Thread: Project: "Shave with Eight SE hoe razors in a row"

Shave Report 6 - Le Coq II (aluminum handle)
or "Move over L'Essor"

It was really bound to happen at some point. The mighty L'Essor (ok, ok "Radium") saw itself dethroned this morning.

Now that I've ruined any sort of surprise this nerdy shave report might have held let's get into the guts of it.

I have to Le Coq SE hoe razors - the first one was covered in "Shave Report 5" above and was a more 'substantial' offering with a nice, solid handle.
The Le Coq I tried out this morning was the, I assume, more inexpensive brother sporting a smooth, lightweight hollow aluminum(?) handle that, I will admit, made me view as a bit of a lesser offering.

Le Coq (II) with its more plain looking and feeling handle:



For comparison, here are the two Le Coqs next to each other (Le Coq II on the left):


There was even some difference in head-design (Le Coq II on the left):


I loaded it up with a freshly honed Faynett wedge blade and was really happy to see that it was a perfect fit:


Lathered up some Soap Commander Endurance with my L'Occitane Plisson brush and had at it.

Now....I did have some preconceived notions about it all before I started...I felt that the lighter handle indicated lesser quality and on top of that the handle seemed a bit too smooth so I was worried it would feel slippery.

Let me tell you.....I am not a very intuitive person...the shave was fan-tastic!
Sure the handle felt light in my hand but it also felt very balanced moving a lot of the weight naturally towards the head.
The handle also didn't feel slippery even though I certainly got some water and lather on my hand at times.

As I started shaving I could feel that the blade angle was near perfect and the OC teeth had juuust that right curve/bend to them to make them feel noticeable - and actually functional.

I didn't shave at all yesterday, as I'm sometimes lazy, so the razor did have to work a bit.

Now here's the thing...I did ONE WTG pass (and two small clean-up passes around my mouth/under nose) - and, are you sitting down? - I was clean shaven.
No really. I was. I'd say, using my rather soft number assignment methology, I was 90-95% clean shaven. We're talking smooth.

I didn't even bother doing a second pass.

Sorry L'Essor/Radium you are now #2. All Hail "Le Coq II" (I really need a better name for it).


Two more razors to go...will one of them jump out and surprise me in the same way as LCII (nah..that doesn't work either) did?

Stay tuned to find out.

Nice work and fun reading! Keep us posted!

Shave Report # 7 - Louis

Next up: the French Louis razor.



A little bit about it from Waits:



There's a lot to like about the Louis razor. It looks, I think, great with the Louis on the head and it also feels very comfortable picking it up.
There is a soft patterned, knurling on the handle which is a bit different as many of these older SE hoe razors sports handles that are either smooth or have grooves in them that extends along the length of the handle. It almost felt like a modern version of this type of razors but in reality it is still about a hundred years old.



I was really happy to see that the Kampfe Bros wedge was a perfect fit for it so it appears that this is again one of those heads that will take most of the common wedge blades (the Roger being the only one so far that proved to be a bit picky).





Lathered up some Soap Commander Endurance and picked up Monsieur Louis.

First pass (WTG) really impressed me. It's a rather audible razor and it felt very, very comfortable.
I then remembered that I wanted to see how much I am reviewing the wedge blade in question - and how much is from the actual razor. Off I went to strop the first wedge blade I tried - the REX - and used that for the other half of my face (after having applied some more soap to my face). The result: pretty much the same so I felt good about the fact that I was judging the razor more than the blade.

Second pass(ATG): Used the REX blade for one half of my face and then switched to the Kampfe Bros blade for the other. Similar feel - which, btw, was great.
Still the same audible feedback, razor slides well across my face, the teeth are really well angled so that they help in generating that feeling of comfort.
The one thing that surprised me was that I didn't actually like the handle as much as I thought I would. Sure, it didn't slip at all but I think I have now become conditioned to associated these razors with the more traditional designs so it felt a bit off to me. Yes, now I'm nitpicking.

Finished my second pass and was a good 90% shaved. Some minor stubble on the neck and under the jawline.

I really enjoyed the "Louis" - close shave, comfortable head but maybe, for me, with a handle that made it feel a bit off. Great razor.




With only one more razor to go - Le Touriste - the highly subjective and non-scientific rankings stands as per below;

I have enjoyed this thread. The only razor on your list that I have is the Rapide, however I really like the shaves I get from. It leaves me wondering if this is a difference of preference or if I have a lot better of shaves that I am yet to experience. These razors intrigue me a lot, however they are not that common, probably due to the age of them and lower numbers in manufacturing. I do keep my eye out for them and have quite a few Rapide blades in good condition. I like the rider on your chart. I did not know there were so many different razors like this out there, and you are probably on the tip of the iceberg.

Originally Posted by RezDog

I have enjoyed this thread. The only razor on your list that I have is the Rapide, however I really like the shaves I get from. It leaves me wondering if this is a difference of preference or if I have a lot better of shaves that I am yet to experience. These razors intrigue me a lot, however they are not that common, probably due to the age of them and lower numbers in manufacturing. I do keep my eye out for them and have quite a few Rapide blades in good condition. I like the rider on your chart. I did not know there were so many different razors like this out there, and you are probably on the tip of the iceberg.

Oops...now I feel bad that I've rated it last

Originally Posted by Darkbulb

Oops...now I feel bad that I've rated it last

It's all good. The rider says it all.

Indeed, lots of interesting fun! Curious. Did you determine the blade was sitting properly in the Rapide?