Razors are one of the most heavily and competitively marketed products in American capitalism. Made with steel and plastic that costs a few pennies but sold for a thousand-percent profit, the razor market is the subject of vigorous academic study and debate.
The founder of Gillette famously came up with a model of basically giving away the razor handle so he could sell the blades. Canadian startup Henson has the opposite model, charging $79 for a razor that can give you an excellent shave with dirt-cheap disposable blades that cost about 15 cents each.
I've been using the Henson razor for the past three months, and it offers the best shave I've had in my life. Right now, Walmart is selling the device with enough blades to last you two years for just $80. Razors are always a popular Christmas gift for fathers, and this deal would fit nicely under your tree.
Henson is a Canadian company with roots in aerospace, having contributed components to the Mars rover. The AL13 Safety Razor is made from aluminum machined at Henson’s shop in Ontario. It comes in a half-dozen colors, including the classic copper I've tested.
The razor's head is two parts that dovetail together and are then compressed using the screw-on handle. The handle holds the blade in place with extreme rigidity at a precise angle so the blade doesn't chatter around, which can cause skin irritation. The blade barely sticks out from the head, with an edge only about half the width of a hair exposed—you'll have to look very closely to see it.
The Henson razor is manufactured with exacting tolerances of 0.00025 of an inch, or about one-12th the thickness of a human hair. There are no plastic parts, just aluminum with stainless steel bushings. Henson specifically designed its device to work with cheap, generic, double-edged blades that sell for 10 or 15 cents each—the difference here is how firmly and precisely those blades are held in place.
I've never had better shaves than with this razor. I shave about every other day, and each blade lasts me about a week, meaning the 100-pack included here will last two years. The shave is very close but smooth, and I've barely nicked myself only a few times in that span. (The company has paid for medical imaging that shows its razors cause one-third the skin irritation you get from multiblade razors.) The company sent me its proprietary $20 shaving cream, which I somehow misplaced before ever using, but I have had extremely crisp and clean shaves with a $4 can of regular Gillette foam.
The one tip I have is that you get the best results if you unscrew the handle a bit when rinsing the blades between uses, as shaved hairs otherwise tend to get stuck in the space between components and don't easily rinse out.
Did I mention it's a very handsome razor? It is, with a machined handle that has a texture that looks good and also provides a nice, gritty grip when wet. If you're looking to gift a grooming device—or just want to treat yourself—the Henson at this price is a great buy.