How To "Handle" A Mongoose

I know....lots of threads on the Goose. I purchased mine in batch two and it has moved to the front of the pack in my razor lineup. With the initial purchase I went with both the Bomber pole series handles. I am now looking to try the shave experience with a handle that is lighter than 90g. Reading through numerous threads the subject of the Goose handle does surface and many of you have opted to customize your experience with other handles - ATT, Jurgen Hempel, etc.

I would love to hear from fellow Mongooser's with various handles, which ones you selected & why, experiences so far and pictures to get us all excited. So let the Goose loose!

Really..... no one with a Mongoose can chime in with the "other" handle they are using? Thoughts appreciated.

Have you checked out the Mongoose Facebook group? Some really nice setups over there. Lots of Jurgen. Seems the Ti handle is popular

I have an ATT Kronos handle on mine and love it but you already know that from our prior discussions. I find this handle to be a perfect match. I think it would pair up nicely with a Weber handle or pretty much anything that it lighter that the one it came with. People sometimes think bigger is better with razor handles but it makes it like shaving with a brick, taking away all of the agility and mobility that it should have. In my opinion it's definitely a much better razor with a different handle and I'd recommend others to try switching handles as well.

I've also added a shim to mine to get some aggressiveness out of it. What a huge difference that makes. No more going over the same area 30 times, using advanced techniques to try and clear the difficult stubble or pressing too hard to try and get a close shave. In my opinion, it's way too mild as delivered and too much of a fight to get a really close shave. It's not a Cobra killer out of the box. I tried the super blades and they gave a closer shave but they seemed a bit harsh. I'm not going to narrow myself to one blade either as many others are doing. With the shim I can get a more aggressive shave with a blade that I like. It may be even more aggressive this way than with the super blade but for me the harshness is completely gone.

I'm considering slightly modifying the pins on the cap with a Dremel as well so that it will take the Dorko blades also. There's no reason why it shouldn't be able to.

You shouldn't have to shim a $150 plus razor and it's unfortunate that I have to change the razor this much to get something that I believe is what I was looking for. They switch handles with every batch and I'm not sure that the handle weight and performance is taken into consideration as much as the overall look that it presents. Taking a Dremel to a new $150 razor isn't ideal either but it's really close to being able to accommodate the dorco blades and if I take my time to get it right I think it will be an overall improvement to the razor. I wish I would have gotten to test a prototype and shared my thoughts earlier in the process as there are a couple other things I would have done differently as well.

Even with just the handle and shim changes it's an outstanding shaver that I'm liking more each time I use it. As it is now I'm impressed with it and find it to be excellent. With the changes I can get almost a perfect shave in two passes and perfection with a third pass or some additional cleanup. Very similar to the shaves I've gotten from the Cobra razors when I tried them. The shave is now about on par with what I'm getting from an ATT Kronos R2 razor that's sitting next to it and I'm finding myself reaching for it over the ATT most days. There are still some improvements that I wish they would make but I'm pretty picky and even found one thing that I'd change on the ATT which is superbly constructed and very well thought out.

I appreciate the input. Facebook is one of the only social media platforms I don't participate in... I will visit the Mongoose group to gain further insight. Thanks.

The SOTD photos on the Mongoose Facebook page show many different handles. I ordered my batch 2 Satin with both the small and big bomber handle. I like the size of the bigger handle but not the weight. I have ordered a Jurgen TI handle that will large but the weight will be about 2/3 of the smaller bomber handle. My friend and I have swapped razors for a couple of weeks. He got the Goose and I got the ATT S1 and S2 to try out. Midway thru the second week, I am ready to get my Goose back. Overall I have enjoyed the shaves with the S1 and S2 but I get a better and quicker shave with the Mongoose.

I've only tried mine with two handles. One big Maggard handle (the name escapes me now) and the cheap handle from my Razorock Jaws.
With the much heavier Maggard I didn't really enjoy the Mongoose, but I'm really enjoying the shaves with the Razorock one.
I'm looking for something now of a similar weight but more aesthetically pleasing.
Good luck with your search!

The Ikon SE is a great handle...heavy enough long..and the handle is perfectly grippy in the hand!

nmerth said:

The Ikon SE is a great handle...heavy enough long..and the handle is perfectly grippy in the hand!

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I've been using the iKon SE too, so far so good. But I like the "slim" Mongoose handle just fine, too.

I've been using the Mongoose with my UFO TiTAN Fine L handle, and I really like the combo. It's a bigger handle but relatively light, due to the titanium.

How much lighter is Ti than Stainless? I've seen so many Mongoose on Ti handle and I'm assuming it not as dramatic as an aluminum handle correct?

Sleeper said:

How much lighter is Ti than Stainless? I've seen so many Mongoose on Ti handle and I'm assuming it not as dramatic as an aluminum handle correct?

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IIRC, Ti is ~45% lighter than stainless steel, so it's significant. You are correct that Al is lighter than Ti.

Edit: I just checked my e-mail. The Jurgen Hempel handle that I bought in SS was 105g, and the Ti version of the same handle was 59g. So the Ti one is 44% lighter...

nmerth said:

The Ikon SE is a great handle...heavy enough long..and the handle is perfectly grippy in the hand!

Click to expand...

I agree the SE does work well with the Mongoose. The iKon OSS handle is another option. The OSS is ~80g (for reference, the iKon SE weighs ~90g), almost as long as the SE, and slightly slimmer.

I have two JH Ti handles that I use with my Mongoose B2. Works really well for me. I also used a shorter SS iKon Bulldog handle that balanced well with the 'goose.