Item Description
This mid sized razor arrived nicely eco-packaged with the trademark minature badger brush tag of the brand. Clever cross-sell strategy (MÜHLE are a world-class brush manufacturer - http://www.muehle-shaving.com/) given how soft the baby bristles are, easily a match for my evergreeen 20year old silver tipped Kent.
Beautifully made, great balance and a compact small head makes it highly manoevrable. The instructions propose a half turn of the 3 piece design for the more angular parts of the face, and this does make for an even closer result at the expense of the risk of a little neck irritation, except it is difficult once half-turned to prevent the head from working loose further. With a little collar of very fine cork holding the blade a smidgen further away from the closed comb edge, the razor would become more aggressive, though it would be fiddly to adopt this kind of Heath Robinson route given it is a 3 piece.
As it is it's a very safe shave, no risk of nicks unless exceptionally heavy handed, and ideal on that basis for travelling and fast early morning passes.
Load a Feather blade into the R106 and the result is fabulous, close, encourages you to use assertively without any fear, and gives an absoutely smooth jawline.
Put a Gilette Swede into the R106, and the result on day 1 is superb. Day 3 or4 may not be as efficient as with the 38c, but it does get the job done.
Next to the Merkur 38c it is better finished, lighter and the better for it, but there's a little bit more pressure and buffing involved to achieve a perfect result with any other blade other than a Feather.
As a comparison, Merkur's 38c plus Swede produce a great shave with slightly less buffing, whilst the smoothness of a Swede feels to me superior to a Feather, confirmed with a quick pass of the alum block afterwards.
Load a Feather into the 38c, and the R106 is much the preferred implement. The slightly closer set of the blade to the comb on the R106 tames the quiveringly sharp Feather edge whilst cutting through very cleanly. Feathers blunt rapidly, so there's only 2 really good shaves in it, the next 2 being comparable to a 4 day old Swede.
The Merkur remains my go to razor for its marginally more aggressive profile, and for its perfect suitability with Gilette Swedes, which I'm well stocked up on. But one day they will run out and when that happens, faced with the Gilette 7 o'clock Russians rebranded and repackaged as Gilette's European Safety blades as the closest substitutes, and having already rejected Merkur and Derby blades as just not sharp enough, I'll probably swing over to the R106 + feathers exclusively.
As it is I'm using the R106 a great deal because it's such a well balanced razor and so safe to use.
Beautifully made, great balance and a compact small head makes it highly manoevrable. The instructions propose a half turn of the 3 piece design for the more angular parts of the face, and this does make for an even closer result at the expense of the risk of a little neck irritation, except it is difficult once half-turned to prevent the head from working loose further. With a little collar of very fine cork holding the blade a smidgen further away from the closed comb edge, the razor would become more aggressive, though it would be fiddly to adopt this kind of Heath Robinson route given it is a 3 piece.
As it is it's a very safe shave, no risk of nicks unless exceptionally heavy handed, and ideal on that basis for travelling and fast early morning passes.
Load a Feather blade into the R106 and the result is fabulous, close, encourages you to use assertively without any fear, and gives an absoutely smooth jawline.
Put a Gilette Swede into the R106, and the result on day 1 is superb. Day 3 or4 may not be as efficient as with the 38c, but it does get the job done.
Next to the Merkur 38c it is better finished, lighter and the better for it, but there's a little bit more pressure and buffing involved to achieve a perfect result with any other blade other than a Feather.
As a comparison, Merkur's 38c plus Swede produce a great shave with slightly less buffing, whilst the smoothness of a Swede feels to me superior to a Feather, confirmed with a quick pass of the alum block afterwards.
Load a Feather into the 38c, and the R106 is much the preferred implement. The slightly closer set of the blade to the comb on the R106 tames the quiveringly sharp Feather edge whilst cutting through very cleanly. Feathers blunt rapidly, so there's only 2 really good shaves in it, the next 2 being comparable to a 4 day old Swede.
The Merkur remains my go to razor for its marginally more aggressive profile, and for its perfect suitability with Gilette Swedes, which I'm well stocked up on. But one day they will run out and when that happens, faced with the Gilette 7 o'clock Russians rebranded and repackaged as Gilette's European Safety blades as the closest substitutes, and having already rejected Merkur and Derby blades as just not sharp enough, I'll probably swing over to the R106 + feathers exclusively.
As it is I'm using the R106 a great deal because it's such a well balanced razor and so safe to use.
