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Can Mantic59 Tame the R41?

wow, great video.. an honest review.. i just can't believe that many people say super close shave, which it does give you, AND say comfortable... but YMMV
 
Another great video Mantic! Thanks for taking one for the team.

Although, if you can't pull it off, what chance do I have!??

:)
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
Oh lordy, he still makes the best shaving videos on the planet. The old movie inserts are hilarious! The guy is brilliant at this stuff!

I get a perfectly comfortable, DFS-bordering-on-BBS every day with my EJ 89 head on a BRW handle. I have no curiosity about this thing whatsoever. I'm having enough trouble tinkering with a straight, why do I need a scary DE? :lol:
 
everyone keeps saying "closest thing to shaving with a straight"...why not just shave with a straight?

this razor more than anything else has been the thing that has baffled me about trends in the wet-shaving world. it's a constant revolving door of these things on the b/s/t...is it more new guys thinking they need a more aggressive razor when really they just need to work on technique? is it the need for the next big thing? there is nothing wrong with those things, per se...but man, i don't think i bled that much since my first week of wetshaving...not even with straights.
 
I definitely don't feel any of the guard at all. Any angle where you feel the guard with this razor you're using quite a steep blade angle (greater than 40 degrees I'd say). For me, it all feels like scraping at any steeper angles. I use this razor the same way I do most open combs, starting with the cap squarely on my face, then lower the razor down until it just starts to cut hair (and then of course adjusting down slightly as you reduce hair to get closer). I have to say, I really don't have any issues with irritation or nicks. I'll get an occasional weeper from clipping some little imperfection, but I get that from any razor on occasion. Using a shallow angle like this, you can really modulate the blade pressure against your face. With care, it cuts hair very close, but with very light contact to the skin itself. I'm certainly not alone in my approach with this razor though, so no credit can go to me for coming up with this. Like I mentioned, I use the cap then down approach with nearly every razor. I'm pretty sure this is mentioned in the wiki somewhere as a standard technique, actually.

Ah, yes...here it is:

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Blade_Angle

Note the section on finding the right angle. Cap on face, then down until you feel cutting is the recommended approach. They also mention guard on face, then up, which works pretty well for mild razors, as you end up in at roughly the same angle (because of the inherently narrower range of possible effective shave angles with a mild razor). With something like the R41 though, you end up with a very steep blade angle doing that.

Jamesspo, you've seem to have actually gone beyond the tangent point I was looking at with the R41 where the blade edge tends to dig in, and found a completely different approach to using this razor. Your technique sounds interesting and worth a try. Do you even feel the bar/comb on your face? I agree that it does provide a shave that is near straight in quality; even after just an XTG 2nd pass, I can't feel any stubble. The one thing that has never yet been mentioned is the close tolerance the R41 razor has for a blade. Regardless of brand, the blade fits snugly into the cap posts and at least in my R41s (x2) the blade exposure is equal and reproducible.
 
Before I watched the video, I kinda wanted one... Now not really at all... (I still think its a very good looking razor. Just wouldn't shave with it...)

Mantic likes us all so much he bleed for us.
 
I love the R41 and get a great BBS with two passes. I have never felt the need for a third pass and having seen the video it has confirmed why I felt I might have been pushing my luck to try!!
 
After watching this video I'm still up in the air about trying this razor. While manic is a pro at shaving I don't think he is a pro at this razor and anyone can have a bad day with any razor. Plenty of people still shave with this razor daily without cuts and just because a pro got cut using it doesn't mean everyone will, it simply shows practice makes perfect and not everyone can pick up what's known as the most aggressive razor and get a perfect shave with it every time. Give mantic a month with this razor and he'll make everyone wish they had one I'm sure.
 
I love my R41 and have been using it regularly for five months.

While I respect Mantic59 and appreciate all that he's done to educate others on double-edge shaving, he is just a man like the rest of us. This means he isn't going to instantly master using a new razor upon first use, nor would I expect him to. Don't let his video put you off from trying an R41. If you have patience and are willing to take your time to learn the nuances of using an R41, you will be rewarded with a top-notch shave.

If we're going to reference shaving videos for the R41, Geofatboy didn't have any issues using the R41 - and he had a lot more growth to remove. :wink2:
 
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Warning not for the faint of heart, poor mark never had a chance..........
 
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I have owned/used/sold the new R41. That being said I have to wonder why this razor has such a group of dedicated followers that feel compelled to come up with various techniques to avoid butchering yourself. There are so many razors out there that can give a great shave without the need for "technique" change or waiting for your face to "adjust". Personally I prefer to use razors that provide a challenge at times or razors that I can use with very little effort or danger of slashing myself.
 
Because there is no technique change, at least for me. I used the very common "technique" of putting the cap on your face, lower the razor down until it starts cutting hairs. It's the same technique I use with virtually every razor. I've never had even the slightest feeling like I was going to get chopped up using the R41. Yes, I can get great shaves with lots of razors, but I do so with less passes using the R41. This happened on shave number one. There was certainly no need to wait for my face to "adjust". How one's face could adjust to a razor, I have no idea.

I have owned/used/sold the new R41. That being said I have to wonder why this razor has such a group of dedicated followers that feel compelled to come up with various techniques to avoid butchering yourself. There are so many razors out there that can give a great shave without the need for "technique" change or waiting for your face to "adjust". Personally I prefer to use razors that provide a challenge at times or razors that I can use with very little effort or danger of slashing myself.
 

IMO, Mantic59 makes the best shaving videos out there, he is always clear and articulate, light hearted, and puts that little bit of extra production into his videos to make them enjoyable.

Thanks for sharing this, as I had not seen it yet.

Now I am worrying about my first shave with the R41 when she arrives next week.
 
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IMO, Mantic59 makes the best shaving videos out there, he is always clear and articulate, light hearted, and puts that little bit of extra production into his videos to make them enjoyable.

+1. Hats off to Mantic for introducing so many to Traditional wet shaving.

Now I am worrying about my first shave with the R41 when she arrives next week.

Don't be. Yes it has a lot of blade exposure, but that's nothing to be afraid of. Like any razor, one needs to experiment (and Mantic's no different in that regard), and find the angle that works best for you , be it shallow, steep, or somewhere in between. With the R41, you've got more angle choices than virtually any other razor (outside of straights). It's a flexible shaving tool. It's a lot like a manual transmission in a car. It's not as easy to start out with as an automatic, but it gives you more control over the vehicle.
 
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