I don’t have the Henson razor so I can’t directly compare, but I do have a Rockwell, and also a stubby Mekur. Someone gave me the Rockwell as a gift thinking safety razors somehow wear out, so I have two.
So I took a close look at the Henson website with the product photos, and today before shaving I took a close look at both the Rockwell and Mekur, and also used the Mekur for the first time in years just because of this.
As far as I can tell, every thing about all these safety razors is very similar. There’s no huge innovation going on in this area, and while I don’t know if other safety razors are built super crappy, at least the two I have are still good: Mekur still works the same after 20 years and Rockwell close to 10.
Comparing photos to the Rockwell, it looks almost the exact same: it screws down the same, holds the blade with the two side holes plus centre screw, curves the blade the same way, open channels on the back to flush hair out easily, etc. Rockwell even has a bonus compared to Henson: the plate you can flip over to go from 3 (30% angle?) to 1 (10% angle?) while the Henson is fixed.
Comparing the Mekur to the Rockwell (and at this point I’m assuming Henson), you can feel more of what the blade is doing with the Mekur, I think it has to do with the lighter weight. The Rockwell shaves a bit smoother over the skin, but this gives slightly more irritation after the shave - but not much. I can tell the angle of the Rockwell on 3 is more aggressive and shaves closer, but I’m fine with it and have never bothered to try on 1 and as said haven’t used the Mekur in a while either.
Anyway I have a gut feeling that Henson has advertised more, or more recently, based on other comments saying they saw it on YouTube, so I think that whatever high quality safety razor of the day/year/decade will be what most get, and what you will most likely hear about, even though there is nothing really new or better for a while now.
Interesting thought: the Mekur may be the better “safety” razor design just because you open and close it from the end of the handle, vs having to hold the head with your fingers near the blade to screw it down when changing blades on Henson and Rockwell.
Also, it’s interesting that both Henson and Rockwell are both Canadian.
So I took a close look at the Henson website with the product photos, and today before shaving I took a close look at both the Rockwell and Mekur, and also used the Mekur for the first time in years just because of this.
As far as I can tell, every thing about all these safety razors is very similar. There’s no huge innovation going on in this area, and while I don’t know if other safety razors are built super crappy, at least the two I have are still good: Mekur still works the same after 20 years and Rockwell close to 10.
Comparing photos to the Rockwell, it looks almost the exact same: it screws down the same, holds the blade with the two side holes plus centre screw, curves the blade the same way, open channels on the back to flush hair out easily, etc. Rockwell even has a bonus compared to Henson: the plate you can flip over to go from 3 (30% angle?) to 1 (10% angle?) while the Henson is fixed.
Comparing the Mekur to the Rockwell (and at this point I’m assuming Henson), you can feel more of what the blade is doing with the Mekur, I think it has to do with the lighter weight. The Rockwell shaves a bit smoother over the skin, but this gives slightly more irritation after the shave - but not much. I can tell the angle of the Rockwell on 3 is more aggressive and shaves closer, but I’m fine with it and have never bothered to try on 1 and as said haven’t used the Mekur in a while either.
Anyway I have a gut feeling that Henson has advertised more, or more recently, based on other comments saying they saw it on YouTube, so I think that whatever high quality safety razor of the day/year/decade will be what most get, and what you will most likely hear about, even though there is nothing really new or better for a while now.
Interesting thought: the Mekur may be the better “safety” razor design just because you open and close it from the end of the handle, vs having to hold the head with your fingers near the blade to screw it down when changing blades on Henson and Rockwell.
Also, it’s interesting that both Henson and Rockwell are both Canadian.