Merkur 45 Bakelite Safety Razor Travel Set

 (3 customer reviews)

A nice razor from Merkur. Gives a good shave. The blade is bent at an extreme angle, so you will have to adjust the way you normally hold a safety razor to compensate. Very lite because its plastic. i kind of like the heft of a metal razor like the Merkur HD, but that's a subjective thing. The red and black color also is subjective. Some really hate it. I personally love it. It has a nice retro look. The razor is 3 pieces like Merkur's 1904 and the 23C. Definitely a good price, comes with plastic case and a pack of Merkur blades. And most important, it shaves nicely. It won't be replacing my HD and 1904 as a go to razor, but will be kept in rotation when i want to use something different.

My regular razor is a stainless Merkur, unfortunately, when I travel, it adds an extra quarter pound to an already heavy bag. It also tends to get stolen when I travel through airports in some countries. It just looks too pretty I guess.

The 45 bakelite has a less "ooh! shiny!" appeal and weighs less. Along with saving money by using safety blades versus disposables, it is a great travel razor.

I tried this razor based upon the reviews at the Amazon website. When the razor arrived I thought the size would make this a nice travel razor. I tried the Merkur blades that came with the razor and it was like ripping at my beard. After the first pass I had enought bristling stubble to resemble a 5 O'clock shadow. I finished the shave with my Feather razor with a Feather blade which was so much better. To be fair I tried the Merkur Bakelite with a Derby blade and had the same results on one half of my face. I tried my Weishi with a Derby blade on the other half of my face and convinced the Merkur Bakelite was not the razor I read about in the reviews. I wouldn't recommend the razor.