Razor blade tabs, covered or uncovered?

Blade tabs Covered or uncovered


  • Total voters
    47

Blademonkey

Forum GOD!
More and more razors are being made that enclose the end tabs of the DE blade, I like razors with this feature. I think it gives the razor head a more refined look and perhaps offers greater blade stiffness because the whole blade is clamped between the baseplate and cap and of course there is no chance of catching your ear lobe it nostril with an exposed blade tab.

Did any vintage DE razors cover the blade tabs or is it just the new razor manufactures doing this?

What are your thoughts on the tabs being covered, do you like it or do you think they should remain uncovered?

I look forward to hearing what other users of DE razors think about this. P.

Note this is really aimed a shavers who buy and use new DE razors, if you only use vintage then it's not going to matter much to you P.
 
Last edited:

Chris

Forum DOG!
Staff member
I prefer the tabs to be covered, it looks neater and as I shave my head it prevents me catching behind my ears with the exposed tabs. I can see no benefit to having them exposed.
 

SweeneyTodd

Forum GOD!
I prefer tabs covered, and having them protrude doesn't serve much useful purpose. However, I have found that on some "covered" razors, the overlap is so small that a partial tab is exposed, usually at one end. This varies on a single razor (e.g. Standard) between different blade makes.

Most of the Ikon heads give plenty of overlap, and the Pils is my paradigm for covered blade design.
 

Missoni

Fellow Traveller
Uncovered for me; I prefer the smaller head size with the corner of the blade as close as possible to the corner of the base plate and top cap. Only razor that I have had problems with uncovered tabs is the Rocca whilst head shaving and I think that may have been the arrow sharp top cap corners rather than the blade tabs.
 

Nisse

Old geezer
"for a specially close shave/.../unscrew the handle a slight turn" - so official Gillette info, I have always considered this tinkering a typical hobby shaver thing :)
 

TobyC

Patriot
Uncovered for me; I prefer the smaller head size with the corner of the blade as close as possible to the corner of the base plate and top cap. Only razor that I have had problems with uncovered tabs is the Rocca whilst head shaving and I think that may have been the arrow sharp top cap corners rather than the blade tabs.
Exactly! I want the end of the razor head to be the end of where shaving actually happens. I don't like it when there's part of the head just taking away soap but not shaving anything.
 

TobyC

Patriot
"for a specially close shave/.../unscrew the handle a slight turn" - so official Gillette info, I have always considered this tinkering a typical hobby shaver thing :)
There's a problem with that with modern blades. The three hole blades were much stiffer, and still held in place by the tension, modern blades are cut completely in half except for the tabs, and offer very little tension to hold everything together. Should be tight or at least snug with modern blades. Also, Gillette only said that about razors where the upper part of the handle was attached to the baseplate, such as a double or single ring. You didn't have to worry about the handle turning while shaving on those, but razors where the whole handle comes off you need to have it snug so it won't unscrew during use.
 
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