HeyNow said: I've tried that, and find that it irritates more. I go up, down, across...and it still never gets close enough without irritating or nicking. I use a Merkur 34-C with Astra blades. If you had to keep one and replace the other...would you suggest a different razor or different blade? Click to expand...

Different razor. The advice to stick with what you have is sound, but not what I did. I have a 34C and never fully enjoyed it in 50 plus shaves, for reasons similar to yours. My very first shave with a Tech was great. The 34C doesn't support the blade very well and is inefficient. Many like it, I don't. To be more efficient the razor has to have more gap or more exposure. More exposure is safer but you might like gap better or be lucky enough to like both, only you can determine that. Rigidity is very important for me. Look for pictures of razor heads in profile and try to understand the design differences and be prepared to experiment a bit. You don't need to go crazy and buy everything but life is too short to stick with a razor that might not be right for your face geometry, skin and beard type.Blades are still important, but trying out as many as possible is both fun and inexpensive if you get sample packs or use tryablade.com.