Got this one from fellow Texas Objectivist Gus Van Horn:
1. The last opera I attended was Aida.
2. The next will probably be Il Trittico, and as of now I plan to make it a double-date with my son.
3. I prefer classical guitar strings with the straight end rather than the ball end.
4. I have tried to cook a week's worth of meals at one time. It took almost a week.
5. I prefer Art Deco to Art Nouveau.
6. I love the snatch-grip deadlift.
7. I am a better shot with a pistol than with a rifle.
8. I have been to Masada, the Empire State Building, the Jack Daniel's Distillery, Yankee Stadium, Disney World, the Wailing Wall, and to the Dr Pepper Museum.
With a trip coming up, I was curious to give my Feather Portable safety razor another try. I'd used it once or twice before, early in my wetshaving days, but never with a Feather blade. For one thing, the Feather Portable offers more blade exposure than the other DEs I like to use. For another, I just like using those other razors, so I wasn't really feeling any need to keep trying the Feather. Finally, it's a three-piece, so it must be assembled each time it's used, otherwise it won't fit back into its case.
I used Trumper's Coral Skin Food as a pre-shave. The Proraso pre-post shave is actually my favorite prep, but I'm out, and the Nancy Boy pre-shave oil, while very good, is oily enough to make me worry about my brush, so it was Trumper's or nothing. With the sharpness of the Feather blades and the promise -- well, threat -- of increased blade exposure, I wanted the added protection on my neck.
For lather on the first test I went with Proraso soap, one of my go-to products. It's just that good. With the blade snapped in and the lather created, it was off to the races.
Well, the Feather Portable certainly is a more aggressive razor than my 1948 Super Speed and the two I have from the early Fifties, and it's a lot more aggressive than my Weishi. I'd say it's comparable in terms of blade exposure and aggressiveness to my older (late Thirties) Injectors. Add to that the famously sharp Feather blades and you have some concerns.
And they showed up. The Feather/Feather combo mowed through my barbed-wire beard with no trouble at all...hell, with no concerns at all. None. I did one North-South pass, relathered and did one against the grain pass, and that was it. One weeper on my neck, more blood than I'm accustomed to as a wetshaver, and that was all. No touch-and-cut with the Injector or with my Wester Brothers straight: there was none necessary. Because of the one cut and a concern with razor burn, I spent some time rubbing left-over ice on my face and neck, but that's as much a matter of habit as necessity: it just feels good to do it.
And it wasn't necessary. The bleeding had already stopped, even before the rinsing and the ice (and with no styptic pencil). Very, very little redness on my neck, and then the acid test: an alcohol-based after shave. In this case, it was Brut. No problem.
Subsequent tests were done using Taylor lavender (my favorite cream) and Pre de Provence (my favorite soap), a few times each. After each shave I followed with witch hazel and an alcohol-based aftershave: Old Spice, English Leather, and Pinaud Clubman. Again, each time, no problem.
The verdict? The Feather Portable is a fantastic little razor. It's noticeably more aggressive than my older Super Speeds, or my Weishi, or the lower settings (say, 1-3) of an adjustable DE. But that's not a flaw of the razor, simply a characteristic which may work for some men and not for others. With a Feather blade in it, it may prove too aggressive for some guys -- I certainly intend to be a bit more careful on my own neck next time. With its very light weight and short handle, I don't think it'll ever be my favorite razor.
But it does the job and it does it well -- and it's still in production, so I'll risk tucking it into my carry-on on my next business trip. I'd never risk my 1948 Super Speed to the "judgment" of the TSA guy on duty, even though their own web site lists "safety razors" as allowable carry-on items. If I lost that Super Speed I'd be pissed for the rest of my life, and I'd regret my stupidity. If they confiscated the Feather Portable, I'd simply be pissed at TSA.
And I'd buy another one. The Feather Portable is that good, and I like having one.
A further note, too, on Feather blades: a common experience from many wetshavers is that they can't shave with Feather blades for too many days in a row, as their faces become very sensitive and irritated. I can see that, but the last three blades I've used have been Feathers, and what few problems I've had have been, I think, of my own making. I used a new one this morning for two passes, followed by a third pass with an Injector, and used (again) Pinaud Clubman aftershave. No problem at all.
Another review of the Feather Portable, including a photo, can be found here.