Hone Razor Reviews?

huck1680

huck1680

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299
Gentlemen
I'm very curious about the Hone SS DE razor being offered out of the Netherlands. It looks gorgeous in a very minimalist way and from what I can tell from their website, it's a heavy piece of equipment as well...and not cheap. Has anyone here purchased and used one? I'm leaning towards the SS instead of the brass just because it's marginally lighter than the brass model. Any info or opinions are welcome...cheers.
 
I’m sure someone more knowledgeable will be along shortly. I had the Brass version, it was a lovely razor with a great heft to it. Very well made. I found it quite mild. It shaved well but not as nice as others as I had.

I just couldn’t get on with it so moved it on.
 
I did have the long handled brasss version (also had the short handle but preferred the longer) and indeed it had a lot of weight behind it. Garden gnomes and hammers come to mind.

It is one of those razors which loved Feather blades and an uncredible bit of kit. May have been mild(ish) but given a sharp blade and it delivered superb shaves. A definite ride the cap. Very hard to go wrong with. Wonderfully engineered and ergonomically well thought out.

As with lots of things in life though I passed it on as I had a drive for AC SE razors, which I still favour over DE's because I am a lazy twat. Oddly my best shaves still come via DE razors......read the previous sentence again.

Would I have another? Most definitely and one razor I wish I had never parted ways with.

As you say, not cheap but will last more than any lifetime.
 
I too have the long handled brass version and I love it. I find it a heavy but very mild and efficient shaver. It’s beautifully designed. I’m almost ready to order the steel version but it’s pricy. I’ve tried the aluminium and though I enjoyed it it was too light for me, I sense the steel will be my Goldilocks razor. I agree with @Satanfriendly in that you need to pair it with a sharp blade, a feather is perfect but it just enhances the efficiency and never feels like it will bite you. It’s my go to slow and relaxed Sunday shaver.
I would never part with it, it’s also been out of stock all last year which won’t help if you choose the brass version
 
A few years back that brand was "Big Potatoes" on this forum, but it seems the DE, and even the SE craze for that matter, has really tapered off. Perhaps the economically priced RazoRock SS razors have really carved out a niche with buyers and there is a model for every face. It appears things have changed somewhat regarding artisan "Mucho Dinero" razors IMO but for one exception: Wolfman. Yes, even the much lauded Emporium does not have a Wolfman to the best of my knowledge. Of course, if you wanna run with the Big Dawgs ya gotta pee on the tall trees..... or stay chained up on the porch. Just sayin'........... :whistle:





I0WH78Z.jpg
 
Bogeyman said:
A few years back that brand was "Big Potatoes" on this forum, but it seems the DE, and even the SE craze for that matter, has really tapered off. Perhaps the economically priced RazoRock SS razors have really carved out a niche with buyers and there is a model for every face. It appears things have changed somewhat regarding artisan "Mucho Dinero" razors IMO but for one exception: Wolfman. Yes, even the much lauded Emporium does not have a Wolfman to the best of my knowledge. Of course, if you wanna run with the Big Dawgs ya gotta pee on the tall trees..... or stay chained up on the porch. Just sayin'........... :whistle:





I0WH78Z.jpg
Click to expand...
We're a fickle bunch and quickly move on to the next thing. RazoRock have certainly taken the market by storm but I imagine the attention that drifted away from Hone was simply because a newer, shinier and more expensive razor came along.

The Emporium has hosted a Wolfman. A very nice razor. Not nice enough for me to drop that type of money on one though. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to try one though:

SOTD : Saturday 4th July - Friday 10th July 2020

Sunday La Toja stick Yaqi Red Marble Tuxedo 24mm synth Face lather Gillette New Supermax Blue Diamond Titanium (4) Thayer's Lavender and Aloe Vera La Toja splash A lovely close shave today. I'm now a committed fan of La Toja soap. The New did the business too. Smashing razor... Now that is...
www.theshavingroom.co.uk www.theshavingroom.co.uk
 
Bogeyman said:
A few years back that brand was "Big Potatoes" on this forum, but it seems the DE, and even the SE craze for that matter, has really tapered off. Perhaps the economically priced RazoRock SS razors have really carved out a niche with buyers and there is a model for every face. It appears things have changed somewhat regarding artisan "Mucho Dinero" razors IMO but for one exception: Wolfman. Yes, even the much lauded Emporium does not have a Wolfman to the best of my knowledge. Of course, if you wanna run with the Big Dawgs ya gotta pee on the tall trees..... or stay chained up on the porch. Just sayin'........... :whistle:





I0WH78Z.jpg
Click to expand...
I love the design and razor but stock and supply has been a massive issue that’s not helped them. In the last year and a half since I’ve started DE shaving I don’t think I’ve seen the original brass in stock once.
 
Boycie83 said:
...The Emporium has hosted a Wolfman. A very nice razor. Not nice enough for me to drop that type of money on one though. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to try one though:...
Click to expand...

Begging the OP's forgiveness and straying off topic but just for a moment, exactly what was your subjective opinion on the Wolfman, Boycie?

It seems one has to practically visit a psychic to divine the model & right blade gap re Wolfman. That said, it seems to me one would be shelling out the cash for more aesthetic reasons than actual shave quality. :unsure:
 
Thanx guys. I spoke with Andrew via email and as far as the brass razor is concerned he's waiting to see how well the SS does for sales. After reading your comments and thoughts, I am leaning towards purchasing...just leaning. Still waiting for my Helix Apollo to land as well.
Thanx again.
 
Bogeyman said:
Begging the OP's forgiveness and straying off topic but just for a moment, exactly what was your subjective opinion on the Wolfman, Boycie?

It seems one has to practically visit a psychic to divine the model & right blade gap re Wolfman. That said, it seems to me one would be shelling out the cash for more aesthetic reasons than actual shave quality. :unsure:
Click to expand...
Nice razor. Felt good in the hand. Fine looking piece of kit. Gave a nice shave. Shave wasn't any better then some of my other razors though and I don't think it's worth the money they go for.
 
I had a polished brass one (with both a short and a long handle). Lovely to look at.
I generally prefer longer handles, but found the long one rather unwieldy in this case.
The shaves themselves we just alright, so I ended up selling it.
It was kind of like shaving with a Tech: smooth, mild but reasonably efficient, although the large blade gap helped a good bit initially when shaving off longer growth.
The reason why I say: "helped initially" is that there's an area where top cap overreaches the base plate by a bit without any lather holes right underneath it. In my case, it lead to hair and soap gunking up in that little area and was quite difficult to rinse out, be it with running hot water or swirling it around in the sink. It decreased efficiency when trying to mow down longer growth after a few strokes. It also made the shave somewhat less pleasant and chore-like for me.
The large blade gap combined with the weight meant that I had to hold the razor in a way that made sure I kept it in only light contact with the skin on my softer areas (parts of my neck and chin in particular), because it could bite a little otherwise. Not the biggest issue, but eventually, it became somewhat annoying and I haven't had this issue with lighter large blade gap razors.
I normally try to ride the top cap, but the razor has a relatively narrow range of angles where it works well, despite the large gap. As result, I had to use a somewhat steeper angle where both the top cap and base plate touched my skin at the same time. The chunky bottom of the base plate then made it a bit difficult to navigate the razor around.

On another note, I think Hone has the same issue as e.g. iKon - not enough new stuff coming out that would create buzz. It doesn't detract from the razors, but in the absence of other marketing, it rather tones down their presence.
 
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