Feather - Adjustable Double Edge Safety Razor

Feather is a household name in Japan, woven deeply into the fabric of daily life. For generations, citizens have trusted their surgical instruments, industrial blades, and personal grooming tools. They represent the quiet precision of modern Japanese manufacturing.
I come away with great shaves using the Feather Popular Butterfly despite the light plastic feel, and the adjustable butterfly does as well with added capability. Feather is universally respected for producing amazing blades and masterful tools like their premium Artist Club shavettes. These budget-friendly, plastic and minimalist metal models hold an intriguing spot within their lineup.
To understand why this razor exists, you have to look at Feather’s flagship safety razor, the all-stainless steel AS-D2. Released back in 2013, the AS-D2 is a holy grail for fans of mild shaves. It has long faced criticism for lacking efficiency. The AS-D2 is an example of a razor that completely defies standard industry recommendations for a single, efficient pass in the direction of hair growth with minor touch-ups. Because it is so mild, it inevitably forces you into a multi-pass, multi-direction "anti-theory" routine just to get a clean result.
Orientating views of source companies are nice for me. Feather and KAI are independent rivals today, but they share a deeply intertwined, labyrinthine origin. In 1932, Saijiro Endo founded Seki Safety Razor Manufacturing Co., later acquiring the “Feather” trademark for his blades. Post-WWII, this single lineage branched out: the original Seki razor-manufacturing factory evolved sequentially into Japan Safety Razor and, by 1953, the modern FEATHER Safety Razor Co. Concurrently, Endo's broader business interests, including a postwar wholesaling arm called Feather Co., Ltd., merged with Sanwa in 1954 to form the foundation of today's KAI Group. The iconic Feather name uniquely straddled both sides of this foundational corporate evolution.
The market timeline suggests this adjustable butterfly model released in 2018, was Feather’s experimental response to feedback questioning the mild fad lock-in. By introducing a two-setting adjustment lever, they attempted to offer a tool that could scale up the efficiency that the AS-D2 lacked.
This butterfly is Feather’s pre-dawn awakening. The company learned that true maturity requires two wings to fly. For the experienced shaver, the legendary AS-D2 became an inefficient trap, forcing excessive, unnecessary passes against the natural direction of growth. This adjustable experiment shows the necessity that mothered invention, but such a light plasticy phenomenon probably doesn’t prove anything definitively.
The experiment is golden despite some challenging factors. On setting one, it may mimic the mildness of the AS-D2 but without the smooth heavy steel glide and similar clamping, chatter makes the FAB more run and gun. On setting two, it adds efficiency but may feel uncomfortably harsh for some because the lightweight resin chassis now with the four angle blocks extended brings limited clamp and inadequate counterweight to the blade. It is an insightful look into the company's progression, a key step towards great new designs. What Feather knows in RBSR (their Replaceable Blade Straight Razors are excellent) they are discovering in the safety razor design - sharpness needs sufficient freedom as well as clamp support.
If you require a hefty and strong clamping razor, start running down the street now to make sure you get away from selecting this one. The Popular and the Adjustable Butterfly are distinctive members of the global safety razor community. The single greatest aspect of using them is participation in where Feather is likely to soon arrive… For now, be prepared to handle carefully, work through some chatter and strive mightily to never drop.