The Mongoose Chronicles

Lifes a Peach

...or a mango. But definitely a fruit.
2016 Sabbatical
Charity Auction Team
Joined
Sep 16, 2013
Borrowing from an idea of a fellow wet shaver, I would like to journal my experiences with this relatively newcomer into the wet shaving market. This may be helpful for anyone who may be considering a Mongoose in the future. From time to time I will update this thread with my experiences. Hopefully my efforts will improve with each shave and I'll determine if the hype matches the experience.

This Single Edge razor is the brainchild of Bruce Weber (no relation to the other and more well known Weber). Like the infamous Cobra and Feather shavettes, the Mongoose uses Artist Club blades made by companies like Kai and Feather. Mine is batch 2 version, which was sold directly from Bruce Weber. Bullgoose will take over the retailing operations from the next batch of razors. With Cobra razors very hard to come I took the opportunity to snap up one of these.

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The Mongoose comes in the polished mirror finish and a satin version, with limited handle options. I opted for a mirror finish with the Slim Dub handle. Total cost $US149 plus shipito costs to Australia. All stainless steel, it is wider, longer and much heavier than a standard DE. Other handle options include the Dub Legend and knurling versions on the Satin finished.

Comparisons with a Merkur 30C.
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The mirror finish is complete on all surfaces of the razor with the exception of the top-cap and base insides. It comes with warnings that the mirror finish is fragile. In other words it is easily prone to scratches. So far no one has reported any serious issues in this regard.

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The handle thread is standard gage so they it easily interchangeable with handles from ATT, Weber, Ikon and other artisan made handles like UFO.

My shaves will start with the Kai Mild blades. As I gain more confidence I will switch to Feather Pro's. From time to time I might experiment with other handles from my den.
 
Sounds good. Thanks for adding your thoughts here.
Is this your first SE razor or are you fairly experimented with SE's?
 
Thanks Filo. Good pickup - I have had no experience with a SE razor and blade.
 
Wow that thing looks like it means business
 
Hmmmm. The Cobra Classic always gets mentioned as a RAD-killer, but they are near impossible to get. This looks really nicely finished but I would be concerned with scratching.

Also, Injector-style blades are getting harder to find - when I started DE shaving you could find the Schickstas for around 8-10c per blade. Hell, even P74's were around and reasonably plentiful.

I think you can only get Personna, Kai and Feather from an in-production standpoint now.

There are some older Schick Platinums and plenty of Personna Rebranded blades around if you want them.
 
I am watching this one keenly. Love the look of this razor and thinking it will be my next step closer to going straight.
 
Mongoose Journal - Days 1 and 2

In summary both shaves turned out to be fizzers. My experiences were complete polar opposites to the reviews coming in from abroad. The shaves were rough and I got cut up on the chin and cheeks. Upon inspection I noticed that the blade gap on one side of the razor was out of alignment. The was due to the holes on the blade surface not seated properly in the guiding tabs of top cap. The result was half of the blade was not sitting flush with the top cap. Extreme force is required to properly seat the blade into those tabs and then a jimmy tool is needed remove the blade. Very disappointing.

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The good news however is Mongoose responded to my enquiry quite quickly. They acknowledged that a small number of units appear to have this issue and they will be sending me a replacement top cap immediately.

Stay tuned.




 
Good that you got on top of it early and they're sending you a replacement.
 
Matt Glass from Mongoose contacted me a second time to let me know they were expediting the shipping. Really good service after being an unlucky recipient.
 
This is turning into a tale of tragedy, love, loss, redemption…I'm hooked already. All the ingredients of a good chronicle.
Seriously mate hope it works out.
 
Thanks Stillsy. A new toy showed up yesterday so that should keep me occupied until the replacement arrives. I'm confident that it will all work out.
 
Very interested in this. How long between ordering and receiving the razor? Looks like a 3-4 mth wait from the other forums. The hype on this seems huge. I've resisted so far as I have so many nice razors already.
 
OK you've got me curious. New toy? Pray do tell….

Check December Acquisitions, Stillsy.

Very interested in this. How long between ordering and receiving the razor? Looks like a 3-4 mth wait from the other forums. The hype on this seems huge. I've resisted so far as I have so many nice razors already.

It was about a 3 month wait that got delayed by another 3 or so weeks when the entire batch had to be sent back to the factory due to QA issues. Your resistance is a good thing because there are a few gremlins that need to be ironed out. My replacement top cap should be the latest design that has beveled blade posts making it easier to load the blade. Hopefully my next review will be more positive.
 
Also, Injector-style blades are getting harder to find - when I started DE shaving you could find the Schickstas for around 8-10c per blade. Hell, even P74's were around and reasonably plentiful.

I think you can only get Personna, Kai and Feather from an in-production standpoint now.

There are some older Schick Platinums and plenty of Personna Rebranded blades around if you want them.

Yep, these blades are not available in abundance but a few stores have reliable supplies. Heaps of Feathers on the bay. I got mine from Bullgoose. Dovo blades pop up here and there.
 
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