Thread: Which finger on the monkey's tail?

Index finger on the shank, middle on the tail, and the other two just hanging out...

Ring finger on the tang gives me the most finesse with the blade.

Ring finger on the monkey tail for me. I never considered anything else from the moment I picked it up -- it just felt right!

Originally Posted by Chopper

First two fingers on the shank, ring finger on the tang and pinky hanging loose. Works for me.

Works for me, too.

By the way, has anyone tried both ring and pinky fingers on a long tail? I've wondered if that's why some razors have long tails . . .

Originally Posted by SteveS

Works for me, too.

By the way, has anyone tried both ring and pinky fingers on a long tail? I've wondered if that's why some razors have long tails . . .

Yes, on a couple of different razors. Feels weird, especially on the iconic monkey tail, because of the extreme curve. I don't use this razor much at all. A Wostenholm I have is more *normal* - just longer tail, normal curve; it feels closer to what I generally use but also not as much fun.

My custom RW also has a long curved tail, and I still don't think my pinkie rests much on it. Maybe my most comfortable longer tail is on a fabulous Keen Kutter...

What can I say, I am a sucker for longer tails

Cheers
Ivo

Pinky on the monkey-tail. Haven't tried anything else!

I've only had five straight shaves so far, but tried two grips. First, I had three fingers on the top of the tang, thumb on the bottom and pinky on the tail with my thumb against the heel of the blade. But I found that it was much more comfortable for me to hold it with index and middle on the top of the tang, and ring finger on the tail (pinky just dangling at the side), with middle finger, ring finger and thumb all kind of pressed against the scales.

Perhaps I'll try to move them over one more step and have just my index finger on the tang and middle on the tail to see how that goes.

depending on the grip, sometimes my pinky is on the tang, sometimes none of my fingers are on the tang as the tang is covered by the handle. My unusual grips are due to my bad shoulder and eyesight problems.

I'm still experimenting as well, and it usually has to do with the size of the blade. Most of the time my ring finger is on the tail, with the pinky hanging free and other times it's my middle finger while I just have my thumb and index finger controlling the (smaller) blade.