Just thought I’d pop back in here to add my thoughts on the Homelike Shaving Taiga in comparison to the Sailor, now that I’ve had a Taiga for a few weeks. My Taiga is the steel one with satin finish. All this is personal, but I find that while I like the Taiga, it is not close to the Sailor for me. I know some of you feel they are quite equal, but it is different for me.
The Taiga gives me very good shaves - not quite as long-lasting or comfortable as the Sailor, but still very good indeed. The biggest shortcoming of the Taiga for me is the balance, which is rather head-heavy, and the razor just doesn’t feel as natural in my hand as the Sailor does. With the Taiga I am always more aware of the razor rather than the shaving. The Sailor gives me more smoothness too, and a more pleasant degree of blade feel - I don’t know why, but I feel like it has to do with the shape and position of the Sailor’s safety bars relative to the blade edge, but the Sailor is always a very pleasant feeling for me and it doesn’t cause irritation even when I expect it should. Altogether I don’t feel like I gel as much with the Taiga or find as much pleasure using it as I do with the Sailor. The Sailor seems to be more evolved and hangs together better as a design, with the look, the weight, the precision and the almost industrial build quality - it has a very coherent character, which for me the Taiga doesn’t quite match. These things all add up to the difference between “like” and “love”.
None of this is to criticise the Taiga, which I think is an excellent razor, and these are only my preferences. Focusing on the differences inevitably magnifies them and gives them more apparent weight than they should have. I do think if you have a Sailor then it probably makes more sense to consider a titanium Taiga rather than steel, so that you get a lightweight and therefore very different alternative shaving experience from an adjustable. If both are steel then, for me, the Taiga suffers from direct comparison with a masterpiece.
Am interested in other views, since I know some of you have both razors.
The Taiga gives me very good shaves - not quite as long-lasting or comfortable as the Sailor, but still very good indeed. The biggest shortcoming of the Taiga for me is the balance, which is rather head-heavy, and the razor just doesn’t feel as natural in my hand as the Sailor does. With the Taiga I am always more aware of the razor rather than the shaving. The Sailor gives me more smoothness too, and a more pleasant degree of blade feel - I don’t know why, but I feel like it has to do with the shape and position of the Sailor’s safety bars relative to the blade edge, but the Sailor is always a very pleasant feeling for me and it doesn’t cause irritation even when I expect it should. Altogether I don’t feel like I gel as much with the Taiga or find as much pleasure using it as I do with the Sailor. The Sailor seems to be more evolved and hangs together better as a design, with the look, the weight, the precision and the almost industrial build quality - it has a very coherent character, which for me the Taiga doesn’t quite match. These things all add up to the difference between “like” and “love”.
None of this is to criticise the Taiga, which I think is an excellent razor, and these are only my preferences. Focusing on the differences inevitably magnifies them and gives them more apparent weight than they should have. I do think if you have a Sailor then it probably makes more sense to consider a titanium Taiga rather than steel, so that you get a lightweight and therefore very different alternative shaving experience from an adjustable. If both are steel then, for me, the Taiga suffers from direct comparison with a masterpiece.
Am interested in other views, since I know some of you have both razors.