Does more aggressive equal a closer shave?

[czbeme]

My experience was the R89 was so mild it just didn't give me a decent shave.

I use an ATT R1 as my daily razor and find it gives a great shave with maximum comfort.
I also usually shave on Sundays with the R41 and it gives me a closer shave but with a significantly higher blade feel.
I have no doubt the R41 delivers a closer shave but for daily use a milder DFS beats a more aggressive BBS.

So overall I would say more aggressive razors do deliver closer shaves but.....
YMMV and everyone has their own "sweet spot" of comfort vs closeness.

[StGeorge]

As someone whose beard will destroy a Gillette five blade cartridge in a few shaves I consider myself as having a pretty tough beard. I've tried all the adjustables (Fatboys, slims etc) and the likes of the Merkur Futur. None of them give me as good a shave as my Gillette '38 Aristocrat, which is a very mild razor in terms of blade gap. With the Aristocrat I can do a 1-2 pass shave and get BBS every time with no irritation whatsoever. I think it's a fallacy that cranking up adjustables gets you a better shave, at least it doesn't work that way for me anyway.

A decent soap/cream, a bit of prep and my Aristocrat does the job no problem. I think the prep part is far more important than trying to dial in a big blade gap. I usually shower first and spend a good bit of time brushing my face before shaving, that's far more important than messing about with aggressive razors, and far better for my skin. I think this is a mistake many noobs make, I know I did, chasing the "aggressive" factor. Concentrate on prep and technique and something like a Tech will do a great job and your skin will thank you for it. We're men, we like to do the macho thing, but in reality it's unnecessary when it comes to shaving, that's my 10 pence worth anyway.

[Squire]

Couldn't have said that better Tony.

[brothers]

. . . I think it's a fallacy that cranking up adjustables gets you a better shave, at least it doesn't work that way for me anyway.

Concentrate on prep and technique and something like a Tech will do a great job and your skin will thank you for it. We're men, we like to do the macho thing, but in reality it's unnecessary when it comes to shaving, that's my 10 pence worth anyway.

Tony, I agree with the point regarding the importance of the preparation and technique. Regarding an adjustable with a certain setting, after all this time and scores of different razors, I have four, not counting straight razors, that give me near perfectly smooth results every time. Only one of those happens to be a Gillette adjustable, with a setting of 9. (Super adjustable short handle.) Two of the remaining three razors are 3 piece razors (Mongoose and Darwin Deluxe) and the fourth is the TTO Red Tip SS. Upon reflection, this means (in my case) that simply being more aggressive giving a closer shave has not proven to be true. For example, the Muhle R41, pre-2013, is insanely aggressive, but all I got from it was pain.

[StGeorge]

. . . I think it's a fallacy that cranking up adjustables gets you a better shave, at least it doesn't work that way for me anyway.

Concentrate on prep and technique and something like a Tech will do a great job and your skin will thank you for it. We're men, we like to do the macho thing, but in reality it's unnecessary when it comes to shaving, that's my 10 pence worth anyway.

Tony, I agree with the point regarding the importance of the preparation and technique. Regarding an adjustable with a certain setting, after all this time and scores of different razors, I have four, not counting straight razors, that give me near perfectly smooth results every time. Only one of those happens to be a Gillette adjustable, with a setting of 9. (Super adjustable short handle.) Two of the remaining three razors are 3 piece razors (Mongoose and Darwin Deluxe) and the fourth is the TTO Red Tip SS. Upon reflection, this means (in my case) that simply being more aggressive giving a closer shave has not proven to be true. For example, the Muhle R41, pre-2013, is insanely aggressive, but all I got from it was pain.

