Razor: Merkur 34C HD, from 2020 and made after Merkur redesigned their razor head casting molds
Blade: US Personna "Lab Blue" in blue wrappers from a box labeled Energizer, c.2013 (shave 2)
Brush: Simpson Berkeley 46 Best Badger
Soap: Mitchell's Wool Fat
Rating: 9.5
This morning's shave after two days of growth. Great shave today after some extra effort (buffing and touch-ups); deducting 0.3 from the rating. BBS after WTG/XTG/ATG passes and buffing/touch-ups. One nick next to the Adam's apple; deducting 0.1 from the rating. No burning or irritation, but dry air today created a need to apply more lather during the shave; deducting 0.1 from the rating.
Today ended up being a back-to-back comparison/shave-off between the old 2013 razor head version of the Merkur 23C (Wednesday) and the new razor head version of the Merkur 34C HD (today). Before the shave, I compared the 23C and 34C heads side by side, and to me, the new version of the Merkur safety bar head (on the 34C) appeared to have noticeably less blade gap than the old version of the head (the 23C). This contributed to the more mild feel of the 34C today, relative to the 23C.
Based on this comparison, for me, I prefer my older 23C to my newer 34C based on the 23C's more aggressive profile. I also noticed that the knurling on my 23C handle is deeper and grippier than the knurling on my 34C.
To fellow B&B members: do any of you have both the old and new versions of the 34C or 23C, and if so, do you notice differences? Do you prefer the old or new versions?
Blade: US Personna "Lab Blue" in blue wrappers from a box labeled Energizer, c.2013 (shave 2)
Brush: Simpson Berkeley 46 Best Badger
Soap: Mitchell's Wool Fat
Rating: 9.5
This morning's shave after two days of growth. Great shave today after some extra effort (buffing and touch-ups); deducting 0.3 from the rating. BBS after WTG/XTG/ATG passes and buffing/touch-ups. One nick next to the Adam's apple; deducting 0.1 from the rating. No burning or irritation, but dry air today created a need to apply more lather during the shave; deducting 0.1 from the rating.
Today ended up being a back-to-back comparison/shave-off between the old 2013 razor head version of the Merkur 23C (Wednesday) and the new razor head version of the Merkur 34C HD (today). Before the shave, I compared the 23C and 34C heads side by side, and to me, the new version of the Merkur safety bar head (on the 34C) appeared to have noticeably less blade gap than the old version of the head (the 23C). This contributed to the more mild feel of the 34C today, relative to the 23C.
Based on this comparison, for me, I prefer my older 23C to my newer 34C based on the 23C's more aggressive profile. I also noticed that the knurling on my 23C handle is deeper and grippier than the knurling on my 34C.
To fellow B&B members: do any of you have both the old and new versions of the 34C or 23C, and if so, do you notice differences? Do you prefer the old or new versions?