VIKINGS BLADE Double Edge Safety Razor + 5 Swedish Steel Blades + Luxury Case. Smooth, Reusable, Recyclable (Chieftain "Hera")

The Vikings Blade Chieftain is a very good quality razor that is solidly made and has good heft. I bought the "Vintage Bronze and Ancient Dust" model to replace an old Gillette adjustable safety razor with the same twist open mechanism. The blade angle is very good and the razor opens easily for blade changes and cleaning. It comes nicely packaged in a box with a magnetic clasp and a box of Swedish-made Viking blades. The Viking blades are low quality and grabby. I suggest you just toss them or give them to someone you don't like. I tried one of the blades for a week and it wasn't good. I swapped that blade out for a platinum coated Feather blade and immediately got a smooth, clean shave with no grabbing. If you are new to shaving, do your face a favor and buy good quality blades like Feather. Don't buy into the nonsense about "beginner blades". Cheap, dull blades will frustrate you, cut you and not make shaving the satisfying experience it should be. Pair this handle with a good blade and you won't be disappointed.

The Chieftain is a solid beautiful razor that is made of quality materials and has been engineered for perfection. I waited to provide my review until I got a few shaves under my belt to provide a better assessment of the performance of this razor. I will brake my review into sub-parts to discuss the different aspects of the razor itself and it's performance. Build quality: 5 stars The Chieftain Odin Edition is a quality safety razor. It is hearty but not crazy heavy with a great balance to it. The butterfly doors operate smoothly and the blade slides in and is ready to go immediately. One of the best things about the razor is that it completely covers the blade unlike any other razor I have used before. This is a great aspect of the razor as it allows you to hold the sides of the razor comfortably and there is minimal chance of being cut accidentally and it helps avoid nicking the ear lobe. The big consideration with the Odin model is the rose gold plating. I think it look great but it does require more maintenance to maintain the look. Ultimately you just have to clean the razor well with water after the shave and dry it off. This is stated in there description as well as all literature that comes with the razor. In the end this would not change the shave you get just the look of the razor if you don't follow the directions. Packaging: 5 stars The packaging is slick and feels very high class. You can find a lot of similar looking razors on the market and there is a lot of miss information about Viking Blade out there but if you buy from them you are getting the real deal. Besides what I said under the build quality the packaging is some of the best. It comes in a magnetic latch box with a mirror and plenty of space to store extra blades for when you need to travel. The higher price of the Vikings Blade makes more sense when you see the care and dedication they put into their product. The Shave: 5 stars I have shaved with the Chieftain several times now and all I can say is wow! My initial shave came after being away from safety razors for a bit and I will admit it was not the best shave ever. While discouraging I felt I really needed to get more practice in before I could fully blame the razor. Sure enough the next shave was a completely different experience. Using Gillette Silver Blues I did a two pass shave with CRSW shaving soap. The big key is of course no pressure and keeping your angle. This is where I failed during my first shave as I felt like I could not get the angle correctly to actually get the blade to cut. As a result it was either doing nothing or a little too much if you get my drift. The second shave I was more focused in and once I found the angle it was not lost again. The shave was smooth and relaxing with practically no irritation at all. After one pass I had substantial beard reduction but needed a second pass to really get smooth. What was left was a couple of spot clean ups as I have some weird growth areas on my neck but it got them all. I have never been able to get a full bbs shave but this got me as close as I ever have. The Chieftain is a bit more on the mild side so my silver blues work nicely as they get toned down a bit vs when they are in my Gillette Old Type. As a beginner I would highly recommend the Chieftain but would maybe get the chrome one to avoid the extra care needed to maintain the razor. Once you get good you could always "upgrade" to it and continue to get the great shave the Chieftain provides. This is a quality razor that I would highly recommend for those looking for a new daily driver or to get out of using your 5 bladed ingrown hair maker razors. With some nice shave soap or cream this will give you a dream shave and leave your skin happy and healthy.

Switched from cartridges to this safety razor and I'm never going back. I was worried when I received this that I was going to chop my face up, but I thought I'd give it a shot. It fits comfortably in my hand and the weight seems to be good. It is well built and it's actually metal! I needed a shave, after not shaving for a week, so I got to it. I didn't get any fancy soap or brush, I just used some good ol canned shaving cream. I let it soften the hairs but waiting a few minutes before I began shaving. I must have guessed correctly at the angle because it took a small swipe and didn't notice any tugging. I didn't think I actually cut any hair but I had a bald spot where the razor went. No cuts, no irritation, no tugging, even better then a multi razor cartridge! I went through the whole process trying to remember there was a second side that I could use before rinsing the razor off. When I got done, not only was I shocked I didn't do much as nick or cut myself but I had a super smooth shave even without going against the grain! Hopefully this lasts a long time because I love how much fun shaving is now with this. 3 full shaves and still no cuts!

