R41: Just How Aggressive is it?

I think the 2011 did very little to flex the blade and so there was a lot of chatter. Couple that with a yawning blade gap and you've got a recipe for something close to disaster. I reckon there's more flex on the newer model and so less danger when taking a stoke any longer than a couple of millimetres (thousands of an inch for our wonky English-speaking cousins).
 
I had several R41 heads which are cheap but it was years ago and I enjoyed it because I like aggressive razors and the R41 was aggressive. My everyday razors are the Ikon Tech and Ikon El Jefe single edge, both aggressive and to me needed for my hard beard. Like Bogeyman said the only place my R41 bit me was my chin area.

You can mitigate the bite of aggressive razors with mild razor blades or by a thick protective lather like from a superlather or uberlather Too a layer of a pre shave cream like lemon message cream or Noxema provides a protective barrier to protect the face from rash or cuts from aggressive razors but it does effect the lather you put on top of it. I stick to these techniques with my aggressive razors and I don't get cuts or rash.
 
I used the 2009 model almost exclusively for many years until I bought the Feather AS. I found it worked very well with a Derby but my go-to was the R41 and a Kai. I still use it now and then but one of the teeth broke so it's a little riskier, I would replace the head if I could find one. Don't be scared of it though, it's aggressiveness is over exagerated in my opinion however, the 2009 model may have been the zenith. I haven't tried any later versions.
 
I have the 2011 (?) zamak model, which was reserved for serious beard accumulation removal; a ceremony akin to a coronation or christening, requiring special preparations, and one which I rarely perform.

Earlier this year I bought the stainless version, which is a weightier and longer thing, and by rights should be more challenging. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to find that it gives me the same quick removal, but more smoothly and easily.

It's not clear why this should be, but the comb seems slightly different. Perhaps the extra heft means that I instinctively use less pressure, and avoid the innate tendency to handle it as I would my usual razors.

Any R41 is, for me, far less dangerous than the Merkur Futur, but I wouldn't normally use the R41 for daily use, as it does need extra care and attention, and I have other razors for day-to-day shaving. When I do fetch it out on rare occasions, I usually put an Astra blade in it, and I think that it needs a "medium" blade i.e. neither blunt nor too sharp, to be reasonably easy to use yet still shave with one pass, or possibly two at the most.
 
Like everything and as mentioned it comes down to technique. It is certainly an aggressive razor but nothing which can't be controlled.

Compared to say an Ikon B1 or even worse the Ikon Tek it is a little pussy cat. The Tek is a murderers tool disguised as a perfectly acceptable everyday piece of domestic wear. Except it's effing lethal.
 
Satanfriendly said:
Like everything and as mentioned it comes down to technique. It is certainly an aggressive razor but nothing which can't be controlled.

Compared to say an Ikon B1 or even worse the Ikon Tek it is a little pussy cat. The Tek is a murderers tool disguised as a perfectly acceptable everyday piece of domestic wear. Except it's effing lethal.
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Still persevering with that Ikon skinning blade holder, then? I did warn you.
 
Satanfriendly said:
Au natural. Then I met the Rocnel SE-P........
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It's just fine if you pay close attention to either holding the thing as straight as possible, or checking the blade is in properly, especially at the ends; but preferably both.
Is yours OC or SB? Mine's the latter.

The way it holds the blade is just pure magic, and it's worth it, if only to wonder at the concept and execution, and be surprised that it even works.
 
Ferrum said:
It's just fine if you pay close attention to either holding the thing as straight as possible, or checking the blade is in properly, especially at the ends; but preferably both.
Is yours OC or SB? Mine's the latter.

The way it holds the blade is just pure magic, and it's worth it, if only to wonder at the concept and execution, and be surprised that it even works.
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The SB.

I agree with your every word. Even more surprised if you have any skin left. A razor which comes complete with a death wish.

But what a damn shave. Does anything get closer? I haven't met anything to date.
 
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