Customer Rating: 
Summary: Solid, well built
Comment: I've always heard about the benefits of shaving with a double edge razor; so i decided to buy this one as soon as my $30 batch of Gillette blades ran out. From a cost perspective, I stand to save money because the blade refills are bout $5 for 10; far less than what I was using before. The razor and shaving experience is quite different than what I had been accustomed to. Not that it was a bad thing. But there was a short learning curve I had to get over (and a week or so of cutting my face up). The razor itself is shorter than the standard stuff you see at your local CVS pharmacy. You get used to that too. As soon as you master the shaving method, you will be quite pleased with the results. I suggest coupling it with a higher quality shave cream.
Customer Rating: Summary: Great starter DE razor for wet shaving
Comment: After perusing many shaving blogs I settled on this as my first DE razor for getting into wet shaving. It was a great choice and only now after 6 months am I starting to try other razors. This is well made, affordable and a good performer with many blade types.
Customer Rating: Summary: Merkur HD - the best razor
Comment: This is probably the best razor available, all categories. I us it with Derby Extra blades, every day. Highly recommended.
Customer Rating: Summary: safety razors versus disposables
Comment: I have this razor and like it. But since it s the first safety razor I ve used in 25 years, i can t tell you how it compares to others. Since I was hesitant about buying a safety razor after years of using modern razors with multi blade disposables, I am commenting on that aspect. I was driven by the need to spend less on blades, and contribute less into the waste stream, but I didn t know if I d find shaving with it equivalent to my Mach 3.
My attitude on shaving is that you need to shave both with and against the grain in a hot, steamy environment, because the goal is a shave so close that you have completely smooth skin. A safety razor will do that, and with much less expense in blades.
But since it is somewhat larger and clumsier than a disposable, I still keep my disposable at hand to clean up in and around my lips, nose, ears, and adam s apple. used this way, the Mach 3 s blade will last a very long time, since they are only doing final touch up.
I see it in the same way that a groundskeeper might handle a big area: you use the tractor mower to do the large acreages, the little riding mower to do the intermediate work, and the hand-held weed whip to do the detail work: no one machine is perfect for the entire job, but in combination you get the job done quickly and cheaply.
I found Wilkinson blades to be sharper than the Merkur blades offered with this razor, and I d like a way to have a friction lock on the knurled know so that I could OPEN up the blade angle slightly without the loosened knob then moving to a completely loose position. Otherwise, the razor seems to work fine.
