While I hate to be the dumb kid who asks. but what does each HHT(x) test mean as far as expected results. I have been unable to find an answer to this question in any search I have conducted. Lots of people refer to HHT1-4, but always, from what I can find, never with an explanation as to it's meaning and to what degree of sharpness the bevel had obtained.
What are the expected results of HHT1-4
- Thread starter Mr Brian
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I use HHT often, and don't really know. The test is quite subjective IHMO, so the numbers do not really mean a lot, but I think of the numbers as;
1. Shaves arm hair at skin level
2. Violins hanging hair
3. Pops a hanging hair with a tug
4. Same, but with very little pop
5. Hair falls away silently with zero tug
I found playing with a palm stropped DE blade to be very enlightening. It helps you calibrate your hair and technique
1. Shaves arm hair at skin level
2. Violins hanging hair
3. Pops a hanging hair with a tug
4. Same, but with very little pop
5. Hair falls away silently with zero tug
I found playing with a palm stropped DE blade to be very enlightening. It helps you calibrate your hair and technique
1- crummy shave
2- not as crummy as a HHT 1 shave, but still crummy
3- I may or may not continue the shave after the first couple strokes
4- Meh
5- Only after reaching this point is there a chance of a satisfying shave
2- not as crummy as a HHT 1 shave, but still crummy
3- I may or may not continue the shave after the first couple strokes
4- Meh
5- Only after reaching this point is there a chance of a satisfying shave
Here you go: http://www.coticule.be/hanging-hair-test.html. It's pretty much what bluesman 7 wrote, but I like the practicality of Seraphim's interpretation.
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Thanks for the link!
1. Crummy shave
2. Crummy shave
3. Crummy shave
4. Crummy shave
5. Crummy shave
6. This... and maybe an ok shave:
Let's try Mpeg, since youtube butchered the audio sync of the avi.
2. Crummy shave
3. Crummy shave
4. Crummy shave
5. Crummy shave
6. This... and maybe an ok shave:
Let's try Mpeg, since youtube butchered the audio sync of the avi.
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I think whoever thought up HHT 1-4 had too much free time. A razor is either shave ready or it's not. A shave ready razor is sharp and smooth and the only test that matters is shaving with it.
Completely agree, but I like having a test to see if it "might" shave well, I would hate getting ready for the shave and have the razor not cut.
I have never gotten an acceptable shave from a razor that failed my HHT.
I have read about that mystical razor that fails the HHT but shaves great-I would love to try it out, I would even pay for shipping back and forth
I have had sub par shaves off of a HHT 5 (harsh being the usual complaint)
I have never had a great shave off of a HHT 1
I have never had a great shave off of a HHT 1
Very interesting read... Thanks 
0:44 shows the correct methodology for performing the HHT:
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If I am not getting a 5 after stropping and I know the bevel was dead on, I go back to my refinement stages. That even goes for mellow-feeling coti edges. The HHT is not a complete absolute as the hair is such a great variable and I find root out is much easier than root in to get a result so I always go in with my hair. All I know is, lower than a 4 off of my hair and the edge is wanting.
That ark edge I shaved off of a couple of days ago was on the borderline of harsh. The HHT was ridiculous, like an electric hht 5. It isn't 100% on point as far as surface polish though so it might have played into it.
All I can say is my hair does not seem to work for hht. I get an OK shave from my razors at 1 but above the skin. Last night I found a new test the hft I don't recommend. On the up side the blade took the skin right off like skinning a rabbit no pulling or pain until I looked at it. Broke major rule of taking a step with a open blade. Stay seated or at least still while testing a razor or you to might find out what the hanging finger test feels like.
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I don't agree with the statement that treetopping would only correspond to HHT 1. These are two different tests all together but if I had to compare these two I'd give treetopping a much better HHT. In fact I find blades that easily pop hair above skin level shave ready.
The only "test" I do is if it easily shaves arm hair after the bevel has been set then it's good to move on to the next stone.
My gold dollar I used this morning can in at around a HHT 1 by that scale. It was not a close shave but was not an uncomfortable one.
Figured id try it out after seeing this thread pop up.
It definitely needs some time back on a stone. But I have a SAS shave at the end of it.
Figured id try it out after seeing this thread pop up.
It definitely needs some time back on a stone. But I have a SAS shave at the end of it.
The hht is a great test and gives us "some" basis to evaluate our edges, but with that said it does vary person to person because of the hair used. I think its value is largely individual based. I know what my razors should be because I always use my wife's hair. If you change the hair then obviously the test results will vary.
I'm going to retract my statement above... Following checking myself in the mirror with my glasses on a short moment ago. It was a bad shave. Most often, by noon, I've got enough of a 5 o'clock shadow that it'd be tough to notice a poor shave in the morning but this still looks like a bad shave.
I never want to know what HFT feels like.
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