Gibbs vs Heritage Gibbs

Ever since this Heritage Gibbs came out I've been wanting to do a side by side to see how they compare.

Here are the 2 razors being used.

First the build quality, the nod here definitely goes to the Heritage. The metal handle is more solid and adjustment nut lines up correctly at 1 on the lowest setting on the Heritage. The spring on the Heritage seems to be more stiff but that could be due to the age on the Gibbs razor and metal fatigue. One thing that I did notice and it maybe to due to the springs is that the Heritage at 1 hash mark higher than on the Gibbs the blade gaps are about equal. One test I plan to do is switch the springs and see if that relationship flips or not.

Onto the initial shaves.

First shave - Heritage Gibbs adjustment nut set at N which is 3 hash marks from fully tightened.

Shave is smooth almost no notice of the blade. Super efficient with a just at the BBS line finish after 5 passes. Too mild for me and would definitely run it at a higher setting for daily shaving.

Second shave - OG Gibbs adjustment nut set at 3 hash marks from fully tightened.

Compared to shave one with the Heritage there was more blade feel but not blade harshness and to test I adjusted the Heritage to 4 hash marks from fully tightened and compared them first visually which they looked almost the same for blade gap and such then on face feel which they both felt about the same for the swipes that I did with both on all the passes. Super efficient and full BBS finish after 5 passes. Long time since I've used a Gibbs but it reminded me why this razor is so well regarded. It is a super mild but deadly efficient hair assassin. With that said I was suprised just how close the Heritage was on the first shave to this one. It is in the same ballpark and I suspect the next shave with the Heritage at 4 hash marks out should match this shave here. From that point I can then test the springs to see if they are the issue here by switching them in each razor.

Don't think it matters but your OG adjustment screw is upside down Looking forward to your review and thoughts compared to others

Don't think it matters but your OG adjustment screw is upside down Looking forward to your review and thoughts compared to others

Actually it does. Besides lining up the nut to almost 1 on it being tightened down it threw off how far each is different from each other. Now the Heritage is a full hash mark lower to match the gap of the Gibbs instead of the other way around. If I am lucky I eyeballed it right and only need 2 more shaves without having to fiddle with one to match it up to prove they are pretty much the same sans spring.

Don't think it matters but your OG adjustment screw is upside down  Looking forward to your review and thoughts compared to others 

Actually it does. Besides lining up the nut to almost 1 on it being tightened down it threw off how far each is different from each other. Now the Heritage is a full hash mark lower to match the gap of the Gibbs instead of the other way around. If I am lucky I eyeballed it right and only need 2 more shaves without having to fiddle with one to match it up to prove they are pretty much the same sans spring.

I had a feeling there was more difference in my experience.

Don't think it matters but your OG adjustment screw is upside down  Looking forward to your review and thoughts compared to others 

Actually it does. Besides lining up the nut to almost 1 on it being tightened down it threw off how far each is different from each other. Now the Heritage is a full hash mark lower to match the gap of the Gibbs instead of the other way around. If I am lucky I eyeballed it right and only need 2 more shaves without having to fiddle with one to match it up to prove they are pretty much the same sans spring.

I had a feeling there was more difference in my experience.

Putting each to the face with a few days growth I should be able to dial them in more by feel to get a more accurate side by side. I really need to find 2 identical springs that I can use in each or use one in both. The one in both issue is I can't compare in real time.

Third shave - Heritage Gibbs adjustment nut set at between N and 2.

After readjusting, visually inspecting the blade gaps and such and then face feel to match them up best as possible this is the setting I found to approximate the Gibbs I have set at N after flipping the adjustment nut. With said it is a very close but not quite BBS finish after 5 passes. Gibbs initial shave at N was better. They are close but there is a possibility they will match up now that the Gibbs was readjusted. Next shave will be with the readjusted Gibbs at N then finally opening both up to about 5 or 6 on the dial.

Fourth shave - OG Gibbs adjustment nut set at N.

OG Gibbs was readjusted prior so the nut now stops at almost 1 when fully tightened. This was the best shave yet in the comparisons, even better though not by much when the nut was upside down and didn't align to 1 when fully tightened. With that said the Heritage has been able to hang with the Gibbs through the equivalent to this by my imprecise methods. For the same amount of blade feel the Gibbs is much more efficient for about the same smoothness so far. If the Heritage was a home run that just clears the outfield wall, the Gibbs is a home run hit into the bleachers all things being equivalent. Next 2 shaves the kid gloves comes off and both will be set to about 5 to see how they perform and compare on the wild side of the scale.