Well I did just as Mantic predicted in one of his videos whereby I jumped from my mild Tech to my Fatboy at #3. All's well, great shave. But today I notched it up to #4. That was probably my closest shave but of course real irritation and burning has been the price. I don't know if my skin will ever handle the Fatboy #4, which I believe to be a fairly mild setting, right? But I guess I must now buy the Merkur 34C so I have "some place to go" from my Fatboy at #3.
No Choice But To Buy 34C
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I started with a 34c and love it, it is just so perfectly balanced and feels great in the hand. This week I'm going for a 37g
I agree with Aaron, I started with the 34c, and have been enjoying my shaves since. The only complaint that I have against the 34c was that is was such a short DE Razor. However, it did teach me not to apply pressure while shaving and allowed me to get much closer shaves than I am use to.
I truly enjoyed my first real shave with a 34C - the razor was simply perfect. I am so impressed with it and cant think of anything else I have which shaves so well... That said a Fatboy and a slant are on their way
Stay with your Fatboy at 3 for a couple of weeks. The temptation is that if 3 is good, but not perfect at first, then 4 will do better. That's not necessarily true. You may find that you're able to get BBS or DFS reliably at a setting of 3 once you get accustomed to the razor. 3 is typically the setting I use on a Fatboy. I shaved last night with a setting of 2! I could barely feel the blade at all. I eviscerated my neck on the shave prior to that with a razor and blade I'm not accustomed to yet, so I needed something mild that would knock the stubble down without compounding the problem.
What blade are you using?
What blade are you using?
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A good example of why it's probably best for those starting out to stay away from adjustables. It shifts focus to 'settings' rather than technique. The 34c is probably a better way to start.
True enough. I find however that it's ok to start with an adjustable as long as you pick a fairly mild setting and stick to it no matter what for a few weeks.
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Currently I am using Personna Red, corked. Can I ask you a question: when you adjust the Fatboy (or any adjustable) does an increase in aggressiveness require a change in the blade angle, or does the setting have nothing to do with shaving angle?
I've never really paid attention to that. I almost always use 3, just dropped it back to 2 yesterday and I've maybe done that 2 or 3 times total since I bought that razor 6 or 7 months ago. My guess is that changing the setting would slightly change the angle of the blade edge.
My suggestion is to not get involved in micro-analyzing little details like this though. Set the razor to 3, learn how to shave effectively at that setting, and leave it there, don't fiddle with changing your angle or changing the adjustment ring. Don't shoot for BBS, shoot for being presentable, and that means little to no irritation. I still struggle with this myself.
This week I'm going for a 37g
Yes! The 37G is, in my opinion, the ultimate razor. I really like the gold finish on mine, and the performance of the slant head is unparalleled.
I think that is studman46's point. Just leave it alone while you work on your technique. It is too tempting to use the adjustments when they are available. The Merkur is a great razor, and so are the various superspeeds, especially (IMHO) the 40's SS and the 50's Red Tip, but you don't necessarily need to buy a new razor yet (there is plenty of time for RAD later on), you just need to learn to use the ones you have.
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