Merkur Classic "1904" Straight Safety Razor-#42 + 5 Free DE Razor Blades

 (11 customer reviews)

Throw away your disposibles, and step into flavour country. Well constructed, good looking, and great price, my only complaint is how the blade is removed/changed on this beauty, it is a bit cumbersome as you have to take the unit apart. I plan on buying a Merkur that has the knob that opena and closes the razor, and putting this model in my "away" dopp kit.

This is the razor I use the most. I have other types, "vintage" razors. The old Gillette Superspeeds, a Schick Krona and Gillette Adjustable and a couple of others. While those are all good, this one is better. It is more aggressive than the other razors, with the exception possibly being the adjustable. While mild razors are ok, they're not for me. This one gives me a great shave all the time (if I do my part). Granted it is small compared to the others but I got used to it. And it is smaller than the modern multiblade razors being made today. That being said, it is far superior to the Mach 3 and the Fusion and Fusion Power and whatever other incarnation the multiblade comes in. Remember that the best technique is to let the razor and blade do the work. None of this push against the face and pull it down. Find the right cutting angle (about 30 degress) and let it glide down your face. No pressure. That's the important thing to remember. No pressure. If you need another pass,...Read more

I have used this razor for some time now, and I'm very impressed, I've been getting decent shaves, even in the "feeling out" period, and I actually look forward to shaving after I got my hands on a badger brush and some of the Sienna shaving cream from Crabtree & Evelyn. My only complaint is that the handle is a bit hard to grip at times, which isn't a problem so much with shaving, but makes it a huge problem to twist the head off to change the blade. I recently cut my fingers pretty good when they slipped while changing the blade, but I'm more to blame for that than the razor itself, after all, it was made to cut things. I would recommend this razor for just about anyone looking to get into wetshaving.