Alternate between open and closed comb?

[midwestshaver71]

Curious if I am an oddball or does anyone else here mix things up and shave, say, a few days closed comb and then a day or two open comb?
As an almost exclusively daily shaver, I find my face is much happier when I don't shave with an open comb more than two days in a row.
I also these last few weeks have refrained from insisting on a 3 pass mirror finish shave...just not worth it when I'm the only one that feels my face with a BBS finish that goes away by the time early afternoon rolls around.

 

[sarimento1]

Welcome to B&B, Sir midwestshaver71!
Indeed, you can have best of both worlds with an assymetric razor!
Here's an Ikon, both closed comb and open comb.

 

[Manye]

Welcome to the community. I do the same as you

 

[dmshaver]

Are you an oddball? Absolutely not! You enjoy a wonderfully relaxing shave each day & want to give your face a rest day using a closed comb razor. Nothing odd about that. It's actually quite considerate of you. Alternating between a closed comb & open comb isn't unusual. And it keeps things fresh in the shave den, too! Enjoy your shaves & welcome to B & B!

 

[Wgg2017]

Welcome to B&B! I shave every 48 hours and my regular razor is an open comb design. The same model is also available in a safety bar design, but I find that the OC shaves just a little closer without resulting in irritation so it's what I use most of the time.

 

[Dave himself]

Hi and welcome to B&B.

 

[Eric_75]

Hello and welcome to B & B. I enjoy mixing things up.

 

[Andris83]

don't forget to add slants to the mix, then there are OC slants too
some even use AC razors, injectors and other kinds of SE razors.
I use SBs, OCs and Slants regularly. I pick a razor and use it while the blade lasts (about 3 shaves). I'm not moving blades around.

 

[Quaznoid]

Open comb is not more aggressive than closed.

 

[Brutus]

Open comb is not more aggressive than closed.

I agree with that, but maybe we should add “as long as blade exposure and blade gap are the same”.
Open comb versions tend to come with more blade exposure and a wider blade gap than their closed comb brethren, which is the reason why some shavers associate “open comb” with “aggressiveness”.

If you compare the Mühle R89 with the Mühle R41, there is a noticeable difference.
But if you compare the Tatara Masamune closed comb with the Masamune open comb version, you would be hard pressed to tell from the shave which one is which.

If your face does not feel happy with daily shaves with an open comb razor, it might be because of your technique (light enough touch, too much buffing?) or your shaving soap/cream has not enough lubrication and provides an insufficient cushion. Shaving soaps and creams with lanolin tend to provide good lubrication, but there are also shaving soaps/cream (often with glycerine) that shine in this respect.

There is a current thread on the subject of slickness, although the thread unfortunately concentrates on products available in/from North America and omits some tried and tested products from Europe like Haslinger, D.R. Harris, Taylor of Old Bond St., Cella, Vitos, Meißner Tremonia, Myrsol, Epsilon and Lea.

Which soap has the most protective/slickest lather?

I wanted to get an idea of which soap creates the most protective lather. I am not distinguishing between protection from nicks and irritation and I will leave the interpretation of the definition of "protective" up to the responder. For me, protection and slickness go hand in hand. For soaps...

www.badgerandblade.com

In a nutshell, one should be able to shave with any quality razor every day with three passes and not suffer any discomfort.

Having said that, there is absolutely nothing wrong with changing between open and closed comb.
One way to do this is with an asymmetric razor, as sarimento1 suggested, or you could shave with a razor where both types of head can be bought separately, like in case of the Mühle R89 and Mühle R41.



B.

 

[BigJ]

Open comb is not more aggressive than closed.

+1! That is certainly my experience! But the main thing is to enjoy your shaves!

 

[Chaucer]

But if you compare the Tatara Masamune closed comb with the Masamune open comb version, you would be hard pressed to tell from the shave which one is which.

For the past couple of weeks I've been switching among Tatara parts, including the Masamune SB and OC baseplates. For me, the difference is clear, but it's not as simple as smooth-vs.-efficient. I need to use different techniques with each. Generally, shorter strokes with the SB and lighter touch with the OC (especially in tight areas) are called for. But, with these and other adjustments, comfort and results are similar.

Like any tool, a razor needs to be used in a way that gets the most out of it for the user. "YMMV" for sure, but each of us can adjust our own "M" with each razor.