This is third one ive had after breaking and having my last one stolen (lol) by my son. I love the color and construction on this as it is very solid and does the job perfectly. However it is a bit shorter in the handle than a "normal" size shaver. Can be a touch awkward due to that but perfectly useable nonetheless.

This is incredible! Closest shave ever with zero cuts. This comes with 5 beginner blades. My hair is fine, so these are perfect for me. Once a person with normal or coarse hair gets used to shaving with this razor, you will probably need to move up to more appropriate blades. The handle is short, but weighted very well. Feels great in my hands (average sized woman). If you have larger hands, this may not be for you). The action of the opening is mechanism is smooth. It's a very high quality product. There is no need for multiple blades in one razor. That's a gimmick razor companies sold us long ago. Saturday Night Live even made a mock-comercial from the 1970's making fun of razor companies for this. Two was bad enough, but I could never bring myself to shave with 3, 4, or -dear lord- 5 or more blades. The Shick one I've been using for years is no longer sold. The cartridge replacements just are not longer worth it. For the price of replacement cartridges, It's worth a shot.

I started wet shaving with a traditional double-edged safety razor in June of last year—or rather, that was the first time I truly succeeded at it. I had experimented before with various razors, but most of them ended up shearing my face. The only one I found safe to use was the Merkur Open Comb 9104001 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R21LFY5ZNW75AS/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00595BY6U). Once I got comfortable with that and my technique improved, I decided to try something just a little more aggressive. That’s when I stumbled upon the Vikings Blade Chieftain on Amazon. When I checked discussions on razor enthusiast forums like Reddit, I found the reviews to be mixed. There was some condescension towards the Vikings Blade brand, with speculation that it was just a dressed-up Baili product (but hey, isn't Apple a dressed-up Foxconn product in some sense?) but I felt that the positive reviews rang true. The brand’s presentation—while maybe a little over the top—somehow resonated with me as light-hearted pride for a good product, and I decided to go for it. Now, the Chieftain has become my daily driver. The build quality is outstanding—exceptionally solid and well-constructed. It provides a close and comfortable shave, and I almost never nick myself. That said, I do use Shark Stainless Blades, which are relatively mild, so that likely contributes to the smooth experience. Having gone from one Holy Grail to another, I think the search for the perfect razor is either never-ending excitement or pointless extravagance. I'm happy to call my Vikings Blade Chieftain a long-term solution for my simple needs: a quick, safe, effective and economical alternative to the cartridges I used before. It’s a well-made, forgiving razor that delivers a great shave, making it an excellent choice for those looking for something slightly more aggressive than an entry-level model without venturing into borderline weaponry.

I was expecting a crime scene. Because that's what all the ads tell us, right? "Get this plastic cartridge with 9 blades that foams itself and you won't hurt your sensitive skin!" But I was getting fed up with cartridges: crazy expensive, popping off the razor body every time I dropped it while in the tub (oh, I don't know why I would drop a razor with wet, soapy hands), and, quite frankly, the quality of their shave has gotten worse over the past decade. But they were the modern thing to get, right? Safer? Cleaner? Wrong. Turns out, Grandma and Grandpa had the better technology with DE razors. DE, for you newbies, stands for "double-edged": the razor blade is sharp on both long sides, instead of the kind that has one thick, blunt long side that slides into holders like paint scrapers, etc. It also refers generally to "safety razors"--- the "safety" being the enclosure of 90% of the blade instead of a straight edge razor, which is basically a 7" Swiss Army knife. (Also cool, and I'm considering getting one for self-defense. Seriously, who would attack a woman holding one of those?!) Thoughts of home invasion aside, Viking has come up with a great DE razor in The Chieftain. After reading a random article online about how much money per year I could save by using normal razor blades (we'll see), I decided to get out of my razor rut. I didn't just run out and buy the first one that came up in Amazon, though: research was required. YouTube of course had instructional (not porn) videos of women using DE's and they did go through the whole "lather with badger brush" thing. Putting aside my childhood memories of my dad using the same, I realized that it was a little surprising that women didn't spend more time on shaving prep. I myself use five hair products alone and I'm fairly low maintenance, but apart from a single foray into "women's shave gel", my shaving routine was to grab the Dove and hack away. I've never had any complaints, but still, I never felt like I got a so-called close shave. That would change when I went with Viking. I picked The Chieftain because of the "butterfly" opening. To get the razor blade on, one twists the lowest part of the handle and the sleek contraption opens out like swinging double doors, revealing a rectangular post. The razor blades have holes in the middle, and you just drop the blade onto the post, it lies flat, and you re-twist the handle for the top of razor body to close over that 90% of the blade that I was talking about before. Viking's other razor option was the other standard DE razor loading system: unscrew the top, take it off completely, drop the blade on the post, and screw the top back on. Eh, I liked the butterfly version better. So why Viking? Amazon has innumerable brands to choose from, and most were for half the price. Well, I picked Viking the old fashioned way: I read reviews. Lots of reviews. More reviews than I thought were possible to have about razors. But it came down to this: apart from their every-so-slightly excessive bro-language (dude, the -NFL- is more gender-neutral), Viking had the best quality-to-cost ratio. And, if you didn't know before now, "women's" versions of traditionally men's products are always made more poorly and of crappier materials. (I don't know why: I didn't make this rule. Look up "Le Car" if you don't believe me.) Moving on, I went to a chain pharmacy and bought a brush/cup/soap kit while waiting the two days for my razor to arrive. I'm sure you can buy that stuff online, but I wanted to smell the soap first and I refuse to use Old Spice because, again, not my dad. I found something unobtrusive and anyway, I figured I could switch out soaps while keeping the rest of it. (I did wonder a. When would it all stop, and b. If I went back to using my old razor, could I use this cup to microwave soup or something? If all else failed, I could keep it for my son to use in a few years.) The razor came, I followed the videos, and...no Sweeney Todd. Just a great shave. A really great shave. An "I am SO not going back to plastic again!" kind of shave. I suppose that I should have led with the "great shave" part, but honestly, it wasn't difficult to use at all. You kind of intuit the angle. And no bloodshed. Wow. I now realize why there are so many plastic razor ads: it's hard to fear such a simple, handy razor as The Chieftain. It's not crazy-heavy, it's classically designed, and it gives a great shave. Okay, so yes, the blades they give you are "starter" blades---you're supposed to buy sharper ones after you familiarize yourself, but they're plenty sharp. (You should know that there are as many brands of blades as there are cars.) And a bigger point is that my legs, as long and sensitive as they are, are nowhere near as sensitive as a guy's face. Even with all that taken into consideration, The Chieftain is the overwhelmingly superior product. I'm hoping to see the money I spent on it be "returned" in less expensive upkeep, but even if it isn't, I would still recommend making the switch. If you need it said to you in manly-man-speak, women will definitely be impressed by seeing it (The Chieftain) in your bathroom. And with your shave, too. Finally, let me state that I have not been paid for this review, nor do I work for Viking, a blade manufacturer or any ad agency. This is just me expounding on a product that I never expected to buy because of its "danger." Shave proud, people.

