Favorite blades in Henson Razors

I know that blade experience is wildly personal and varies enormously by razor, but I am conducting trials with my Henson AL13 + (the mild one) to see which blades are best for me. I would love to hear experiences from other Henson users or reactions to my experiences.

Here are my observations so far:

• RK blades sold by Henson -- not as sharp on the first pass. Second pass is comfortable. Post shave feels great -- no irritation.
• Feather -- close shave, but afterwards my face felt irritated, needed to be soothed with lotion. I have this same reaction from Feather blades in my Feather AS-D2.
• Personna Platinum (German) -- close shave, rivaling Feather. Smoother than Feather, but still felt some irritation later.
• Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Stainless (green) -- not as sharp as I would like, but not especially smooth, either.
• Astra SP -- better than the Gillette green blades, but not as close or smooth as I wish.
• Nacet -- sharper than Astra, but not especially smooth or comfortable.
• Wizamet Super Iridium -- comfortable shave, not as close as Feather, but good enough. Face felt great afterwards.
  
• Tatra Platinum -- comfortable shave, fairly close. Face feels good.
• Gillette Wilkinson Sword -- comfortable shave, fairly close, no irritation.
• Gillette Silver Blue -- close, smooth, comfortable, no irritation. Face feels good.
• Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Platinum Strangelet -- initial first pass felt a bit rough, but quickly smoothed out. Smooth and comfortable.

I still have a drawer full of blades to try!

 

I have the Henson+++ or aggressive version. I find Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Stainless (green) blades to be terrific in this razor. Isn't it amazing how YMMV works in shaving?

 

It really is amazing. I like the Gillette greens in some other razors, too.

 

7 o'clock Green and GSB.

W. Sword, Nacets and crystals were very decent, too.

 

And I do find the RK blades to work decently as well

 

Used Gillette Wilkinson Sword blade yesterday. My first impression was medium sharpness, but the result was fairly close and comfortable. No irritation. I will give this one a second shave tomorrow.

 

I intend to give the RK blades another try.

 

I had an excellent shave today with a Gillette Silver Blue. Sharp, smooth, comfortable, no irritation.

 

I'm coming around on the RK blades. I've used them the past several shaves, in both my V1 + and my new V2 + .

The RK blades do not seem as sharp as some of the others I have tried. So the first pass of the shave feels less smooth with the RK than with a sharper blade. But the second pass is more comfortable, and post shave, my face feels better with less irritation. I guess that is the classic trade-off between "sharper" blades and "smoother" blades.

I'm going to stick with these for a while and just vary my soaps!

 

The gillette silver blue works good in my HXX.

 

Are those vintage blades?

 

I meant to say silver blue. Lol

 

Wizamet Super Iridium are rapidly becoming one of my favourites. They are super smooth right out of the box.

 

I agree! These blades are a great pairing with the mild Henson. I'm using them more lately after a few weeks with the RK blades.

 

I have recently tried a couple of of the PAA Platinum Strangelet blades in my Henson Al13 V2+ . My initial impression on the first pass with a new blade was not favorable -- it felt a bit rough. But after that, it was pleasantly smooth. I got three more smooth shaves from that blade. On the second blade, I was especially careful about my beard prep and lather. This time the initial pass with the new blade was good, so maybe my previous first-pass experience was more about insufficient prep for a multi-day stubble and not the blade's fault.

Is it worth buying a batch of these when I've got plenty of other blades on hand that are just as good? Perhaps not, but they are good pairing with the Henson.

 

If you like them then I say go for it. Just add them to the rotation.

paul D

 

Voskhod ...

I got a batch of these blades several years ago and I keep trying to like them. I have had some good shaves with them in various razors, but other shaves have been awful.

I decided to give them a try in my Henson, and I got wonderful and awful results from the same blade! One side was great - smooth and comfortable and the other side was uncomfortable and rough. I took the blade out and looked at it critically. Sure enough, the two edges had a noticably different grind. Looking through shave forums, I'm not the only person who has seen this. I pitched that blade and opened another. It was the same. I opened another, it looked the same. Today I used that blade and had the same results: one side gave me a great smooth shave and other side was rough! I finished the shave just using the good side.

I am not going to bother with these blades anymore since there are so many good choices out there that are consistent.

 

Thank you for letting us know Mike. Life is too short for bad shaves. Toss 'em!!

Paul D