The Rex Ambassador - looking for opinions

I’m slowly getting back into DE razors after selling my entire DE collection back in 2016/2017.

Wish I didn’t sell my 400 Polsilver DE blades though :-(

And wish I’d kept my Above The Tie complete razor package, at least kept my two Mergress razors and my Mongoose SE.
But sometimes you need a clean sheet in your life.

I’m eyeing the Rex Ambassador now.
Stainless steel alternative to a Mergress/Progress razor. Any opinions on that razor ?
What DE blades do you prefer in it ?

I have a weird brown-blonde very stiff coarse Scandinavian beard type.

I typically shave every other or third day.

A Feather AS-D2 was useless for me - even after 30-40 tries and 3-4 useless passes with a Feather blade with two different Feather model razors. It perhaps removed 30% of my stubble. Useless razor.

The Pils DE was a bit better, yet still too mild.

A Mühle R89/Edwin Jagger DE89 could work, but never close and not without razor burn. Too mild for the first pass unless I used it daily on 1-day stubble.

An old 2011 Mühle R41 was too much, especially at the delicate areas around the chin and jaw line, but pretty much ok on the wider areas. But I’m going for something milder than R41 these days.

So the Rex Ambassador caught my attention.

Stainless steel adjustable - seems well built and well engineered.
Any down falls to it ?
Any negative thing to it other than its price ?

On a side note - any new DE blades I should consider ?
I’ve bought these DE blades to test on my newly bought/gifted DE razors - Mühle Rocca stainless steel handle version v4 & Edwin Jagger 316 stainless steel handle version :

Feather - harsh on first shave, then great
Gillette Platinum - smooth & sharp
Gillette Perma Sharp - smooth & sharp
Personna Platinum Israeli Reds - nice & sharp
KAI - probably my overall favourite blade, only downside is price, but still cheaper than Fusion 5 carts. And no glue dots.

Any other DE razors and blades I should consider ?

I’m still loving my Fusion 5 and Mach 3 razors. Just not so great as daily shavers.
But on more stubble these cart razors work absolutely great using my old DE technique.

I’m just bored and missed the DE razor design and the different DE blades. That’s it :-)

The rex ambassador is my favorite razor even out of my other higher end razors. It does really well with a steeper angle (handle a little closer to the skin and ride the gaurd). Very smooth and close shaver. Many will say it is very aggressive even at low settings but once you find the angle, you can shave with it opened up without issue. I regularly use it on setting 6 for all 3 passes and get no alum feedback.

I recommend wizamet blades, feathers, lord Platinum, supermax blue diamond blades

Fayiz D.

I seriously love mine

Fayiz D.

I had an Ambassador and sold it to find another purchase. I thought it shaved well and had some blade feel, but not too much. I thought the head was a little bulky, but I also don’t like heads that cover the blade tabs. As far as the price goes, you can sign up for the mailing list and get 15-20% coupons on occasion.

What are the high end stainless steel DE razors of today ?

Wolfman
ATT

What else ?

I’m only going for stainless steel razors this time around, except if someone tells me I’m truly missing out by not getting a razor in some other material.

(08-04-2021, 06:12 AM)CHSeifert Wrote: What are the high end stainless steel DE razors of today ?

Wolfman
ATT

What else ?

I’m only going for stainless steel razors this time around, except if someone tells me I’m truly missing out by not getting a razor in some other material.

Considering the tough beard you seem to have, stainless, brass or copper would be a good choice considering the weight of the marerial. Titanium is my material of choice for any razor I can have in this material. It's in the middle of the SS and aluminum. I just loce the feel of titanium. That being said, I dunno if you would like it or not. I would avoid aluminum as you mught have to press to hard for the taugh whiskers you have to compensate for the lightness of the material.

Of course, that's just my two cents!

(08-04-2021, 06:12 AM)CHSeifert Wrote: What are the high end stainless steel DE razors of today ?

Timeless

(08-04-2021, 09:28 AM)TheLegalRazor Wrote:

(08-04-2021, 06:12 AM)CHSeifert Wrote: What are the high end stainless steel DE razors of today ?

Timeless

imho ymmv
Timeless 
Karve
Rocnel

Claus, have you used or considered trying an injector razor? One might shave your tough beard closely, and it would be reminiscent of your beloved carts.

(08-04-2021, 10:56 AM)chazt Wrote: Claus, have you used or considered trying an injector razor? One might shave your tough beard closely, and it would be reminiscent of your beloved carts.

No, sorry I haven’t tried injector razors.

Fun fact - most gents, who gave up on carts did so, because of irritated skin, expensive carts, clogged carts and cheap plastic handles.

I’ve turned this around.
Before I started on these forums, 10-12 years ago now, I got 4-6 mediocre shaves from one Fusion 5 cart and had ingrown hair and bad shaves.
Then I started on the shaving forums in 2010-2011 and kept using Fusion 5 along with training to learn DE razors.
Almost dumped my carts and went all in on DE razors.
Then shaved for 4-5 years mostly using DE razors and went back to Fusion 5 carts and all of a sudden the carts felt like a new and improved version.

