Pass Around Coming soon - Tatara titanium pass around (Masamune/Nodachi)

[LeeMaz]

SOTD: 03/09/2022

Razor: Tatara Titanium Masamune
Blade: Astra SP, 1st use
Brush: AP Shave Co. Lemon Drop G5A
Bowl: Captains Choice Copper Lather Bowl Standard Bowl
Preshave: PAA Cube Unscented Soap
Soap: Yaqi The Green Puck
Aftershave: Yaqi The Green Aftershave
Balm: Bart's Balm BEN KILBRECK Balm
Additional Care: Osma Laboratoires Alum Block

Well today was the titanium version of my usual Tatara steel set up, the full Masamune. Maybe it was the familiarity with the geometry, or just getting used to the weight but this felt great and better than yesterdays shave. BBS which lasted until mid afternoon almost, my ideal as a daily shaver for work, leaving me ready to shave again the next day. No sting with the alum, the weight drop arguably makes it a tad easier to achieve the BBS daily shave, I truly love this razors design and the titanium is a delight. If I’m honest the passaround is doing nothing but make me regret selling the Nodachi and using it in combination with the Masamune! The handle for me is still amazingly designed and feels great in the hand. If you can afford one it’s a no brainer. Buy both the Masamune and Nodachi and you have an adjustable system in a similar vein to the Rockwell but way better looking and just or more effective. I think Tatara are missing a trick with their marketing there. Sell a slightly discounted combination pack, market it as an adjustable and I think you’d get more sales. @jphelan81 I am loving it, and if I’m honest this would be my day to day combination but I did enjoy the Tatara Titanium Nodachi cap, Masamune SB base combo almost as much which is almost the opposite end of the spectrum oddly.
On to the open comb which I’ll be honest isn’t my favourite style of razor. I’ve also had the Nodachi open comb I think from memory but didn’t get on with it. I’ll start again at the max aggression combination and work my way down but OC aren’t usually my thing so I doubt it will be quite the hit the SB’s were.

 

[LeeMaz]

SOTD: 04/09/2022

Razor: Tatara Titanium Nodachi OC
Blade: Astra SP, 2nd use
Brush: ZENITH Unbleached bristle chrome handle 2000 C XSE
Bowl: Captains Choice Copper Lather Bowl Standard Bowl
Preshave: PAA Cube Unscented Soap
Soap: Lothur Tears Croap
Balm: Bart's Balm BEN KILBRECK Balm
Additional Care: Osma Laboratoires Alum Block

Ok so it would seem like I’ve completely misjudged OC razors, from the Stando’s I recently tried to this the most extreme version of the Tatara combinations this shave was fantastic. The overall strength of Tatara razors, regardless of what combination I’ve used so far is smoothness and effortlessness, and this was no exception. It mowed down my days growth with ease leaving a smooth BBS finish with ease never feeling like it might bite. If anything this felt smoother than the solid bar but that’s most likely me getting used to the balance and weight of the razor. Like the Solid bar version I tried first it’s not necessarily a setting I’d uses daily but damn it’s close.

 

[LeeMaz]

SOTD: 05/09/2022

Razor: Tatara Titanium top cap Nodachi open comb Masamune
Blade: Astra SP, 3rd use
Brush: AP Shave Co. Lemon Drop G5A
Bowl: Captains Choice Copper Lather Bowl Standard Bowl
Preshave: PAA Cube Unscented Soap
Soap: Stirling Ozark Mountain Puck
Aftershave: Stirling Christmas Eve EDT
Balm: L’Oreal Men Expert Reinforcing Aftershave Balm
Additional Care: Osma Laboratoires Alum Block

After the Masamune this was my favourite combination with the solid bar, top cap Nodachi open comb Masamune and it’s proved the same with the open comb. Highly efficient but never a menace there’s something about the head design of all the Tatara’s that just make them ultra guidable and efficient. I never have an issue under the nose or around the Adam’s apple, my hard to reach problem spots and this combination of plates is just a smooth shaving delight. It’s making me want to save for a Nodachi top cap it’s that good a combination. It wasn’t overly aggressive for an open comb, I feel in my early days of wet shaving I’ve definitely misjudged this style of head, because this was a delight.

