Rockwell Razors 6S Stainless Steel Adjustable Double Edge Safety Razor + 5 Swedish Stainless Steel Razor Blades

Excellent weight and balance. This has become my go to razor!

The current version of the iKon Open Comb razor is finished with a “B1” black coating. According to the founder of iKon, the only difference between the current B1 version and the earlier production iKon DLC Open Comb razor is that the DLC (“diamond-like carbon”) coating has marginally greater “lubricity” than the B1 coating, but the B1 coating is more durable than the DLC, which had a reputation for flaking off, over time, from the underlying stainless steel of some units. This is a review of the DLC coated version of the iKon Open Comb razor.The iKon Deluxe Open Comb Razor is based upon a late 1930s through 1940s razor design, the Gillette Tech; the United States version of the Tech had a baseplate stamped from sheet steel with a distinctive diamond shape stamped into the center to add structural stiffness; the British version of the Gillette Tech had a thicker profile baseplate without the diamond stamping, and the British version was the inspiration for the design of both the iKon Deluxe Open Comb Razor and also the  Feather All Stainless Steel Double Edge Safety Razor (AS-D2) . Unlike earlier Gillette designs, the Gillette Tech featured a solid safety bar at the leading edge of the baseplate in place of a toothed “comb” design. This reviewer has posted a (very long: sorry) review of the Feather AS-D2 here on Amazon. The British Gillette Tech, like earlier Gillette razors, comprised three pieces: top cap, baseplate, and handle, and it accepted the same disposable double-edge razor blades as the earlier Gillette razors had done, with the pieces secured together by means of the handle screwing onto a threaded center post on the underside of the top cap that protrudes through holes in both the blade and the baseplate.Whereas the Feather AS-D2 has a solid safety bar at the leading edge of the baseplate similar to the British version of the Gillette Tech razors, the iKon Deluxe Open Comb, as its name implies, departs from the Gillette Tech design by incorporating a comb-edged baseplate. Aside from that difference, the internal geometries of the iKon Deluxe Open Comb razor and the Feather AS-D2 are so precisely similar between the two razors that, even though they look different: the iKon is made in Thailand from type 304 stainless steel, with a black coating on the top cap and baseplate, and the Feather is made in Japan from type 316 stainless steel, matte chrome plated, each piece of the iKon Deluxe Open Comb razor can be individually substituted for the corresponding piece of a Feather AS-D2 razor, and each piece of a Feather AS-D2 razor can be individually substituted for the corresponding piece of an iKon Deluxe Open Comb razor; in both cases the result is a perfectly functioning razor.It should come as no surprise, therefore, that this iKon Deluxe Open Comb razor functions, and feels on the face, exactly as a Feather AS-D2 razor that has had the iKon Deluxe Open Comb baseplate swapped onto it functions and feels; and a iKon Open Comb razor that has had a Feather AS-D2 baseplate swapped into it functions, and feels on the face, exactly as a Feather AS-D2 functions and feels. In both cases, the personality and performance of the razor is determined by the baseplate that is in use.Whichever baseplate is used in whichever base razor, you will have an excellent shaver that can provide a close and clean and efficient shave, provided that you have engaged in the prerequisite beard preparation before shaving. The iKon Deluxe Open Comb is a superb tool, and so is the Feather AS-D2. But they are two very different razors.The iKon Deluxe Open Comb razor is the more efficient of the two, shaving closely and quickly; however, to avoid nicking one’s skin while shaving, the iKon requires more of both skill (or “technique”) and attention to task than the Feather AS-D2 does. That is to say, the iKon Deluxe Open Comb razor tilts a bit toward an “aggressive” character. If one has developed the technique and pays attention throughout the shave, one can shave very efficiently with an iKon Deluxe Open Comb razor. In contrast, when shaving with a Feather AS-D2, while it is very unlikely that one will unintentionally nick oneself, and one ultimately can shave just as closely as with the iKon, a shave with the Feather likely will take more time to complete, perhaps requiring an extra pass, than a shave with the iKon requires. That is, the Feather AS-D2 is a more “mild” razor than the iKon Deluxe Open Comb is. Inattention while shaving with the Father AS-D2 will result in missing some whiskers; inattention while shaving with the iKon Deluxe Open Comb will result in bloody specks. You pays your money and you takes your choice.Do not interpret the above to say that the iKon Deluxe Open Comb is so aggressive as to be a *dangerous* razor. With ordinary care, one is unlikely to slice oneself or seriously cut the skin with an iKon Deluxe Open Comb razor. Here is an anecdotal measure of the degree of the difference: after shaving with a Feather AS-D2 loaded with a sharp Japanese ( KAI  or  Feather ) razor blade, I usually rinse my face with *warm* water and towel dry, and the towel is left unspotted; after shaving with an iKon Deluxe Open Comb with a similarly sharp Japanese blade, I usually feel the need to rinse my face with *cold* water to shrink the skin and close the many very tiny nicks that the iKon has left behind; a cold water rinse after an iKon shave almost always is sufficient to avoid soiling the towel with specks of blood when I dry off my face thereafter.The iKon Deluxe Open Comb can deliver a very quick, clean, close shave with minimal irritation. That is a strong recommendation.