CMur12 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 25, 2021 9:05 pm
John, thanks for bringing this razor to our attention.
I notice on the website that there is no reference to the razor being mild, so is that your personal assessment?
(Just read further on the website and found that the AL13 is mild and that one can find through another link the AL13-Medium. The website is a little confusing the way they have one access these two razors.)
How mild is it? Can you compare it to any other razors?
(My definition of mild is a Merkur Progress/Mergress at lowest setting or a Rockwell razor on plate 2, which are both mild, yet efficient. They are both easy on my very sensitive skin, but definitely not as mild as a Gillette Tech. I would consider an Edwin Jagger or fixed-head Merkur to be in the moderate range, definitely not mild.)
Thanks for any further feedback you can offer.
- Murray
Yeah, they are not very clear about the "Mild" vs "Medium" thing. You go to the FAQ section under "What is the difference between Henson AL13 and Henson AL13 - Medium" to get dimension specifics, but elsewhere they seem to regard the mild version as the default. Originally (IIRC) they called the Medium version the "Mens" version, and the mild as "Ladies" (or something like that).
Also, when you read reviews of it the reviewer typically fails to indicate which they are using.
Now as far as "how mild is it" goes, I have never used a Merkur nor a Rockwell. I regard the EJ DE87 as being milder-feeling than any Tech I've used, so it would seem that a comparison to any other razor is difficult.
Maybe like a Gillette Slim Adjustable on 1 or 2? I'd have to do a mid-pass razor swap to really make a comparison.
I found that it works very well with Astra SP and Shaverboy (another Canadian company) blades, and it's the only razor I like with Feathers. Right now I using a Wilkinson Sword blade in it (my
least favourite brand) just to see what happens. It feels "okay" so far (6 shaves), but still not as pleasant a shaving experience as with the other blades.
The trapezoidal cross-section of the head is a new thing for me. It didn't take long to get used to.
One example of the precision with which they machine it is that when you screw the head onto the handle, by the time you get 1 or 2 turns in there is almost no wobble. The head is only 0.3 mm longer than the blade, so that even though the end tabs do not stick out you can still grasp the blade ends with your finger and thumb to pull it off the base plate.
It's very quiet too.
The length of the handle is a bit (3/4"?) longer than I would normally want, but with the overall light weight (38 g), it is just right for good balance.