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I'm not going to lie, this is new information to me. I have heard people talk of negative blade exposure before, but assumed it was such tiny measurements that it made no difference. And being fair, .013 of a millimetre is fairly small.And yet, what many mild razor enthusiasts miss is the problematic design issues with negative blade exposure.
If you use perfect technique (ie, no pressure), while employing the shave angle the razor is designed for, it is actually not possible for the blade to touch the skin. Instead, the rigidity and sharpness of the blade merely slices through the extending hairs.
Here's a perfect example from Tatara Razors:
View attachment 38601
The Tatara Masamune above is designed to shave within .13 mm of your skin. So, if you are BBS after using it, then you had to have used pressure, pulled out hairs, or you have thin hairs and a sparse beard that merely "feels" smoother to the skin, instead of actually getting to the skin.
Several versions of Techs, Karve plates AA, A, B, and C, the Razorock Mamba, and the Tatara above all have negative blade exposure.
But what if you have sensitive skin, curly hairs, a proclivity to ingrown hairs, thick beard growth, with a mixture of thick hairs and wiry think hairs, like I do?
It is foolhardy to say "YMMV" and every razor is different and your face is different, and then assume that certain razors will shave certain faces equally well with an equal number of passes "if you have good technique and prep".
That is wrong.
For me, my face feels pretty darn smooth some 10+ hours after shaving with the R41, H, GC 84, and even with the less comfortable Dart before returning that.
On the other hand, I noticed more growth and stubble on my face after only a few hours, when I shave with some Techs, my Slim on 2, Ming Shi on 1.
Again, YMMV.
Happy shaves.
Still, I made a statement originally which needs clarifying above... any razorwhich has positive blade exposure should shave exactly the same in the end. Both the cap and the bar shouldn't be on your face at the same time so gap matters not in these instances.
However, any razor with a significant negative exposure would theoretically not shave well as others. I can see how that could lead to stubble reappearing slightly sooner. I can't imagine there's much in it though.
Negative blade exposure does seem like a massive design flaw in my eyes. At least 0.00 should be mandatory on any razor, or as you said above, you either need to accept sub standard shaves or apply pressure while shaving??
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