 

[LeeMaz]

SOTD: 06/09/2022

Razor: Tatara Titanium Open Comb Nodachi and Solid Bar Masamune
Blade: Astra SP, 4th use
Brush: Shedeleven Spalted Scottish Hawthorn AP Shave Co G5C 26mm Fan
Bowl: Captains Choice Copper Lather Bowl Standard Bowl
Preshave: PAA Cube Unscented Soap
Soap: Proraso Wood And Spice Cream
Aftershave: Proraso Wood And Spice Cologne
Balm: L’Oreal Men Expert Reinforcing Aftershave Balm
Additional Care: Osma Laboratoires Alum Block

For whatever reason this is probably my least favourite combination of the plates. Maybe it’s the drop efficiency but its delightful none the less. Close and capable but missing the ultra smoothness of the lower settings or close efficiency of the higher. However this is really me being picky with what is an amazing razor, it’s still an amazing shave. I don’t want this to sound negative as I love the razor in all it’s variations but I’m not sure this is my favourite mixup. Despite this the Proraso Wood and Spice is as always a delight that lasts all day and some, one of the few splashes I can genuinely say lasts all day and that’s only on a couple of sprays combine it with my favourite brush and it was a great way to start the day.

 

[LeeMaz]

SOTD: 07/09/2022

Razor: Tatara Titanium Masamune OC
Blade: Astra SP, 1st use
Brush: Knothead Brush Works 26mm AP Shave Co. Synbad
Bowl: Captains Choice Copper Lather Bowl Standard Bowl
Preshave: PAA Cube Unscented Soap
Soap: A&E Barbiere Sofisticato Croap
Aftershave: A&E Barbiere Sofisticato Aftershave
Balm: L’Oreal Men Expert Reinforcing Aftershave Balm
Additional Care: Osma Laboratoires Alum Block

An effortless shave on my final combination with the titanium Tatara. The open comb is just amazingly smooth and quite the opposite of what I worried it would be like. The whole titanium set up is just great and has given me a shave completely opposite what I expected. The weight loss takes this razor to another level and if I’m honest I wish I could afford one!
I’ll be cleaning and sorting this out for the next person on the list, I believe I swapped with @jphelan81 so if your ready to try it out now, let me know, if not I’ll move to the next on the list.

 

[jphelan81]

Thanks for letting me know mate, happy to move on to the next person on the list.

 

[LeeMaz]

Thanks for letting me know mate, happy to move on to the next person on the list.

Thanks for letting me know @jphelan81 . @semajohn if you can pm me your address I’ll post it over the weekend.

 

[bagman]

I’m going to withdraw from this one I’m afraid

 

[semajohn]

Pre-Op - PAA, Cube
Razor - Tatara, Ti
Plate - Nodachi OC, gap .90
Cap - Nodachi, BE .13
Blade - Ladas
Soap - Proraso
Brush - Proraso, Boar
Balm - Proraso, Blue

I'll be keeping the set up the same during this trial.
The only change will be caps and plates.

Had a couple days growth to remove so went with the most aggressive combination.

Efficient, yes,
Smooth, no,
Weeps, a few,
Soreness, no.

Not a combination I would knowingly purchase but if you have a thick beard, this would probably suit.

Not much difference in caps but it is there.

 

[semajohn]

Pre-Op - PAA, Cube
Razor - Tatara, Ti
Plate - Masamune SB, gap .63
Cap - Masamune, BE -.13
Blade - Ladas
Soap - Proraso
Brush - Proraso, Boar
Balm - Proraso, Blue

I'll be keeping the set up the same during this trial.
The only change will be caps and plates.

Opposite end this time with the mildest combination.

