Shave review of Janus Adjustable razor and Shave Off vs Gillette F4 Toggle

Hi James

As far as my task to sell 73 razors in all honesty my friend that is up to the owner. I would love to see this razor get the backing and if this thread helps him reach his goal then I guess that's a good thing but I think that is probably not going to happen from a couple of Shave Offs I do. One is after talking to Eric I like and respect the guy for all the hard work he's put into this project even though I don't agree with his marketing plan as I think he needed professional help with that. The other reason I hope this razor makes it to market is after shaving with it for the first time although it wasn't set on max it was a very pleasant shave and honestly it exceeded my expectations in it's shaving capabilities. Also I love the Toggle and this is to me a nice tribute to the original and I really like some of the 8 trim options that will be offered if it does get to market. What you are suggesting is something that went through my mind right after my first shave with it as I lightly mentioned in a previous post. Reason I didn't push it was I thought my task was to compare it to the Toggle and I'm in agreeance that I'd just like to open them both up as you know I like very efficient razors and see how they match up. So with that said I'll take your suggestion and go max to max with the Janus and the Toggle first Shave Off and get that out of the way as I promised Eric I'd do that for him.  Next I'll pull out the WR2 Ti 135 SB and see how it compares to the most efficient razor in my den and then if it's not at that level I'll go down a notch or two to one of my other go to razors. What I'm thinking just based on the first shave is this razor has a very good balance of both smoothness and efficiency at least it did on setting #5.. it may change when set on # 9  so we shall see...

Size wise as you said it's no lightweight but when I adjusted my grip to hold it at the balance point right below the gold trim and my pinky on the toggle it became a shorter razor and I had no issues with that. Weight only bothered me on the ATG pass up near my sideburns as I'm not used to a razor that heavy but I'll be aware of it on the next shave and I'm sure it won't be a problem.  I just weighted my WR1 SS .94 DC with the HR2 handle on it and it's only 1 gram lighter at 121 grams on my scale. Knowing you, the length of the Janus would absolutely be right up your alley as you can see in the photo it is longer than any of the others. I'm not sure how that would compare to your " Thor's Hammer "  handle but in the photos you'll see it compared to the Blackbird SB. my  WR1 SS .94 DC HR2,  WR2 Ti  DC HR7 and my Rhodium Toggle just to give you and the other members a comparison.  

Thanks for all your input my friend!

Let's not kid ourselves Frankie. If he has a chance at selling 100, he needs your help. You are the only guy who has one to test and I value your opinion. So, if it makes our conversation more palatable, sell just one. To me. Please. Toggle vs Toggle is a silly comparison, to me. If I want a Toggle shave, I'll use a Toggle and spend $500 on other gear. Like you, at one time not long ago, I never dreamed I'd have $500 razors laying around. Yet here we are Frankie. Drowning in a sea of them. The price tag is certainly not the issue.

The appeal of the Janus is that it's a better mousetrap. To me that means amp up the efficiency and keep the smoothness. You already told me on a 5 setting, it's 17-4 smooth. You said little blade feel, yet surprisingly efficient. Armed with those nuggets, I can fill in my own Toggle v Toggle battle.

The more time you spend on that comparison is doing the Janus a disservice. They really are only comparable in looks and function. Throw in a $500 buy in price (2 decent Toggles) and the Janus better bring a lot more to the table. It needs to be several top tiered razors in one package From your first report, from setting 0-5 I think the Janus likely has CG L1/L2, 17-4, Blackbird, WR1 up to 80gap, WR2 up to 115gap, all covered. That's promising as hell.

What I need to know is how it is going to handle the big boys. Will it handle days when my focus is there and I want the closest shave possible? Does the head maintain smoothness through the gap? Or do we have a WR1 that defies logic and actually smooth out with gap?

Put it up against the best razor in your den. We don't have time to build drama bro. Jump in the deep end and we can go from there.

James my friend I basically agree with everything you said except I can’t sell it lol

With that said barre with me on the Janus vs Toggle Shave Off on Max settings as I’d like to keep my word as I promised Eric I’d do it. You and I have Shaved with our Toggles on Max setting and I don’t know what your take on it is but for me it’s my 2nd favorite Adjustable right behind my Frenchie Bulldog Gibbs which on Max is more efficient. The Toggle maxed out is a bit more efficient than a Fatboy and Slim maxed out and noticeably smoother so it may not be a walk in the park to take down the Toggle.

I’ve already got the photos taken and my gear in place for this Shave Off and waiting in the corner is my WR2 1.35 as it will go 2nd and that I promise! As I said I’m a man of my word!

James my friend I basically agree with everything you said except I can’t sell it lol

With that said barre with me on the Janus vs Toggle Shave Off on Max settings as I’d like to keep my word as I promised Eric I’d do it. You and I have Shaved with our Toggles on Max setting and I don’t know what your take on it is but for me it’s my 2nd favorite Adjustable right behind my Frenchie Bulldog Gibbs which on Max is more efficient. The Toggle maxed out is a bit more efficient than a Fatboy and Slim maxed out and  noticeably smoother so it may not be a walk in the park to take down the Toggle.

