Are new Razors beginning to defy the old Mild/Medium/Aggressive descriptors?

For the longest time it was quite easy to classify razors as Mild, Medium, or aggressive.  For example, a gillette Tech was mild, an Above the Tie R1 was medium and a 2011 Muhle R42 or ATT H1 was aggressive.  I think newer and more refined Razors like the Wolfman and ATT Slants have broken the mold on the old Mild/Medium/Aggressive classifications however.  What are your thoughts?

I think, I still can use the mild-to-agressive classification if I consider and limit this to how the razor feels on my skin while shaving, and if I seperate an efficiency-("how good mows the razor down my whiskers")-scale from my "how hard is the razor to my skin"-face-feel. Of course, one has to control the tempting to press down hard and go over spots several times with a less efficient razor and blame the irritation to a "too agressive" razor when it is in fact a problem of efficiency.

If you mean, that the modern razors are better designed to offer a better balance between mild and at the same time very efficient, than maybe your right, but YMMV and I can't answer that question. Well, considering modern razors like the R41 and the Fatip I would say no, because for me, these are efficient and aggressive, but I am not a good example, because to me the Merkur open combs (those heads were designed in the 1930s) are very mild and medium efficent, which seems a nearly perfect combination for me personally, my beard, my skin and my proneness to ingrwons hairs.

I think the language Used to describe needs to be expanded. Leisureguy has proposed razors be classified under two dimensions; comfort and efficiency. Comfort relating to how the razor feels on your face and efficiency to how much hair is taken off during each pass. For example, for me the R1 plate is both comfortable and efficient, as I can get a DFS in two passes. An M1 on the other hand would be comfortable but inefficient. I think this would help to lessen the confusion and allow us to better describe the qualities of a razor.

Jesse

Mild and aggressive are terms that work for me. Usually, that refers to the blade gap. Comfort and efficiency, to me, are personal terms and dependent on the technique a shaver uses more than the hardware itself.

It's such a hard thing to quantify. Lather, pressure, handle weight, grip, technique, angle, blade -- they are all attributed to a change in perception in regards to feel on the face.

I'm ok with the mild to aggressive scale, but the only real constant are the measurables. A range should be set for each. I'm comfortable saying that's been done for us by ATT.

My thoughts? I can't compose my thoughts as I'm still trying to wrap my brain around a non-video post by CDB!

I believe those terms do help identify the razor. For the folks who are new to wet shaving, they need some way to sort through the vast selection.

I think there are still mild to aggressive razors.

But for me what has changed with many new razors is that mild is no longer less efficient.
So efficiency and mildness have become a little detached in my opinion.

For example I need a little better technique with the Merkur 34c/23c to get as efficient a shave as with the Razorock SLAB. But the SLAB is more aggressive.
Then in comes the Phoenix DOC, which is as mild as the 34c but for me as efficient as the SLAB.

Same with other models...

But for me what has changed with many new razors is that mild is no longer less efficient.
So efficiency and mildness have become a little detached in my opinion.

Great point ShaveTank!  I think you hit the nail on the head.  I think the more aggressive a razor was the more efficient it was (or expected to be), why else would you deal with the aggressiveness if you didn't get great efficiency.  Today those seem detached.  I think the terms still work to describe the a razor individually, but given one, you cannot guess the other.

I love my new to me Weber razor, I have shaved with nothing else since receiving it 2 weeks ago.  Some think its very aggressive which I take to mean they feel too much blade.  For me I think it is mild, very comfortable.  On the aggressiveness chart over on B&B it is listed as a 4 out of 10.  To me its also the most efficient razor I have ever used.  I have gotten a BBS smooth shave (not a requirement for me) with gradual beard reduction every pass which to me is efficiency.  So for me this razor is mild in aggressiveness and off the charts in efficiency.  

Like everything else in shaving this is a YMMV thing.  Many folks describe other razors the same way that I just described the Weber.  I try them and feel mild, but they do not provide an efficient shave.

I think one thing to consider is that Wet Shaving has become far more popular in the last few years than it ever was prior.  My god look at Kickstarter.  Anyone with a drill press and an engineering degree in the last couple of years is making a "new" better DE razor.  There used to be vintage slants and the Merkur slant and now, people are paying ungodly sums for prototype slant razors with defects.  I don't know if the bar has been moved on mild or aggressive style razors in so much as there are way more players in the game now then there was prior .  Taking that fact into account every new maker of a razor needs some gimmick to drive sales . The most popular seem to be aggression and less irritation.