Core77

The OneBlade Core: A Hyperdesigned Razor That Provides a Good Shaving Experience With Just a Single Blade

There was a lot of design and engineering attention lavished on this thing

By Rain Noe - June 21, 2017

in Object Culture | Accessories

I shave with a cheap Dorco Pace razor, and as someone who enjoys using fine objects and tools, I hate myself for it. It's an ugly piece of plastic that looks like it was created by a failed basketball sneaker designer. But I use it because the cartridges are relatively cheap, about $1.37 each.

Previously I hadn't seen any designey razor alternatives on the market that I'd consider. But I've just caught wind of the Pensa-designed OneBlade Core, a fanatically-engineered razor made of Tritan and stainless steel. Have a look:

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The razor goes for $50, but I'm at the age where that seems well worth it to me for the design attention that went into it.

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I also like that they've apparently engineered a good shave out of a single blade; tossing a pure piece of metal into the recycling rather than the typical metal-and-plastic cartridges seems more attractive to me. And speaking of blades—"Japanese blades" sound expensive, don't they?—I was stunned to learn you can get them for 67 cents a pop if you buy them in bulk. That's about half of what I'm paying for the Dorco replacements.

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The only thing I'm not crazy about is the handle base. I'm assuming they want you to store it sideways so that water drains off of the blade properly, but as an apartment dweller with your standard NYC bathroom, I don't have that kind of sink-side real estate.

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In any case, if you want to learn more about the Core (yes, the name got to us) there's more info here.

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Keith Peters

7 years ago

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It looks nice, but there are many other single blade and safety razors that will do exactly the same job. Tons of vintage razors on eBay for the same price or less. There's a lot of hipstery techno-marketing going on here, but honestly, there's nothing all that special about this razor compared to what every man shaved with for the first half of the 20th century. Not that there's anything necessarily wrong with it. I just chuckle at the marketing that makes this out to be some new technological revolution that is going to revolutionize the act of shaving. :)

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- Paul Evans
  
  Keith Peters
  
  7 years ago
  
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  I also chuckle at the author ignoring the designs of the safety razors of the past, it's like this is the very first product of it's kind and there wasn't anything that it took inspiration from. Also the blades for safety razors are cheaper than the 'cheap' 67 cents per blade.
  
  Then of course you can just use an electric razor which doesn't require replacement blades...
  
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- Darren Tully
  
  Keith Peters
  
  7 years ago
  
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  "there's nothing all that special about this razor compared to what every man shaved with for the first half of the 20th century"
  I've got a gem single edge but I've also been using the core for a week. Once you find the sweet spot on the Core it allows you to achieve the same level of shave from a vintage single edge razor while having the convenience of a the pivot assist. So if you're in a rush in the morning you can get a easily get a DFS or BBS shave much quicker unlike with a Gem or Valet auto-strop which both also good razors but require more attention to detail and technique.
  
  Seriously though, if you're into anything vintage you really shouldn't be comparing others to hipsters unless you're being ironic
  
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