes.lol  
Actually had like two tiny weepers but sometimes you have to break some eggs to make an omelet. ( Mmm Omelet)
    This morning after waking up my face is still very smooth with a tad bit more hair below the jawline than I went to bed with, but I'd go anywhere with this shave at the moment and be clean shaven.

andrewjs18

I am going to be out of town for part of the week after next, so I am moving myself down a few spots.

Here's the most recent pass around list. As per the usual pass around rules, keep the razor for about a week and send it off to the next person in line. Once you're done with the razor, please share your feedback - whether good or bad - in this thread.

Also, as requested by Rod (ezlovan), please put the razors and cases in the provided box and ship the razors off to the next person in a priority mail flat rate padded envelope ONLY!!

**Please soak/spray the entire razor in alcohol or something similar before shipping it out and upon receiving it to reduce any virus risks!**

Pass Around list:

Hdad (Pennsylvania)
shaveSymptomatic (Florida)
Jimmyfn (Oklahoma)
LOOT (North Carolina)
george1906 (Georgia)
CK89 (Indiana)
slantman (Florida) *removed at the user's request*
Whisk-her Away (Florida)
GlazedBoker (New Jersey)
gwsmallwood (Arizona)
Dave in KY (Kentucky)
gvw755 (Washington)
CCity (Washington)*removed at user's request*
keto (Missouri)
MilkCrate (Texas) *removed at user's request*
Einar (Wisconsin) *removed at user's request*
Dragonsbeard (New York)
Asafiev (Pennsylvania)
troydclayton (Illinois)
bobmsp (Minnesota)
CzechCzar (California)
rawfox1 (Nevada)
AJSharp (New York) *removed at user's request*
Mr_Houston (Texas)
wyze0ne (Michigan)
kooshman7 (Washington)
ALI (Connecticut)
andrewjs18 (Pennsylvania)

4th shave was with the HA.
Soap: Sterling Barbershop
Blade : Gillette sharp edge ( yellow)(2)
Brush: synthetic
  Briefly this shape went pretty good.
Three pass shave WGT and XTG went pretty well, just pretty much went with some good deliberate strokes and of course very little pressure.
The third pass AGT is where I've learned not to try exactly against the grain, until just before the shave is over, if that makes sense.
When I go directly against the grain I get hop and bounce of the razor which just won't work. If I sneak in at a direction that's less than against the grain but not across,I  can get the hair off pretty well. 
    All these things into account I got a pretty good shave, so probably not the most comfortable.

The razors are on their way to the next participant @ Dragon'sbeard.
   Thanks  andrewjs18 and ezlovan for this passaround it is a very nice way for guys to experience the new razors. 
   I know it was quite an ordeal with machine shops and everything that was involved getting these razors out, they seem to have a nice enough fit and finish. The handles are unique also  Thanks again guys. Keith

Any news about the launch?