Similar to but "better" (more efficient) than Merkur 34C?

[gdawg55]

With your budget the Lamda Athena hands down. This sucker is super easy on the skin yet removes whiskers like nobody’s business.

 

[Goblin]

I would like to thank you James for this priceless information.

It seems to be one of those things that is frequently suspected, but nobody has ever really confirmed it. Well, I think it is definitely true. If you have a 34c with a round and fully threaded post (which is actually plated brass, embedded in the zamak top cap) then it is an older razor with more blade gap.

If the post doesn't have threads all the way round, and has flat sections with visible casting marks, then it is the new version with a zamak post (which is prone to corrosion) and a much lower blade gap, which probably also translates into less blade exposure, since the base plates appear the same. Just eyeballing the two together, it looked to me as though the blade gap on the new one was about 2/3 of the gap on the old one...maybe even less.

The new 37c also has this cast post with flat sections, but it is easier to spot that one because they changed the comb-design too.

 

[StewB]

...all of which can substantially devalue razor recommendations, because of the performance differences between revisions...

 

[ShavingPrimate]

To the original poster. If your 34C is the latest milder version, most of the razors on the market will give you a closer shave. But we also don't know if this is your first razor. Have you used other DE razors before?

I have not used the original 34c but have the current version. I am in total agreement with your assessment.

The 34c is less efficient than my Edwin Jagger DE89 or my King C. Gillette, both of which I consider to be dead average razors.

Either one will move you from a 4.5 to a 5.0 on efficiency.

For to move up to a 5.5, I might suggest the Parker Safety Razor, THE CONVERTIBLE 69CR Duel Head Double Edge Safety Razor with Both Open and Closed Comb Heads Included to Customize your Shave, Includes 5 Parker Blades too.

This dual headed razor is priced at $36.99 on Amazon. I shave with it yesterday and the day before.

For a more efficient but still very easy to use razor, the OP might consider the Rocca R94, which I shaved with earlier today.

It will give you that very efficient "baby face" smooth shave that is less aggressive than a typical DE89/R94. Yet it shaves close to the R41.

 

[FormAndFunction]

Please let us know where you end up, OP. I purchased a 34C today and paired it with a feather blade hoping it would be more efficient than my King Gillette. Unfortunately, it was only slightly more aggressive/efficient. I’m looking for a razor that can mow through my whiskers with one pass (not that I’d settle with one pass). The KG and 34C simply don’t do it.

 

[Rosseforp]

Please let us know where you end up, OP. I purchased a 34C today and paired it with a feather blade hoping it would be more efficient than my King Gillette. Unfortunately, it was only slightly more aggressive/efficient. I’m looking for a razor that can mow through my whiskers with one pass (not that I’d settle with one pass). The KG and 34C simply don’t do it.

Fatip Grande or Piccolo, Fatip Open Comb Slant(FOCS), Mühle R41, Karve Christopher Bradley SBG, Blackland Blackbird, Wolfman WR2 0.95.

~doug~