I’ve already got the photos taken and my gear in place for this Shave Off and waiting in the corner is my WR2 1.35 as it will go 2nd  and that I promise! As I said I’m a man of my word!

I would actually prefer that you compare the Janus to other Modern Razors. I’m guessing that at least 90% of Janus’s potential Customers could care less about how the Janus Shaves compared to the Toggle. Most probably don’t even own a Toggle, I know that I don’t and I’ve never Shaved with one.

The fact that Eric wants you to make this comparison is to me just one more example of him being out of touch with the majority of the wet shaving community, and his potential customers. He designed the Janus to be used with Derby Blades for goodness sake, one of the most despised DE Blades in all of wet shaving! His Video on the Kickstarter page shows him smearing lather around on his face with the Janus as if there is no blade in it (or maybe just a Derby). Seeing these things doesn’t instill much confidence in me regarding this Razor, and certainly doesn’t make me want to back it.

I’m sure Eric is a very nice Man, and there’s no doubt he’s very intelligent. I admire his passion for this project, and I would love to see him succeed. I own or have owned most of the ‘high end’ Razors out there, but as of now, I’ve got zero interest in owning this Razor. I use all of my Razors, they aren’t collectors items. My Razors have to be good Shavers to stay in my Den, especially at an introductory price of $500.

Frank, Thank You for taking the time to do this comprehensive review. I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts as you get more use out of the Janus.

I think Hunter nailed it with his comments above.

Also remember that this razor, The Janus, is an adjustable so owners may want to adjust their shave for whatever reason. Although some may open it up to 9 always, others may prefer a milder setting. So its relative comparison at multiple "adjustable" levels is very pertinent to the end user experience.

Its comparison to modern day DE razors that are available would talk to the potential target audience which, we all agree, is not the beginner user crowd. Comparing to modern available razors rather than one offs or discontinued DEs would better communicate its attributes and deficits. I think if it were compared with a razor that very few have ever had access to would be limit its relative discussion. Yes compare it to the "unobtaniums" but also, by discussing it relative to the available moderns, we can have a better understanding and our expectations may be better managed regarding The Janus.

Good luck Dragonsbeard

It would likely pair nicely with a Timeless 95SS. Both are roughly the same dimesionally. Same bulky head. Same heaviness.

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James my friend I basically agree with everything you said except I can’t sell it lol

With that said barre with me on the Janus vs Toggle Shave Off on Max settings as I’d like to keep my word as I promised Eric I’d do it. You and I have Shaved with our Toggles on Max setting and I don’t know what your take on it is but for me it’s my 2nd favorite Adjustable right behind my Frenchie Bulldog Gibbs which on Max is more efficient. The Toggle maxed out is a bit more efficient than a Fatboy and Slim maxed out and  noticeably smoother so it may not be a walk in the park to take down the Toggle.

I’ve already got the photos taken and my gear in place for this Shave Off and waiting in the corner is my WR2 1.35 as it will go 2nd  and that I promise! As I said I’m a man of my word!

I would actually prefer that you compare the Janus to other Modern Razors. I’m guessing that at least 90% of Janus’s potential Customers could care less about how the Janus Shaves compared to the Toggle. Most probably don’t even own a Toggle, I know that I don’t and I’ve never Shaved with one.

The fact that Eric wants you to make this comparison is to me just one more example of him being out of touch with the majority of the wet shaving community, and his potential customers. He designed the Janus to be used with Derby Blades for goodness sake, one of the most despised DE Blades in all of wet shaving! His Video on the Kickstarter page shows him smearing lather around on his face with the Janus as if there is no blade in it (or maybe just a Derby). Seeing these things doesn’t instill much confidence in me regarding this Razor, and certainly doesn’t make me want to back it.

I’m sure Eric is a very nice Man, and there’s no doubt he’s very intelligent. I admire his passion for this project, and I would love to see him succeed. I own or have owned most of the ‘high end’ Razors out there, but as of now, I’ve got zero interest in owning this Razor. I use all of my Razors, they aren’t collectors items. My Razors have to be good Shavers to stay in my Den, especially at an introductory price of $500.

Frank, Thank You for taking the time to do this comprehensive review. I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts as you get more use out of the Janus.

I think Hunter nailed it with his comments above.

Also remember that this razor, The Janus, is an adjustable so owners may want to adjust their shave for whatever reason. Although some may open it up to 9 always, others may prefer a milder setting. So its relative comparison at multiple "adjustable" levels is very pertinent to the end user experience.

Its comparison to modern day DE razors that are available would talk to the potential target audience which, we all agree, is not the beginner user crowd. Comparing to modern available razors rather than one offs or discontinued DEs would better communicate its attributes and deficits. I think if it were compared with a razor that very few have ever had access to would be limit its relative discussion. Yes compare it to the "unobtainium" but also, by discussing it relative to the available moderns, we can have a better understanding and our expectations may be better managed regarding The Janus.

