I thought that I’d post my experience trying out the Merkur1904 open comb. I wanted to try adifferent razor in the hope of an easier shave as I have very tough whiskers,and typically pass 1/WTG (and sometimes pass 2/WTG) with my Muhle would “stutter”and catch. I also struggle with coarsehairs right under my chin, and I have not found an angle (WTG, XTG, ATG) that Ican consistently trim that area with. Ihave read here that open comb razors are a different experience, and I pickedthe Merkur 1904 since I wanted a mild, new, open comb razor. The idea of the razor blade actually being flushwith the teeth was something that appealed to me, since at this stage of thegame (pretty new to all of this) I wanted to focus more on irritation freeshaving than close shaving. With the Muhle,there are times on my chin or under my nose where, due to poor technique, theangle is off and I can feel the edge of the blade catching on my skin (no cutsdue to minimal pressure, but that sensation is not fun!). Plus, it looked really cool in pictures.Background – I’m new to DE shaving, about 2 monthsexperience. My comparison razor is theMuhle R89 (Edwin Jagger de89 series equivalent).
Prep – standard 5-10 minute hot shower, as without showeringmy whiskers are even tougher and shaving is much rougher and more painful. Hot wet towels for a minute or two don’tachieve this, unfortunately.
Lather – Mike’s Natural Soap with an Ecotools Kabuki
Blade – Astra (new)
My expectations – a similar shave with maybe subtle differences,a need to do multiple passes to catch hairs that go along the teeth andtherefore never really hit the blade, and possibly a ringing musical noise as Ishaved (some posters have noted a ringing as the Merkur cuts).
The Razor – Shiny, with an elegant head design. The handle doesn’t look quite as nice inperson in my opinion as it does in pictures, but it is certainly unique. The smooth pommel doesn’t bother me, as Ishave gripping my razors in the middle with 3 fingers. The finish is good but not great – there are2 areas under the cap that are slightly discolored where the alignment pins are(slightly brownish), but the plating appears to be intact. The finish is also not of the same shininessas Muhle. Had I not ever seen a Muhle orEJ, I would have said that it looks fine. Loading blades – one weird thing is that the blunt edges of an Astrablade project slightly past the lateral edges of the Merkur, so when you aretightening the handle you feel them. Iheld the razor with some tissue (a towel would be fine as well). A minor point.
Shaving – I don’t know if this is characteristic of opencombs, but if it is, I’m sold. It shavedthrough pass #1 (12 hour old stubble) with no detectable resistance, which is amarked improvement over my Muhle. Thegliding sensation felt nice. The teethfelt slightly weird as I’m used to a safety bar, but it wasn’tproblematic. Knowing the flushness ofthe blade to the open comb, I experimented with XTG/ATG briefly on my cheek andwent for some areas under my chin. Again, no real resistance. Incase you can’t tell, I love that aspect of it. No musical ringing choirlike noises as it shaved, though.
Results – SAS (socially acceptable shave). It wasn’t DFS, and certainly not BBS,although I generally did 2-3 WTG passes. It shaved even troublesome spots like under my nose and under my chinwithout the usual catching. No real nicks, cuts, or scrapes (maybe a slight scraping in spots, but significantly kinder to my face than my Muhle if I do it wrong). It didn’tfeel quite as close as my Muhle, though. That last point is hard to really tell.
Positives – The razor felt really “safe” to play with, whichI never felt with my EJ. I was veryconfident in different angles/grain approaches/shaving trouble spots.
Negatives – I can’t tell if it can’t shave as closely as myMuhle, or if this is a function of the particular blade I picked, or simplyinexperience with a brand new razor. Ididn’t think the handle was as elegant in person.
My conclusion – I really like this razor, if I can say thatafter 1 shave!
If the low to nonexistentdrag compared to safety bar razors is a standard difference between open andclosed comb razors, then I think I understand why some people love open combs. I will keep trying this razor, and possiblythrow a Feather (or Personna or Crystal, which I believe are sharper thanAstras but not as forgiving if I recall correctly) in it now, just to see whathappens. I doubt that I will shim thisrazor, as my philosophy is that razor manufacturers design each razor asoptimally as possible and that if I really want a gap between the open comb andthe blade that I should get another razor, such as a slant or the (gasp!) infamousMuhle R41 (given my inexperience, both of those razors scare me). Maybe in rose gold. 
