My first safety razor was the VikingsBlade Chieftain two years ago (January 2016). I was so impressed with the razor and customer service, I purchased the Godfather in February 2017. Also, I was curious to experience the Godfather's longer handle and 3 piece head. For context, I also own a Merkur 34c and an inexpensive brand for travel (which was so bad I finally had to throw it out).

Fast forward to a year later: my wife has confiscated the Godfather for her use a couple months ago. So the Chieftain is my regular razor and the Godfather is my wife's. But before she took it, I used it many times and can give a review.

Comparing the Godfather and Chieftain:
- Both razors are hefty and solid, The Godfather is longer and a little heavier than the Chieftain.
- The Godfather's head is 3 piece (Chieftain is Twist to Open), so the Godfather is easy to clean, but you have to be a little more careful changing razor blades (I have never cut myself)
- The Godfather's head is a little sleeker, which is good for shaving right under the nose. (But the Chieftain works great for me)
- Both are high quality. After two years (Chieftain) and one year (Godfather), they both look and perform like new. No corrosion anywhere (see the picture below after two years).
- They both give a clean, close shave with no nicks (I hate nicks).
- They both have a head that covers the whole blade. Many razors have the non-cutting edges sticking out both sides which can cause a bad cut.
- The Godfather seems to excel on longer strokes, like my neck. I think that is why my wife may like the Godfather for legs.
- The Godfather doesn't have a knurled handle, but I have never had problems with it slipping and my wife has never complained about it.
- The Godfather is a very cool looking razor. The unique handle is similar to an old English style that cost over $100.
- The Chieftain is the #1 seller on Amazon. Both the Godfather (and Chieftain) are #1 rated on Amazon. Amazing.

In addition to performance:
- Both razors have a lifetime, international guarantee (but I seriously doubt it will ever be needed)
- The VikingsBlade customer service is tops. I have even received responses from the owner.

At the end of the day, what matters are results. VikingsBlade proves itself every day to me through consistently great shaves. VikingsBlade didn't ask me to comment. Buy the Godfather (or Chieftain) - you will love it.

Thanks to the likes of Gillette, DE shaving has risen from the grave to become a hobby: Blades are cheap and there are loads to choose from, and when you find a razor and blade that suit you best, the revelation is that a DE shave is as good as or even better than one from any cartridge razor. What first comes to mind having experienced this is that, depending on how many years you've been shaving, you've been had by the "more is better" promotion from The Big Guys in the market. This, at least for me, is what happened, and I've never used a cartridge razor since.

Not that I've gotten that off my chest, on to the review.

I've now used about 15 DE razors ranging from Feather's cheap but excellent RZ-FEA-001 (when used with Feather blades) to a $100 work of art, and having stumbled on the Godfather here, I have found it to be my favorite.

It's not aggressive, but neither is it too wimpy, and when combined with something like an Astra (yes, Astra) blade, it delivers an excellent shave without "damage", has excellent balance, and in general is a joy to use. While it's nice of the Vikings people to include some blades, throw them out. They're terrible. Even the documentation that comes with the razor seems to hint at this.

I just bought another one of these razors, as I want to make sure I'll have a backup in case they decide to change it. I like it that much.

I'm a woman that switched to safety razors a few years ago in order to cut down on plastic consumption. I'd been using a super basic butterfly razor, and had no reason to complain until the screw part of the handle became nigh impossible to unscrew and ultimately got stripped so I couldn't tighten or loosen it any longer. That pretty well rendered it useless, so it was time to look for another one. I had no idea there were so many options!
I was initially attracted to the Vikings Blade because of their advertising. I mean, I don't really relate shaving blades to Vikings. They were very neat for sure, but there's not a lot of evidence to suggest they shaved their facial hair. But! I digress...
So I did some more research on the company and what they sold, reviews, etc (I research everything) and decided to give The Godfather a shot. If anyone would have told me that one day I would swoon over a razor, I'd easily conclude that they had lost their freaking mind. But then, I opened the gorgeous box of the Godfather.. and swooned! It really is a finely crafted and designed thing; nice weight, perfect length/fit for my hand. I LOVE the 3 piece method of changing blades. I love the guards. I seriously can't find a single thing to not like about it. Color me impressed.

