I have, what I call, the worlds shittiest skin and can ONLY shave with a Mach 5.
I tried to do the Harry’s thing but those razors just tore my face right up. I classify those blades as one of those things that’s worth spending the extra money for.
OTOH, I love Harry’s 5-bladed razors. I shave in the shower and shave my head as well and Harry’s works better and cheaper than the Fusion does, IMO. Their shave gel and balm are aces, too. Now that they are available at Target I don’t even have to mail-order them.
I have a vintage Gilette three piece double sided razor from around 1930. Works like a charm as long as I don’t buy the cheap blades.
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Shaving is almost an art. I’ve old school safety razor for about two years now. Multi-blade cartridge systems are such a waste! And electrics, bah!! My latest almost waste of money was the Philips Oneblade, the only saving grace is the flat design allows for a near perfect line on my sideburns and beard. It leaves a lot to be desired on closeness, however.
A regular old duel sided single blade razor is what I learned to shave with back in the mid-70’s.
I’m not nostalgic for them at all! Unlike modern razors like the Bic comfort 3 I use their heads aren’t tilted.You may not realize it but you are holding your hand slightly different using them than if you used what I use. If you pulled down your face with your razor like I do with mine you’d have a huge gash in your cheek.
If you are used to using the old style you probably aren’t aware of what I’m talking about.
Guys that go from a modern disposable to a classic safety razor will find out real quick what I mean.It’s a subtle, slightly different method.
I have used “regular”, i.e. non-adjustable safety razors for 8 years or so (mostly a Merkur 38). I thought about buying the Merkur Futur for a while but didn’t really see the need to pay the price. I discovered the Qshave clone one month ago and gave it a try. Whaow! Feels quite different (nicer and easier) than most safety razors.
IMHO safety razors are great but you have to enjoy shaving. High-end modern cartridge razors do a wonderful job and are much easier to use, but at such a cost!
I gave the straight razor a try a few years ago. I can shave myself but I am not good enough at maintaining a good edge. I still use a shavette for fun once in a while.
Today I had another opportunity to use dad’s razor. (I’ve been working from home, and this week I’m taking vacation. No need to shave often.) I drew blood again, so I went from ‘2’ to ‘1’. No blood after that.
Due to time constraints when I do have to shave, I usually shave in the shower. I do it by feel. I don’t think the Merkur would be good for this because I don’t want to cut myself. In the shower, I’ll still use the Mach 3 until I’m sure of the safety razor.
Your particular razor is a bit odd with the numbered settings. A bit like if you had a car where first gear would do 140 mph at 2200 rpm - so then what are the other gears for again? 
I have this same razor, in satin finish, and love it. I’ve had it for over 3 years now. It took a while to learn how to use it, and also to find a good blade. I use Gillette Silver Blue and they work very well. https://www.amazon.com/Silver-Double-Blades-Russia-Oclock/dp/B0059QF5RS/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1530159830&sr=8-1&keywords=gillette+silver+blue
Johnny, I suggest getting a sampler pack of blades and find one that works well with your face and that razor. And try the Gillette Silver Blue.
I really like the feel and the heft of this razor, and it looks nice, too — sort of like a modern art piece.
It could be the blade.
I use the adjustments, from 1 up to 4. Useful to have.
When I was a teenager, and needed to start shaving, I had pretty bad acne, and I was convinced that trying to use a traditional razor would lead to a bloodbath. My father (who had used an electric for many years) gifted me with his old Norelco shaver (probably from the early 1960s), which he had had rebuilt and restored.
I’ve used an electric ever since, nearly always Norelcos. I struggled with acne into my 30s, and it left me with a face that’s less than smooth. In addition, my facial hair isn’t terribly dark or thick, so the electric works well for me.
I had a Remington foil shaver that was a Christmas gift from my wife, 20 year ago or so, but unlike the Norelco rotaries, that Remington cut my face up badly, and I got rid of it fairly quickly.
I’ve shaved with a blade twice, ever, when my shaver was broken or lost. I obviously am not practiced at it, and I didn’t enjoy it.
I’ve just given up on shaving. I have a nice hillbilly beard. Actually, it’s my wife’s fault. I look nearly identical to my late-father and when I’m clean-shaven, it freaks her out. She says it’s like kissing my Dad, so she makes me keep a beard. When I do shave, I just use whatever I can get cheaply and tend to use it a month or so until it got so clogged up with hair and skin that it won’t work. My face is not a soft, fluffy cloud of happiness, so I never felt a need to baby it. I just never really got into the whole ‘art of shaving’ movement. I never used shaving cream either, just some warm water to start with and cold water to clean it up.
