What’s the secret for not nicking yourself?

All great advice. I found the angle to be the most helpful suggestion. I still get a weeper on occasion, most often with my 2011 R41. It's usually under my jaw at the back, where there is very little "flat" surface.

 

What is said earlier in this thread is very true, keeping the right angle is very important.

Additionally I would want to share my experience. Once upon time there was a guy on IRC talking about wet shaving. I decided to give it a try. He said he used a Mühle razor and Derby blades. I decided to get stuff from the same manufacturers, as they seemed to work for him. I found out there were actually two different kind of razors from Mühle: R89 and R41. As I was not a daily shaver, I decided to take R41 so it would not clog so easily. I also bought plenty of Derby blades.

Still after 6 months with this setup I was getting blood on my face every shave. I simply could not get a good shave. In my case the culprit was the choice of blades. They were too dull. The razor was constantly doing small jump because it climbed over some of the whiskers rather than slicing through. Additionally it often got stuck in some whiskers, even pulling up some by root. So, the stroke was not even. There simply was no precision in my strokes because of these factors.

Then I learned all blades are not the same sharp. I bought some other blades. The change was like the difference between day and night. Without tugging, I always got blood free shaves. Because of this background, I am always eager to point out to any newbie about finding a non-tugging blade. In the same way as a dull knife is dangerous, a dull blade is dangerous too.

 

NO PRESSURE

 

Do not apply the blade directly on the skin without moving the Razor. If you apply the blade to the skin and tremble even very little, the blade is gonna nick you. So always make sure you apply the razor to the skin in motion.

 

Interesting. Never thought about that, but it makes sense.

Guess the reason I never thought about it is because I just shave. I try not to over think it.

 

It's been said, but Ride the Cap!

 

Some more info would be helpful. How coarse is your beard? What is your prep technique? What shave cream/soap do you use?

 

I have a coarse beard. Prep: A good face wash such as the Musgo glycerine preshave soap followed by a Proraso preshave cream. I use all sorts of different soaps n creams. One of the best creams: Palmolive. Or if you prefer the English classics: Truefitt & Hill, Trumper's, Taylor....