5.0 out of 5 starsSHAVING EXPERIENCE WITH A WET RAZOR
ByMarc Berrensonon February 12, 2017
Verified Purchase
I've tried the Chieftan, the Godfather, the Jaeger. I've experimented with 5 different brands of DE blades. Prior to that I used a Cut Throat razor of excellent quality from an independent website. I've also used both the Feather SS and the Feather DX. My findings are as follows:

The Cut Throat or Straight Razor by Ralf Auste was beautiful and high quality. Straight Razor shaving has a substantial learning curve. Once mastered, it is a guaranteed close shave (this is the method used by traditional barbershops). I tried three or four times, and ended up cutting myself to the point where I needed to wait a week before my next attempt (my beard, though, grows very slowly and is not that heavy). I finally gave it up as every shaving attempt with the straight razor was a dance with the blood transfusion devil. There are thousands of videos on line of guys having no trouble getting a close shave with straight razors. It just wasn't worth the blood letting for me to try and get there.

The Feather SS was a light straight razor type of shave. It is a non folding razor that takes Feather blades. A very promising system to get a close shave with a well made and designed product. Tried several shaves with this and was similar to the straight razor (CutThroat) but with better results and less blood. Still, with the Feather Blades, there were plenty of cuts.

The Feather DX is like the SS, only the blade holder is heavier in the hand and on the face. Harder for me to master. More cuts than the SS. Still, this system, I think, is worth trying, along with the SS, for those who can master it. Learning curve is still there, but not as steep as the traditional folding straight razor.

Next was the DE razor. I tried the Jaeger, and both Viking razors (Chieftain and the Godfather). They were all very easy to use, very well designed and high quality razors. The most noticeable difference is that The Chieftain is a butterfly mechanism, which is very convenient for switching blades and cleaning the razor between shaves. The Jaeger and the Godfather are the more prevalent screw top DE razors where one has to unscrew the top of the razor from the handle in order to remove and clean the blade.

I have to say, for a guy who started out with a DE shaver (think the original Gillette double edge razor that your dad used), and then moved on to an electric for many years, THE DE SHAVERS OF TODAY, WITH THE APPROPRIATE BLADE, ARE THE WAY TO GO. That said, the choice of blade and the choice of razor will determine what system is best for you. There's no such thing as THE BEST BLADE, nor is there such a thing as THE BEST DE RAZOR. Every person is different, with different skin type, different facial topography, for want of a better word. Different people have different facial hair types, light beards or heavy beards. Fast growing or slow. Curly or straight, etc. One needs to experiment in order to know what combination of razor and blade and technique is best for them.

While I still cut myself with all of the DE razors I used, I have to say that it was my fault and that the cuts were easily treated with the use of a styptic pencil and/or an alum bar. The system that was best for me included the use of a Treet Platinum Super Stainless Blade (very inexpensive and made in Pakistan). There are literally hundreds of blades made all over the world. It's almost impossible to try all of them. One can obtain a SAMPLE PACK with some of the most used blades (one blade each of several brands), which is what I did, but I only tried five different brands, and each of those brands was consistently rated high in Amazon, but was also rated "not aggressive "(i.e., perhaps not so likely to result in facial cuts). And it's not totally the "sharpness" of the blade. Some very "sharp" blades are good for beginners (non aggressive) and some are not. . One needs to do some research, and in the end actually shave with a blade to determine if it's for you).

My shave with the Viking Godfather was slightly better than with the Jaeger or the Chieftain (which were similar). The Godfather has a longer handle than most, which I grew to appreciate. It is also a non aggressive razor with a Safety Type head. Some razors do not have this type of head. Some are very open (i.e, more of the blade is exposed to the skin). This latter type is more aggressive and takes more technique to get a close shave without cuts. Still, many people with heavier beards or non sensitive skin prefer this type of razor without the safety bar head. Some who prefer this more aggressive type razor will also prefer a blade known for its sharpness and its tendency to cause cuts.(Think the very highly rated Feather Blades). Better technique in shaving is also required of these more aggressive razors. The length and type of handle can also be an issue. The Jaeger razor I used has a very short handle. It often comes in different colors which are slick. Mine was ordered with the stainless steel knurled handle, so I didn't have the slippery problems some people might experience with the smooth handles.

