I know there have been countless threads about this razor, but I wanted to share my experience. I've been DE shaving ~25 yrs or so but nothing prepared me for the Futur. Granted, I don't normally shave with adjustables, so I am at a little disadvantage. Normally, I'll grab an English SS or HD34. So I was gifted a brand new Futur, right? I thought, eh what the hell - looks cool. Tried it with a Derby - since I had some laying around - at a 2. I literally shaved off a little chunk of my chin. Then I moved it to a 1.5 (shaving when you're cut sucks) and finished. Today, on a 1.5, still had a couple of weepers. Tomorrow, I'll try it on a 1. Who the hell is this razor for, really? I'm an average beard and on a 1 setting, I think it might STILL be too much. So, perhaps if some guys have an ultra coarse beard or serious growth (again, I'm avg and shave once a day) the "options" of the other numbers might work. Not for me. At lest so far.
Merkur Futur - Wow!
- Thread starter Squeege
- Start date
Happy you are happy.
Way too much for me, I sold mine. Kinda weird looking as well. Happy with their Progress adjustable, though.
Uh, did you even read his post?Happy you are happy.
I think you all would be fine at the highest settings… if you dial it way down for the WTG pass.
I got my Futur at the flea market day of my local farmers market for $5.
I got my Futur at the flea market day of my local farmers market for $5.
It's a decent razor, quite aggressive too and I would definitely recommend for those who enjoy such razors, but it's nothing mind blowing imo. There are plenty of other razors, which are just as or close to the efficiency of the Futur without the extra aggression.
Now that my skill and knowledge level of shaving has increased, I enjoy shaving with the Futur. I call it sport shaving when I use it. I can get an irritation and blood free shave with it now!
My Buddy own one Razor, a Futur. Actually Two em, he’s retired Fire Fighter.
Use to be one at home, one a firehouse.
He love the Razor.
Use to be one at home, one a firehouse.
He love the Razor.
ERS4
My exploding razor knows secrets
Futur attempts to create a new assembly method and appearance design.
Even from today's perspective, Futur's design is still very avant-garde, even more so than its shaving function.
It's a pity that today's Merkur seems to have lost the power of innovation, and there has been no leaping thinking like Futur or Vision2000 for a long time.
Even Muhle, which has similar attributes and is also from Germany, has used new processing technologies such as MIM and CNC to develop high-end product lines and accelerate progress.
Even from today's perspective, Futur's design is still very avant-garde, even more so than its shaving function.
It's a pity that today's Merkur seems to have lost the power of innovation, and there has been no leaping thinking like Futur or Vision2000 for a long time.
Even Muhle, which has similar attributes and is also from Germany, has used new processing technologies such as MIM and CNC to develop high-end product lines and accelerate progress.
Maybe worth checking this out:
www.badgerandblade.com
Might not make a difference but worth a look.
Most of of the experiences I've read and heard about are similar to yours. The blade gaps on it are scary to me. At some point I'd just try a straight razor.
I think my new Futur was not assembled "correctly" at the factory .
I have been noticing that although my Futur has a reputation for being more aggressive than other adjustables, it just felt to me "too" aggressive, even in the lowest level. So after removing the blade(!!!), I played a little with it. So I first took some pictures/close-ups, of my Futur on its...
www.badgerandblade.com
Might not make a difference but worth a look.
Most of of the experiences I've read and heard about are similar to yours. The blade gaps on it are scary to me. At some point I'd just try a straight razor.
The Merkur Progress is a little more forgiving than the Futur.
I shave with the Progress daily and still never go past 2 (zeros on the + sign).
I shave with the Progress daily and still never go past 2 (zeros on the + sign).
Definitely on the ’aggressive side’ and not to my taste. Hope you can dial it in better than I did.
Some seem to like the Futur. The razor's aesthetic has always bothered me. A B&B member here said a female family member asked him why the Futur's handle has the same shape as a feminine hygiene product. "Yep," I said to myself; "that explains why I don't like it."
