What is a Aggressive and Efficient razor?

Is it fair to say about the aggressiveness and efficiency of a razor is ?
Aggressiveness: its the parameters the manufacture has set in blade gap(predetermined or varying as like in a adjustable razor) and blade exposure(positive,neutral,negative) with guard(hybrid or dimpled or just smooth straight) and Cap(OC,normal or Scalloped) also weight (plastic, brass,stainless steel,aluminum..)all combined before a shave starts in it's static tightened blade loaded razor. As the shave starts Blade feel aggressiveness indicates, as it mows whiskers.

Efficiency: With the set parameters of the razor by manufacture and blade loaded how well did it perform with good hand technique along with 1st & 2nd shave use with a new sharp blade by operator of the razor! = end results DFS or BBS. (Another way to bump up efficiency is to shower or hydrate skin & beard with warm wet towel, use a new Gillette silver blue blade with your favorite razor should give you even better results.)(edited Aug15/2018)
This is my interpretation of aggression and efficiency of a razor, what is yours?

 

I believe that there are two defining characteristics that determine the aggressiveness of a razor. Sometimes they go hand in hand and other times not. The two characteristics are blade feel and efficiency. This month I am comparing "aggressive" razors and so far have shaved with the Blackland Dart, Rex Ambassador setting 6.5, fully open), FaTip Piccolo, PAL Injectomatic. Right now the Dart holds the top spot for blade feel and is tied with the Rex in terms of efficiency. Both of them are capable of providing me with a two pass BBS. The FaTip and PAL weren't able to pull off the two pass BBS and had considerably less blade feel to me.

 

Interesting, seems every one has slightly different interpretations and it gets confusing for some of us. Blade feel is the blade exposure and pressure applied with in its static parameters of the razor in function. The razors that are the most aggressive usually have positive blade exposure from my experience.

 

Yes, you are right. The Kia DE blade is approx .009 thousands of a inch wider total than a Astra SP blade or .0045 per side and that will change a razor aggressiveness blade exposure. Example> a milder razor with neutral blade exposure can be made a little more aggressive with just a Kia razor blade. A shim will also alter the parameters of a razor by increasing or decreasing blade gap depending on placement of the shim below or above the primary blade. Instead of adding a shim it makes more sense to but a Kia blade in razor to accomplish similar results and more sound idea than a shim if the objective is make it more aggressive.

 

I take a much more simplified approach. Efficiency is how well a razors design allows a blade to do its job, ie a straight is ten, a seventies Tech is a three.

Aggression is more a matter of how bitchy a razor is designed. Wavy blade, alignment, chatter etc.. are what make a razor aggressive.



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I have measuring equipment because of my background as a machinist and I compared the Astra and the Feather blade and they are very similar in width, could it be a different blade you are thinking of. Feather blades are considered #1 for being sharpest.

 

What's the question?

 

The heading of the thread! I have read countless threads and responses on aggression and efficiency of razors and every one interpretation is a little different it seems. I change the interpretation more accurately as we narrow this down. So what is your interpretation ?

 

I believe you hit the nail on the head with your interpretation!

 

I'm with these guys. With an efficient razor, I might be just about BBS in 2 passes. The blade is able to remove as much stubble as technique allows.

With a less efficient razor, I will need a full 3rd pass (and maybe touch up work) to get BBS. I believe this is down to my poor technique - if I used it perfectly it should be just as fast but there's a smaller sweet spot with a "mild" razor and sometimes I'm clearly missing it. Suppose maybe it could be getting clogged.

An aggressive razor may align the blade poorly, sometimes due to operator error/damage to razor or occasionally because that's just how it is. I will feel the blade more and it will be easier to nick the skin by accident.

 

I think we tend to overthink this stuff. How does it shave? That’s my rule of thumb. My favorite razors for both aggression and efficiency look like this. No kidding.

 

True dat.

We're talking about such tiny differences many of the the ones we discuss may all be in the head of the reviewer.

 

You maybe correct. I find very little difference between safety blades when wearing my tin foil hat.

 

I just have 2 categories. Ones I like and ones I don’t. The end result with any is the same.


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Aggressiveness: how likely is this to cut me if I mess up?

Efficiency: a term people made up to avoid admitting that technique is always the issue.

 

OC has no effect on geometry.


How about:

Exposure
Gap
Outer arc radius of cap (larger is milder)



Firm guard interaction to skin is not intended by razor designers, IMHO. It's only out front to prevent cuts. It's not for shaving. It would be brought into play by technique style. I am a fan of pressure behind the blade. Forward pressure causes high angles and irritation in my book. This means little or no guard contact with skin, and not a geometric factor in "aggressiveness."

 

I was wondering this. With the safety razors I own, when trying to ride the cap, the guard doesn't touch my face so the "guard span" and other lesser known measurements from the above diagram make no difference.

 

After 4 1/2 years of DE shaving, I have come to believe that Blade Exposure/Blade Gap play only a minor role in slicing off hair. What's far more important is the angle of the blade.