Want something similar to Merkur 34c

[ike]

i really, really like my Merkur 34c but I want to expand my brands somewhat.

I am looking for similar performance as far as aggressiveness is concerned AND a similarly short handle.

The short handle is very important to me for the simple reason I am able to shave much better with the shorter handle.

So what should I look at: Muhle? Edwin Jagger? Etc?

Thank you for your time.

 

[les24preludes]

Why not try an open comb Fatip like the Grande or Piccolo. Short handles, very efficient and absolutely nothing to be afraid of - it's actually very smooth. You'll have a great shave. Many, many fans here. I have two.

The Fatips are made of brass, so you won't have thread disintegration issues like you can get with zamak (thread went on my 6C).

 

[Invicta]

Another vote for the Fatip; either Grand/Piccolo open comb or Gentile closed comb. The Mk2 has tamed that blade exposure and the Piccolo handles well. All brass construction has got to be an advantage.
Perhaps a slant bar like the Merkur 37C should also be considered.

 

[ike]

Les and invicta,

Thanks for the Fatip recommendation- that brand was not on my radar...and this is why I ask for suggestions.

 

[gdawg55]

Maybe try an old Tech. Similar performance and some versions come with a fat stubby like handle similar to the 34C. I have many razors, but I'll tell you the 34C is tough to beat for performance. It is probably my best performer and I have many different razors....some less expensive and some much more expensive. I keep coming back to the 34C.

 

[Member 113878]

Did you ever try a Tech?
Granted its milder than a 34C, it's light and extremely smooth.
If you want to stay with Merkur, there's the 15C, with its open comb head.
3-piece design, same handle as the 33C.
Also available as the "1906" variant (41C) , with the beautiful solid handle.

 

[ike]

Maybe try an old Tech. Similar performance and some versions come with a fat stubby like handle similar to the 34C. I have many razors, but I'll tell you the 34C is tough to beat for performance. It is probably my best performer and I have many different razors....some less expensive and some much more expensive. I keep coming back to the 34C.

Gdawg,

I strongly suspect you are correct about the 34c. I struggled with a number of razors and it wasn’t until I tried a shorter handled 34c that this whole shaving business clicked for me.

 

[ike]

Did you ever try a Tech?
Granted its milder than a 34C, it's light and extremely smooth.
If you want to stay with Merkur, there's the 15C, with its open comb head.
3-piece design, same handle as the 33C.
Also available as the "1906" variant (41C) , with the beautiful solid handle.
View attachment 943639

No sir, I have never tried a tech. Is it a current production model?

 

[DE Steve]

Merkur Progress?

 

[johnwick]

Hello Ike,
Gillete Tech's were made back in the 1960's and 70's. Very ubiquitous, you should be able to snag a user grade model on Bay for $10-15, so it's a low risk proposition. As others have said, the ball end handles are very short. You could even look for a "travel tech" and find one even smaller.

The 34c is a great razor, in fact one of my favorites. It was my first razor I ever had but doesn't get much use these days after being replaced by others. You seem to be asking for a razor that is very similar to the 34C. What exactly is taking you another direction? What would you like your new razor to do that the 34C doesn't provide? These answers may help us all provide additional direction.

 

[DCP]

No sir, I have never tried a tech. Is it a current production model?

A Tech is an old/vintage Gilette razor. You can find them in abundance online for reasonable prices.

I found the one I owned to be too mild.

There are a ton of DE and SE razors to try out. Good luck and enjoy the journey!

Sent from my Nokia 7.1 using Tapatalk

 

[ike]

Hello Ike,
Gillete Tech's were made back in the 1960's and 70's. Very ubiquitous, you should be able to snag a user grade model on Bay for $10-15, so it's a low risk proposition. As others have said, the ball end handles are very short. You could even look for a "travel tech" and find one even smaller.

