that's one aggressive razor
Seriously - if a guy with his experience gets that kind of result, why would anyone bother. Yeah, I know it might be in order to get a better shave. But how much better, and at what expense?
02:33 - Now I think I'll tempt fate with an against the grain pass.
02:36 - Oh wow, this feels like it might not be a good idea.
I want to try the R41.
My biggest problem is with slight irritation, bumps and ingrowns on my neck.
I've found that a great lather, skin stretching, a very sharp blade, and an extremely light touch are the keys to success.
My only problem is that the head on my Merkur HD isn't aggressive enough to get it in one pass. I think that the R41 could solve that problem, thereby eliminating the need to do an additional pass on my neck.
Yes but when you hear this you have to wonder if they are they being dead honest or just being "manly" online with bandages all over their face in the real world
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Great video, Mantic! After 42 years of Gillette Open Combs, I gave the 2011 R41 a try. Aggressive is an understatement, it can and does bite. I think my new pre-shave oil for it is Mobil 1 15W50. This razor really requires a steep angle and a sharp blade (a dull blade will really tug at the steep cutting angle). I shave every day, but after trying a few shaves with the R41, I found I can actually go a day without shaving after the R41. I have also found that it removes substantial amounts of upper layer skin cells; a BBS shave is had with only WTG & XTG passes. An ultra-slick cream or soap helps immeasurably, but, as other posters have stated, angle and minimal (read ZERO) contact pressure are foremost. Quite the Mühleskinner. I normally use a rotation of some of the popular creams & soaps mentioned on these forums, but for a quick test I tried one of the King of Shaves gels I use when traveling and it really made the R41 glide along the skin; but, getting some of the gel on my razor handle made it exceptionally slippery and difficult to manage. Fortunately, I discovered that the various handles for my Gillette heads from Bob's Razorworks also fit the R41 head. Now it's just a matter of matching up the proper BRW handle to the R41 head. YMMV with this razor! I give the R41 the same respect I give my pet "cat" who walks across me with eight "straights":
+1!Mühleskinner
I've actually put a flatedge gauge against the R41 head with a blade installed and the steeper angle between the bar comb-blade-cap tangent is really warranted; if you roll the razor up onto a narrow angle, where the flatedge becomes tangent to the comb and the cap, the blade actually starts to really dig in quite radically. It almost seems that there is no contact between the skin surface and the cap edge above the blade, if skin wasn't perhaps so elastic when shaving with it. I'll admit the first few times I tried the R41, I kept the angle more "traditional" and sliced the bejeebers out of my face. As Jamesspo stated above, it's almost like a scraper, and it does make some sound. If you are brave and steady of hand, just rest the bar/comb of the head with a blade installed along your finger, beginning with the head at 90º so there's no blade contact with your finger, then roll the handle upward, and you'll feel the blade beginning to touch at about 75º, and when you get to about 50º (between guard-blade-cap tangent line and your finger) you will feel how much the blade wants to dig into the surface of the skin. Just my quick empirical analysis. If I get some time, I may try to illustrate this with photographs.
Seriously - if a guy with his experience gets that kind of result, why would anyone bother. Yeah, I know it might be in order to get a better shave. But how much better, and at what expense?