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..

Merkur Futur, a true love/hate relationship...

To say I have mixed emotions about the Merkur Futur adjustable safety razor is say Michelle Pfeiffer is cute..  This modern Merkur razor feels much like shaving with a Feather Artist Club straight.. Wonderful shave, but a nano-second of lost concentration may result in an ear on the bathroom floor.  It is by far the most sensory rich experience any of my current razors provides.

 

The Futur has unique ergonomics starting with it's handle which is absolutely smooth, no rings or knurls to help secure your grip.  The barrel does narrow down a bit where you would naturally hold it, but many Futur owners have resorted to all sorts of modifications in search of more friction; rubber o-rings stacked on the handle; friction tape like that used on tennis racquet's and even machining rings and knurling and subsequently re-plating the handle.  It's available in three finishes.. polished chrome, polished gold tone (yuck) and matte silver which is what I have and I find the grip fine.  It's a heavy weight and it's well balanced.

Visual inspection of the head sans cap plate makes it a near clone of the heralded Merkur Progress XL both in design and dimension, with the exception of the top cap and the sculpturing of the the underside of the blade bed which is more form than function.  The Progress has a Turn to Open knob (TTO)  that releases the cap plate for blade changes and doubles as the adjustment knob where the Futur's cap is released with the firm press upwards with the thumb against the spring loaded plate.  Being in such close proximity to the blade's edge can make for some scary moments, but truth told, it's pretty easy to do.  Fortunately, the Futur retains it's setting when replacing blades and you don't need to loosen anything to make adjustments to blade exposure on the fly like you do for a Gillette Fat Boy or Slim.  I did notice that after adjusting the setting, which is done by twisting the handle, clockwise for more aggressive, the opposite for a more mild setting, the blade was cocked a bit relative to the safety bar.  Failure to correct this would surely result in an unpleasant shave.

Where the Futur stands alone is in the audible feedback you get from the blade.  Given it's similarities to the Progress, I can't figure out why two razors so closely related have such different voices, but the Futur sounds almost like a little weed whacker... Like scraping course sand paper on concrete.  You can hear the snap, crackle and pop of each hair being sniped, most apparent with the first pass which is typically with the grain of longer whiskers.

So where is the love??  The Futur yields one killer smooth shave.  I haven't used my Futur in over a week (though after review of my shave log I see I use it more often than any of my other razors..surprise) and this morning was a typical three pass plus touch-up with a new Wilkinson blade and though I was tentative it was an absolutely high-class shave that passes the cotton ball test with no blood and no irritation.

Here-in is my dilemma...The shave experience is less casual than most but the results exceed expectations.  My decision is commit to the Futur for a week of shaves, allowing some familiarity and muscle memory to develop.  Only then will the Futur's fate be determined...