Efficient, Nope
Smooth, yes
Weeps, no
Soreness, no

If you was in a rush for a quick shave. This is the combo to pick up. You would have to be pretty silly with the razor for it to bite.
It does the job but it's not a lasting shave.

Next two shaves, I'll swap the caps and see how much of a difference the blade exposure makes.

 

[semajohn]

Pre-Op - PAA, Cube
Razor - Tatara, Ti
Plate - Nodachi OC, gap .90
Cap - Masamune, BE -.03
Blade - Ladas
Soap - Proraso
Brush - Proraso, Boar
Balm - Proraso, Blue

I'll be keeping the set up the same during the trial.
The only change will be caps and plates.

Taking the aggression down a smidge with the Masamune cap.

Efficient, yes
Smooth, yes
Weeps, yes
Soreness, no

A change of cap has certainly made the Nodachi plate tamer.

Only the one weep and that was on the old Adams apple.

Smoothness is a noticeably improvement over the Nodachi cap.

Still to aggressive for my daily shave but we are getting closer to it.

 

[semajohn]

Pre-Op - PAA, Cube
Razor - Tatara, Ti
Plate - Masamune SB, gap .63
Cap - Nodachi, BE .00
Blade - Ladas
Soap - Proraso
Brush - Proraso, Boar
Balm - Proraso, Blue

I'll be keeping the set up the same during the trial.
The only change will be caps and plates.

Taking the aggression up a smidge with the Nodachi cap for the Masamune SB plate.

Efficient, yes/no
Smooth, yes
Weeps, no
Soreness, no

Efficiency has improved with this combination but there was a few touch-ups required after my normal two passes. If I was a three pass shaver, then this wouldn't have been necessary.

Also if I took my time, there would have been less, if any to run back over. But like the Masamune plate & cap combo, you blast your way through the shave with confidence and no consequence.

Whilst the Masamune plate and cap reminds me of a Karve plate B. This was more like a C plate.

 

[semajohn]

Pre-Op - PAA, Cube
Razor - Tatara, Ti
Plate - Nodachi SB, gap .90
Cap - Nodachi, BE .13
Blade - Ladas
Soap - Proraso
Brush - Proraso, Boar
Balm - Proraso, Blue

I'll be keeping the set up the same during the trial.
The only change will be caps and plates.

Efficient, yes
Smooth, yes/no
Weeps, yee
Soreness, no

I'm being to think my go-to choice of blade isn't right for this razor.
2nd use of the Ladas and the smoothness was all there and as a result, a few weeps on a multidirectional patch on my neck.

We'll see on the next shave as that's the Masamune OC plate and cap

 

[semajohn]

Sorry for the delay, been on holiday

Pre-Op - PAA, Cube
Razor - Tatara, Ti
Plate - Masamune OC, gap .73
Cap - Masamune, BE -.10
Blade - Ladas
Soap - Proraso
Brush - Proraso, Boar
Balm - Proraso, Blue

I'll be keeping the set up the same during the trial.
The only change will be caps and plates.

Efficient, yes
Smooth, no
Weeps, yes
Soreness, no

I'm surprised by this one as I thought the Masamune oc would be smoother.

This could be due to the Ladas blades not suiting this razor or three days growth but on the first pass, the Masamune oc struggled.
Second pass was better but ended up with weeps on the same multidirectional patch of my neck.

I've got two more combinations left before this set is passed on. But where I thought I would be getting close to "the one" for me. It seems I'm not.

 

[semajohn]

Pre-Op - PAA, Cube
Razor - Tatara, Ti
Plate - Nodachi SB, gap .90
Cap - Masamune, BE -.03
Blade - Ladas
Soap - Proraso, Blue
Brush - Proraso, Boar
Balm - Proraso, Blue

I'll be keeping the set up the same during the trial.
The only change will be caps and plates.

Efficient, yes
Smooth, yes
Weeps, yes
Soreness, no

Best combination so far with one left to go.
Few weeps that I didn't notice at first.
Nice shave