Good luck Dragonsbeard

Ok guys I get it and I'm not saying you are wrong and I was just doing not only Eric wanted but some others including myself as to how a modern razor inspired by a vintage razor compares. When the Rex came out I did 3 Shave Offs with it the first batch, 2nd batch and 3rd batch and the 2 razors I compared it to were the ones that the owner Matt made a statement on saying it was the Gillette Fatboy and the Gibbs adjustable that was inspired the Rex. I had a Gibbs back then and knew how good it was and my Fatboy was the first DE razor I shaved with and the only razor I shaved with for the first 3 or 4 yrs of this 10yr journey in wet shaving. So for those that either have Gillette Toggles or those that are intrigued by them and would like to get on by maybe have an alternative in this new Toggle type razor it made sense to compare the 2 together. Also if you have ever shaved with or own a Slim or Fatboy to answer AJSharp By Shaving with a Toggle then all of you really can relate to the Shave comparison as the Toggle is very close to the Fatboy and Slim in it's shaving capabilities except it's a bit more efficient on the max setting and it's also smoother so that does cover a whole lot of people that use Fatboys and Slims every day. Also many of those Slim and Fatty owner know how they compare to other razors in their den like TTO Aristocrats, Superspeeds and other razors they personally compare to the Fatboy and Slim. Once I shave with the Janus on max settings I can surely compare it to other razors I"ve shaved with so people can relate to what razors it compares to.

As far as modern razors goes as I mentioned I planned on comparing the Janus to the WR2 1.35 which is most efficient razor in my den to test it on that basis. Efficiency! From that Shave Off depending how it goes will also tell me a lot on how it compares to other high end modern razors in my den like my Charcoal Goods Level 2 & 3, Paradigm 17 4, RS 10 and other Wolfman razors etc.

Also TheHunter Your right in saying Eric is sort of out of touch. He should have seeked advice from seasoned knowledgeable wet shavers which I'm guessing from my talks he did not but used some people that obviously gave him bad or incorrect advice. He is kind of naive when it comes to wet shaving and when talking to him it reminds me of when I talk to people who are new to wet shaving which is pretty apparent when you talk to Eric. In that video which I thought and told him was awful he really didn't know what he was doing. The man speaks with broken english as he's from S Africa but he's very smart and an accomplished engineer. He thought the Toggle was cool and decided that was his target razor to design and improve on strictly designer and engineers standpoint and I have to say he took on a major project trying to duplicate probably one of or maybe the most complicated razor ever built with the Toggle. So yes I get everything you say and Derby blades are awful but the Feather in there was a natural fit IMO. I also agree he should have connected to his target audience much better than he did as that's how you sell razors. Like I mentioned he could have used a partner who understands sales and marketing and I'm sure he'd be in a much better spot right now than he is.

So with 3 requests to not use the Toggle first I'm going to put it on the backburner but I will do a Shave Off with it before it goes back as I want to not only see for myself but for others who have expressed their interest in pm's and phone calls to me as well as satisfying my own curiosity. So Gentlemen I'll pull out the WR2 1.35 Ti and it will be the first Shave Off and depending on the results I'll figure out what other razors to use in the short amount of time I have to use it. I may even use 3 or 4 razors in one Shave Off.. I"ve done it before. Section my face in 4 sections and use a different razor in each section as there is nothing like doing a side by side when trying to compare razors.

So I will ask you gentlemen if you had to pick some razors for me to compare to the Janus what razors would they be?

Thanks all for your input! It is very much appreciated.

I don't know how others feel but I just cant get past the looks of
this razor.

The marketing strategy is intriguing. It seems to be suggesting:
remember that vintage Toggle you've always wanted but couldn't bring
yourself to shell out upwards of $400 for. Well, now you can have one
for $600.

I agree with the poster who opined that the target for this can't be
Toggle lovers. They might even see the design as blasphemy.

The marketing needs to address why this thing costs more than a Wolfman
which blows my mind every time I use it.

Following. Would love to here how it compares to the WR2 Ti 1.35 as that along with my WR2 SS SB 1.25 are my favorite razors of all you have spoken about

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rawfox1

I’ll be using the WR2 Titanium 1.35 in this mornings Shave Off before heading to work. Look for the report later on today.

This will give me an idea of how efficient the Janus is and is it still as smooth on the max setting as it was on setting # 5.

In a side by side Shave Off the 1.35 is the only razor to better the Ikon Tech in efficiency so the Janus has a mighty high hill to climb to match the 1.35 in efficiency but no matter the outcome it will give me a good evaluation of what razors it would compare to in not only efficiency but smoothness. I’m looking forward to this Shave Off.

Just wish I had more time with it or my beard would grow out much faster so I could get more shaves in with it before it has to move on to another member who will continue this thread with some other Shave Offs.