Merkur 34C Heavy Duty

One of the most obvious tools of traditional Wet Shaving is the Double Edge razor or "DE" for short. Also called a safety razor. These photos are of my personal razor, the Merkur 34C Heavy Duty. While researching my first razor, this model came up over and over again in all forums and website I could find for beginner razors. However, the thing is, not only beginners use this razor! It's such a well constructed razor that beginners and experienced shavers use this razor all the time. Those that start off with this razor and tend to purchase others seem to always come back to this one. Good ole' faithful.

The initial investment into a DE razor can be significant with the up front cost. Some Razors can cost from $30 to several hundred. The Merkur 34C Heavy duty ran me about $39. This might be an expensive up front cost, but when you consider that the replacement blades are dirt cheap, it pays for itself pretty quickly. (I'll be reviewing blades later on the blog.)

Granted, I haven't been shaving for more than 15 years or so, but during my time, I've probably tried dozens of disposable razors. And let me tell ya, there is nothing that compares to the traditional safety razor. The shaves are much better, much closer, and give you far less irritation than the disposable cartridge razors.

The Merkur is made of stainless steel. And as the name indicates, it's "Heavy Duty". The weight of the razor is significantly heavier than you would think. Although the razor is perfectly balanced so that when you use it, you let the weight of the razor do the cutting for you.

As you can see, the razor is constructed so that you have a base handle with a top head that unscrews from the base. The twist knob at the base of the handle will unscrew the top. Once unscrewed, you are able to align your choice of razor blade with the head.

Then simply screw back together. Very simple to operate. Simply hold the razor on the handle as you would a throwing dart with your first two fingers and thumb. Then, simply let the razor slide down your face with short slow strokes, never going over the same spot twice. You should never put too much pressure on the blade when shaving. That's asking for trouble! There's not a degree required to use it. I mean, come on...it's not rocket science here!

As you can see, it's a beautiful razor with a great look and feel to it. How it shaves you ask? WONDERFUL!!! Granted this is the only DE razor I've tried, but I'd say it's the best! haha I love this razor!

If you are interested in learning how to use a DE razor, I would suggest visiting a few of my personal favorite websites. *NOTE*-These are in no way endorsements to these people or their products. These are simply some of my personal favorite websites I choose to visit on a regular basis.

http://www.shaving101.com/

http://badgerandblade.com/

http://mantic59.blogspot.com/

http://www.youtube.com/user/mantic59

...stay tuned for more reviews!