Gaaak! I see yet another acquisition in my immediate future…
I mean, I have and love a jet black AL13 mild. Who doesn’t need a medium as the next level of progression? And in Ti? Right?
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Henson Razor Club.
- Thread starter romo10
- Start date
I mean, I have and love a jet black AL13 mild. Who doesn’t need a medium as the next level of progression? And in Ti? Right?
*side note*
Please pardon my ignorance but what does the bacon emoji mean? I googled it but didn’t find much.
Please pardon my ignorance but what does the bacon emoji mean? I googled it but didn’t find much.
I'm not sure anyone knows for sure other than @luvmysuper. ISTR it being explained that bacon is awesome and adding bacon to anything makes it better. Or something like that. IDK, It's a positive reaction, anyway...
Pick The Next Thread Reaction!!!
Bacon is the most delicious, flawless item on the face of the earth. There is nothing that cannot be made better by the addition of bacon. As the isolated, single example of true perfection in the existence of mankind, the bacon emoji symbolizes what you believe to be a perfect or near perfect...
www.badgerandblade.com
Quick question if I might for those of you who own a jet black AL13…
How has the finish held up?
I was tempted to get a different option for fear of the finish deteriorating. I went for the black nonetheless, given its incredibly low price of entry. If it chips, scratches or otherwise degrades, all the more reason to throw down on the Ti++.
Let me rephrase the question…
For those of you who own a jet black AL13, can you share with me what has caused your finish to deteriorate?
How has the finish held up?
I was tempted to get a different option for fear of the finish deteriorating. I went for the black nonetheless, given its incredibly low price of entry. If it chips, scratches or otherwise degrades, all the more reason to throw down on the Ti++.
Let me rephrase the question…
For those of you who own a jet black AL13, can you share with me what has caused your finish to deteriorate?
I have both mild and medium in jet black. I bought the mild in August 2021 and used it exclusively until about April, and I've used mostly the medium since then. As far as I can tell the finishes have not worn off at all, at least not noticeably.
Hahahaha! Hilarious! I have never seen the spoiler option. Thank you for responding.
I will say that I am super stoked with my jet black AL13+. Given that my first wet shave was less than a month ago, maybe I better cool it a bit on the purchases. I have 4 separate BF shaving related orders en route. The first arrives today! Plus my letter to Santa was almost exclusively shave related gifts. Maybe I better reign things in a bit.
Thanks again!!!
Well it looks like the side discussions have concluded so...
I lied when I said that I put my older L model away after two shaves and I probably should have. I have a few thoughts that are all over the place.
Let's get the bad out of the way, I now have worn off the anodising along the sharp sides of the cap which is what I was trying to avoid since this colour isn't available anymore. I didn't do anything abusive to cause this and from my experience, it can show up within a month of daily use which this razor has not had. I am also not surprised as I have experience with other anodised parts and it's not a magic coating.
The second sorta bad is the sharp corners themselves, I am finally going to admit that the people who complained about them to Henson weren't completely wrong. I still don't care, the new ones look nice(the corners, calm down). I have experienced what I thought was the edge of the blade poking me in the past, but thought I got lucky that I didn't get cut. Well that was silly! The Hensons have the blade completely enclosed and I was getting poked with the very corner of the cap, but nowhere else. It feels sharp, but isn't.
Now for the weird, I accidentally loaded two blades! They were completely stuck together and I only caught it because I was looking at the edge with my macro lens. I knew something felt weird, but not necessarily bad, the extra blade seems to have only added rigidity. I did four shaves like that, two on each edge so I was checking to see if going for more was a bad idea.
I separated the blades and loaded one of them and did a shave on one edge a few days ago and it felt fine, nothing remarkable. Since there was just the slightest bit too much resistance and this is the mild version, on the next shave I switched to the other edge. Another unremarkable shave, solid DFS. These blades are too sharp for my skin with most other razors and I can just barely feel that still with this Henson and the blade having plenty of shaves.
I inspected that blade again and decided, after cleaning up my L model, to put it into a different razor for two more shaves that I haven't done yet. That would make the equivalent of 6 shaves, but the first four were doubled up so I divided in half to get that number. These US Personnas are phenomenal blades, I just wish they weren't so sharp!
