who still loves their razorock mamba?

[jonwilson]

I do

At first, I got pretty good shaves with it and than I had a few other shaves where I thought the razor was more mild than I would like. Others have claimed this razor is too mild. I don't shave as often as others on here. I probably shave every 6-7 days and this razor has been taking the hair off without any problem. For me, it's all about the ANGLE. This razor is very very efficient and comfortable. Don't give up on this razor if you just used it a few times, For me, the more I use it and the more I use the correct angle, the more I really love this razor.

 

[ShavePastor]

Very well spoken!

 

[gvw755]

There is a difference between mild and efficient. Just because you can't feel the razor doing anything or it doesn't sound like a buzz saw going across your face, doesn't necessarily mean it isn't doing it's job, which is to clear whiskers. My most favorite razors are the ones where I have to stop and check if it is actually cutting or just clearing lather because it is so comfortable and effortless. The Mamba falls squarely within that group, along with the Wunderbar.

 

[rudyt]

Mild does not imply inefficient, it just means the razor has a relatively small blade exposure.

Small blade exposure needs better angle control to extract the efficiency. If your angle is off, it won't cut well, you'll apply too much pressure and you'll say "it's too mild for me" instead of "I can't find and maintain the proper angle".

The oval-slot Tech gets the same bad rap. Both razors hold the blade very rigidly and are super shavers. You don't choose them - they choose you.

 

[Jopete]

I actually got one of my closest shaves from the Mamba a few days ago.
I let my beard grow and had a 5 day growth and wanted to get a shave that wasn't BBS but with a little bit of a "shadow " before going out, ( some times I like a little bit of hair growth so I don't look like a teenager ) I figured the Mamba would be the perfect razor for this but I thought I would try to shim it and used 2 blades with the edges cut off on top of a Kai blade.
To my surprise this made a huge difference in efficiency, it didn't really add too much of a gap with just two blades. I usually shave with a shallow angle with the Mamba and can shave fast without worrying about nicks and irritation, I had to adjust the angle a little steeper and shaved with a little more caution cause it was removing a lot of growth really close.
After two passes with some touch up I ended with a BBS without any irritation, I noticed the Mamba works well if you had a few days growth, next time I will try using just one blade as a shim.
I didn't expect to make a big difference in efficiency with just a little bit of added gap and the blade stayed rigid the whole time.
This is my first time using a shim with any razor but I just learned a quick and simple way to make a razor more efficient by just adding an additional blade with the edges cut off on top of your blade.
It's almost like having an adjustable by choosing how many blades you want to add to increase the gap and it works really well with the Mamba.
The Mamba is efficient by itself and finding the right angle for it is key. I usually use a shallow angle riding the cap, but when I added the shim I had to lower the angle steeper. It is a smooth and efficient razor.

 

[jar_]

Love might be too strong a term but my Mamba still does exactly what it should do.

 

[Bricksville]

Don't give up on this razor if you just used it a few times,

That strikes me as sound advice for any new razor.

 

[Cino]

I actually got one of my closest shaves from the Mamba a few days ago.
I let my beard grow and had a 5 day growth and wanted to get a shave that wasn't BBS but with a little bit of a "shadow " before going out, ( some times I like a little bit of hair growth so I don't look like a teenager ) I figured the Mamba would be the perfect razor for this but I thought I would try to shim it and used 2 blades with the edges cut off on top of a Kai blade.
To my surprise this made a huge difference in efficiency, it didn't really add too much of a gap with just two blades. I usually shave with a shallow angle with the Mamba and can shave fast without worrying about nicks and irritation, I had to adjust the angle a little steeper and shaved with a little more caution cause it was removing a lot of growth really close.
After two passes with some touch up I ended with a BBS without any irritation, I noticed the Mamba works well if you had a few days growth, next time I will try using just one blade as a shim.
I didn't expect to make a big difference in efficiency with just a little bit of added gap and the blade stayed rigid the whole time.
This is my first time using a shim with any razor but I just learned a quick and simple way to make a razor more efficient by just adding an additional blade with the edges cut off on top of your blade.
It's almost like having an adjustable by choosing how many blades you want to add to increase the gap and it works really well with the Mamba.
The Mamba is efficient by itself and finding the right angle for it is key. I usually use a shallow angle riding the cap, but when I added the shim I had to lower the angle steeper. It is a smooth and efficient razor.