It should be noted that in testing each razor, my face was prepared the same: First a hot towel on my face for 2 minutes. Then a scrubbing with Poraso shaving cream (The green tube). Then another hot towel for a minute. Then an application of a quality shaving oil worked into the beard. Then while the oil was doing its thing, I'd prepare my shaving cream/soap with a good quality shaving brush (There are plenty high quality soaps, creams and brushes on the market. They run the gamut on price, but one does not have to spend a lot of money to get a high quality brush or shave cream. They're kind of like smoking pipes. If you want a trendy design or a rare wood or the best quality Boars Hair brush, then you can pay into the hundreds of dollars. A reasonable quality brush can be had for $25.00 to $35.00 dollars, and shaving cream from the bigger suppliers can be had for $6.00 to $20.00). Then an application of the shaving cream (worked into a lather in my shaving bowl), working the lather as best as possible into the skin with my brush. Then a first pass with strokes of the razor downward only. Then a second pass, with strokes upward (some experts say to leave the upward strokes to the third pass or not at all). Then a quick tidy up of the two or three spots that still need a light going over.

For many, the above routine takes up too much time and is just a hassle that's not worth it. I respect that. Whatever works for your individual situation is best. I'm 67 and recently retired, so free time is not a problem. I also shave every other day. For me, I could barely feel the Godfather with the Treet blade, even on the upstroke. I could hear the blade cutting the hairs, but the blade going across my face was very smooth and not pulling at all. All the razors I tried were this way, but the Godfather was just slightly better in this regard.

I hope all this helps if you're interested in wet shaving.

Once upon a time, men had only one way to shave, the Straight Razor! The safety razor was great, but required going to the barber shop to shave. Around WW2, the "Safety Razor" was became very popular and was issued to troops that brought them home. The first generation of these razors, were extremely "aggressive," which means they had a "comb" in front of the blade that had very wide gaps in between them. If the razor wasn't held a perfect angle, you could easily cut/ nick yourself.
Even though, safety razor combs continued to improve through the 50s and 60s and become less aggressive, many people still remembered the aggressive combs cutting them. Later, Bic released the cheap disposable razor. Since most people from the 60s and 70s had a stigma of the early aggressive razors from them or their fathers, it was a huge hit and the safety razor was soon forgot about. Of course, the disposable razor involved into a billion dollar industry, one that gives you the vibrating handle for cheap and makes their money from the subpar replacement blades at $4 a pop. A business model that is the same as Ink jet printers and the price of their replacement ink cartridges Give the initial product away for cheap and make them pay ridiculous prices to maintain it!
Move to 2016- I bought the Chieftain several months ago based on the reviews and I was even a little nervous to use it at first due to the stigma that safety razors have. I pretended like it was my mach vibrator and just shaved. No nicks, no cuts nothing but a perfect shave. I've always shaved using shorter strokes and not like the beefcake model on the gillette commercials (that drags it all the way across his face during the close up). Maybe people on here that have nicked them selves learned from the commercials? Only they can answer.
It is by far the closest, best shave I have ever had. What really sold me, was when my wife's Venus blade was dull and she took my chieftain to shave her legs, armpits, and "bikini area." She did not know about "wet shaving" or watch any youtube videos on it and she couldn't stop talking about it was the smoothest shave she had ever had. After she stole my Chieftain, I ordered the Viking "God Father." She tried the "God Father" and preferred the longer handle for her legs and I preferred the Chieftain do to the shorter handle that I can choke up on and get a great perfect trim around my beard.
Both products are great but I personally prefer the butterfly design and short handle of the Chieftain for close beard/ mustache trimming around mouth and nose. My wife prefers the reach and handle of the God father. Personally, I can't tell much of a difference in the shave quality of either.
If you are debating on replacing your disposable razor, either one is a great choice and you will never regret it! The razors both become beautifully packaged (I personally prefer the Chieftains with the included travel mirror) and have outstanding customer service. I had a question about the God Father and emailed the company and got a response with in 16 hours. This family business also has the best warranty and/or customer service you could ever ask for, and if you ever I have problem, I assure you it will be resolved immediately.
Stop debating it and just order either model!