Victory 176

Wow, just wow! Got this as a travel item as did not want to lug around my $80 dollar shaver, and came with its own travel case. Tried it out before packing it on two day stubble.. Both happy and sad that it shaves better than my daily shaver. Smooth shaver, second pass against grain was surprisingly smooth as well, no tugging, no irritation, blade was kept secure and even, nice space between blade and combs. Feels comfortable in the hand and also more forgiving than more aggressive shavers. Might just be my new daily

I started using an old school safety razor about 6 years ago after I got fed up with the big razor manufacturers doing nothing but increasing the amount of blades and adding fancy gimmicks while astronomically increasing the price. I started with the Feather Double Edge Shaving Razor. It was a cheap buy at $20 and had good reviews since I didn't want something too expensive or aggressive. Gave me the smoothest shaves I had in years. I still had to be careful since it was quite easy to nick yourself but it was still a pretty good quality safety razor even if it was mostly plastic. It finally started giving me a lot of problems and decided it was time to upgrade.The first one I tries was the WEISHI Safety Razor Double Edge Nostalgic Long Handle Butterfly Open Razor. It had great reviews in the 10s of thousands and people mentioned what a great shave it gave. When I got it and did my first pass, it was PAINFUL. It felt like rubbing 120 grit sandpaper across my face. I thought the problem was the cheaper blades so I put a Feather blade that had always given me a really smooth shave but it was the same deal. A very aggressive shave that was uncomfortable. I tried the blades it came with in my old Feather razor and they shaved quite well so definitely not the blades. Next I tried the Double Edge Safety Razor by VIKINGS BLADE, Fat & Short Handle. It was a great improvement over the Weishi but it was still not as smooth was the Feather razor. I used it for about a year figuring that I just had to learn how to use the razor and even though it did a fairly good job it just wasn't as smooth a shave even with all the face prep I do before I shave.I saw this one and for $10 I decided to take a chance....and it has paid off!. This razor shaves just as smooth as the Feather razor. Even though it is metal the nickel alloy does not transmit heat into the whole body like some all metal/steel safety razors do. One thing about this that is quite different is that instead of twisting the handle to open the head clamshell style the top of the head unscrews off so you put the blade in and then screw it back on again. So far this design looks quite reliable since I don't have to worry about the head mechanism not opening or closing properly the older it gets.It's a fairly heavy razor, but not too much. Just enough for you to not so much press it but press the weight against your skin at at 45 degree angle.For anyone looking for their first safety razor I can say I highly recommend this one if you are on a budget or don't want to spend a ton of money on one and decide it's not for you but, I am quite certain after a few uses you will never go back to one of those overpriced knucklehead razors again ( even thought I admit I still keep a few around for those times I do need a quick shave :-) )

I was surprised with this razor the Bali Classic. The quality is comparable to my DE89 of which let me point out to start with, if you have a Edwin Jagger DE89 with smooth slippery handle this one will interchange. That is one reason I gave this a try. I knew if I did not like the head that I could likely still upgrade my DE89 handle with this Bali more grippy handle. Thing is when I got this razor I found that the head is very precise. Works really nice with Feather blades and gave comparable shaves to the DE89 but seems smoother actually. I've had the razor for a few months and not once use my EJ much less swap handles. After some research I found that this company is the manufacture of some more expense brands like Vikings Blade. You get the same razors if you buy straight from Bali at cheaper price. As matter of fact, I don't see how I got such a good razor for this price. It looks amazing. The plating is very well done. The razor may be considered a little on the mild side. Using Feather Blade and just the weight of the razor could easily get a close shave 2 passes with no weepers. A Feather last longer than expected in these. I do have some Astra Platinum but have not tried them yet because it's doing good as is. The semi mild razors do amazing with the more sharp blades. To me, the less aggressive blades like Astra do best in more aggressive razors. Back to this razor. Only thing I done was add a little mineral oil to the threads. I'm sure there might be something better to use but is what I tried. The threads are fine just when it gets snug, they grab just a tad. The best example I can think is those of us who has changed tires many times over the years know how the lug nuts go on smooth but as it gets that last tightness its feel incremental or grabs a little. The oil helped help this, on the razor that is. Of course you only snug the razor firmly. Also, I like the design that holds the blade in place. The blade is secure and aligned nicely by my inspections. The precision is there and you can't wiggle the blade as you are tightening it like some razors. No fine tuning blade alignment while tightening.. I give this razor a 9 out of 10 for quality. Aggressiveness I give it a 7.5 to 8 out of 10 with ten being most aggressive.