I used one with several brands of blades. It’s the razor. It is undeniably a very nice razor, and it shaves great. Just its higher settings are excessive/overkill/redundant/however you prefer to say it. Like a beautifully-constructed Olympic high jump apparatus that adjusts from 9 feet up to 40 feet.
Lots of adjustable double-edged razors have numbers- the Gillette ones from the middle of the last century like the “Fat Boy” have numbers.
What it does is essentially raise/lower the domed part of the razor relative to the base, thereby changing both the gap between the razor and the blade, and also the angle of the blade as it emerges under the razor. So as the number gets higher, the angle gets greater and the blade sticks out a little bit more, giving a more aggressive shave.
The thing they don’t really tell you when you’re starting out with the double-edged razors is that each type of razor and blade have their own idiosyncracies such as edge grinding angle, sharpness, the angle of the domed part of the razor, etc… So each combination of blade and razor is going to be slightly different, so there’s a sort of learning process for figuring out which angles and blades work together for your face. It’s not quite plug-and-chug like you might think.
I know, I’ve used most of those razors. I’m saying that the Merkur Futur in particular has its high-numbered settings so wide open that no one can even potentially have a reasonable use for them. There is no way (geometrically) that the Futur’s “6” can be objectively better for someone than its “4”. I keep giving analogies, but it’s like a jack for roadside car tire changes that goes up to 12 feet tall. Nobody can want it that high, it’s actually not helpful to have a 12-foot-tall jack in your trunk, and similarly the last couple of numbers on the Futur are objectively not useful. It’s still a great razor - I love it.
I’ve always been a bit :dubious: about mail-order “shave clubs”, but I took a flyer recently on a Harry’s razor I found for sale in Target, and so far, I’ve been pretty happy. The weighted handle seems to give me a bit more control over the head, and gives the razor a solid, well-crafted feel.
Many years ago, I read - probably in one of the Master’s columns, come to think - that beard wetness was the key to a good, close shave; and so it has proven. I shave in the shower, with simple soap. Works pretty well.
I use a Schick Hydro 5 everyday and only change the blades every couple of months. I shave at the end of my morning shower with just soap and water and it works great.
I have a beard that’s been growing for nearly 20 years, but I still shave my neck.
When my dad taught me to shave all he had—so all I had—was some el cheap disposables from K Mart. I hated those with a passion and quickly discovered the Mach 3, which I used up until I grew a beard. However, many years ago my grandmother gave me a box of junk that had belonged to my long-deceased grandfather, and in it was an old Gillette Slim safety razor. I picked up some Wilkinson blades and have been using that ever since. It did take some getting used to and I manages to cut the shit out of my face the first time I used it. But the shave was better than the Mach 3 so I’ve stuck with it.
My son is 13 1/2 and I’ll soon need to teach him how to shave. He’s terrified of cutting himself so I’ll likely start him off on a Mach 3 or 5 or whatever they have now.
My equipment: Parker long-handled safety razor. Parker badger brush. Feather blades. Colonel Conk mug.
My products: Proraso shaving soap. Nivea post-shave balm.
I only shave once a week, twice if there’s something really major going on, so the extra rigamarole is worth it to me. Getting your face and beard super-wet and taking your time are key.
My father-in-law bought me some Truefitt & Hill stuff for Christmas. Smells superb. I looked at the price, and thought, DAYUM, I’d better save this for a special occasion, so I haven’t used it yet.
I started with the Gillette Sensor when I had only sideburns and a wispy mustache, and I’ve probably tried all the 2/3/4/5 blade things that have come out, mostly settling on the Mach3 era devices. I tried one of my dad’s safety razors once and wasn’t really a fan. I understand the appeal, though.
I only really shave my neck and upper cheeks now, maybe once every 4-5 days. I trim my long stubble beard once a week. I just bought a OneBlade kit and am going to see how that works out. Apparently it shaves less close than most razors. I’m not sure if that’s a bad thing or not. So far I’ve used the longest stubble comb and trimmed my beard. Haven’t tried the shaving or “body blade” options.
I bought my son some new fangled 5-blade thing a few years ago when he was 13. It was fancier and had more expensive blades than anything I’d used before, but I had a coupon for a free one, and it’s worked out well for him.