Alright, it's been a minute since the last sub-exclusive hardware announcement, and it's time for a new project. We all have our sub-exclusive Moar Boars, and they're clamouring for a matching sub-exclusive razor. But it can't be just any razor. In sub-exclusive hardware tradition, it has to be the very best razor of its class at an affordable price.
Project Moarteen Organising Committee (PMOC/OCPM), what is this about?
I'm glad you asked! One of the best straight razor formats in the world is the 14. You know it, I know it, deep down even Pudding and Infernal with their paddles know it. There are lots of great razors, but the 14 stands out as universally loved: the big size makes it run calm like a near wedge, the extra hollow grind makes it flexible and gentle as a feather, the square point with the slightly rounded point makes it forgiving. It's the best of all worlds for beginners and aficionados alike.
Yes, PMOC, but 14s are super expensive, aren't they?
You're right, good modern 14s like the Böker 14er, Koraat 14-2.0 or River Razors 14 are pricey.
But could I not just buy a vintage 14? I hear those are great!
Yes, you could! But mint or NOS vintage 14s like the Filarmónica, the Henckels, the Iberia, the Frio, etc, cost a lot too, plus probably need to be honed.
That's terrible! How will we get 14 goodness to the masses?
I have an idea: 1) The Koraat Sparschweinchen is an excellent and very affordable straight razor with a roughly similar shape as the 14. It has a thicker grind and a round (yet surprisingly pointy) point, so it doesn't feel like a 14 at all. But 2) Ulrik, one of the artisans behind Koraat, also makes the Koraat 14-2.0, a highly acclaimed 14 razor.
🤔 1) + 2) = 💡
We could ask Ulrik of Koraat to make us a 14 razor with the finish of a Sparschweinchen!
PMOC?
Yes?
You already asked Ulrik, didn't you?
Yes, we did! And he's all in!
Ulrik agrees to make a sub-exclusive Moarteen version of the 14-2.0 with the following modifications:
- Instead of the 14-2.0 stamp, these will be stamped with lathersnoo, a simplified version of the Moar Boar logo to mark them as our sub-exclusive.
- The contours (spine, tang, tail), will have the raw forged finish like the Sparschweinchen.
- The scales will have a simpler, turned spacer to simplify assembly.
- The scales colour will be RAL 6035, i.e., the exact colour of the Moar Boar handle (in J33p's voice: matchy matchy 💅).
PMOC, that sounds like all of the points that make the 14 a great format are still there‽
Why yes! It's a real 14 razor. It's 15/16" wide, has a full hollow grind, thin belly, and square point with slightly rounded corner.
Oh, but how much will it cost?
This is the great part! In this configuration, Ulrik is willing to make them at the Sparschweinchen price, EUR 165 a piece, as long as we order no more than 50 razors.
That's a great price! How about shipping?
All shipping is handled by Ulrik, and he only sends tracked and insured parcels.
Prices are in three tiers:
- EU: EUR 18, but EU group members will also have to pay 20% Austrian VAT.
- Near EU (E.g., Switzerland, UK, Norway): EUR 17, no VAT.
- Worldwide (excluding China and North Korea): EUR 25 - 30
That sounds fair, what's the timeline on this?
If we commit to an order in early October, Ulrik estimates that we'll have them in hand in Q1 2025.
How would we order this? Who would we pay?
It is a group buy, and we will reuse the Moar Boar infrastructure. If you commit to ordering a Moarteen, you will be asked to pay your part by Paypal to rwetshavingsubexclusives@gmail.com like last time. Our treasurer gcgallant will hound the stragglers.
Important: From experience with the Moar Boar, we should expect that there will be some people who change their mind and ghost us after having committed. Some of the organisers ended up a couple hundred EUR short (Ok, it was me). We would like to spread that risk among all of us this time by raising the price of each individual razor by 5% (or EUR 8.25). If no one flakes, we simply leave the extra cash in the paypal account for the next sub exclusive project, and if too many flake and the 5% turn out to be insufficient, gcgallant and I will carry that financial risk.
Ok, where do we go from here?
We will publish a sign-up post soon™, but we wanted to make this pre-announcement to get some feedback in case we overlooked a major detail and to answer questions you might have.
You're way too much of a shaving nerd not to be a straight razor shaver.
I hear the excuses now: job, young family, house chores, time commitment, cost of razors ...
But I know you're a fellow RC flyer, and we both know the effort that takes. So ...
Speak of the devil, I just went RC flying for the first time in over 3 months today. I was the only one at the field because it was a bit windy. I had 3 great flights which proved my time on the simulator is working 1000%.
There's always time if you plan ahead. He has daycare 3 days a week, takes naps every day for 2-3 hours, goes to bed early, etc. So really it just comes down to thrill. Will I enjoy it? Am I in the right headspace to learn a new skill, or do I want to bask in the glory of what I already know?