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What's the deal with open comb razors?

After trying both the Muhle and HD OC, I found them both very mild and aggressive. I sold them both within the first week of getting them.

Mild in that they weren't very good razors. I simply couldn't get close without irritation.

Aggressive in that the blade feel had more bite than straight bars or slant.
 
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Are these Gem 1912s considered to be open combs?
 
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The New has a definate gap between the teeth and the blade with a modern DE blade installed. The Old Style on the other hand has no gap at all between the teeth and blade.
I have read where some consider the old style too aggressive for them. I find the old style very mild and a very close and comfortable shaver.
I just got the New from eBay and have not shaved with it yet so no opinion on that one yet.
As always, YMMV.
 
Very useful discussion - I always thought the open comb was more agressive just because the way it looks.
 
Very useful discussion - I always have thought the open comb would be more aggressive, just becuase it looks that way. Maybe I will now try one.
 
I find no substantive difference.

There are good and bad open comb razors, and there are good and bad safety bar (closed comb) razors.

I do like the appearance of the open comb razors, but I see no advantages otherwise. [/SIZE]
 
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[SIE=4]I find no substantive difference.

There are good and bad open comb razors, and there are good and bad safety bar (closed comb) razors.

I do like the appearance of the open comb razors, but I see no advantages otherwise. [/SIZE]

There are two purported advantages that I have heard espoused:


  1. A safety bar razor scrapes away the lather just before the blade gets to the whiskers. Open combs leave lots of room for the lather to get through to the blade. Many safety bar razors do have ripples in the bar to (I'm guessing) let some lather through.
  2. If you have let your beard grow fairly long, a safety bar design will flatten down the long whiskers so the blade doesn't get a nice cutting angle against them.

I wouldn't swear that those are very significant advantages although I do prefer the toothed design just based on experience. Those could be the reasons.
 
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