The Rockwell 6C Safety Razor – A Solid Canadian Option
On the 25th of May 2017 my Chrome Rockwell 6C safety razor was delivered!
Check out my initial post on this razor. The Rockwell 6C came with a few surprises. First off, the star of the show, the razor itself. There also was a nice box of 100 Rockwell blades and the ever so important razor blade disposal mailbox. As mentioned in my initial post, I jumped on the crowd funding train for this razor and had only bought the razor itself. If memory serves me right, I was to get 5 blades. Getting these add-ons was a nice touch on Rockwell’s behalf. I should also mentioned that the packing was immaculate with bubble wrap and all. That razor was not going to get damaged along the ride.
Planning ahead for the morning shave test, I put the Rockwell razor on the sink counter the night before. Since I have been shaving all week, I took guidance from the Rockwell packaging as far as which plate would best serve my shaving needs and used R1 (daily shave, sensitive skin…).
The plate settings are logical but not necessarily intuitive. As per the instructions “The number visible on the exposed plate when assembled is the size in use”. That means the number you see on the bottom of the plate when it is in place, is your shave setting. Logical! But maybe not intuitive, as I assumed it was the reverse. Being an eager shaver, I initially bypassed reading the instructions and loaded the razor using setting R3 thinking I was using R1. This did not turn out so well. R3 was too aggressive of an option for the beard I had to shave. As this configuration error was my own fault, we will not spend any time detailing that shave.
Since realizing my mistake and now placing the R1 plate correctly in the razor, I have become a “fan”! In fact, I have been shaving exclusively with the Rockwell these past two weeks. Yes, I got this razor two weeks ago, but because of my initial mistake, I wanted to take my time and do this review right. My Merkur 180 is looking at this new love with patience knowing that I will be eventually back.
TEST STAGE:
- State: Out of the shower
- Razor: Rockwell 6C – Plate R1
- Blade: Treet
- Pre-Shave: None
- Shaving Cream: Marrakesh, Dr. Jon’s Defiance Shaving Soap
- After-Shave: L’Oréal Sensitive after-shave cream
For my first test correctly using plate R1, I used a Treet blade and not the Rockwell blades. The reason is to isolate the razor under test. Treet blades have given me solid and consistent results thus giving me a baseline to isolate the razor’s performance. Choosing the Marrakesh shaving cream is again based on the same rational. This shaving cream has performed exceptionally well in a number of shaving situations.
The beard to shave off this morning is 4 days worth of growth. As I said above, I made the mistake of shaving using plate R3 and did not do a very good job so I gave my mug few days of rest. I now correctly set the razor to plate R1 which might not be the best configuration for a 4 day old bear, but I certainly did not want to have a repeat of my last shave. This setting turned out to be perhaps too mild for the job at hand, but it was also very comfortable. Obviously, I had to do a number of second passes, but again the shave was very comfortable. In retrospect plate No. 3 is the perfect plate for this amount of beard. I have since adapted this plate for the Monday mornings where I take a break of shaving on the weekend.
The combination of the Treet blade with plate R1 was impressive. The Marrakesh is now becoming my “Go-To” shave cream when I want to have the maximum lubrication. The Marrakesh cream also supports multiple passes without losing much of its lubrication qualities. I have also done 3 shaves using the Dr. Jon’s Defiance Shaving Soap with perfectly smooth results.
What I liked about this razor:
- It is heavy and feels sturdy in my hand
- It has proper gripping on the handle making it perfectly secure
- The handle has a nice thickness to it
- Adjustment plate R1 is perfect for a smooth daily shave scenario
- The razor is well crafted and looks good and durable
- When screwing in the handle into the razor head, it feels snug and you don’t have the impression that the head might tilt mid-shave
If I allowed myself to venture an opinion on future nice additions:
- The 3.5 inch handle is the standard size and I would perhaps make a “Tall Boy edition” and add ½ inch to the handle to make it a full 4 inches. Out of curiosity, I verified if my Merkur long handle is compatible with the 6C head, it is! Switching the handle is thus an option.
- Some sort of little plate storage container would be a nice add-on in order to keep the other razor head plates neatly organized. I don’t remember if they offered one.
In conclusion, the Rockwell 6C is an original and well crafted safety razor that can certainly compete with other brands such as Merkur. I am very glad I jumped on the crowd-funding wagon and got an early edition of this razor at a reasonable price ($40 US). Not sure my budget would have allowed me to justify $130 which is what is listed on the MenEssentials.ca site for the 6S. Granted, I also had to wait a few months for it but it was a fun to follow the development process.
Overall, this is an awesome safety razor!
Addendum: August 29, 2017
While shopping for other Rockwell products on the site of “Le Centre du rasoir” I noticed that the 6C was going for $54.98. A perfectly reasonable price for this razor. This store generally has very competitive prices.
Use these links to shop with Amazon:
