Razors: Mild vs. Aggressive?

I have what I would classify as a broad assortment of DE razors; Merkurs, EJ, Muhle, Gillette, RazoRock, iKon, Feather, ATT, Fatip, Maggard, etc.

Some the community classifies as mild, some aggressive. I also, at 50, have what I [and more importantly my wife] deem a thick, fast growing beard.

One of the things I have both noticed and considered is that I can get a good shave with just about ANY razor, even the notoriously "mild" Weishi which is my go to travel razor. Sure, some better than others but all serviceable.

Here's the consideration: even with a lesser amount of blade gap & exposure, if you can get the blade on your skin you should be able to get a decent shave. Right?

Where it gets tricky is that the most effective blade angle from my experience gets less tolerant the less gap/exposure you have so if you don't nail your technique you just push lather around, resulting in a patchy or ineffective shave.

A specific example would be my current reigning champ: the RR Black Mamba. I get closer shaves with this razor than any other I own. It demolishes my whirly neck hair as if I were a 12 yo despite reports from others in the community of mild performance. Sure, YMMV and all but I still don't get it.

What I do think is that the BM has a somewhat counter-intuitive blade angle (slightly steeper for me) and I think many are "capping" vs. cutting which makes it difficult to tackle even the most sparse facial hair.

What is your experience?

I hope you get lots of discussion on this, Kevin, cause it's on my mind constantly as a returnee to wet shaving after a super long absence. Never thought about it much back then. Just tugged the Gillette Super Speed around my face, any old way, to get the job done and get to work.

Now I'm pursuing the art of the finer wet shave as we all are on the boards, so the mechanics, physics and chemistry of the shave are dancing around in my head as the shave is ongoing. Onward into the fray!

I think a lot of it also has to do with the blade. I have to shim my 1955 Gillette Red Tip when it's loaded with a Derby Extra to make it shave as smooth as it does when I have a Polsilver loaded in it unshimmed. And I also think you have to spend time shaving with a certain razor. You should learn it's in's and out's because every razor shaves differently then the next, even if they are both Superspeeds.

Clayton

Most of my razors give me fine shaves but I sometimes will notice a difference in which blade is used in a particular razor. The one standout exception for me, as far as a specific razor goes, is my Gillette Fatboy. It has a rounder head than either my Slim or Super Adjustable and, no matter what the blade, doesn't give me as a close a shave as either of the other two.

If I use a milder razor I don't get as close a shave. I know this by the # of hours that my BBS lasts. With the '11 R41 I get a good 18 hours from the shave before it becomes a DFS, less aggressive razors much fewer hours. If I can't get a shave that lasts many hours I see no point in shaving. So all of my favored razors are what most folks would consider quite aggressive. My most aggressive being a SE GEM OCMM with the comb entirely removed and it too gives me about 18 hours before it becomes a DFS. No matter DE or SE, the same blades get used, all of my chosen blades are noted by most folks for their sharpness and smoothness.

Yes, the angle is also harder to hit with a milder razor, but that's a different factor.

I like my mr1 with feather blades even though is mild it's a great shaver. I have an Schick injectable e2 that's pretty aggressive to me at least but I get a great shave from it as well. I used 50's flair tip that was OK, a slim adjustable that I enjoy but I for the last couple of days I've been using 40's super speed is similar to the slim set at 6/7 and it shaves awesome with derbys. The one trully aggressive razor I used (according to me) was merkur 39c and that thing taught me a lot about no pressure but it cut me up to much so I traded it

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