A little lesson learned recently about my favorite mid/aggressive razors

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by Bill G, Jul 16, 2021.

  1. Bill G

    Bill G Well-Known Member

    For the past week and a half I have done an experiment with some of my favorite razors.

    When I started whet shaving years ago I progressed like many from milder razors to more aggressive some to aggressive and ended back up using the middle/high mid aggression razors.

    My neck has always been an issue for me the hair just grows in a lot of directions along with sensitive skin. So I shave every 3 to 4 days and generally get great BBS shaves with my razors. Sometimes even though everything looks great my skin on my neck feels slightly sun burnt when going for a BBS shave.

    I have always preferred a second day shave due to slower hair growth the first 24 hours. This is where the experiment starts.

    * I took my Karve Brass razor from a C .85 positive 0.09 exposure plate to a B .73 zero exposure plate.
    * I took my SS RR Game Changer .84 plate positive exposure plate to the .68 positive exposure plate.
    * I added my SS RR Mamba .53 zero or 0.01 exposure plate a mild and smooth razor to the rotation.

    I removed my RR SS Lupo razor. Even with the .73 positive exposure plate installed it was to aggressive on my neck for second day shaves. It was great for 3 to 5 day shaves with a light touch.

    Now I shaved every second day using the same prep the same soap the same blade (a new blade every shave) switching each time between the razors listed. I used the lightest touch with each shave and did my best to run the same shave patterns with each razor based on my hair growth mapping.

    The outcome and lesson learned after a week and a half of running this experiment.

    I got really good BBS shaves with each razor listed without the sun burn feeling to the skin that I sometimes quite often got before. The shaves were smooth and looked great.

    Over the years I have mapped my hair growth pretty good and I am sure this played into the results that I got this time verses years ago when going for a second day shave. In the early years I did not understand the mapping of your hair growth like I do today.

    In Summery,

    I really don’t need super aggressive razors to get great shaves and it’s so much nicer on the neck and over all skin feel in my situation. Plus I can now get my second day shaves that I prefer and enjoy without discomfort to the skin or neck.

    Happy Shaves Everyone,
    Bill G
     
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2021
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  2. Jorvaljr

    Jorvaljr Operation Daytona 8000

    Glad you were able to figure it out.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
    Hembree, brit, GatorJoe and 1 other person like this.
  3. Chappy_Stan

    Chappy_Stan Well-Known Member

    Very interesting!

    I started with a Merkur 34c like a lot of beginners do but found it to be quite aggressive for me as I searched for "the blade" to use. Next razor I bought was a Rockwell 6c due to the adjustability and discovered I like very mild razors using plate 2/4. Upgraded the Rockwell 6c to 6s and actually use plate 1/3 now (plate 3 first and plate 1 for 2nd pass and cleanup) but very sharp blades. In addition, I also discovered how much technique makes a difference. Aggressive razors are more forgiving if you don't have really good technique. I now use multiple mild razors but sometimes have to use shims like with my vintage Gillettes. I don't always get BBS but I'm so close it is not worth the irritation to my neck to get it. I'm a happy camper now.
     
  4. Hercule

    Hercule Active Member

    Forgive me, I don't mean to be obtuse, but what do you mean by saying that you "took such and such to a so and so"? Are you saying that you ended up preferring the former to the latter?

    on another note, what blade did you use on the Game Changers? I'm trying to reconcile those two plates myself.
     
  5. huck1680

    huck1680 Great Northern CanUkrainian

    Aggressive can be a bit of a misleading description. The Henson Ti in aggressive is still a pretty mild shave. IMHO. You team up a Gillette Old style and a feather blade...well, you got aggressive.
     
    Bill G likes this.

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