Merkur Heavy Duty Slant Razor, Open 39C

 (9 customer reviews)

BEST THING ABOUT IT: You're likely to get the closest shave you've ever gotten with this razor, bar none.

I have been reading about the Merkur Slant Razor for some time now and I wanted to try it myself. So I bought one and I used it for the first time this morning with the Merkur blade that came with it in place. It was a tremendously close shave ... what folks describe as being literally baby face smooth. What I mean by that is after finishing shaving with this razor I could not detect even the smallest amount of stubble in the most difficult places on my face to shave, i.e.: above my upper lip, my chin and just below the next line for me.

It is definitely a mean looking device with a blade affixed in it. The blade edge is far more prominent than in a typical DE safety razor like my favorite the Parker 99R Butterfly Open...Read more

My only other DE razor is the classic Merkur long-handled razor.

About me: I've been shaving with DE razor's for about six months, and have been going through a sampler pack of razor blades trying to find a way to get a close shave without 5 passes. In terms of blades, Astra's and Gillette 7 Goal are the most comfortable I've tried, with Feather, Derby and Lord the easiest to use. Shaving for me is easy until I get down to the jaw line. Everything below there is complicated. I've been cutting with the grain and cross grain which left stubble. Trying an additional pass against the grain would cause razor burn and skipping so I was hoping this razor would allow me to get across the grain with more control and a closer shave. I was partly right.

About the Slant Razor:
On it's own, this is a really solid, and comfortable razor to hold, and a little safer to change blades on than my previous razor, since all the turning happens at the end of the handle,...Read more

As most have commented, this razor is intimidating looking but as long as you use good technique, you will be fine. The razor is built very well. Has nice weight to it and balances well.

For ME, the shave was very comfortable and close BUT I still got some irritation on pass #3. This is not the razors fault at all. I have learned that different razors give me different degrees of irritation because of blade gap, not technique. Obviously all razors have a certain amount of blade gap between the safety bar and the blade. The larger the gap, the more aggressive the razor. The Sledgehammer comes in at approx 64mm, although gap measurement is difficult because of the slant.
I have since used a '50's Super Speed (58mm)that gives me BBS almost every single time without irritation.

This is a great razor but I will probably use it for the first pass only.