My Safety Razor Rules of Engagement

There are 3 things I like to test out to see if a Safety Razor is indeed worth it's weight in gold. I like to call them my "Rules of Engagement", and they are as follows.





Merkur 37c Slant

1. Weight - the overall weight of the safety razor isn't too weighty (4.5oz Max). The head to handle weight ratio of the safety razor needs a 60:40 distribution; i.e at least 60 percent of the razor's heft must belong in the head of the razor. You want the heft of the razor head to use it's own weight / gravitational force to slice through the whiskers, no force by hand needed. On the right, the 37c has what I would say is a 40:60 distribution (60 percent weight in handle), but it works for this model razor as the slant head does most of the work effortlessly, bending the blade on an angle and guillotining the hairs off your face.
   
2. Blade & Blade Gap / Exposure - Will my choice of blade, be it vast in choice, work well in conjunction with my Safety Razor? I'm a big believer that specific blades work differently within specific types of safety razors, as well as when slicing through different types of beard growth. As a result, these offer different levels of aggression. Some safety razors also offer different blade gaps which in turn limit the blade exposure for minimal aggression and a mild shave.
   
   For instance, inserting an Astra blade (mild aggression) into a Muhle r89 safety razor (which is already a very mild razor) would be an overall mild experience for my type of beard growth, and hence wouldn't offer me a BBS shave with just 2 passes. The image on the right with the 37c is an example of a slant head razor which twists / bends the blade on an angle, and allows for the blade to work under the stem of the hair and performs a guillotining action. This also makes a mild blade (Astra) more aggressive than it would be in a less aggressive razor with less blade gap / exposure.
   
3. Grip - knurling or any other attempt at Grip must allow my fingers to stay firm on the handle, if or when the handle ends up with the inevitable slickness of the soap or lather (to avoid those nasty slips and weepers). This also includes the thickness of the handle as well, and how my fingers wrap around it. The Length of handle doesn't really matter to me. On the right, you'll see the Merkur 37c Slant and it's short handle with some of the best knurling I've felt and used.

Yes, of course, there are exceptions to these above 3 "rules of engagement", if you'd like to call them that. Not a bad title I must say, but simply put, you can mix and match blades, handles and heads with each other to make a sort of "frankenrazor". Again, it's all a matter of perspective and how your shaving technique evolves over time in order to use these tools of the trade optimally.