Tatara Blades Arrived

Tatara blades arrived today. Was hoping to receive a full set of 100 with the intent of sharing with all for test and review but only received 10. Am retaining 1 for test and review but will mail out the remaining 9 to the first 9 people residing in ConUS requesting via PM

"In the Kamigata area they have a sort of tiered lunch box they use for a single day when flower viewing.
Upon returning, they throw them away, trampling them underfoot.
The end is important in all things."

Hagakure

As with all Tatara products, the branding and packaging surpasses anything else in the industry. They are more professionally packaged than most artisan razors and brushes costing hundreds of dollars. The cardboard tuck is embossed richly, securely recloses and even has side ears - small details but consciously executed reflecting the owners' pride in craftsmanship. Within each tuck, individual blades are wrapped in an envelope - kid you not - which contains a waxpaper wrapped blade sans glue dots as best can determine. Each blade is subtly yet elegantly laser engraved.

Many will wonder why so much emphasis is placed on the description of a tuck of blades.  My response is that this is just how masterfully Tatara executes branding. Anybody familiar with Japanese culture will understand that the presentation of a gift is as important, if not moreso, than the underlying gift.  One could literally gift somebody a rock and it would be received as though a gold brick provided it was packaged beautifully, a foreign concept to most Westerners.

Will not have an opportunity to shave with the blade until likely next week where it will be mated with a Nodachi Ti. Report to follow.

Hi Dan, I'd love to try one! My Masamune (and Nodachi head) are trying to bump my Karve Overlander as my best DE razor! PM to follow.

First shave in with the new Tatara blade.

Tatara Nodachi Ti
Tatara blade
DG B8 Thunderhead
ETHOS Agrumes soap
Geologie Scrub Unscented
Alum block
ETHOS CUSTOM Skin Food
Pitralon Classic

Firstly, have not used a Tatra blade in at least a year and never paired with a Tatara. The next shave will mimic as much possible the reviewed Tatara blade undertaking but substituting a fresh Tatra blade.

Hitherto have tried about a dozen blades in various Tatara razors over the years, settling on Personna Israeli Red, followed by Astra SP and Feather as most compatable for the razor geometry and design.

However, this shave was a revelation. Whether they engineered the Tatara blade to perfectly match the Tatara razor characteristics is unknown but it was maybe the best DE shaving experience ever. The shave was absolutely BBS with zero weepers and hardly any blade feel. That the blade was extremely sharp was proven when trying to shave the periphery of the ear, where despite extreme care, blood was drawn on both sides.

Shall follow up with a shave mimicking the review above excepting Tatra blade, then shall try this blade in a few other non Tatara razors.

Again, any wanting a blade to sample, please reach out via PM.

Catholicism has the concept of sinning thru commission but equally thru omission; affirmatively committing transgressive acts as well as passively taking no action when there clearly an opportunity to do right.  In the present case, it was equally wrong attributing credit to Tatara for unique packaging as it was unfair neglecting to laud Tatra for initiating and possessing the identical features. With that precept in mind, shall open this post with apologies to Tatara and Tatra.  Lord God of my Fathers, forgive me my most egregious sin and have mercy upon my soul.

Specifically, had only tried one Tatra Platinum blade hitherto, sans tuck and sans full wrap is it happens. Thanks to a forum member, was blessed with a full tuck of Tatra Platinum blades. Everything stated regarding the Tatara packaging applies: the recloseable and eared tuck and the double wrapped blade in envelope and wax paper.  To be fair, the Tatra blade is heavily glued to the wax paper whereas the Tatara has hardly if any glue; this quite a contentious matter in fora debates if unimportant to my reckoning.  Finally, find the graphics on the Tatara tuck, envelope and blade more elegant than the Tatra and in keeping with the Japanese branding theme of Tatara.

But the most important factor to all is the quality of Tatra shave vis-a-vis the Tatara. Am happy to report the Tatra is every bit as perfectly matched to the characteristics of the Nodachi Ti as was the Tatara. These two shaves have been the most perfect, nick free, weeper free, irritation free BBS shaves ever from a DE. Nothing else in the routine has changed in the past year so it really only can be attributed to the razor and blade combination. Moreover, have shaved in 80°F humid and now 40°F dry conditions followed by 10 mile runs - extremes regarding consecutive shaves.

Credit to Tatara for selecting the absolute perfect blade to brand; this no small accomplishment.