Certainly never worked for me Gary. Opening the blades up just increases the angle and results in more scrapping IMHO. The shallower the angle the better for. The blade still cuts and I may require a bit of touching up but it's pain free. I used a Tech this morning, first time for years, as mild as it gets, and got an excellent close shave which has lasted most of the day. This was using a day 2 Derby which was nice and smooth. Any decent mild razor will do a good job for me. If I use something aggressive it doesn't shave as well and scrapes my skin causing soreness. I can't speak for everyone but aggressive razors literally don't cut it for me. The only exception is the slant bar, which I can get great shaves from but I need to use one ever so lightly. Slants don't have a steep angle but they slice the hair at an angle which seems to be more efficient but more risky for nicks. I can get a very decent with the grain single pass from a slant and feather but I wouldn't use one for extended periods, they're almost too efficient. Smooth and shallow will always be the way to go for me personally.

[BeatlesFan]

Smooth and shallow will always be the way to go for me personally

Hmm, smooth and shallow. I think my ex-girlfriend once described me using just those words!

[BeatlesFan]

But seriously folks . . .

Today I shaved with my 1970 black-handled Super Adjustable set at "1" with a fresh (day #1) Personna Hospital Use blade.

With a single lathering, and one-pass plus touchups and blade-buffs, I would say I got an almost perfectly close shave. Like 9.8/10 or something. For example, I'm sure that my Vision (VERY aggressive) wouldn't have shaved any closer (though it likely would've been faster). I think a mild setting is generally sufficient for the blade to "get at" the beard and do its job. Big honkin' exposure razors will very likely slash off more beard at one sweep, but at what cost to your face?

I think the old truisms around here are about right: Do a good prep; Create a good lather; Use a good blade; Work on your angle; Slow down and take your time. If you do those things, I don't think you need a razor with a huge blade exposure; in fact for me it's counter-productive.

NOTE: I'm a daily shaver. My comments pertain to the business of shaving off a single day's growth. It's quite possible that a low-setting, low-exposure won't work out so well for shaving off multiple days/weeks growth. A different set of rules, and a different razor setting, may very well be appropriate in that situation. But (since I shave about 360 times per year), I really don't have enough experience to comment there.

[StGeorge]

But seriously folks . . .

Today I shaved with my 1970 black-handled Super Adjustable set at "1" with a fresh (day #1) Personna Hospital Use blade.

With a single lathering, and one-pass plus touchups and blade-buffs, I would say I got an almost perfectly close shave. Like 9.8/10 or something. For example, I'm sure that my Vision (VERY aggressive) wouldn't have shaved any closer (though it likely would've been faster). I think a mild setting is generally sufficient for the blade to "get at" the beard and do its job. Big honkin' exposure razors will very likely slash off more beard at one sweep, but at what cost to your face?

I think the old truisms around here are about right: Do a good prep; Create a good lather; Use a good blade; Work on your angle; Slow down and take your time. If you do those things, I don't think you need a razor with a huge blade exposure; in fact for me it's counter-productive.

NOTE: I'm a daily shaver. My comments pertain to the business of shaving off a single day's growth. It's quite possible that a low-setting, low-exposure won't work out so well for shaving off multiple days/weeks growth. A different set of rules, and a different razor setting, may very well be appropriate in that situation. But (since I shave about 360 times per year), I really don't have enough experience to comment there.

I'm the same but on the very rare occasion I don't shave for a day I just use a feather and that mows down my iron filing like beard, I just have to rinse the blade more frequently to avoid clogging.

[BiffBuff]

I am astounded that you can shave your head with an R41!

I speak entirely out of turn, because I have never (yet) shaved my cranium. I think the only reason I can shave my beard with an R41 is that I can stretch and manipulate my facial contour to allow such a stringent shaver to cut without razorburn or nicks.

It must be a struggle to do that on your skull, but different parts of the body sport totally different kinds of hair -- maybe that explains it. I hope to someday be bold enough to shave my head.

[ShadowsDad]

I don't know who you refer to re: the R41 and head shaving, but I shaved my head with a GEM OCMM and it worked fine. Most scalp doesn't need stretching because it's already taut and smooth. At least that's my theory. I know I didn't do any stretching of skin when I shaved my head with the OCMM and it's a fairly aggressive razor.