I’ve heard about the Feather AS-D2 razor since the beginning of looking for shaving information and products online. People who use it tend to love it–it’s stainless steel, impeccably made, incredibly mild, beautiful and kind of expensive.
And I have one in the collection now. And no, I didn’t pay full price for it, but that isn’t important. But it is still the most expensive razor I own.
The Feather is frequently reported to be milder than the Henson mild, though I’ve also seen people say that when paired with it’s namesake blade, it’s incomparable–comfortable, close, and efficient. It’s been on the list as something to get if the timing was right.
Let me start the review by talking about the packaging. One thing that does differentiate razors from each other is frequently packaging. Some have a nice holder of some sort that the razor is cradled in inside the box, like the Parker, Hensons, Mühle, Oliworks, and Rockwell. Others are wrapped in paper and just tossed in the box–I’m looking at you, Syntesi.
The Feather AS-D2 arrived in a beautiful deep red box with a very tight-fitting foam base featuring a cutout for the razor and it’s pack of blades. And I can guarantee that the razor has not moved a single millimeter in the box since its manufacture.
This is a perfect example of Japanese enginnering and manufacturing. It feels solid and precise, and for the price (I paid $165, but I’ve seen it selling for between $200 and $250) it should be. At least they threw in a set of blades with it. Granted, it’s only a 5 pack and not the 10 pack tuck, but still…
So let’s talk about the construction and design. As mentioned, this is solid stainless steel, so it has some heft at 90g, which makes it one of the heavier razors I own (with the Rockwell, Parker 55SL and the KCG close to it). The AS-D2 has a 0.40 mm blade gap, which is smaller than the Henson mild, Gamechanger, Oliworks M3teorite mild plate, Mühle, and the Rockwell 6C’s plates 1, 2 and 3. It’s heavier than the Gamechanger, but less than the Rockwell and KCG, and it’s got a miniscule positive blade exposure. It’s handle length is very close to the KCG, Gamechanger, and Henson, and features a very grippy knurling.
The head is relatively thin, like the Gamechanger and Syntesi, which usually means it’s more maneuverable and has a little more precision. Though the top cap and plate are slightly textured, which did give me some concern about how smooth it would glide. But the precision of its design holds the blade very well, and when loading it for the first time, there was an audible snap as the blade fell into the exact place it needed to be.
So, heading into every first week of shaves with any new razor, I spend some time considering what blade I will pair with the newcomer. And I’ve decided to heed a lot of reviews and go straight to the Feather blade for its first outings and see if it truly delivers on everyone’s promise. Many reviews of the AS-D2 have had the reviewers loading it with one of their favorite blades–Astras, Gillette Platinums, Perma-Sharps, etc.–but almost all then say that the first shave is a bit of a disappointment. So then they loaded the Feather blade for another shave, and all is forgiven. So I’m going to not try out any of my favorite blades on this first week and go with the Feather blade.
So how’d it do?
I can report that the almost universal love is not hyperbole (with the exception of those who don’t want a mild razor). This clearly is an intended match, engineered and thought out to be outstanding for most shavers. There was a slight tug with the first stroke on my face, but that’s because I always start on my cheeks with an against the grain pass, and with a 3 day growth of hair, some blades will grab on the initial movement. But everything after that was smooth, comfortable, and precise.
There was a lot of blade noise–a lot more than I was expecting, anyway–but not much blade feel, which put me at ease using the Feather blade right away. (Yes, I’m still a little weirded out by the “it’s the sharpest thing ever created by humanity” marketing taglines around the blade). And for one of the few times I can recall, the with the grain pass on my neck actually seemed to cut some hair instead of just laying down the hairs. The result was that I only needed a minimal 4th pass to just clean up a few of the usual problem areas to get to the closeness I want.
My concern about the lightly textured cap was completely unfounded. The AS-D2 glided wonderfully and smoothly on the lather and pre-shave, and even on just wet skin (with maybe a hint of the lather and pre-shave mixed in). There was no grabbing or skipping of note.
The weight of the razor encouraged me to not apply much pressure, but I found I could apply some pressure to get a slightly closer pass if needed, and it didn’t incur much irritation. There were a couple of very small stinging spots on my neck with the alum on the first shave, but they faded within seconds.
On the second shave, the combo struggled a little bit to get the closeness I want, so I had to make some extra strokes, which did result in slightly more irritation. But it still came out to be an outstanding shave that I would revisit in the future.
The third shave was better than the second, and very close to the first, with only a slight amount of stubble being the difference. I’m thinking that the blade was noticeably duller by the third shave, but it also was probably helped by the slicker, slightly better lather offered by the TOBS Jermyn Street pre-shave and shaving cream combo.
The bottom line after this first week is that the AS-D2 is an outstanding mild razor, and works excellently when paired with its co-branded blade. I’m anxious to try it with some other blades to see if it really falls off, or still holds up as a great mild razor.