I was also struggling with my neck for the better part of 6 years of my wetshaving experience.
I tried aggressive, mild, large blade gap, neutral exposure, combinations etc.
It would always seem that after changing gear I found something that works, but after a little more extended use, I would get irritated again.
It was the blade angle.. For me the trouble spot is the concave portion, where the chin meets the neck. Funnily enough cartridges in the old days never gave me problems in this area. . Because if cartridges have one thing right, is that blade angle is always more or less the same.
It was only when I started mimicking the contour of my neck precisely, that I mostly got rid of irritation. I say mostly because I don't get it spot on every time. So when going N to S from my chin to my neck, I would gradually turn the razor outward to follow the concave surface and try to maintain the pressure as minimal as possible. Some people can lift their head up and have this area flattened. But because I am more of a slim body type, this portion of my anatomy is concave no matter how I twist my head.
I know that maintaining a correct blade angle is something that a wet-shaver is suppose to do anyway, but doing this in a very precise manner finally made the difference for me.
