Here is the lead-up to my question: I have been shaving with a long handled Merkur (I believe a 23) for a number of years. I am happy with the way it shaves. But now my A.D. is beginning to pick back up. :thanks TSD . Anywho, an Edwin Jagger DE86 (black handle) has caught my eye. I have looked at several pictures on the web and the the 3 piece head on the E.J. sure looks the same as the head from the Merkurs. So in a nut shell that is my question, are the heads the same on the Edwin Jaggers and the Merkurs?
Just making sure I follow you completely, it is the Edwin Jagger you like better? Thanks for you help.
EJ vs the Merk. The main dif for me is in fit and finish. The Merks are a little ruff with tooling and casting marks visible. I'm an old engineer with a touch of OCD so this drives me a little crazy. The finish on an EJ is perfect and in the "wow!" Range. The shaves are about the same, maybe the Merk is a little more aggressive but maybe not.
I deffo preferred the EJ89 over the Merkur 23C. The head geometry is different to me and got better shaves with the EJ.
This is another of those topics that can be all over the board. Many will agree that the Muhle/EJ is of finer MFG quality than the Merkur. Many will defend the Merkur that it does not matter because it is a tool, not art work. Though I enjoy shaving with the Merkur, it bugs me that I have to align the blade every time I put one in. As for shaving, this is where opinions really vary. To me, the Muhle/EJ is noticeably more aggressive than the Merkur, others say they're the same, and others say the Merkur is more aggressive. I enjoy having both. -Moe
I wish my DE86 had a longer handle. I haven't shaved with it much since getting my adjustables, I might have to give it a go again, but I have a feeling I'll miss being able to turn it down for the last pass. It's definitely the prettiest razor I have though.
There is a thread on another forum that lists all of the blade gaps for most of the DE family. EJ has a larger gap than the HD, but alot of people swear the Merkur is more aggressive. I say they're confusing roughness with smoothness, the finish on the EJ is so smooth it feels more mild than the HD.
Well, you got me stumped on that one. It very well may make a difference, I haven't used the HD before but I used to have the 23c which has the same head. I distinctly remember it being harsher, so I'm confused.
I don't really know either, I just remember something on adjustables where one type just changed the gap and another changed both gap and angle. Also my EJ DE 86 really bends a blade but my Fatboy and Parker TTO, not so much.
I'll go ahead, weigh in & throw in my 2 cents: I feel that BOTH of them are supurb! I LOVE my Merkur 34C & EJ 89L! NOW, I WILL say that as far as performance, the EJ is more versatile in that it doesn't seem as fussy with various blades. The merkur I find to be fussy. ALSO, I think that once a blade starts to go bad, you can get away with not changing it with an EJ, a merkur will make you pay for it w. slight irritation. I also find I can squeeze 1 or 2 more shaves out of a blade w. my EJ than my Merkur. Overall, they're both awesome, BUT I think in the end, it's a photo finish with the EJ taking the cake! It's too close to call, but those differences alone would make me say the EJ over the Merkur. BOTH are awesome, but that's been MY personal mileage.
After trying 20+/- razors, I've come down to keeping my DE89, Red tip, and Merkur 34C HD. They're all similar to me and give the most middle of the road shaves. I wear a size medium shirt. Fits me perfectly (the razor ).
yep! what he said! I was splitting hairs. They're both the same essentially, blade performance varies slightly form one to the other, but awesome shaves both of them! Personally, if I had to choose, my top 2 in my den would be my EJ89L & my GEM Junior. Those tie for 1st, though my GEM I think has the lead in that one. 1:Gem Junior,2: EJ89, 3tie) Merkur/Gillette Super Speed. That's how I rank them.
As others mentioned the new EJ have what they call there new head which was developed by Muhle so it shaves different then any Merkur. I have 2 with the new head a DE86 and a lined Chatsworth as well as an older EJ a gold plated Georgian with a Merkur head and I have several Merkurs to compare them to including at least 1 Merkur which has the identical head. I like all the EJ's but my hands down favorite DE is my older EJ Georgian with the Merkur head it shaves considerably smoother then a Merkur with the same head not even close. I also prefer that razor to the new EJ's with the Muhle head but they also feel like they shave smoother then the Merkur's. My DE86 is black and it's head is identical to the lined chatsworth and while I like the size and weight of the DE86 I don't like how the black part of it gets very slippery when trying to hold it shaving, I think it would be much better with some grooves or something. At least DE RAD is relatively cheap, try a few and enjoy
Pardon me for asking, but why settle for "middle of the road" shaves? Have you never had a shave that was above average? If so, what gear were you using? Sounds like you're keeping gear that'll get the job done, despite the fact there may be better gear out there. If you've never had that above average shave... I'm speechless. You don't know what you're missing. Many folks can attest that they have had both good and bad shaves, but then there's that one combo that more often than not will give a shave that is just superb. Of course, you're under no obligation to answer my question. It is, after all, your shave. Enjoy it your way.
The answer to that question is YES, I get BBS shaves from AWESOME equipment! My GEM Junior w. a Gem Blade, My EJ with pretty much any blade, and my merkur with a merkur blade. Awesome BBS, zero flaws....AWESOME shaves! BUT......I'm still experimenting w. other blades...LOL....different combinations. Could my shaves be better? Sure. BUT, I want to know what ELSE I can use besides......"the known"...LOL!