We’ll see how the next few weeks unfold. It may turn out that I use the Merkur for 1or 2 passes, and then a 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] pass with the Muhle (which would be finewith me). If the Merkur stays as a partof my shaving regimen, I may replace the handle with something I like better.
In short, I really like the razor and feel that it is quite “safe”and good for trouble spots; it remains to be seen how good of a shave I can getwith it.
Prep – standard 5-10 minute hot shower, as without showeringmy whiskers are even tougher and shaving is much rougher and more painful. Hot wet towels for a minute or two don’tachieve this, unfortunately.
Lather – Mike’s Natural Soap with an Ecotools Kabuki
Blade – Astra (new)
My expectations – a similar shave with maybe subtle differences,a need to do multiple passes to catch hairs that go along the teeth andtherefore never really hit the blade, and possibly a ringing musical noise as Ishaved (some posters have noted a ringing as the Merkur cuts).
The Razor – Shiny, with an elegant head design. The handle doesn’t look quite as nice inperson in my opinion as it does in pictures, but it is certainly unique. The smooth pommel doesn’t bother me, as Ishave gripping my razors in the middle with 3 fingers. The finish is good but not great – there are2 areas under the cap that are slightly discolored where the alignment pins are(slightly brownish), but the plating appears to be intact. The finish is also not of the same shininessas Muhle. Had I not ever seen a Muhle orEJ, I would have said that it looks fine. Loading blades – one weird thing is that the blunt edges of an Astrablade project slightly past the lateral edges of the Merkur, so when you aretightening the handle you feel them. Iheld the razor with some tissue (a towel would be fine as well). A minor point.
Shaving – I don’t know if this is characteristic of opencombs, but if it is, I’m sold. It shavedthrough pass #1 (12 hour old stubble) with no detectable resistance, which is amarked improvement over my Muhle. Thegliding sensation felt nice. The teethfelt slightly weird as I’m used to a safety bar, but it wasn’tproblematic. Knowing the flushness ofthe blade to the open comb, I experimented with XTG/ATG briefly on my cheek andwent for some areas under my chin. Again, no real resistance. Incase you can’t tell, I love that aspect of it. No musical ringing choirlike noises as it shaved, though.
Results – SAS (socially acceptable shave). It wasn’t DFS, and certainly not BBS,although I generally did 2-3 WTG passes. It shaved even troublesome spots like under my nose and under my chinwithout the usual catching. No real nicks, cuts, or scrapes (maybe a slight scraping in spots, but significantly kinder to my face than my Muhle if I do it wrong). It didn’tfeel quite as close as my Muhle, though. That last point is hard to really tell.
Positives – The razor felt really “safe” to play with, whichI never felt with my EJ. I was veryconfident in different angles/grain approaches/shaving trouble spots.
Negatives – I can’t tell if it can’t shave as closely as myMuhle, or if this is a function of the particular blade I picked, or simplyinexperience with a brand new razor. Ididn’t think the handle was as elegant in person.
My conclusion – I really like this razor, if I can say thatafter 1 shave!
If the low to nonexistentdrag compared to safety bar razors is a standard difference between open andclosed comb razors, then I think I understand why some people love open combs. I will keep trying this razor, and possiblythrow a Feather (or Personna or Crystal, which I believe are sharper thanAstras but not as forgiving if I recall correctly) in it now, just to see whathappens. I doubt that I will shim thisrazor, as my philosophy is that razor manufacturers design each razor asoptimally as possible and that if I really want a gap between the open comb andthe blade that I should get another razor, such as a slant or the (gasp!) infamousMuhle R41 (given my inexperience, both of those razors scare me). Maybe in rose gold. We’ll see how the next few weeks unfold. It may turn out that I use the Merkur for 1or 2 passes, and then a 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] pass with the Muhle (which would be finewith me). If the Merkur stays as a partof my shaving regimen, I may replace the handle with something I like better.
In short, I really like the razor and feel that it is quite “safe”and good for trouble spots; it remains to be seen how good of a shave I can getwith it.
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