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The Asylum Rx
I've been attracted to the look of this razor since I first saw it - but I'm aware that it's not a design that appeals to all and its rather unusual visuals does seem to be quite polarizing.
Let's start with some basics about the razor
Material: 303 Stainless Steel
Blade type: Your AC type SE blades
Manufacturing: CNC machining
Dimensions: Handle: 83mm, Total razor: 110mm
Weight: Head 53gr, Handle 59gr, Total: 112gr
Availability: Currently, Oct 11, 2016, sold out but more batches to arrive in 2016
Vendor: Bullgooseshaving
Price: $230 / £187
First impressions
The razor arrives in a small box with a custom cut foam inlay that does a good job presenting as well as protecting the razor. No complaints at all. Sure, for $230 it would had been nice to have a pack of blades include as well but I won't hold that against the razor.
Picking up the razor I was a bit surprised at the size. For some reason, even after having read the specs, I had in my mind anticipated something a bit larger..closer to a King Cobra maybe. It's not a bad thing per se - just a bit of a personal surprise.
I really do like the look of it though...it's as 'futuristic looking' as my Merkur Vision 2000 but more campy akin to the original and campy "Battlestar Galactica"...
....and Merkur Vision's has more of a slick, modern Star Trek look
It's of course possible to love both - or neither - of them.
Luckily for me I appreciate the look of both of them.
Design
The razor is on the surface your traditional three-piece design but the way the components come together goes a bit beyond that.
Front of the head:
The back of the head:
Having the razor in my possession did make it more clear, to me, why I thought it reminded me about the Tradere - but that might be just me;
Ye olde finger balancing to assess where the balancing point is
Looks to be where I was expecting it to be and appears well balanced for its stock handle.
Here's the Rx Asylum next to some other common modern SE razors - and a Slim thrown in for good measure;
(From left to right: King Cobra, Mongoose, Rx Asylum, Cobra Classic and Gillette Slim)
Now, one of the neat things is that if you don't care much for the Rx Asylum stock handle...fear not - you can put most any regular razor handle on the head (granted, some combinations looks more successful than other).
Here's the head on a Mongoose handle;
...and on a Rockwell 6s handle;
...even though this combination technically seems to work...it might not be the best
Blade loading
This video by Bullgoose shows the blade loading.
In person the head design and blade loading had an almost Rocnelesque feel to it. That is probably in part due to me disassembling the head and loading the blade that way - but the puzzle-like design of the head components does make this feel like a rather novel and different blade loading experience. I had to fiddle with it for a bit at first but after having loaded the razor a few times it became a no-issue.
Showing how the parts of the head comes together:
Blade loading process aside the blade aligns very well once loaded;
Fit and finish
Now this is where the love affair hits a little bit of rocky grounds.
As you might have spotted in some of the photos above there are faint, horizontal lines across the head components on almost every surface.
Example here again;
where you might be able to distinguish the lines.
Now, the photos does enhances their appearance as they are not as strong/visible to the naked eye. I noticed the same horizontal line on almost every surface area of the razor head. I wouldn't necessarily return the razor because of these lines - but it does make me wonder about the manufacturing process as I've never seen this on any of my other stainless steel razors. That and I did pay $230 for it so no lines at all would had been, well, nice.
Mounting the head to the handle is one of my small obsessions to try out when it comes to a newly received razor. Does it squeak, is there any resistance, does it lock safely and is is buttery smooth?
Well, the Asylum Rx gets a passable grade. There is no squeaking and the threads are well defined and allows the head to mount safe and securely. It is however not anywhere near the almost frictionless mounting that you find in razors like Wolfman and Timeless razor.
If you've made it this far I assume you're also curious about how it actually shaves, so...
How does it shave?
To answer that questions I decided to have an evening shave. I didn't shave this morning so there was a good day and a half of beard growth.
Lathered up some Fitjar and put a fresh Feather Pro into it and had at it.
Pass 1 (WTG):
Initial feeling is that it's a rather mild razor. I am wishing for a slightly longer handle as I position the razor in my hand.
The angle is relatively easy to find on my cheeks but a bit less intuitive on the neck for some reason. I am feeling a 'lot of razor' so I re-adjust the angle again somewhat.
Pass 2 ATG
It feels mid-aggressive - which doesn't mean anything. To compare it to other razors I'd say it's somewhere between the Mongoose and the King Cobra. Probably slightly closer to the Mongoose. Still feeling a lot of razor steel when I shave and try to re-re-adjust the razor. Same difficulty dial it in on the neck but the cheeks and chin poses no problem.
I find myself not quite 'enjoying' the shave and this is where the highly subjective reasoning comes in. It's probably impossible to describe this in a way that makes sense - but I didn't find that I enjoyed the feel of the razor against my face.
The resulting two-pass shave was a clean rather close shave. Not KC clean/close - or 'even' Mongoose - but still very passable.
I want to love this razor - there are two hundred and thirty reasons for me to - but right now I can't say I really like it. What I'll do next is put a new, fresh blade in it (I want to rule out the possibility of a dud blade) and play around with the angles some.
It wouldn't be the first time it has taken me a few shaves to really like a razor - I just hope that this is one of those times.
