iKon razors - Part I

The iKon brand, out of Thailand, is fairly new to the safety razor scene.  My experience with their product has been, for the most part, positive with a small speed bump or two along the way. 

Greg from iKon razors was invited to recap the history of the company and their product on BruceOnShaving blog..  Jump over to there if you want to read the entire post.  The short version is that Greg, like many of the other folks enjoying the wet shaving renaissance, was tired of the inferior shave delivered by over-priced multi-blade cartridge razors and migrated over to the double edge safety razor.  With the DE, he found a much better shave and after trying and collecting a bunch of different razors decided he could make a better mouse trap..  He focused on all stainless construction which, as far as I know, is used in precious few razors..  The Feather All Stainless is one and the Pils Safety Razor are such examples.  Both of these are high priced alternatives at $160 and $239 US respectively, whereas the iKon, in any iteration, is well under $100...  Paying more doesn't guarantee a better shave...  my $16 1954 Gillette SuperSpeed is testament to this.

I am not sure what, exactly, attracts me to the iKon line.. It's a combination of the following....

... the all stainless construction

... a small guy going up against the big manufactures

... the notion of small intimate manufacturing versus mass production

... the idea that one might actually build a better mouse trap

... the wonderful shave

... the iKon logo

I already had the Deluxe Open Comb on a Bull Dog handle, the stainless stand and a matching stainless handled Silvertip brush...

I stumbled across an on-line auction that included a Standard head in brushed stainless, another high polish Deluxe OC head mounted on the Long handle in high polish, which I didn't have, and.... the Prototype Old head, in brushed stainless on the matching brushed Prototype Long handle. The certificates were included as was the original acrylic display case. Click Buy It Now.. It arrived three days earlier than I expected.  My focus was primarily on the Prototype razor which was pictured in the blog post on BruceOnShaving, but it was a package deal and ultimately I expect I will part out the items I don't want as I am a user not a collector.

I shaved exclusively with the iKon's this week and will share the experience and details over the next few posts..