- Thread starter
- #15
A lot of useful replies here. El, it's been a couple weeks out with the Futur and here's my view on this razor:
1) It's made well. At least so far, I believe this razor is solid (some have declared otherwise, so we shall see in the long run). I like the weights, but I like heavy razors. If that ain't your thing, probably look elsewhere. (I love my EJ Chatham, which is as heavy as this.) Cap's easy to take off and load - little different than say your Merkur, where you drop the blade in on the cap. Here, it's backward. But it requires no special touch. Blades looks, stays, and shaves even. At least on mine. (Maybe I got lucky, judging from some comments I've seen).
2) It's aggressive, as I state two weeks ago. This thing is about the closest I've come - what am I saying? It IS the closest - I've come to straight razor shaving with a safety razor. The technique here is important. I am very trepidatious with this razor. And I find myself, like with straight razor, almost forgetting the razor and just focussing/getting in tune/ whatever with the actual blade. In that respect it's kind of fun.
Overall, I like it. It shaves well and is not boring. I compare it to my motorcycles: If I want a relaxing, solid ride, I'll go with a cruiser; but if I want to have some fun and challenge myself, I'll ride my other bike.
1) It's made well. At least so far, I believe this razor is solid (some have declared otherwise, so we shall see in the long run). I like the weights, but I like heavy razors. If that ain't your thing, probably look elsewhere. (I love my EJ Chatham, which is as heavy as this.) Cap's easy to take off and load - little different than say your Merkur, where you drop the blade in on the cap. Here, it's backward. But it requires no special touch. Blades looks, stays, and shaves even. At least on mine. (Maybe I got lucky, judging from some comments I've seen).
2) It's aggressive, as I state two weeks ago. This thing is about the closest I've come - what am I saying? It IS the closest - I've come to straight razor shaving with a safety razor. The technique here is important. I am very trepidatious with this razor. And I find myself, like with straight razor, almost forgetting the razor and just focussing/getting in tune/ whatever with the actual blade. In that respect it's kind of fun.
Overall, I like it. It shaves well and is not boring. I compare it to my motorcycles: If I want a relaxing, solid ride, I'll go with a cruiser; but if I want to have some fun and challenge myself, I'll ride my other bike.
I like your thread here. I'm still sorta new but I've had nothing but good shaves with my Futur. It may be my favourite DE razor. I studied, trained even, for a couple weeks before I used the beast. Shaving With Rich is a good resource.
I've only really used it on Setting 1, it's just my last couple shaves that I've been moving to 1.5 and 2. I feel like I want to take it up. I've never butchered myself with any razor and I'm certainly not going to do it with this one! Like you're saying, I find I can get really vertical with the blade so it just cuts really well. And don't have to repeat stokes at all, so zero irritation. The big shiney head seems to smooth out the fresh cut area like a massage tool. The heavy weight of it makes it really stable and seems to contribute to the smoothness. Yeah, for me, it's consistently offered the closest, most comfortable shaves. Yeah, fun.
I like it.
The Futur is aggressive, but not overly IMO. But my main razors are a Wolfman WR2 1.65 and a Game Changer 1.05 which many consider very aggressive. I also always use my Merkur Progress wide open.
I would like to think it is my stellar technique, but in reality I have rarely shaved two days in a row since COVID and I guess I have thick whiskers.
The Futur is aggressive, but not overly IMO. But my main razors are a Wolfman WR2 1.65 and a Game Changer 1.05 which many consider very aggressive. I also always use my Merkur Progress wide open.
I would like to think it is my stellar technique, but in reality I have rarely shaved two days in a row since COVID and I guess I have thick whiskers.
I found the Futur to be scary looking but not overly aggressive. I used it daily on 4 or 4.5 without any damage and it always provided excellent BBS shaves. I liked the innovative design and found blade loading to be extremely simple and straightforward. So why did I sell it on the BST? The head is just too big and I couldn't find an effective way to shave under my nose without having to pick up a different razor. Admittedly, my nose is larger than average, so for many folks it could be a scary looking but very effective razor.
Lockback
Dull yet interesting
I've made the same observation.
When I was looking for an adjustable, of course the Futur was immediately on my radar. But the more research I did, the more nervous I got. I do NOT care for aggressive razors and almost all the reviews I read or watched said it was pretty aggressive. And so I passed on it and got a Pearl Flexi instead, which has turned out to be a great buy.
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