The second blade of the double up has been put into another razor for 2 to 4 more shaves, but I hate having so many razors loaded at one time! I hate wasting perfectly good blades even more, but I am not afraid to throw them out at the slightest provocation!
I lied when I said that I put my older L model away after two shaves and I probably should have. I have a few thoughts that are all over the place.
Let's get the bad out of the way, I now have worn off the anodising along the sharp sides of the cap which is what I was trying to avoid since this colour isn't available anymore. I didn't do anything abusive to cause this and from my experience, it can show up within a month of daily use which this razor has not had. I am also not surprised as I have experience with other anodised parts and it's not a magic coating.
The second sorta bad is the sharp corners themselves, I am finally going to admit that the people who complained about them to Henson weren't completely wrong. I still don't care, the new ones look nice(the corners, calm down). I have experienced what I thought was the edge of the blade poking me in the past, but thought I got lucky that I didn't get cut. Well that was silly! The Hensons have the blade completely enclosed and I was getting poked with the very corner of the cap, but nowhere else. It feels sharp, but isn't.
Now for the weird, I accidentally loaded two blades! They were completely stuck together and I only caught it because I was looking at the edge with my macro lens. I knew something felt weird, but not necessarily bad, the extra blade seems to have only added rigidity. I did four shaves like that, two on each edge so I was checking to see if going for more was a bad idea.
I separated the blades and loaded one of them and did a shave on one edge a few days ago and it felt fine, nothing remarkable. Since there was just the slightest bit too much resistance and this is the mild version, on the next shave I switched to the other edge. Another unremarkable shave, solid DFS. These blades are too sharp for my skin with most other razors and I can just barely feel that still with this Henson and the blade having plenty of shaves.
I inspected that blade again and decided, after cleaning up my L model, to put it into a different razor for two more shaves that I haven't done yet. That would make the equivalent of 6 shaves, but the first four were doubled up so I divided in half to get that number. These US Personnas are phenomenal blades, I just wish they weren't so sharp!
The second blade of the double up has been put into another razor for 2 to 4 more shaves, but I hate having so many razors loaded at one time! I hate wasting perfectly good blades even more, but I am not afraid to throw them out at the slightest provocation!
FWIW my daughter could not get the Henson mild v2 to shave without loosening the handle. I let her try several other razors. She liked the Merkur 34C and the Baili BR179 TTO "just OK." I let her try the Parker 87R and says it actually works pretty well. The Parker head is a little more aggressive. I told her not to use pressure and just glide the razor and she reports she's pretty happy with it.
I was going to apologise for calling your daughter your SO, but actually... it works: Significant Offspring!
Apologies in advance if this is off topic, but I struggle to know how tight I am supposed to tighten the handle on my V2 AL13. I know not to crank it, but I am not sure how far to go. I never reach “the end”. Just use common sense? I too thought that by controlling the handle tightness, it’s almost somewhat adjustable.
On my Henson AL13 ++ V2 I tighten the handle until it stops.
I think Henson has online instructions to do this.
I think Henson has online instructions to do this.
I’m glad I’m not the only one to wonder about this. It always feels like it could go a little further, but really shouldn’t lol. I just tighten until it feels nice and solid, but without really torquing it.
Generally with the Henson, you have to work through the blade crunching. The common advise is to carefully tighten it down, checking that the blade is in correctly, then back it off a half a turn and re-tighten until it stops. Without torquing on it, like you would with a Phillips head screw that you don't want to strip! Fingers, not palm pressure on a spanner level.
I look at the side of the head. When the only thing between the top cap and the base plate is the thickness of the blade, then it is right. It is pretty clear when it is fully seated.
Wednesday shave
Cella Crema Da Barba (red) shave cream
Omega 10066 Boar brush
Henson Shaving AL13 +++ V2
Wizamet Super Iridium razor blade (4)
Omega alum block
Thayers Witch Hazel
Three pass shave. Excellent results, very close. The Wizamet blade's (4) performance dropped off for this shave. A little rough, some neck irritation.
