How aggressive is a NEW?

[beginish]

I've been doing a lot of reading about the Gillette NEW razors and am thinking that I want to add one to the rotation. I understand that open combs are supposed to be more aggressive, but how does the NEW compare with some of the modern Merkur open combs? Also how much difference is there between the short and long tooth versions?

Thanks!

 

[mblakele]

The wiki might help. I have a NEW, and I find it less aggressive than my Merkur 34c (so my findings match the measurements in the wiki). The NEW does handle differently, though. I think that difference takes some time to get used to, just like any change.

 

[Disburden]

The wiki might help. I have a NEW, and I find it less aggressive than my Merkur 34c (so my findings match the measurements in the wiki). The NEW does handle differently, though. I think that difference takes some time to get used to, just like any change.

+1

Like most changes in equipment or tools the most important variable in the change will be your ability to adapt to that tool.
NEW(s) are pretty aggressive though, just make sure you use a light touch, they shave very nicely.

The old type and the NEW were the best DE razors ever made, imo.

 

[GarageBoy]

NEW means the last open comb by gillette, right?

 

[cooncatbob]

The long and short combs shave pretty much the same on the face in my opinion.
The long comb NEW excels as a headshaving razor, the turned over combs are much more comfortable against the head then the pointed tines of other opened comb razors and they make finding and maintaining the proper angle easy.

 

[beginish]

The wiki might help. I have a NEW, and I find it less aggressive than my Merkur 34c (so my findings match the measurements in the wiki). The NEW does handle differently, though. I think that difference takes some time to get used to, just like any change.

Thanks. From the link, it looks like the NEW falls in between the 40's Super Speed and Merkur HD I currently use most often. I'm looking for slightly more aggressive than the Super Speed, and the HD is bugging me right now, feeling too aggressive for some reason.

+1

Like most changes in equipment or tools the most important variable in the change will be your ability to adapt to that tool.
NEW(s) are pretty aggressive though, just make sure you use a light touch, they shave very nicely.

The old type and the NEW were the best DE razors ever made, imo.

I had read that the shave angle would be different on the NEW vs the typical DEs, so I will certainly tread carefully at first.

NEW means the last open comb by gillette, right?

Yes, AFAIK. I'm no expert.

The long and short combs shave pretty much the same on the face in my opinion.
The long comb NEW excels as a headshaving razor, the turned over combs are much more comfortable against the head then the pointed tines of other opened comb razors and they make finding and maintaining the proper angle easy.

Again, great to know. I am assuming that the re-plated NEW heads on the Bull Mastiffs are functionally identical to the vintage NEWs.

Thanks to all for the great feedback. Amazing to think that in a mere 20 mins after my first post, I had all the answers I needed!

 

[valmara1971]

20 mins! Boy it's a slow day on B&B today it's more like 20 seconds any other day of the week. Keep up the good work brothers.