OK, I have been using the Vikings Blade Chieftain for a bit over a month, and feel that I can now offer my impressions of the razor. But, before I begin, I should input some background info on me. I am 75 years old, and have been shaving for many, many years. I have used several electrics, single edge, double edge, and multi-blade types. My most recent method was with one of those supersonic (Mach something) types. Except for the cost of cartridges/blades, I felt that I was getting a good shave. I just wanted to try something different. So, after viewing several YouTube videos and doing a lot of internet reading, I decided to try Double Edge shaving again. Of course, the search for the "perfect" razor morphed into a seemingly never-ending task. My choices were finally narrowed to the Merkur 34C and the Vikings Chieftain. For no other reason than I used to fly an aircraft called a Chieftain, the Chieftain was selected, and ordered. Inspecting it after it arrived made me feel pretty good with my choice. Fit & finish seemed very good--Overall appearance was great and it just felt good in my hand. Since I am retired, I only shave 3-4 times per week. So, after a 20 minute soak in the hot tub, I grabbed the badger brush, the Truefitt & Hill Trafalgar Cream and started. Since I have been shaving for so long, I (incorrectly) assumed that I knew what I was doing—WRONG. Upon completion, I looked like I had been in a fist fight and the other guy had barbed wire wrapped around his fist. Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting. Back to the internet (with lots of tissue stuck to my face). Ah, aggressive and gentle blades they say. Well, the razor came with blades labeled “Mild”. YEAH, RIGHT!! So, after a few healing days, I tried again (same blade)—A bit better, but still quite a bit of blood. HMMMMM. A couple more days and (with the same blade) once more with feeling and gentleness. Better, but not great. OK, I live in a small town. Walmart sells Van Der Hagen blades, that is all. I purchased a pack and headed home to try again. Results were similar; however, a bit better. I think I may be getting the hang of this. Some browsing about opinions on blades and one poster mentioned trial packs of blades on Amazon. A couple of days later they arrive. 50 different models and 2 of each. Where to start. I chose a Persona. Much better—very little blood this time. Several razor “experts” on the internet heaped praise on the old Gillette razors. I found a 1948 (my birth year) model Gillette on EBay and grabbed it. As soon as it arrived, I took the once used Persona blade out of the Chieftain and inserted it into the old Gillette and proceeded to shave. NO BLOOD AT ALL!!! Extremely smooth shave—no stubble—very comfortable. Happy, Happy, Happy. So, in my opinion, the 75 year old Gillette gave me a superior shave to the Chieftain. Does that mean that I think that the Chieftain is inferior or junk? Absolutely not. I just think that it is not the best choice for me. So, although a bit long, this is my experience with the Vikings Blade Chieftain. After I run it through a cycle in the ultrasonic cleaner, it might just end up as a gift.