9.5/10 BBS. .5 point subtracted for neck irritation.
Enjoy your shave and your day!
Cella Crema Da Barba (red) shave cream
Omega 10066 Boar brush
Henson Shaving AL13 +++ V2
Wizamet Super Iridium razor blade (4)
Omega alum block
Thayers Witch Hazel
Three pass shave. Excellent results, very close. The Wizamet blade's (4) performance dropped off for this shave. A little rough, some neck irritation.
9.5/10 BBS. .5 point subtracted for neck irritation.
Enjoy your shave and your day!
Excellent shave. No drama. Wizamet blades have a permanent spot in my rotation!
Brush: Simpson T3 Trafalgar
Bowl: Captain's Choice Copper Bowl
Lather: Southern Witchcrafts Druantia
Razor: Henson AL13 +++ V1
Blade: Wizamet Super Iridium (1)
Post: Osma Alum Block
Post: Southern Witchcrafts Druantia
Brush: Simpson T3 Trafalgar
Bowl: Captain's Choice Copper Bowl
Lather: Southern Witchcrafts Druantia
Razor: Henson AL13 +++ V1
Blade: Wizamet Super Iridium (1)
Post: Osma Alum Block
Post: Southern Witchcrafts Druantia
Razor: The Winning Razor
Blade: King C. Gillette
Cream: Van Der Hagen Luxury
Brush: Generic badger that I bought off of Amazon (that I actually really like)
Aftershave: Aqua Velva Ice Blue followed a few minutes later by some Nivea Sensitive balm
Yes, I know that this is a Henson thread, and I am posting this here because the Henson is my favorite razor, but I just won a PIF that included TWR. Today was my first shave with it. I'm not going to go into significant detail. I'll just give some quick thoughts.
Blade: King C. Gillette
Cream: Van Der Hagen Luxury
Brush: Generic badger that I bought off of Amazon (that I actually really like)
Aftershave: Aqua Velva Ice Blue followed a few minutes later by some Nivea Sensitive balm
Yes, I know that this is a Henson thread, and I am posting this here because the Henson is my favorite razor, but I just won a PIF that included TWR. Today was my first shave with it. I'm not going to go into significant detail. I'll just give some quick thoughts.
- I used a new KCG blade fresh outta the package so as to give it the best chance to succeed.
- Weight - Obviously, TWR is significantly heavier than the Henson. This is neither good or bad in my opinion.
- TWR's neutral blade exposure did its job. Not one time was I concerned about cuts or nicks and I ended up with a drama-free shave.
- I'm stunned by this, but I'm not sure if I ended up with as close of a shave with TWR as I do with the Henson - especially on my tough chin whiskers. I say that I am stunned because I've always heard that TWR is slightly more aggressive than the Henson+ which is my daily driver. This could very well be getting used to TWR's angle, though, as my cheeks and neck are pretty darn good, but a trouble spot on the corner of my mouth and my chin were a lot of work and didn't end up BBS.
- End of the day, I'm not disappointed by TWR. I'm just not blown away either. I think that either one or both could be a daily driver for me. I'll continue to use TWR for a season to see if I can hone in my technique with it. And then I'll make a call on whether or not I like it better than the Henson. If they're both equal, I'll keep both. If I like the Henson better, I'll likely PIF TWR. I'm not a collector, and I don't want to hold onto a bunch of razors. (But I like the Henson enough that if they are even, they are both worth keeping.)
I agree with your assessment, @mikhou. I like my Winning, but it is somewhere between the mild and medium for efficiency. I like my Henson ++ and +++ better than the Winning. While a solid razor feels nice, the Winning might actually be too heavy. That plus the head is so large and the blade corner is quite a way from the corner of the razor - it makes it hard to get the Winning into tight spots. But I still like it, I just like the Hensons more.
My Henson is actually the +, but I like it. I've toyed with the idea of getting a ++ and just haven't pulled the trigger because (again) I'm not a collector. I want one that I love, and I'll be happy. But I'm open to the ++ if it does the same job as the + in fewer passes.
