PILS again ..

I bought a PILS DE razor over 5 years ago, used it once or twice, and then sold; at the time I didn't think it performed that well for me.
After reading and being inspired by the various PILS threads on another forum (ATG), I decided to revisit this unique razor.
Special mention to Nishy (from UK) as well; his YouTube video was quite helpful.

'Love it or hate it' is the running theme it seems with the PILS.
This time around, I seem to love it. I've used it 4 times so far.

Although mild, it's deceivingly efficient when angle/pressure are sufficiently dialed in.
I'm thinking my technique has improved over the last 5 years, because I had no troubles optimizing angle/pressure this time around.
Handle is more parallel to face compared to traditional DE and zero pressure.
Coupled with Feather or Gillette Black blades, it's incredibly smooth and efficient. Not quite BBS, but a nice feel overall.

The 104NE is nice because the plexiglass midportion of the handle is somewhat grippier than the all stainless version. It seems to have a larger diameter as well.

What's old is new; glad I revisited PILS. It's a keeper here this time.

Ravi
Now you have me thinking I need to retry the Pils

Ravi, your killing me!! I just sold my Pils with a couple custom handles I had made for it. Now thinking I may want another one. I recently took a picture of all of the razors that I have that have a similar head to the Pils and realized I should have kept the Pils for the completion of the collection!! Original Tradere OC and Blackland Tradere SB, Ikon SBS and Ikon S3S.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

ooh, nice!

(09-08-2020, 05:50 AM)Shavemd Wrote: Ravi
Now you have me thinking I need to retry the Pils

I sold mine a few months ago...is this how it is going to be? Someone will tout a razor I sold, then I get seller's remorse?

(09-08-2020, 11:17 AM)jackgoldman123 Wrote:

(09-08-2020, 05:50 AM)Shavemd Wrote: Ravi
Now you have me thinking I need to retry the Pils

I sold mine a few months ago...is this how it is going to be? Someone will tout a razor I sold, then I get seller's remorse?

Perhaps I simply have buyer's jubilation..

To quote myself from an earlier post elsewhere:
“Pils razor with Polsilver blade

Some things only wait to punish you. There are skis which will wait till you get careless, have too much fun. When you don’t control both skis in a curve, the inner one will suddenly go it’s own curve and you’ll end up in a cloud of powder.
Other things have surprising reserves of safety built in.
The first four, the maddest motorists, have already passed. The a...le in front of you is slow, but drives a line which wouldn’t let you overtake. You’ll get angry, impatient and dumb. You’ll go full throttle into a hair pin because there is a sudden gap he left open in the curve‘s inner line. You hear your friend in the car behind you saying „oh...“ on intercom, because he thinks you‘ll fly off the track the very next moment. You ... think the same.
The RS will block shortly the rear inner wheel, a few grams of rubber turn into a cloud of smoke, the RS goes round the curve and past the other car like ... nothing.
That’s like the Pils. High performance, but forgiving your carelessness. 
Caveats: You have to hit the right angle or you’ll only shove lather. Use it for a week and nothing else, don’t listen to music while shaving this first week. You’ll hear the correct angle. A week and you will get it. Give it time for that angle or you might be disappointed. Put in a really sharp blade, not that it will get boring. I like it’s noise and design (both Pils and V8). If I had to settle for a single razor/blade combo, it might be this one.”

I am interested in the edition above with the black acrylic insert. Are there any recommended stores to purchase the PILs from?

(09-08-2020, 02:03 PM)Asafiev Wrote: I am interested in the edition above with the black acrylic insert. Are there any recommended stores to purchase the PILs from?

I purchased mine directly from ‘Pils Rasur’ in Germany.
When I looked, all the USA stockists were ‘out of stock’

Love my PILS too. It's my favorite razor... even better with the Triad handle.

In action..

I've considered a Pils many times. It is a very nice looking razor and figuring it out sounds fun. 
Problem is BBS is all I want, every time.

(09-09-2020, 10:21 AM)lloydrm Wrote: I've considered a Pils many times. It is a very nice looking razor and figuring it out sounds fun. 
Problem is BBS is all I want, every time.

This is the main reason I sold my Pils. Too much time going over spots not "shaved." I love my Feather AS-D2 but at times find it too lacking in aggression in some places.

(09-09-2020, 11:35 AM)jackgoldman123 Wrote:

(09-09-2020, 10:21 AM)lloydrm Wrote: I've considered a Pils many times. It is a very nice looking razor and figuring it out sounds fun. 
Problem is BBS is all I want, every time.

This is the main reason I sold my Pils. Too much time going over spots not "shaved." I love my Feather AS-D2 but at times find it too lacking in aggression in some places.

+2

Well after reading your post and admiring your beautiful razor. I decided to try the Pils again. Thankfully I was rewarded with my best shave yet with it. This time around I used a Gillette black. A blade I haven’t tried with the Pils before and Ethos grooming essentials lavender made a wonderful combination.

(09-13-2020, 12:22 PM)morecolor Wrote: Well after reading your post and admiring your beautiful razor. I decided to try the Pils again. Thankfully I was rewarded with my best shave yet with it. This time around I used a Gillette black. A blade I haven’t tried with the Pils before and Ethos grooming essentials lavender made a wonderful combination.

Excellent.
This razor works best with traditionally 'sharper' blades for me; the same blades that are otherwise too much for my other razors.

The PILS razor has always intrigued me since the moment I first saw it, just due to the unique design. Yet even many years ago when there were less razors on the market, it still seemed to get little love in SOTD picture threads. To the point until I started seeing the PILS in Ravi's photos recently, I had pretty much forgotten about the razor entirely. It's interesting to see things coming full circle and these razors starting to get a second look or to those who have one a second chance. I look forward to see where this thread goes.

One of the biggest shaving mistakes that I have ever made was the day I sold my PILS.  If I could afford it, I would buy another in a heartbeat.  One of if not the best razor that I have ever owned.

The handle seems to be a big improvement over the original. The original handle was on the narrow side and the polished stainless steel was extremely slick if you had wet hands. I was always afraid that I would drop it which prevented me from relaxing during the shave.