Str8Mug
Forum GOD!
First, I hope all had a good Turkey Day yesterday (US) with family & friends. Good eats, a bit of good vino together with those we love and care about is what it’s all about for Thanksgiving. There’s always plenty to be thankful for. Worldwide as well to all my wet shaving Bro-hams abroad, Salud... 
Anyways, I wanted to get one more shave in before getting the Taiga all cleaned, sanitized and prepped for the next participant Shavemd. I will notify parties involved once the razor is dropped of at the US Pony Express hopefully today or the latest tomorrow morning.
I put up another shave off with the Taiga & the Rex Ambassador to be honest. Why? Well, since I got the Taiga to be a bit more efficient with opening up it’s dial adjustment, I just had to give it another go against the Rex as curiosity and the need to know just kept eating at me. So, I loaded up 2 once used blades (Astra SP's) into the Taiga & Rex and got into my morning shave mode.
As usual, it was a three pass affair that was in the works and neither disappointed when it came to leaving my face clean and smooth without a single incident. I had them both ramped up to their max settings as I did with the Gibbs vs Taiga shave and there were some pretty good differences between the two. On the first pass it was obvious that blade feel was paramount but, the key thing was that the Taiga exhibited a much smoother feel on the face over the Rex. It was also quite evident during this pass and the subsequent two other passes that the Rex has more blade feel on the face (while riding slightly towards the cap on both razors). Though it did not feel overly intimidating, it did feel more “bitey” or more susceptible to getting one in trouble if not paying attention. It also requires just a touch more of angle adjustment to get it to smooth out and feel comfy during the shave. And it does feel comfortable once your there, just a bit more work to get it there and maintain it. The opposite is true for the Taiga in that during this shave and the previous one versus the Gibbs, it maintains a really smooth feel and kind of makes you feel that you can get away with a bit less concentration or effort in maintaining that good balance in cutting and comfort during each pass. It shares those same characteristics with the Gibbs No17 throughout it’s whole range. Of course it doesn’t feel like it’s on the 1 setting for every size you go up but, the razor exposure or reveal in my opinion neither increases nor decreases giving it a neutral feeling throughout its range. The Rex doesn’t exhibit this trait through its size ranges but, rather makes the user adjust ever so slightly the angle of attack to maintain an equal equilibrium or compromise if you will in cutting prowess and smoothness/comfort. Basically the Taiga requires less work a la Gibbs Adjustable as compared to the Rex. It’s just easier to use versus the Rex and the Rex is easy, no small feat by the Taiga. They both gave a superb shave this morning without leaving any patches or stragglers behind and left me with little to no clean up work. Just around Sir Adam and I used the Taiga to finish it off. Wonderful shave to be honest. This second shave also confirmed another thing for me concerning the Taiga. It is just so well balanced in my hands. The length of the handle is spot on, there is no head heaviness with the razor or handle heavy dominant. In the hands it feels good with good knurling but, not quite as good as the Rex’s handle. The Rex’s handle is just about perfect in what it offers in tactile feel. The knurling is just plain superb. I’ve read posts on forums where users say that the knurling on the handle is overly aggressive feeling and is uncomfortable. How? I really have no idea but, as they say different strokes for different folks....
So, in conclusion of the HomelikeShaving Taiga Adjustable all I can say is that I’m supremely impressed with it’s performance against a pair of arguably the best made adjustables, one vintage that is no longer made and the modern Rex that is modeled a bit after the vintage Gibbs Adjustable. The Taiga held it’s own against the Standard of all adjustables, the Gibbs and it performed equally as good as the Rex in cutting tenacity while being a smoother and more comfortable shaver in the process. Homelikeshaving with this prototype has got a serious contender for the title of adjustable razor champ and arguably raising the thought of perhaps being the best performing safety razor in the DE world. Yeah, that’s how good this razor is.
