Thread: Straight Shavers ! Beware Of The Mongoose Single Edge Safety Razor !!

I was intrigued by the high recommendations that Obie, Mainaman, and Jamie gave to the Mongoose and asked some questions about it in a thread. Leading a sheltered life down here in the sunny southland I hadn't known there was such as animal. So friend Lynn offered to send his down for me to try and I accepted his kind offer.

A few days latter here in my mailbox was a stainless steel Mongoose with a dispenser of Feather Super Pro blades. The most aggressive of the SE blades that the Mongoose takes. Not wanting to take undue advantage of the situation I resolved to use one blade and see how many shaves I could get out of it.

I got 8 shaves out of the one blade. Some of these were single pass shaves, others were 2 pass. In most cases with a 2 to 3 day growth of beard. In advanced age, and retirement, I have the luxury of not having to shave daily. I could have got more than the 8 shaves but Lynn came down to FL on vacation with his Mrs and I met up with him and returned the Mongoose.

In the meanwhile I had been on the list and my number finally came up. So though I was still a bit reluctant, it ain't cheap, and I am cheap ..... I went for it. As the photos below show, I added the 'Farnsy' handle to the barber pole handle the razor comes with, and glad I did, because it is a perfect match. I just finished my 5th two pass shave with one blade. I went with the Feather Super Pros. At 20 blades per dispenser I'll get a heap of shaves out of it.

I never expected to find a safety razor that I liked better than my Merkur 37C slant, but the Mongoose is it. For me it shaves as close as the Muhle 41 first generation, without the trepidation I feel when using the 41. The 'one false move' feeling. I did nick myself with Lynn's once, and with mine once. It is like a motorcycle, you have to show respect. Become complacent and it will get your attention.

The Mongoose is really well designed for the blade. It is weighty but for me that is a plus. I think the other thing is the heft of the blade. Like a Sheffield wedge, as opposed to a full hollow, there is no flex in the Feather SE blade. I've always felt that in spite of the 'safety' of DE razors the thin flexy blades are capable of biting you if you're not careful. The heavier Feather SE seems to me to be more stable.

So if you get one of these magnificent contraptions, beware that you won't want to use anything else, and your favorite safety razors and straights will gather dust while the Mongoose delivers shave after shave of irritation free BBS with ease. Don't say I didn't warn you.