The 34c is a great razor, in fact one of my favorites. It was my first razor I ever had but doesn't get much use these days after being replaced by others. You seem to be asking for a razor that is very similar to the 34C. What exactly is taking you another direction? What would you like your new razor to do that the 34C doesn't provide? These answers may help us all provide additional direction.

John,

Fair question.

I have multiple brushes, soaps and creams but I have exactly one DE razor. Therefore, I thought it might be nice to add another razor. However, I am more than satisfied with the performance of the 34c so if I add a razor it needs to be at least this good for me.

I’ve had other razors, the Merkur 38c and Futur and an Edwin Jagger D89 head but they all had longish handles that just didn’t work well for me. They have all been sold.

In fact, I almost gave up DE shaving because of the constant blood letting. As a final effort I gave the 34c a try and finally found my razor. I can shave with the 34c with near reckless abandon and not draw blood though I have pushed it a couple of times.

I asked myself why did the 34c work for me but none of the others and the one common denominator was the handle length.

That’s my story and long winded answer to your question.

 

[johnwick]

Great Ike that is very helpful.

It sounds like handle length is critically important. Unfortunately, as you know, the handle on the 34C isn’t removable. For the most part, however, most modern razors use the same metric screw, allowing for a lot of interchangeability in the three piece design. What you may want to do is head over to a place like WCS and see if they have some shorter handles in stock. From there, you can buy only the heads and play around with a lot of different styles.

Good luck!
John

 

[ike]

Great Ike that is very helpful.

It sounds like handle length is critically important. Unfortunately, as you know, the handle on the 34C isn’t removable. For the most part, however, most modern razors use the same metric screw, allowing for a lot of interchangeability in the three piece design. What you may want to do is head over to a place like WCS and see if they have some shorter handles in stock. From there, you can buy only the heads and play around with a lot of different styles.

Good luck!
John

John,

I had not thought of doing that. Great idea and I will look into that this evening.

Cheers.

 

[Member 113878]

Maggard Razors have a great choice of handles.
The MR1 is my favorite!

 

[ike]

Maggard Razors have a great choice of handles.
The MR1 is my favorite!

Great Ike that is very helpful.

It sounds like handle length is critically important. Unfortunately, as you know, the handle on the 34C isn’t removable. For the most part, however, most modern razors use the same metric screw, allowing for a lot of interchangeability in the three piece design. What you may want to do is head over to a place like WCS and see if they have some shorter handles in stock. From there, you can buy only the heads and play around with a lot of different styles.

Good luck!
John

I ended up ordering a Muhle R89 head and an iKon Bulldog handle from Maggard. My 34c handle measures 76 mm and the Bulldog is 80 mm so that shouldn't be too much longer. (I hope.)

I have to say I never considered buying a razor in parts … this is pretty cool. I know many of you have known about this for ever but I just thought razors were always sold as complete items. This is an example of what I refer to as "loss of situational analysis". That is to say: Not only do you not know what's going on, but you don't know that you don't know what's going on.

Cheers to all and happy shaving!

 

[DCP]

I ended up ordering a Muhle R89 head and an iKon Bulldog handle from Maggard. My 34c handle measures 76 mm and the Bulldog is 80 mm so that shouldn't be too long. (I hope.)

I have to say I never considered buying a razor in parts … this is pretty cool. I know many of you have known about this for ever but I just thought razors were always sold as complete items. This is an example of what I refer to as "loss of situational analysis". That to say: Not only do you not know what's going on, but you don't know that you don't know what's going on.

Cheers to all and happy shaving!

That's awesome! Let us know how it goes.

Sent from my Nokia 7.1 using Tapatalk

 

[Member 113878]

Cool, congrats!

 

[ike]

That's awesome! Let us know how it goes.

Sent from my Nokia 7.1 using Tapatalk

Will do!

 

[ike]

Cool, congrats!

I checked out your MR1 handle and it is 3.22" long so that makes it just under 82 mm which I would think would be a reasonable length as well. The handle on the Merkur Barberpole 38c is 95 mm and when I used to shave with that I felt like a stunt double on the set of Sweeney Todd.