Ratings:

Overall:

Handle:

Aggressiveness:

Weight:

Blade Change:

Affordability:

Its been a long time coming but now it’s here – my review of the Merkur 43C. Fortunately the delay to finally writing something about this razor is due to my kids, wife, job, and dog; not a dislike of the razor itself. The opposite is true in fact – I wasn’t going to purchase it because I didn’t want to have to deal with another razor on my shelf (my wife’s issue more than mine) – but I’m glad I did because really enjoy this razor. It has been my razor of choice since I first received it at the start of September, and that is saying something, especially when I have other razors loaded and ready for action.

Balance

One thing that I can’t say about this razor is that it is perfectly balanced. The sheer size and weight of the handle make that not possible. It’s to be expected however, the head of the razor is a standard Merkur head so something had to give somewhere. I wouldn’t say that it made it difficult to handle or to use effectively, it just took a few moments to adjust to the so much weight favouring the handle of the razor.

Grip ~ Handle

The only reason I am giving the grip a four out of five is because the handle of the razor is very smooth, and although I personally didn’t run into any issues with slipping, I can see some people not enjoying the slickness of the razor handle. This razor is so different from my first razor – the 1904 Classic – the 1904 has a short, thin handle – which I loved. The 43c has this long handle with a rather large diameter and it feels really good. It makes me wonder if the joy I had with the short handled 1904 was more due to the novelty of starting to wet shave and using something so drastically different than my Gillette Sensor, and less with performance.

Blade Exposure:

Although the design seems a bit different I wouldn’t say that the head of the 43C cuts any different than my other closed come Merkur razors. All of my shaves have been more than comfortable. Unlike the razor I reviewed last – the Paker 89R – I managed to avoid any nics what-so-ever. The aftershave razor burn test also proved more often than not that the shave was successful at removing facial hair and little else.

Price:

Although the price of the Merkur 43C might not be appealing to someone buying their first razor or for someone looking for an ‘inexpensive’ approach to shaving, you do get what you pay for. There is a lot of razor here, and it feels like you are holding something worthy of the few extra bucks. Having said that, if you are hesitant on spending too much, I would maybe start with the Edwin Jagger 89lbl, if you are looking for something different – specifically bigger and heavier – then the 43C might be what you are looking for.

Tools in images:

Vie-Long Horse Hair Brush

Taylor of Old Bond Street Coconut



