What are the elements of aggression?

[aggiegrads]

Since starting DE shaving about three years ago, I have had the opportunity to use several different razors - Merkur HD, Progress, Slant, Gillette Tech, SuperSpeed, SA, Slim, Fatboy, and Aristocrat, and I can't tell for the life of me when one will be more aggressive than another - I have to use the razor to figure it out.

I know that blade gap is a large contributor, but how big a part do blade angle, head weight, and other factors play?

If you had to quantify the contribution to overall aggression, how would you do it? I think that my personal scale would look something like this:

Blade gap: 70%
Blade Angle: 20%
Head mass: 5%
Unknown, x factor: 5%

What do you think?

[edgerunner]

First of all, what is 'aggressive'?...
I mean what is your definition of aggressive?

[aggiegrads]

First of all, what is 'aggressive'?...
I mean what is your definition of aggressive?

Good point. I know what aggressive is when I feel it, but what I experience on my skin with various combinations of blade gap and angle may affect others differently. For me aggressive means the ability to shave extremely close with fewer passes, but with a higher likelihood of "collateral damage."

I define mildness as the ability to get a shave with no irritation at all, but may require more passes to get as close as an aggressive razor.

[Go West Young Man]

Rage. Alcohol.

[thIs6Nly]

Good point. I know what aggressive is when I feel it, but what I experience on my skin with various combinations of blade gap and angle may affect others differently. For me aggressive means the ability to shave extremely close with fewer passes, but with a higher likelihood of "collateral damage."

I define mildness as the ability to get a shave with no irritation at all, but may require more passes to get as close as an aggressive razor.

Good question. I want to know the answer.

Is aggressive the opposite of mild? I always feel the term "mild" is used in a derogatory sense on B&B, e.g. "the Feather razor is too mild". How can a razor/blade be "too mild"? What is the real problem being described? ("I just got a comfortable shave with my Feather razor/blade, but I'm switching to my R41 because I need some irritation to start my day.") I don't get it.

[BigFoot]

Don't forget handle weight. You can take a mild razor add a heavy handle and it becomes more aggressive.

[aggiegrads]

How can a razor/blade be "too mild"? What is the real problem being described? ("I just got a comfortable shave with my Feather razor/blade, but I'm switching to my R41 because I need some irritation to start my day.") I don't get it.

[edgerunner]

I'm just going to paste some thoughts I just posted in a tread about Bluebird blades, and which I think are also appropriate to be expressed here:

I try to avoid the word 'aggressive' whenever possible. To me, blades (being one of the sides in the puzzle razor/blade) have two features - glide and closeness. We can't measure how sharp a blade is directly. We rather judge about it based on the glide and closeness of shave. On the other hand, the effectiveness inludes the razor itself, so we end up with a pair razor/blade which has a certain level of effectiveness. Furthermore, the glide and the closeness are independent qualities - we can experience smooth or rough glide, and at the same time can have very close 'aggressive' shave or not so close mild (tame blade) one. I believe that we tend to have different opinions about what a good ratio is between the glide and the closeness in order to come to an agreement on the effectiveness.

[Go West Young Man]

Good question. I want to know the answer.

Is aggressive the opposite of mild? I always feel the term "mild" is used in a derogatory sense on B&B, e.g. "the Feather razor is too mild". How can a razor/blade be "too mild"? What is the real problem being described? ("I just got a comfortable shave with my Feather razor/blade, but I'm switching to my R41 because I need some irritation to start my day.") I don't get it.

You need to factor efficiency into that equation..... an aggressive razor will get you there faster, a milder one may take an extra pass or more strokes.
It's all about the tradeoff between closeness and irritation, and everyone's face is at a different point on the continuum.

[amishmotorboat]

If you had to quantify the contribution to overall aggression, how would you do it? I think that my personal scale would look something like this:

Blade gap: 70%
Blade Angle: 20%
Head mass: 5%
Unknown, x factor: 5%

What do you think?

Blade gap: 0-10% only relevant if the gap is small enough to clog
Head mass: 5%
Blade exposure and narrowest achievable shaving angle as determined by cap thickness and curvature: 60%
Choice of blade: 25%

these numbers in no way reflect any actual thought.