Shave Off vintage Gibbs vs modern Taiga adjustable razors
I know a few members mentioned to me they wanted to see this Shave Off and I said I'd do it on Sunday but things changed and I shaved this morning instead of yesterday for two reasons. One was I had the day off for a change and I just wanted to be lazy, cook a nice pot of homemade pasta sauce and just get caught up on things around the house. The other reason is for this Shave Off I wanted to have a good amount of beard growth so this morning makes it 3 1/2 days growth and my beard grows quickly so a bit of a challenge for these two razors and a good test for the CBL Roasted Oatmeal soap as I'd need some good lather and some nice slickness to toss around these two very efficient razors that I set on setting # 6 which on the Gibbs is the highest setting. The Taiga prototype goes all the way up to 8 as it's max setting so without a tool to measure gaps I just went with both on the same setting and for those that may be wondering the last Shave with the Taiga I maxed it out and eyeballing them both on setting 6 it seemed pretty close on the gap and that's as good as I can do to try and make this a fair Shave Off. For those that don't know the Taiga is a full SS razor made in Russia that is supposed to be pretty much a duplicate of a Gibbs with a few changes here and there to the head which allows for a standard blade while the Gibbs had proprietary blades back then so you have to modify a blade by either using a metal hole punch to make a notch on each side of the blade or just cut the blade with a metal cutter which is what I do as I had no luck finding the right metal punch as I find it not only faster but if you don't put dead center notch in the blade it will lay in the razor crooked. Anyway two one used Feathers in each razor again to make things a fair as possible. The Taigs has a longer handle and is SS so heavier than the Gibbs bakelite handle so the Taiga is not as head heavy as the Gibbs but in my personal opinion it loses some of the maneuverability which is one of the things I love about the Gibbs.
I lathered up and the Roasted Oatmeal soap as the other CBL soaps I've used was easy to get a nice dense lather with and I loaded my brush for about 25 seconds and I had enough for the 2 passes going both WTG and ATG for this Shave Off. I used my WCS Synthetic brush which at this point is my favorite synthetic in my den and my fine shaving bowl to build the nice lather I got for today's Shave Off. The oatmeal scent in the soap hits right away and since my neighbor in the warehouse complex I have my business in is right next door to me and they ferment hops for microbreweries I picked up the stout scent as well. The scent for me was done very well and again for me it is a scent I'd be more likely to use in cooler weather and not something I'd use on a hot summer day..that's where the Fresh Lime I used will definitely see some time.
As some know I divide my face into 4 sections as my whole right side is more difficult to shave because of a bad cowlick I have on my neck and some weird growth patterns I have both on my neck and up the side of my face near my ear. So again to make things fair I give each razor one qtr on my difficult side and one on my easier to shave right side where my beard growth is pretty standard with the WTG going N to S all the way down my neck and the just the opposite going ATG. Around my mouth including my chin I look at as its own separate section as both sides don't really blend well into the area especially my right side. I also use my own technique which I call SSSST which stands for Skin Stretch Short Stroke Technique which I developed after watching a video of an oid Italian master barber shaved a customer with a straight and I notice how much he skin stretched and I thought to myself a DE razor is a lot more manuverable than a STR8 so why not adapt this to a DE only I use what I call a 3 stroke movement which is one stroke in the direction your going so lets say N to S for an example and then after taking about an inch and a half to two inch stroke I go back up to what I call center and then come down again only 30 degrees to the left. Then back to center and then 30 degrees right. and I progress downward using the 3 stroke movement. What I've found is I can get a closer shave in less passes and I can use very efficient razors without any irritation, nicks or weepers because you are always shaving on a smooth landscape because of the skin stretching. Sometimes I do a light but consistent skin stretch and sometime I get very aggressive with it depending on a lot of factors that involve how close of a shave am I going for and what razor I'm using. That's a whole other story I won't bore you with as I've been long winded enough in this write up so on to the Shave Off
