I shave with open combs because I like the aggressiveness/unforgiving nature of the shave. Bar shaves do not really do anything for me. I tend to have to go back several times. Its personal preference really.
I sometimes shave with an open comb, a Gillette New. It's a great little shaver, gives me very close shaves. It's a little more aggressive than a Merkur HD.
I've owned both of the HD razors and preferred the regular HD over the open-comb. The open-comb worked great if I had a 3 day beard but was to aggressive for everyday use.
I use a 1921 "new improved" Big Fellow quite often. It is a very good shaver, and surprisingly not so aggressive. The Gillette "OLD" style are very aggressive, and I can only get a decent shave if I shim the blade. I have a Merkur open comb and don't really notice any difference between that and a regular safety bar. Hope this helps.
Have not used (nor do i want to use) the merkurs.. but I know that I prefer the open comb Gillette models to the others. Fuzzy
So no difference between the new merkurs in a bar vs open comb design. I have really been thinking about 12c vs a 38c and really want to get a 12c I think but we have to see how things go.
