Henson AL13 DFS pass around

got the pass around razor from HensonShaving today.  thanks so much for allowing us to pass around the razor!

first impressions: nice packaging for the price - a large cardboard box with a cutout to hold the razor, a little instructions sheet and I believe a section for blades that you can add on to your purchase.

now, the razor itself.  as it's aluminum, I expected it to be light and it is.  My scale shows it as weighing 1.4oz.  I like lighter razors myself so the weight on this in my hand feels great. 

Henson sent over their razor in the tan anodized color, I believe is what they'd call it.  The anodizing on the razor isn't perfect, though very good.  I can see some slight flaws in the anodizing where the top cap bends down on both sides.  for a $40, this is a nonissue for me, but I did mention to the team at Henson that we'd be providing all types of feedback to them, whether good or bad.

when taking the razor apart, the top cap and base plate have the tightest fitting tolerances of any DE razor I felt in my hands...there's literally no 'wobble' when you try to check for any play or movement in the top cap.

I'm not sure of the exact purpose, but it looks like there's a ring that was pressed into the bottom of the base plate where the handle screws on to.  I'd guess this is to prevent marring of the aluminum, though I think it's best if the HensonShaving team spoke on this.  photo from their site:



The handle is a nice length and has a decent amount of texture to hold on to. 

I'm going to be shaving with it here shortly on 7-10 days worth of growth.  I'll report back with a few photos of the presentation and thoughts in a day or two.

That's a tungsten washer as per their website to prevent marring.

So happy to hear you enjoyed it andrewjs18! Here's the details on that Tungsten Bushing...

Tungsten thrust bushing
We have equipped our razor with a tungsten bushing which serves one purpose: to reduce friction while tightening the razor. This creates a smooth feel, with little torque required to clamp the blade in place. Tungsten has a very low coefficient of friction and is fairly hard, as well as being very corrosion resistant, so it serves well as a bushing in this application. Additionally, the reduced friction will result in less wear between the handle and the base plate.

Please add me to the passaround.... located in Indiana.

So happy to hear you enjoyed it andrewjs18! Here's the details on that Tungsten Bushing...

Tungsten thrust bushing
We have equipped our razor with a tungsten bushing which serves one purpose: to reduce friction while tightening the razor. This creates a smooth feel, with little torque required to clamp the blade in place. Tungsten has a very low coefficient of friction and is fairly hard, as well as being very corrosion resistant, so it serves well as a bushing in this application. Additionally, the reduced friction will result in less wear between the handle and the base plate.

thanks for the explanation on the washer.

here's a few more thoughts after using the razor last Thursday night. I shaved my face and my head with it. I wasn't expecting to shave my head with the razor but I tested a small area and was so impressed with it, I decided to finish the shave using this razor. this is rare for me as I haven't found too many DE razors that play along well with my head shaves, period. I almost always use a cartridge razor for this, though recently I've been trying an electric head shaver and then I mix in my leaf razor every now and then too.

this razor is definitely on the mild side with the current specs listed on the site, though I will say it had no problems shaving through 7-10 days worth of growth with my usual 1 pass shave. was it as close as using my dart or blackbird? no, probably not, but it was every bit as acceptable and it didn't spike hardly at all when I put on my alcohol aftershave...

everything else I mentioned previously about the razor still stands true: very lightweight, the handle knurling and length is fine, the anodizing overall is very good, etc.. The one thing that was kind of annoying for me the first few times taking the razor apart was that the top cap and base plate seemed to be stuck together and hard to separate. After using it a few times and maybe getting them wet, it seemed to loosen it up a bit.

I think what helps this razor shine is its very tight tolerances and the fact that blade chatter is incredibly reduced. I can usually tell when a razor has a lot of chatter when I shave around my ears and temple area with a DE razor....it gets quite noisy, usually. with the Henson razor, there was still some noise there, but definitely less than with other DE razors I have used for head shaves.

I plan on getting in 1 more head & face shave before passing this on to the next person on the list. I'll definitely be picking up one of these for my head shaves alone, for sure.

kudos HensonShaving and thanks for allowing us to test it out.

I'm in please from NC. Thanks for the chance.

I’m in as well. Thanks Andrew & Henson. Looking forward to trying it out.

Hi all,

here's the latest pass around list. please keep the razor for about a week and then pass it off to the next person on the list. Once you get time, please share your thoughts in here whether positive or negative.

Before shipping the razor, please try giving it a quick alcohol bath or something of that sort to help minimize risks.

USA:
andrewjs18 (Pennsylvania)
shaveSymptomatic (Florida)
rawfox1 (Nevada)
ALI (Connecticut)
Dave in KY (Kentucky) *removed at user's request*
Kaotikfusion (New York)
gvw755 (Washington)
Jimmyfn (Oklahoma)
boilerphan (Indiana)
Hardrock (North Carolina)
Calm_Shaver
andrewjs18 (Pennsylvania)

Canada:

Hey andrewjs18 , I think I got left off the list. Hopefully by mistake! I’m in OK

Hey andrewjs18 , I think I got left off the list. Hopefully by mistake! I’m in OK

yep, sorry about that. fixed.