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Which razor will last longer, is more durable, muhle or merkur?

Can not speak for the Merkur but have had the R89 for 8 years now and it has held up very nice as my main razor (97% usage). No Flaking as I can see even with years of gliding over my Uranium Nyonoksa Laser Sword Resistance Coated Beard (tm).
 
Basically same materials. Brass handle and ZAMAK head. But the Merkur is different construction. You can't use the handle once the top cap snaps.
 
Two fine products.
My biased opinion is for the 34 HD.
The Muhle 89 also gets good reviews on this forum.
Trust your intuition on this one.
 
I have a Muhle R41, a Muhle R89 but with an open comb, and after more than 4 years it still looks like it's brand new
 
Take care of your Muhle or Merkur and it will take care of you! Quality Zamak razors can last decades.
 
Never tried a Muhle.

However, my Merkur 38R had 2 failures in 10 years. It's still shaveable, but I have moved on.

1. Retaining ring broke inside handle. (Was able to repair with replacement part)
2. Chrome started flaking on baseplate under top cap. Only a matter of time before catastrophic failure.

This was my daily driver for YEARS. It led a very fruitful life, but yes, they can wear out.
 
The Muhle has a superior and heavier chrome coating, but otherwise the quality of Merkur and Muhle razors seems the same to me.
This.

And since the integrity of the underlying Zamac really depends on the coating not coming off, I would think that the Muhle, which has superior chroming, would be likely to last longer. Just picking the odds......
 
And since the integrity of the underlying Zamac really depends on the coating not coming off, I would think that the Muhle, which has superior chroming, would be likely to last longer. Just picking the odds......

How would the cap threads keep their coating if it's being regularly twisted to assemble and disassemble the razor?
 

Raven Koenes

My precious!
It used to be that Merkur used brass screws and Muhle/EJ had molded zamak screws. That was the weak point with Muhle/EJ screws dissolving once the plating was compromised. Merkur never had that problem with screws. EJ knew this and had excellent customer service replacing caps for free. Now, about a year or so ago, Muhle/EJ went to using brass screws and Merkur went to zamak molded screws I've heard. We should start to see Merkur screw rot soon.
 
My Muhle R89 is one of the few razors I’ve had that still remain. I’ve tried far more expensive razors that have long been since sold . I go Muhle but they will both last you a lot longer than you think.
 
They're both Zamak so if you're not careful they could last only 10 or 20 years... Just kidding
I like better the 2 piece safety razors because they are structurally stronger than a 3 piece, and if you look at the 34G is just gorgeous.
Cheers
 
Nothing shaves better or feels more comfortable in my hand than my Muhle R89. And I have about 90 DE and SE razors.

'Twas a tad mild for my strong whiskers, but that problem was easily fixed with 2 shims under the working blade.

Shaving perfection! My face is happy. My hand is happy.
 
Oh, also the Muhle R89 is 34.99 on amazon at the moment.

Ordinarily I’d say it’s a toss up or slight edge to the Muhle. But at $34.99 the R89 wins! But for what it’s worth, I personally get better shaves from the 34C than the R89. Both are very mild of course.
 
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