Pass 1 WTG - So I started with the Taiga on my right side under my sideburns for my N to S pass and the Taiga had no problem getting through my 3 1/2 days growth on setting 6 but I noticed just a slight bit more blade feel and just a ever so slight bit of hesitation in doing so. I still wish the designer would have gone with a 85 mil handle as I'd like it better than the 90 which just feels a bit long to me. Maybe the production version will be different and maybe it's just me and if I were to get one I'd probably go for the optional Titanium handle which may just give me the bit more maneuverability I'm looking for. It is a smooth razor for the efficiency/effectiveness level it has and on max setting to me it moves on up to the category I'm calling Hyper Efficient where as the Gibbs and the Taiga on setting 6 would be considered Very Efficient in my books. So I finished the pass and a lot of the stubble came off on this pass. Onto the Gibbs on my right side of my neck on this N to S pass and what hit me right away was the Gibbs got through my toughest area where my nasty cowlick resides and the 3 1/2 days growth without any hesitation and it had less blade feel than the Taiga at least on this pass. Maybe because I've used the Gibbs probably a 100 times in the last 3 yrs and I'm very used to it and again what you notice right away is how it's head heavy compared to the Taiga. I have a custom brass stock length handle for the Gibbs which
@Clouds aka Claudio made for me and does give it a little less of a head heavy feel but doesn't really efficient the maneuverability that the Gibbs provides me and with the SSSST I use maneuverability is something that lends itself to the technique. This little guy that some people/members on the shaving forums I belong or belonged to have dubbed this Gibbs " Frechie Foo Foo " LOL I call it my " French Bulldog " as it's a helluva good razor at knocking down serious stubble. So this pass was over and with the Gibbs still in hand I went over to my left side to begin my N to S pass and once again and even more so with my predictable beard growth the Gibbs pretty much wiped away my whiskers as I moved down my face. Around my mouth and under my nose the low profile head is great. The Taiga also presents no problem with that as well. So I finished the pass and grabbed the Taiga for the last WTG area on my left side neck. On this section I didn't notice the slight hesitation I did on my right side and this was a quick knockdown of my stubble in this area. Rinsed and relathered and I had plenty to give me the same density as I had on my first pass so I'm all set for the ATG pass.
Pass 2 ATG - Starting at the base of my neck with the Gibbs I give my skin a good stretch and follow my razor upward for this S to N pass and because the Gibbs took down so much stubble on my 1st pass there was very little left to clean up. The Gibbs did this effortlessly and another quick pass. I feel no need to be careful or be completely focused with this razor as I know it well and I find it very easy to shave with. I could feel the whiskers disappear beneath my skins surface on this pass and any trace of my cowlick hair was sent to it's temporary graveyard like Count Dracula only to rise again LOL. So to continue my journey North I grabbed the Taiga and yep it was just like the Gibbs as far as taken down what little stubble was left and it transformed into a very smooth razor on this pass and matched the Gibbs stroke for stroke. So this side of my face was done and onto my neck on the left side of my face. Taking the Taiga and again giving my skin a nice stretch I worked my way upward and on this pass the Taiga shined as it very quickly sent whatever little stubble left running for cover under my skins surface. It was taking no prisoners! Great pass for the Taiga. So picked up the Gibbs for the last ATG pass and what can I say that I already haven't smooth and very efficient sums up this pass. I did a quick rinse and did a face feel. I definitely got what I call a level 2 BBS and I did a cotton test just to confirm it. Now it's just a matter of time to see how many hours it lasts.
All and all a excellent shave experience pretty much sums it up this Shave Off and at the end both razors pretty much preformed the same as far as end results. If someone were to put a bullet to my head to ask me which razor was better I'd say on the first pass the Gibbs stood out a bit better but the Taiga on the 2nd pass caught up for a tie. My hats off to the developer of the Taiga for a great interpretation of the Gibbs and for someone whos looking for a Gibbs I have to say this razor is about as close to a perfectly conditioned and perfectly loaded Gibbs as your going to get and I'd highly recommend it.
All I'm hoping for is maybe a shorter handle option moving forward.
Also a note to Chris at CBL..nice job on the soap. It preformed great for this Shave Off. Used Mike's Natural barbershop AS splash even though it wasn't a match and what's funny is I can smell notes from both soap and aftershave on my face and it's been about an hour since my shave and my face feels great.
Great Shaves!
DB
