What's new

RR GC .084 more efficient than Merkur 34C?

I have a GC .068p and a Merkur 34C. To my face Merkur is slightly more efficient than the GC .068p and I get a better shave without giving up any comfort. If I get the GC .084 base plate am I gaining any efficiency over the 34C? If you have both please let me know your experience.
 
Last edited:
I have the .68, .84, and 34C. My experience with the .68 and 34C is the same as yours. The Merkur is slightly more efficient. I find the .84 to be much more efficient than the 34C, with quite a bit more blade feel; I dont find the .84 to be quite as smooth as the Merkur, but it's still a very comfortable shave. I've never had any irritation from the .84, but I haven't tried shaving with it on multiple back-to-back days.
 
I have the Merkur 34c, GC .68 and the GC .84. I love all three of them, but I find that I get the best shaves with the GC .84. Doing a two pass shave with the GC .84 gives me the closest of the three razors. The GC .84 is a medium to slightly aggressive razor, while the Merkur 34c and the GC .68 are mild in my opinion.
 
I have all 3 as well but don’t have many shaves on the 68 or 34C but the 84p is my go to. Out of 20+ razors so far it’s been my favorite.

Before it my favorite was the R89 & Gillette Tech as I never liked any aggressive razor I tried. I figured the 84p would be way too much for me but decided to try it anyways and the first shave blew me away. Closest shave I had had and while I could feel the extra aggression it was so smooth and didn’t cause me any irritation or drag like in other razors. Now that I’ve been using it for a couple months it doesn’t feel the least bit aggressive to me.

For $30 new or $20ish used for the plate how can you go wrong? If you don’t like it because it’s too aggressive maybe put it aside and revisit at a later time. If you don’t like it for other reasons just sell or trade it for something else as it’s one of the most common razors to be bought/sold here.
 
Well that would make sense.

The Merkur 34C (and I assume the Merkur 34HD) share a blade gap with the Edwin Jagger DES89 Kelvin of .71

I don't have a Merkur but the Kelvin was my first razor, and is still in my rotation.

The GC .68 will be slightly less efficient than the above razors, so obviously the GC .84 will feel the most efficient of the three types.

Blade gaps from here Double-Edged Safety Razors Ranked by Blade Gap - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/wiki/Double-Edged_Safety_Razors_Ranked_by_Blade_Gap

The table does not list the GC series, but the names give the blade gap, so it's self-explanatory.

Interesting that the table gives the Mühle R89 and Edwin Jagger DE89L as .76 blade gap.

I suspect the EJ DES89 Kelvin (made exclusively for Amazon) is meant as a starter razor, and was designed with a blade gap to compete directly with the Merkur 34 series.
 
Last edited:
Blade gap is useful but doesn’t always translate to what’s more efficient. My ATT R1 with a .58 gap is far more efficient then any mild razor and possibly even more so then the GC 84p.

Also I believe all of the 89s have exactly the same head depending on cast number. Every cast has slight variation as I have a few R89 & DE89s and the same cast numbers are pretty much identical but a different cast number is a hair different. Not to mention a really old EJ89 I have here that’s far more efficient then any made in the last 10 years that I’ve found. It has a bigger gap & narrower top cap for more blade exposure but I’m not sure how long they made them like this and it may even be the first year of production.

The EJ uses a slightly different cap then the Muhle as well. But I believe both bases are identical. The shave between the two is near identical. But that old EJ with narrower cap & wider gap is just as smooth and far more efficient on my slightly coarse hair. A shame they don’t make them like that now.
 
I have the Merkur 34c, GC .68 and the GC .84. I love all three of them, but I find that I get the best shaves with the GC .84. Doing a two pass shave with the GC .84 gives me the closest of the three razors. The GC .84 is a medium to slightly aggressive razor, while the Merkur 34c and the GC .68 are mild in my opinion.
I have the Merkur 34c, GC .68 and the GC .84. I love all three of them, but I find that I get the best shaves with the GC .84. Doing a two pass shave with the GC .84 gives me the closest of the three razors. The GC .84 is a medium to slightly aggressive razor, while the Merkur 34c and the GC .68 are mild in my opinion.
Totally agree - my experience exactly.
 
How does the GC84 compare with the lupo 72 in terms of efficiency and smoothness?
I’ve only used my Lupo 72 once so far but I find the GC 84p much smoother. I’d say the efficiency is comparable but I’d need more shaves with the 72 to say for sure. The Lupos have a lot more blade feel to me, the GC’s are like butter and one of the smoothest designs I’ve ever tested.
 
The UFO is the only one I haven’t tested but I don’t think I’d like it as well.

If it was up to me I’d have a RR BarberPole/RadioKnob/HD on every razor I own. In fact I may eventually try to get one for each of my favorite razors and sell the originals or throw them in the parts box.
 
I shaved with the GC 0.84-p this morning. Nacet blade and XXX soap and aftershave splash. Thanks for the advise guys, this thing is everything I hoped for. It's every bit as smooth as the 0.68 but a lot more efficient, I could have stopped after 2 passes (WTG, XTG) but did a little ATG buffing, 6 hours later and I'm still BBS.
Since I was sending money to Italian Barber I got the XXX soap and aftershave. The soap is excellent and smells nice. I could live without the menthol in the splash but it's not over the top.
 
The UFO is the only one I haven’t tested but I don’t think I’d like it as well.

If it was up to me I’d have a RR BarberPole/RadioKnob/HD on every razor I own. In fact I may eventually try to get one for each of my favorite razors and sell the originals or throw them in the parts box.
I like the UFO, but I have a Tech fat handle on my 0.68. I like handles short and light. If I could drill a hole up the middle of the UFO it would be perfect.
 
Top Bottom