Hi everyone, Got this beauty in the mail on Friday! Parker 24C. Wanted to give my first impressions given all the hype. Why did I purchase it? I think I am starting to develop early symptoms of RAD. Also, I wanted an OC DE safety razor that was smooth and had enough aggression to get through my stubble. Setup and prep: Hot Shower and clean face/cold water for lather and blade rinses/Proraso white pre shave/Proraso white soap/3 pass shave WTG,XTG,ATG with touch up/New Astra SP blade/Old proraso green after shave splash. Typical problem areas for me are getting chin and jaw line bbs. Prone to neck irritation, but cold water shaving has cured that. Other razor is a Parker 91r. I am now 3 shaves in: First impressions - Beauty of a razor. Very well finished. Nice and hefty. Handle is nice and long with a great grip. When inserting the Astra SP blade, I noticed that it was a little tight when fitting around the posts. However, the blade snaps in to place easily when the cap is tightened. Perfect blade alignment. Tiny blade gap. Symmetric blade exposure bilaterally, but aggressive blade exposure - more than my 91r. In summary, well built razor. I am excited! First shave - Not as much beard reduction with the WTG pass as with my 91r. I can really feel the blade on my skin. XTG pass results in quite a few weepers, particularly on my upper lip. What? I never have this issue! I noticed some tugging in this area also. This is not an issue for me with Astras. I started thinking my angle was wrong. Chin is perfectly clean. Also, excess water was noted leaking out of the head after blade rinses. I started shaking the head in between rinses to prevent this. A minor inconvenience, but this is not an issue with my 91r. Whole face felt irritated for the whole day. Neck was red for an hour. No bumps. At this point, I am missing my 91r; believe it or not. Shave is DFS in terms of quality. Second shave - I really focus on a shallow blade angle (started with handle parallel to ground and tilted down until blade just touches skin) and NO pressure. This resulted in a noticeable change in the auditory feedback. Sound went from scraping to more of a "scissors cutting through paper" sound. This shave gives me two weepers on upper lip with XTG pass. Excess water leaking issue once again noted. Overall, smooth shave that is BBS. Third shave - No pressure and shallow angle. Fastest and most comfortable shave ever. No weepers. BBS. No irritation. Same water issue as above, but resolved by adding a shake into the routine after blade rinses. I am now really loving this razor. I am looking forward to shaving with it daily this week. For just under $30, I believe this to be a gem. Big things are: 1) No pressure - really none! It is heavy enough to do the work. 2) Shallow angle - much more shallow than what I am used to. If you are to deep with the angle, it can bite you. 3) Water does drip out of the head - minor annoyance. 4) Once I perfect my technique with this razor, I will use some blades that I have left over in my sampler to see what that does, however with a BBS shave and no irritation, maybe I don't need to... but, that is part of the adventure though! So, I'm gonna perfect my technique on this razor for the next month or two. I now have a CC and an OC. What's next? A slant? RAD is slowly getting its grips into me...
its been a while, I am wondering how your view of this razor may have changed by now? I am looking at OC options wondering if your still liking the agression or wanting something more.
OK,thanks, I should probably just pop for the r41 head and learn to use it. think thats what i really want any way.
I had to look this one up. It is a Barber Pole Long Handle! I like those. Three piece. It is also listed as a Heavyweight. People say it has standard threading so you can FrankenRazor it. Their 26C is the same with a black handle. About as aggressive as a Muhle... I guess? $28-$31 most places. Most Amazon reviews are positive 66 out of 69. Looks like a winner and a future contender in my collection.
The Parker 24C is one of my favorites. The handle is really nice and grippy, but the shave is mild, milder than the R89.
there are 2 reviews on Amazon for the Muhle r41 head and both trash it. one says it does not come in the package so can't tell if it is genuine but the seller seem legit. royal shave out of CA. the second just says it is "horribly rough" I take all my amazon reviews with a tea spoon of salt.
The Parker 24c is one of my favorite razors believe it or not especially loaded with the shark blades it came with. Very consistent shave and nice and grippy. I also switch the handle to my Fatip Grande head when I want a closer shave. Cheers John