I can’t wait to get my hands on the production version with the OC plate option and really take it to town against some of the best razors the market has to offer. A big thank you to CK89 & Homelikeshaving for providing this great prototype of the Taiga for me and a few others to sample.
Anyways, I wanted to get one more shave in before getting the Taiga all cleaned, sanitized and prepped for the next participant Shavemd. I will notify parties involved once the razor is dropped of at the US Pony Express hopefully today or the latest tomorrow morning.
I put up another shave off with the Taiga & the Rex Ambassador to be honest. Why? Well, since I got the Taiga to be a bit more efficient with opening up it’s dial adjustment, I just had to give it another go against the Rex as curiosity and the need to know just kept eating at me. So, I loaded up 2 once used blades (Astra SP's) into the Taiga & Rex and got into my morning shave mode.
As usual, it was a three pass affair that was in the works and neither disappointed when it came to leaving my face clean and smooth without a single incident. I had them both ramped up to their max settings as I did with the Gibbs vs Taiga shave and there were some pretty good differences between the two. On the first pass it was obvious that blade feel was paramount but, the key thing was that the Taiga exhibited a much smoother feel on the face over the Rex. It was also quite evident during this pass and the subsequent two other passes that the Rex has more blade feel on the face (while riding slightly towards the cap on both razors). Though it did not feel overly intimidating, it did feel more “bitey” or more susceptible to getting one in trouble if not paying attention. It also requires just a touch more of angle adjustment to get it to smooth out and feel comfy during the shave. And it does feel comfortable once your there, just a bit more work to get it there and maintain it. The opposite is true for the Taiga in that during this shave and the previous one versus the Gibbs, it maintains a really smooth feel and kind of makes you feel that you can get away with a bit less concentration or effort in maintaining that good balance in cutting and comfort during each pass. It shares those same characteristics with the Gibbs No17 throughout it’s whole range. Of course it doesn’t feel like it’s on the 1 setting for every size you go up but, the razor exposure or reveal in my opinion neither increases nor decreases giving it a neutral feeling throughout its range. The Rex doesn’t exhibit this trait through its size ranges but, rather makes the user adjust ever so slightly the angle of attack to maintain an equal equilibrium or compromise if you will in cutting prowess and smoothness/comfort. Basically the Taiga requires less work a la Gibbs Adjustable as compared to the Rex. It’s just easier to use versus the Rex and the Rex is easy, no small feat by the Taiga. They both gave a superb shave this morning without leaving any patches or stragglers behind and left me with little to no clean up work. Just around Sir Adam and I used the Taiga to finish it off. Wonderful shave to be honest. This second shave also confirmed another thing for me concerning the Taiga. It is just so well balanced in my hands. The length of the handle is spot on, there is no head heaviness with the razor or handle heavy dominant. In the hands it feels good with good knurling but, not quite as good as the Rex’s handle. The Rex’s handle is just about perfect in what it offers in tactile feel. The knurling is just plain superb. I’ve read posts on forums where users say that the knurling on the handle is overly aggressive feeling and is uncomfortable. How? I really have no idea but, as they say different strokes for different folks....
So, in conclusion of the HomelikeShaving Taiga Adjustable all I can say is that I’m supremely impressed with it’s performance against a pair of arguably the best made adjustables, one vintage that is no longer made and the modern Rex that is modeled a bit after the vintage Gibbs Adjustable. The Taiga held it’s own against the Standard of all adjustables, the Gibbs and it performed equally as good as the Rex in cutting tenacity while being a smoother and more comfortable shaver in the process. Homelikeshaving with this prototype has got a serious contender for the title of adjustable razor champ and arguably raising the thought of perhaps being the best performing safety razor in the DE world. Yeah, that’s how good this razor is.
I can’t wait to get my hands on the production version with the OC plate option and really take it to town against some of the best razors the market has to offer. A big thank you to CK89 & Homelikeshaving for providing this great prototype of the Taiga for me and a few others to sample.
