Dovo Merkur 3-Piece Futur Shave Set (Silvertip Badger Brush + Stand + Razor) Brushed Chrome Finish 780 002

This is my very first safety razor. The build quality and close tolerances of this razor make it a high quality tool that will probably last me a lifetime with normal use. There are 6 positions on the twist handle that move the safety bar from 1 (least aggressive) to 6 (most aggressive). The finish is a brushed steel and the razor is a big, heavy instrument. But when you get the hang of it, you will get a very smooth shave with less irritation than those multi-bladed monstrosities.

I did a bit of research on how to wet shave with a double edged (DE) shaver. The main thing to remember is that you should NEVER push down on the razor. You should let the weight of this fine tool do the work. I made the mistake of pushing down on my face with this razor during my first shave and wound up hacking my face pretty good. After about 3 days my face healed up well enough to try shaving again with this razor. This time I used slow, short, deliberate strokes letting ONLY THE WEIGHT OF THE RAZOR rest on my face. And the results were much better. No more blood shed! And I got one of the smoothest shaves in my life.

Remember to let the razor's weight do the work, make slow and short strokes, and take your time. If you do this, you'll be rewarded with a BBS shave with little to no irritation. This Merkur Futur is a fine shaving tool which will last me a lifetime. Very expensive but well worth the money.

I love this Merkur Futur razor. It is well made and solid. I also love the Badger hair brush. The only negative thing is that, in my opinion, the stand, although very nice looking, is pretty lightweight and not as sturdy as I would like it to be. It has never tipped and it does not rock but I would like it even more if it were a little heavier. It is a beautiful stand none the less. Oso Grande did a fine job, Thank you for your speedy delivery and nice packaging.

This is by far the best razor I have ever used! This is my first DE safety razor and let me tell you I will never waste my money on disposable razor's again! This razor shaves with the slightest help from you, it is an experience that I used to hate to do but now I can't wait to wake up and shave! Simply put this is one razor that will be able to be handed down in your family, just THE BEST!!! Buy this razor you will not be sorry.

Before I purchased this set, I was using Gillette and shaving foam/gel. Like most guys, I hated shaving. I decided to do some research as I figured I was either doing something wrong or there was a better way of shaving. Consensus seemed to be that the best shave was with a straight razor, but those take more maintenance than I'm willing to give. From what I was able to glean, second only to a straight razor was the safety razor. Also, a good shave depended on the shaving cream and the way it is applied. Long story short, I started buying C.O. Bigelow shaving cream (which can be bought in tubes at Bath & Body Works for $10 and is produced by Proraso. Very good stuff and lasts a long time when used with a brush.).

Anyway, I found that Merkur is held in high esteem, so I figured what the hell and made the investment. Not only will you eventually save money on not having to buy expensive replacement blades, you will get a better shave and you won't need to replace this razor as it's built to last. The brush works well conserving and applying shaving cream and should last a long time too.

It took me about a week to get the hang of shaving with the Futur as it's heavier and you can adjust the angle of the blade for preference, but by the second week I was actually looking forward to shaving.

I don't know how the "Futur" razor is much different than the "Vision" (other than costing less for what looks like the same thing), but I've never used the Vision razor so maybe it's even more awesome, though I don't see how.

I've been shaving with the Merkur Futur for two years now and love it. Very easy to change blades. The razor has a good range of adjustments. Start with a less agressive setting if you're new to wet shaving and work your way up. You may also want to begin with a less aggressive blade (like a Mekur) then switch to a sharper blade (like a Feather)as you become more experienced. The brush is a very good quality and with proper care will last years. If I could change anything I'd make the bowl just a bit bigger.