From day one I love the razor. It is simple and wonderful. I can't believe I never needed all the marketed features of your average Gillett razor. Definitely makes me feel like a man. The different settings is good for starting out. I started out on setting 1, and now I'm using setting 2 and finding that to be a good setting for me.

I decided to buy a Merkur Futur to get a slower, but closer shave on the days when I could take the time for a bit of face pampering. My reading of the "Badger and Blade" wikipedia aggresion tables for DE razors indicated that the aggressiveness of the Futur started where that of the Merkur HD ended. Basically, I chose the chrome plated model because that was all that Men's Biz had in stock at the time. I had some concerns about the claims of some members of Badger and Blade forums that the handle on the chrome model was slippery when wet. I have not had any problems with handle slipperiness. The narrow section of the handle provides a subtle but effective grip point that coincides with the optimum balance point. Did I mention that the Futur is an aggressive razor? Well it is and it isn't. When you open it out to its widest setting it looks extremely fierce, so I have not gone that far yet. I started on setting 1 and have slowly opened it out over a period of six weks. I took it to a number 3 setting and then came back to a 2.5. At that setting it can provide me with comfortable, baby butt smooth shaves. It is a heavy and large razor and I had some minor nicks in the tight spots until I learned to modify my shaving techniques to this razor. Just the standard advice, go slow, go light and use short strokes. Doing it that way always gives me good results now. As to blades, I found the best all round results for me were, from best to not best, in this order: Merkur, Personna, Astra and Feather. The Merkur Futur has become my favourite razor now.