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Size and Grip

What's the best way to hold a razor?

WARNING: my engineering-warped mind at work here...over-analyis risk

Some calibration here: I'm not talking about SRs. I've been using a Mach3 for a long time, and I'm making the transition back to an injector (my blade of choice for decades before the Mach3 seduction). So my questions would apply to DE, SE, and injectors...those with the handle more or less perpendicular to the blade.

I noticed, using the Mach3, that I had evolved to a grip where I was holding the razor very near the top of the handle, close to the head. I also had my index finger extended to the center of the device (not the "head" obviously, since the M3's head is "loose"), like pointing.

My current razor is a recently-acquired Schick Type I2. This has a short handle, so I'd expect it to be compatible with my "choked up" grip. NOTE: I quickly learned that applying the index finger to the center of the razor was a big NO-NO, as it applied undesirable pressure to the blade!

So...I've consciously altered my grip to be essentially a thumb-and-index finger grip, so that the razor sort of floats/pivots, reducing the pressure on the blade, as required. The grip is still very near the top of the handle, so I have a better feel, IMHO. Happiness!

But wait... I read on a recent thread where a poster opined that a long handle was better for controlling pressure. This seems counter-intuitive to me, since the grip is further from the action, and the length of the handle would multiply the pressure applied by the grip, such that minor adjustments become major.

See? over-analysis! :glare:

I realize that this is probably a true YMMV issue, but I'm curious about the opinion/experience of the collective wisdom of B&B.

Thoughts?
 
To me it's all about comfort and control. I want however I hold a particular razor to be non irritating to me and I want enough grip to prevent side to side movement. I'm certain that my fingers move to various locations as I do different passes and areas. It's like using a pen or holding a utensil, most grips will be similar but you have to do what feels comfortable and natural to you. If you attempt grips that make you feel like a contortionist then your mind is going to be concentrating too much on the grip and you most likely won't get a good shave nor have a pleasurable experience.
 
All good posts for examples of things to try. To answer your question about long handles, it depends on the other variables. If you hold the razor toward the head, a longer handle isn't going to make much difference for you. If you hold it at the balance point of the razor (which is what many would recommend) then it might help a little. If you hold the razor by the end, then a longer handle can make it easier to maintain low pressure. You just have to balance that with control. The farther down the handle you hold the razor, the less control you typically have of the head.
 
All good posts for examples of things to try. To answer your question about long handles, it depends on the other variables. If you hold the razor toward the head, a longer handle isn't going to make much difference for you. If you hold it at the balance point of the razor (which is what many would recommend) then it might help a little. If you hold the razor by the end, then a longer handle can make it easier to maintain low pressure. You just have to balance that with control. The farther down the handle you hold the razor, the less control you typically have of the head.
Good advice...thanks!

I think I've sub-consciously found the balance point...for a short razor like the Type I2, that's pretty close to the head. It just feels right...surely because it is the balance point! :thumbup1:
 
I was going to mention this. I put in the entry about the Balance Point Method. While I don't claim to have invented it, I think I was the first to document it here. It was a major breakthrough when I discovered it by accident, a few months into my wet-shaving odyssey.

The other methods are good, too. It all depends on what you feel comfortable with and what works best for you.


Don't overthink this. Remember, it is only shaving.
+1 ... shaving should be a fluid, easy motion. Its not brain surgery, and you don't need to plan everything out far in advance and pay excruciating attention to details.

Overthinking shaving makes it much harder than it really is. And it takes a lot of the fun out of it.
 
When I moved to DE shaving I initially thought I would prefer a longer handle similar to cartridges. Over the time I have been using safety razors I have found the opposite to be true for me. The shorter handle seems to allow a lot more nuance as to how you control the razor in my opinion. When I have tried to use a longer handle these days I just find the additional length sort of gets in the way.
YMMV as always.
 
Personally, I have no "universal" grip, however, with an average or short handle, my pinkie is under the bottom end. With an extra short, it's the fourth finger at that end. Only with the rather long handles of various cartridge types does my pinkie's tip touch the gripping surface.

Having been a lifelong classic razor shaver, I never stopped using the old razors totally, never gave up entirely on shave creams {I did allow my last puck of soap to go in the trash with the smashed mug I'd dropped on the tile floor (house built back in 1960, tile surrounding the tub, behind the wash basin, and on the floor)}.

I don't think that any of the decades' worth of muscle memory ever quite had a chance to fade, save for Gem / Star type SEs, which I replaced with Injectors about 57 years ago. It was a thread here on B&B that prompted me to pause as I started shaving one day to actually LOOK at what my fingers were doing with a Gillette Slim when about to make a first cut.
 
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All good posts for examples of things to try. To answer your question about long handles, it depends on the other variables. If you hold the razor toward the head, a longer handle isn't going to make much difference for you. If you hold it at the balance point of the razor (which is what many would recommend) then it might help a little. If you hold the razor by the end, then a longer handle can make it easier to maintain low pressure. You just have to balance that with control. The farther down the handle you hold the razor, the less control you typically have of the head.
+1
 
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