I thumb stropped and cleaned the cart before, during and after my shaves and used my DE technique and all of a sudden got 40-50 nice shaves from one Fusion 5 cart.
If the cart clogs with stubble, I clean it under hot water. I probably rinse my cart 40-50 times during a shave now. I don’t think about it. It’s a routine now.

My lather technique and quality of the shaving soap helped along with using a brush, but even now I sometime just use a can of Proraso shaving foam and a Fusion 5 cart I get a pretty decent shave out of it (not perfect but almost DFS), a far better shave than what I could get 12-15 years ago.

So experience and technique can bring you a long way. Even with using a cart razor.

It also helped me, that I bought some quality Fusion 5 and Mach 3 handles from Pils, Plisson, Mühle etc.

But an injector sounds interesting.
What brand would you recommend ?

Please notice, I don’t use used shaving gear.
Only brand new. This is why I never bought any of the old Gillette DE razors.

Carbon Shaving Co.

Claus - The Supply Injector https://supply.co/products/the-single-ed...1201701972 is pretty good, and new since that concerns you.  I like mine (version 1).  There are also many many nos Schicks available on Ebay .. 

The Supply is of SS and much heavier in hand than the Schicks.  I have a pretty heavy growth and either the Supply with the Heavy plate or a Schick M wide open does a pretty good job, even on a couple days worth of stubble.  Not sure if either option is available to ship to where you are, but they do shave very well

If you are considering injector (single edge razors), please seriously consider Blackland Vector

Claus,

I have used a Rex Ambassador since 2018. Mind you, I only use it on Mondays when I have two days growth and I use it on a mild setting (just a bit over a setting of 2), but it gives me a smooth and comfortable two pass shave with touch ups.  I admire the aesthetics very much and believe its stainless construction will allow me to pass it on to someone when I pass on 20 or 30 years from now. I have two critiques: 1 - I had to re-enamel the red dot about two years ago. 2. At $250.00 It was quite expensive. Two or three months after I bought mine from Bullgoose the manufacturer had a group but for $180.00 so I had a bit of buyers remorse then but it faded with each enjoyable shave.  I find the best blades when using the Rex Ambassador to be Polsilvers and Gillette Silver Blues.  Good luck with your exploration.

I had a Rex and sold it on - as someone has already posted it is pretty pricey.  And the depreciation was extreme.  It was nicely made but didn't shave as well as one of the Fat Boys that cost a fraction, but a nos Fatboy would be a rare bird indeed

(08-04-2021, 01:57 PM)CHSeifert Wrote:

(08-04-2021, 10:56 AM)chazt Wrote: Claus, have you used or considered trying an injector razor? One might shave your tough beard closely, and it would be reminiscent of your beloved carts.

No, sorry I haven’t tried injector razors.

Fun fact - most gents, who gave up on carts did so, because of irritated skin, expensive carts, clogged carts and cheap plastic handles.

I’ve turned this around.
Before I started on these forums, 10-12 years ago now, I got 4-6 mediocre shaves from one Fusion 5 cart and had ingrown hair and bad shaves.
Then I started on the shaving forums in 2010-2011 and kept using Fusion 5 along with training to learn DE razors.
Almost dumped my carts and went all in on DE razors.
Then shaved for 4-5 years mostly using DE razors and went back to Fusion 5 carts and all of a sudden the carts felt like a new and improved version.

I thumb stropped and cleaned the cart before, during and after my shaves and used my DE technique and all of a sudden got 40-50 nice shaves from one Fusion 5 cart.
If the cart clogs with stubble, I clean it under hot water. I probably rinse my cart 40-50 times during a shave now. I don’t think about it. It’s a routine now.

My lather technique and quality of the shaving soap helped along with using a brush, but even now I sometime just use a can of Proraso shaving foam and a Fusion 5 cart I get a pretty decent shave out of it (not perfect but almost DFS), a far better shave than what I could get 12-15 years ago.

So experience and technique can bring you a long way. Even with using a cart razor.

It also helped me, that I bought some quality Fusion 5 and Mach 3 handles from Pils, Plisson, Mühle etc.

But an injector sounds interesting.
What brand would you recommend ?

Please notice, I don’t use used shaving gear.
Only brand new. This is why I never bought any of the old Gillette DE razors.

My only experience with injectors has been with Schick. There’s the Supply injector, and also NOS Schicks as Gary mentioned. Parker makes an injector razor too. I’m not aware of any other currently manufactured injector razors. There may be something else out there; perhaps someone can offer another suggestion?

(08-04-2021, 01:57 PM)CHSeifert Wrote: Please notice, I don’t use used shaving gear.
Only brand new. This is why I never bought any of the old Gillette DE razors.

You do realize, of course, that when you go to a restaurant the utensils and cookery have all been used before, right?

The rex is nice
The Pearl flexi shaves extremely similar and glides better due to the coating. I tried both. The rex is a little bit grippier.
You could consider a Rockwell 6s too

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(08-06-2021, 02:44 PM)BrickHud Wrote:

(08-04-2021, 01:57 PM)CHSeifert Wrote: Please notice, I don’t use used shaving gear.
Only brand new. This is why I never bought any of the old Gillette DE razors.

You do realize, of course, that when you go to a restaurant the utensils and cookery have all been used before, right?

No, I didn’t realise that.

I thought all restaurants threw all utensils out after each serving.

Now I’ve learned something new today.