Yaqi producing a Barbasol Floating Head tribute

YouTuber Subie Shaves announced that Yaqi will be releasing their take on the Barbasol Floating Head. Subie Shaves sent his Barbasol FH to Yaqi, and they used it to design a stainless steel reproduction. 

Photos and videos are from Subie Shaves. 

https://youtu.be/vQTpFIBtslA?si=tvTMrbZzFo7QVixt

Good on them.

Thanks to Spectre's recent "Acquisition" post, I see that this razor is now available for sale:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256808111831034.html

Spectre's post: https://damnfineshave.com/thread-january...#pid574422

Just a short summary of todays first shave with Yaqi Floating Head. 

Two shaves will follow. I will try to give a better summary on Monday. 

The floating head is not for bladefeel wimps. It is aggressive and the shave was also a little rough. This could be due to the construction or the derby blade in its third use. A thicker and stiffer Kai will be fitted tomorrow.

The shave was thorough and efficient. Hardly anything to touch up, as well as lasting, as everything is still without stubble, ten hours have already passed.

I have now had two more shaves with the Yaqi Floating Head.

Changing the blade has brought a noticeable improvement. The slightly thicker and therefore stiffer blade from Kai, which is also beautifully sharp without being uncomfortable, unlike the Feather, was a real blessing.

The game changer, however, was the adjustment of the shaving angle. I'm more of a riding-the-cap guy - it gives me the best results for my face and my beard growth.

The floating head, however, doesn't like that. The angle has to be very steep. Less than 30°, more like 20-25°. So riding-the-bar was the way to go.

This made the shave a lot smoother. In gentle to medium for shave 2 and gentle for shave 3 after getting used to the handling and consistent implementation of the shaving angle completely without pressure, which the floating head doesn't like either. The razor is still nothing for Baldefeel wimps. It remains biting and you have to concentrate.

The reward, however, is an extremely close and efficient shave that lasts a very long time. This morning there was very little stubble to shave off and all without touching up at all.

I like the Yaqi Floating Head. As I can't make a comparison with the Barbabsol yet, I owe you this part.  If Yaqi has done a similarly good job as with the Merkur Progress clone Avanti, then that will be all the more satisfying.

Shave 2:


Shave 3:

Steep angle is the proper way to use Barbasol Floating head according to its original patent. Fig.6 clearly shows this.

Barbasol Floating Head vs. Yaqi Floating

I recently received my Yaqi Floating and used it for the first time tonight in a side-by-side shave with an original Barbasol Floating Head. I started with a two-pass shave on my head (WTG and ATG) followed by a three-pass shave on my face (WTG, XTG, and ATG). The end result was an efficient BBS shave from both razors.

Overall, I preferred the Barbasol. It felt a bit smoother and "safer" to me. The Yaqi seemed to have a bit more blade feel and gave me the impression that it might "bite" more readily. At times, the Yaqi had a slight scraping feeling, which could mean that I didn't quite dial in the optimal angle with it on this first shave. I've owned the Barbasol for over two years, so I'm definitely more familiar with it. I'm happy to take additional comparison photos if anyone is interested in seeing other angles of the razors.

Stickshift Wonderful. Thank you for those photos. I just received my Barbasol, which is not in the same "perfect" condition like yours. Someday I will clean it and then use it for a comparision shave too.