Don't be caught OFF GUARD (some DE Razor terminology stuff)

[Flintstone65]

That looks lethal.

It's an interesting shave....ultra-efficient, and if you let your mind wander for a second while you're using it, it can make you pay a small "blood toll". I have always wondered how to classify it -- I think of it as an Open Comb razor, but there is clearly a "safety bar" with drain holes.

 

[efsk]

nice razor @Flintstone65

I had this discussion on the dutch forum once, when I still was active there. Closed combs don't exist they told me. So I showed them Kabrand

 

[BigJ]

Ummm, I guess my Legion Extranjera is OC, SB -- SBOC??? The top cap is an open comb, but the base plate is safety bar....and this is one wild-child of a shaver!

View attachment 1105449

View attachment 1105451

YIKES!!

 

[Dave-the-rave]

They could just as easy be called scalloped safety bars.

 

[efsk]

Difference between scalloped and closed comb:

 

[Tanuki]

I always like it when technical terminology is simple and makes sense. Just because lots of people call something by the same name doesn't mean it's good or correct, usually it's just what someone told them it was called... so regardless of whether it makes sense or not, that's what they call it.

A recent terminology addition... THE CLOSED COMB
At first I didn't like it one bit, but now I'm coming round to thinking it's a good un'.

So I propose that we now have THREE basic guard types on our razors' baseplates (left to right as below):
View attachment 1104754
OC = Open Comb, CC = Closed Comb, SB = Straight/Solid/Safety Bar

OC
Like in a standard hair comb, the teeth are usually long and deep set. Waste whiskers and lather runs out between the teeth. Example shown is a Fatip Open Comb Slant.

CC
The teeth on a Closed Comb are set directly onto, and are part of, the Safety Bar. There normally is/are drainage hole/holes between the Safety Bar and the rest of the baseplate. Example shown is a Mühle R41.

SB
The standard Safety Bar is straight and usually has drainage holes behind it. It may have minor serrations (e.g. Gillette Tech). Some razors have quite large serrations on the Safety Bar, so depending on their depth they could be considered an SB/CC hybrid. Example of SB guarded razor is a RazoRock Game Changer.


THREE PIECE RAZOR (+ blade)

View attachment 1104781

Generically speaking "caps" go on top. I hate the expression "top cap." And anyway, have you got your "foot shoes" on now?

---

I always find it reassuring when a label is easily understood by all. That said, I do understand that everyone is free to call anything what they want to call it. Vive la différence!

What do YOU think?

Aren't plates always basey? Glad R41 is CC, that Muhle calls it open is ridiculous.

Sent from my LG-US998 using Tapatalk

Top cap and baseplate are similar terms, so I won’t fight that battle. Cap and plate? Top and plate? Base and cap? Base and top? I don’t need to police vocabulary to know what posters are trying to say.

OC/open comb is used with good specificity. I’m a big tent guy, so feel free to sneak in R41 and other vintage oddballs. SB covers a lot of territory. Is it largely equivalent to ‘not-OC’? I will not die on the SB/CC hill.

The best solution to the non-binary razor question would be to segregate vintage non-Gillette and non-ASR razors, you know, unAmerican razors, in a secure care facility.

I have such a care facility in place and am ready to accept new residents. @jmudrick and @Flintstone65 , I think you could set a good example by getting your elderly razors into assisted living. Higher tiers of care are available, right up to and .

 

[Cal]

Being the devil's advocate is SO MUCH FUN.

 

[TinyT]

 

[thombrogan]

Isn't the ultimate question: How does a particular razor shave?

If I refer to my Mühle 2013-R41 as an ‘open comb’ or even visualize the spelling of my Grande as ‘FaTip’ instead of ‘Fatip,’ I need to make another XTG pass or my stubble will be twice as long as before I shaved.

 

[never-stop-learning]

If I refer to my Mühle 2013-R41 as an ‘open comb’ or even visualize the spelling of my Grande as ‘FaTip’ instead of ‘Fatip,’ I need to make another XTG pass or my stubble will be twice as long as before I shaved.

I understand the 'FaTip' vs. Fatip question - Fatip is how the company spells their name so there is a verifiably correct answer.

As far as how Mühle categorizes the R41? That, to ma at least, is secondary to how the R41 shaves.

Just my opinion.

 

[kingfisher]

The more I think about it, if a comb is closed, is it really a comb?

 

[thombrogan]

On those points, though, if a company uses one way of spelling a name and the company’s doing so is used as justification for being a self-appointed sheriff of spelling, then it would be consistent to equally accept what the sheriff considers incorrect terminology if it’s used by a manufacturer. And a lot of them write ‘top cap’ and ‘closed comb.’

 

[thombrogan]

if a comb is closed, is it really a comb?

That‘s a question for the roosters to answer

 

[never-stop-learning]

On those points, though, if a company uses one way of spelling a name and the company’s doing so is used as justification for being a self-appointed sheriff of spelling, then it would be consistent to equally accept what the sheriff considers incorrect terminology if it’s used by a manufacturer. And a lot of them write ‘top cap’ and ‘closed comb.’

Personally, I appreciated the clarification regarding the correct spelling of Fatip.

The rest, in my opinion, is just friendly jousting amongst a group of friendly shaving enthusiasts.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

The more I think about it, if a comb is closed, is it really a comb?

But if a comb was only a comb when it was open, the word open would never have been needed or used. It's only called "open" to differentiate it from the combs that aren't.

 

[thombrogan]

Personally, I appreciated the clarification regarding the correct spelling of Fatip.

It was very nice to know the spelling and the rationale behind it. It just got stuck under the wrong cuspid for me, I guess. I’ll spell their acronym the way I’m told is correct (for a more comfortable shave if nothing else), but I’d prefer the CEO to personally inform me and maybe fly a craftsperson over to my bathroom and make the cap of my Fatip Grande MK2 sit a skosh more flush with the base (allowing for the blade, of course).

 

[Tanuki]

It was very nice to know the spelling and the rationale behind it. It just got stuck under the wrong cuspid for me, I guess. I’ll spell their acronym the way I’m told is correct (for a more comfortable shave if nothing else), but I’d prefer the CEO to personally inform me and maybe fly a craftsperson over to my bathroom and make the cap of my Fatip Grande MK2 sit a skosh more flush with the base (allowing for the blade, of course).

Fatip, FaTip, Fat Tip (I’ve seen it!); who cares! What I have always wanted to know was how to spell “skosh”. Now I have an answer I can get behind! (And that auto-correct wants to change to “slosh”.)

 

[never-stop-learning]

Being the devil's advocate is SO MUCH FUN.

Great movie. Looked like Pacino was having a blast playing the part.

 

[TinyT]

Great movie. Looked like Pacino was having a blast playing the part.

Yeah, underrated I feel. Pacino is great in it, Keanu Reeves as well. It's common to make fun of his acting ability and I'm sure of been guilty of it myself in the past, but his portrayal of grief in this really affects me everytime I see it. Very authentic. I haven't seen it for quite a while come to think of it. I'll have to get it off the shelf.