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Merkur 34c

I use the above razor and usually do two pass shave, I tried Feather and way to sharp for me so now trying Astra SP, GSB and Voskhod which all seem to work better. I like a smooth shave as my neck area is slightly sensitive, are there any other smooth blades I should try, I have no clue if sharp and smooth is the same but smooth is a priority for me with sharpness being second.
 
Gillette Perma-sharps and Silver Blues work well for me in the 34C: sharp and smooth. Kai are also good, but with more blade feel (if you like that, I do). Personna (Reds and Lab Blues) are pretty much foolproof. Wizamets are great... Plenty of choices! :)
 
Gillette Perma-sharps and Silver Blues work well for me in the 34C: sharp and smooth. Kai are also good, but with more blade feel (if you like that, I do). Personna (Reds and Lab Blues) are pretty much foolproof. Wizamets are great... Plenty of choices! :)
I was going to post on this thread… until I read this. Those are pretty much my go to blades, I favor the GSB, and Kai for a tad more blade exposure. I have not tried a Wizamet yet, but I hear great things.
 
I use the above razor and usually do two pass shave, I tried Feather and way to sharp for me so now trying Astra SP, GSB and Voskhod which all seem to work better. I like a smooth shave as my neck area is slightly sensitive, are there any other smooth blades I should try, I have no clue if sharp and smooth is the same but smooth is a priority for me with sharpness being second.

You have posed an excellent question.

I was just thinking: If you aren't getting an excellent shave with a Merkur CC, it is almost certainly the blade/soap/prep.

The top Treet blades are very smooth: the Dura Sharp (blue) and the 7 Days Platinum. It's hard to imagine a smoother blade than the Dura Sharp, which is PTFE coated carbon steel; but some blades are duds. The 7 Days shaves almost the same, and has consistently excellent blades. It is very sharp, but not as aggressive as some alternatives.

The Durablade (Sharp Swiss Quality) titanium blade works beautifully in my Merkur 33/34s. It is a match made in heaven, with the very sharp blade tamed by the Merkur magic geometry.

The BIC blade is of comparable sharpness and smoothness, and was rated significantly sharper than a Feather overall in that old test that still floats around online. The Feather becomes dull and rough very quickly. However, there is a substantial risk of being sold counterfeit BICS, so ONLY buy from a source with a long reputation and track record, not no-name sellers -- if any BIC blade seems dull on the first shave it is certainly a counterfeit. The BIC blade retains its sharpness nicely but becomes a bit rough after a week. The edge still seems to be very sharp and it cuts efficiently, but I think the edge gets ragged and chipped after a week, resulting in a rough shave and weepers. So blades can be sharp without being smooth.

Gillette Platinum is also very smooth and sharp.

There are other good blades, but just because a blade is more expensive or more famous doesn't mean it is better than these.

I agree with putting a smooth, irritation-free shave as the priority. Razor burn can ruin your day, or at least an hour or two of it. Skeerew BBS.

Once you have found a satisfactory blade, if you still have some "razor burn" experiment with different soaps. I have found the most irritation free to be Barbasol canned shaving cream used properly in combination with good prep. However, it seems the vast majority of people do not know how to use canned shaving cream, judging by the enormous number of snide, childish remarks on this site, not to mention the idiotic reviews on Yuutube. Enough said. Aside from that, I suspect a good shaving cream in a tube is more likely to produce an irritation-free shave than most hard shaving soaps. But this is another topic. Do some research and experiment.

Sure, there are other excellent razors besides the Merkur 33/34. But if you aren't getting a great shave with a Merkur, you are even less likely to get an excellent shave with another razor.
 
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I prefer razors in the ‘mild/moderate’ range which is where most would place the 34C. I also find Feather blades overly sharp and not especially comfortable. That said, my ‘top-tier’ (in no particular order):
GSB
Astra SP
Nacet
Polsilver SI (or Wizamet)
Personna lab (or MedPrep)
Personna red
 
I tried the GSB this morning and it was perfect with no irritation, tried the Gillette 7 green SS and found it so so, a little tuggy, also tried the Persona Platinum once and found it sharp but not smooth. Lots of choices. Thanks for the input guys.
 

Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
I use a 38C very frequently. It's easy to change blades, efficient and I do have a spare if the "main" razor dies. However, the spare is out of the box (because I had to try it and see if it was the same). I now have no clue which one is the spare...

Overall, an excellent razor!
 
Just realized I'm missing the retaining ring for my 34C, so its basically 3 pieces but still does the job, my lovely wife
cleaned it a few years ago and the ring disappeared but I still love her.
 
BTW I did find the retaining ring, its jammed near the head of the inner tube of my 34C, not sure how she did that but I gave up asking many years ago and there is no way I can get that to move, so decided I needed a new razor.

I know this should be in another forum but thought I would share my new purchase, I treated myself to a new razor, ordered the 6C at a 20% discount, I'm not cheap, I prefer to use the word frugal. The 34c worked wonderfully this morning with a GSB 2 pass shave but from what I've read the 6C should give a smoother shave plus the adjustment factor. I know there might be better razors out there but I'm not into aggressive razors.

My wife is 5 foot so this puppy will be put on an upper shelf out of reach.
 
BTW I did find the retaining ring, its jammed near the head of the inner tube of my 34C, not sure how she did that but I gave up asking many years ago and there is no way I can get that to move, so decided I needed a new razor.

I know this should be in another forum but thought I would share my new purchase, I treated myself to a new razor, ordered the 6C at a 20% discount, I'm not cheap, I prefer to use the word frugal. The 34c worked wonderfully this morning with a GSB 2 pass shave but from what I've read the 6C should give a smoother shave plus the adjustment factor. I know there might be better razors out there but I'm not into aggressive razors.

My wife is 5 foot so this puppy will be put on an upper shelf out of reach.

The retaining ring has a fairly wide split on one side, allowing it to bend into a smaller circumference. I would think there is some way to remove it.
 
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