How do you cut the edges off for the shim?

 

[Ron R]

How do you cut the edges off for the shim?

Tin snips work the best, just snip the the cutting edges off and no more and just cut a little off the the ends a little it helps to part the shims from the primary blade. If you have a honing stone of any shape or size to hone the cut edges of the shims after cutting of snips is a good idea also so they sit flat on one another when stacked. I use shims on my razors to make the primary blade more rigid mostly but in can make the razor a little more aggressive from my experience depending the # of shims..

 

[Zlirpy]

So just to be clear, the cut-off shim blade goes toward the handle or away?

 

[Ron R]

So just to be clear, the cut-off shim blade goes toward the handle or away?

Shim goes Underneath the primary blade to raise the blade to increase blade gab, shim goes towards the handle first and then the primary blade on top to lift the blade higher! Hope this helps you for shim & blade orientation. This fellow went into great detail on shims on this B&B thread Modifying Safety Razor Aggressiveness & Efficiency with Blade, Shims, Reverse Shims, and Tape Strips

 

[Zlirpy]

Thank you!

 

[Sharp&Shiny]

I really like mine and will never get rid of it. It gives me a DFS++ every time and a BBS without irritatation if I do a little skin stretching. I like to use sharp blades with it like Feathers. I think people gave up on it too quickly when they couldn’t get a BBS with it.

 

[randy35]

I need to give mine another try soon. I took a break because there was one spot on my neck I had trouble with. Everywhere else was great though.

 

[Dagabose]

I love mine, because it seems to make the blade rigid, which helps with my course facial hair.

 

[Rhody]

Sadly my love affair is over. I used it for a week straight and I just couldn't get good smooth shaves. I felt like I was using too much pressure especially around my chin and neck my usual tough spots. I tried to play with angles but couldn't get close. Felt likely many of my cart bad habits were coming back as I was trying to get a close shave.

 

[Sharp&Shiny]

Sadly my love affair is over. I used it for a week straight and I just couldn't get good smooth shaves. I felt like I was using too much pressure especially around my chin and neck my usual tough spots. I tried to play with angles but couldn't get close. Felt likely many of my cart bad habits were coming back as I was trying to get a close shave.

Will you keep it or sell it?

 

[BradWorld]

I still love mine. I used my original Black Mamba for comparison last week, and the new one is quite a bit smoother, with almost the same efficiency. Love them both.

 

[sw_]

After several weeks of use, I still like it very much but I wish it would be just a little tad more aggressive. It doesn't require as much buffing as the Tech or X3 that I used before, though.
I certainly don't like the handle although it does look nice. My hollow Maggard MR5 (52g) and MR11 (34g) are a much better match. Less weight and better grip.

 

[Jopete]

Here is another way that works great with the Mamba if you want it to be more efficient, you don't want to put too much blade gap that it makes the blade less rigid which is why I like the Mamba due to the blade staying rigid and just a little bit of gap increase works really good with this design, looking at it you can't really tell that there is a shim when you assemble the razor yet the shaves are even more efficient and stays smooth.
I just inserted a rubber O ring in each

post and it fits perfect due to the indentation around the two post on the base plate of the Mamba, you can do this or use the cut off blade on top of the blade you are using, just make sure the blade stays rigid since this is one of the main characters that makes the Mamba a great razor imho.
Make sure you screw the handle tight enough that everything stays secure, for those that find this razor too mild and inefficient you can try this without sacrificing the smooth shave of the Mamba.