Shall followup with shaves in a Wolfman WR1, BBS1 and Merkur 28 to determine if the blades' excellence transfer to other razors and follow up with concluding posts.

Various forum members have a Tatara blade sample en route and hoping they will submit reviews in service to the community.

Catholicism has the concept of sinning thru commission but equally thru omission; affirmatively committing transgressive acts as well as passively taking no action when there clearly an opportunity to do right.  In the present case, it was equally wrong attributing credit to Tatara for unique packaging as it was unfair neglecting to laud Tatra for initiating and possessing the identical features. With that precept in mind, shall initiate this post with apologies to Tatara and Tatra.  Lord God of my Fathers, forgive me my most egregious sin and have mercy upon my soul.

Specifically, had only tried one Tatra Platinum blade hitherto, sans tuck and sans full wrap is it happens. Thanks to a forum member, was blessed with a full tuck of Tatra Platinum blades. Everything stated regarding the packaging applies: the recloseable and eared tuck and the double wrapped blade in envelope and wax paper.  To be fair, the Tatra blade is heavily glued to the wax paper whereas the Tatara has hardly if any glue; this quite a contentious matter in fora debates if unimportant to my reckoning.  Finally, find the graphics on the Tatara tuck, envelope and blade more elegant than the Tatra and in keeping with the Japanese branding theme of Tatara.

But the most important factor to all is the quality of Tatra shave vis-a-vis the Tatara. Am happy to report the Tatra is every bit as perfectly matched to the characteristics of the Nodachi Ti as was the Tatara. These two shaves have been the most perfect, nick free, weeper free, irritation free BBS shaves ever from a DE. Nothing else in the routine has changed in the past year so it really only can be attributed to the razor and blade combination. Moreover, have shaved in 80°F humid and now 40°F dry conditions followed by 10 mile runs - extremes regarding consecutive shaves.

Credit to Tatara for selecting the absolute perfect blade to brand; this no small accomplishment.

Shall followup with shaves in a Wolfman WR1, BBS1 and Merkur 28 to determine if the blades' excellence transfer to other razors and follow up with concluding posts.

Various forum members have a Tatara blade sample en route and hoping they will submit reviews in service to the community.

Good to know, as I think I've been gifted at least 1 tuck of Tatra blades. But I will admit to being a hater when it comes to the dots!

Employed the Tatra in a BBS1 for a perfectly bbs shave sans weepers. It performed quite well but no better than a Timor nor Israeli Red. While not shining uniquely as it did in the Nodachi Ti, it nonetheless equaled the 2 best blades used in a BBS1 to date (and have used just about every blade currently produced at some point over the years).

Next up is the Tatara blade in the BBS1. Shall also report how long the current bbs shave remains.

Just now completed a shave with the Tatara blade in a BBS1. Amazing as it may seem, the shave was noticeably smoother and even closer than using the Tatra blade.

Now this is not to denigrate the Tatra results as it equaled both the Timor and Israeli Red, the 2 best blades ever used in the BBS1 hitherto BUT the Tatara blade was about 10% better if forced to assign a rating. It was by far the best shave ever from the BBS1 in about a decade's ownership IIRC.

In case anybody suspects other factors at play, ALL other variables were held constant, even the brush and soap are from the same lather used in all previous shaves.

Next up is the old daily driver, a custom WR1 0,54 DC

Just communicated with Tatara

More blades coming for those interested in samples

PM with address please

Today's shave with a Tatra loaded in a custom WR1 DC was quite revelatory.

Tried to ride out a third 3 pass shave with this well maintained blade BUT upon completing the 2nd pass could not tolerate the discomfort and poor quality results of the shave another minute.

Frankly, was hoping it simply a matter of an incompatible blade:razor pairing. To ascertain my sincere hope, switched to a new Tatra. Unfortunately, the results with the new blade were spectacular. Given the terrible results from the previous 2 passes, completed 2 further passes resulting in a spectacular BBS shave. There was some sting from the alum bloc but that is to be expected after 4 total passes, eh?

So why my disappointment with the Tatra blade? Because the blade was utterly useless compounded by being brutishly harsh after only 2 shaves. While surely DE blades are inexpensive, one would hope to get minimally 4 shaves.

Anyway, there you have it.

Next up, the Tatara, on its 3rd shave paired with the WR1. Hopefully it comports self more valiantly.

There are two threads... one in blades, one in general shaving. Is there a reason, or should a moderator carefully dissect and combine these two?

Just a thought.

Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk