Thread: Schwarz Scuttle (Small)

Alright, Gents, here's the rundown. I've had this scuttle for a while now, but haven't got the chance to shave with it. if you want my initial opinions on the scuttle, go here: http://www.straightrazorplace.com/fo...re-review.html

Now then, the usage. First of all, I'm not done with this review. I will be editing it next time I shave... I made one crucial mistake this time. I'm used cold lather, so the heat of the water doesn't matter much. When I got the Schwarz and posted the Pre-Review I was at home... Where the water gets SCALDING.... However, I used it on campus, where the water gets only hot enough to make your hand a little uncomfortable when held under it... So, after filling the scuttle with what I thought was scalding water, halfway through the shave I remembered it was tepid water. Dumb, Jeremy, dumb.

Anyways, the scuttle. Wow. She is a beaut, and even with the lackluster water, my Lather was warmer than it has ever been before, which was a WONDERFUL improvement. Next time I'll use microwaved water to heat things up.

So, here's how I will work rating on my first review of my first scuttle -ever-.

Lather Production: X/10
Functionality: X/10
Fit and Finish: X/10
Heat Retention: X/10
Aesthetics: X/10
Ease of Use: X/10

Lather Production: 9.75/10

Wow. This baby WHIPS it up. For those of you with a GTP scuttle, It works sorta like that, only it doesn't have the crosshatching, it has swirls across the bottom and faint texturing on the sides... This makes it whip up a HUGE mound of whippedcream consistency lather. Only.25 off because, compared to things like the GTP, it could have more texture for MORE build, but I don't want to see the hair on the man who could ever NEED more lather.

Functionality: 9.5/10

It's a scuttle. It keeps lather warm. Check! The only reason this loses points is that the thing can lose warmth at a fair rate(again, I couldn't get HOT water, so this is subject to change, and will definitely be better with hotter water... I could only get the ceramic of the thing to be lukewarm/room temp, so that leached heat, I'm sure). But it's a brilliant design. I love the dipping basin, even though it is a tad small for my 24mm knot, it's still great for wetting the tips... I think the dipping basin contributes to a little of this heat loss since it needs to stay uncovered... However, the dipping basin is -to me- more helpful than hindering. We have weird campus water.. lather dies fast here.

Fit and Finish: 10/10

What can I say. It's a work of art. Beautiful and functional. Everything is designed with the shaver in mind. Hat's off to Ansgar.

Heat Retention: 9/10

AGAIN: I BLAME THE LUKEWARM WATER. Seriously, Even with lukewarm water, this thing performed. It kept things from cooling to what I'm used to, that's for sure, sadly my water wasn't hot enough to heat the whole scuttle, and some ceramic gobbled up my heat.. However, I still had so-so warm lather on the third pass. No complaints... Once I try in a few days with HOT water, this rating will DEFINITELY increase!

Aesthetic: 10/10

Note, this is different from Fit and finish: Fit and finish is craftsmanship. Aesthetic is just eye-candy. And boy, is this thing Eye Candy. All the seams are seamless, everything blends together... You can't see where one part starts and the other ends... The colors are beautiful in their simplicity. This thing is a total work of art!

Ease of Use: 9.75/10

This section looses points because 1. Some people -really stupid people- might neglect to put in good, hot water (cough) and get lackluster results... But they're just idiots... 2. The dipping basin could be a little bigger, but that might lead to heat loss, so I'm not sure which way to lean on that... 3. It's BIG! Now, I have big hands, so I like this, but some people might fumble it... The thumb loop is great for carrying it, but this thing is heavy and solid enough that I just leave it on my table and whip in it... works like a charm.

All in all, 9.5/10

What more can I say. I love it. Love love love love it! Beautiful scuttle that will serve me for YEARS! Mr Ansgar is a craftsman, a gentleman, and a scuttle maestro!

Also a really great guy... There were two pin-head sized spots of black in the white half of the scuttle, I thought they gave it character, Mr Ansgar thought they were an error, so he gave me a free Soap Lid -an extra, the scuttle comes with one, now I have two-. That's business ethic!

Love it. Hands down.

Cheers, Jeremy

Well, there seems to be no Edit option on this... So, I wanted to come and change the Heat Retention score.. I tried it with some Boiling water -put 2 cups of water in the microwave for three minutes, and Leave hot water filling the inside and lathering bowl of the scuttle.. Let the brush soak while the water cooks... dump it all out, whip up a lather, than pour in the boiling water... Hot lather for 45 minutes solid.

give it a 10 on that, because I LOVED the change to warm lather and it kept it warm SO well... it was so luxuriant.

That was a brilliant review, thank you for that. Reading this was one of the reasons I just ordered the large version of this in black and white. I use a Simpson Chubby 3 Super, a LARGE brush, so I went for the large XL Scuttle. So now starts the waiting game, sigh...