HD revisited

I started my wet shaving journey with the long handle HD well over a year ago. Even though I have larger hands, I found the long handle to get in the way, and switched to the regular HD. Even though I was getting good shaves with the HD, I was new, and of course I wanted to try everything. I ended up with around 14 different DE's. After trying all of them I settled on the HD and the Merkur 1904 as the DE's I wanted to keep. Everything else was sold on B/S/T. Between the two I settled on the 1904 as my go to and put the HD as my backup. However I didn't use the HD again, as the 1904 gave me such great shaves. A few days ago I decided to give the HD another try.

Having been use to the 1904 I did find the HD to be a bit more aggressive, but nothing out of hand, but I found it able to handle a couple of spots where my 1904 would leave a bit of roughness, like under my chin. Overall the shave was on a par with my 1904, and in a couple of spots a bit better.

Anyone else experience results like this when going back to a DE they haven't used for awhile? Now I'm not sure which of these DE's will be my go to. Maybe I shouldn't have stayed away from the HD for so long. Don't get me wrong, both are really fine shavers, and I have them both in safety bar and open comb. I guess I'll just have to go with whatever strikes my fancy as I do my shave prep. I'm just curious if any other members have had similar results?

I did a similar thing, but settled on a Progress. I used that razor primarily for several months, and then went back to the HD. To my surprise, the HD felt too rough and aggressive with blades that I always found to be sharp and smooth. In the end, I sold the HD on the BST.

Paul,

I have six vintage Gillettes, a EJ DE89L, a GEM Micromatic, a Parker 99, a Merkur HD and an custom "iconic" coming in the mail.
To date, I always come back to the HD loaded with either a Super Iridium or Gillette Super Platinum. As always YMMV.

W/R,

Tony

dpmtherrien said:

... Anyone else experience results like this when going back to a DE they haven't used for awhile? ...

Click to expand...

Yup. Usually the impression is better than what I previously had thought. Probably due to improved technique.

The Merkur 1904 is my "go to" razor. Odd that you found a difference in the aggressiveness compared to the HD, as it uses the same head as the HD. Were you comparing them with the same blade?

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