Video Transcript

Hello, everyone. My name's Chris Robert's with High & Tight here in Portland, Maine and today we're gonna talk about what is a size 5 in a clipper guard and how does that relate to using it in a haircut. I want to start of first saying that the 3 types of clippers that I use is I use the Oster's Titan's. I also use the Wahl Senior Reflections, and I also use what is called the Andis Master clippers. Now each one of these companies are predominantly great clipper companies and there's several others that you can choose from as well, they're just the brands that I particularly like to use here at the shop but they do have 3 distinct guard sizes and so that's where it gets a little tricky, it might be some confusion in there. A number 5 just so you know is 5/8ths of an inch so when you use that number 5 guard and you're cutting a person's hair that's what will be left on the head at the end of the cut is 5/8ths of an inch. It is also the equivalent if you're in millimeters to 16 millimeters as well. This is the Oster's version as you'll notice this particular Oster clipper attachment is, is spring loaded to help, to help give it some actual hold when you put it on the clipper. So when you're using a number 5 on this particular type of clipper you actually put it on here, actually put it on from the bottom and it spring loads up so a little push on the bottom and it locks it right in place. So you can see it's a pretty steep angle and this part here is what your guide is so you're rocking when you're cutting with that, this particular unit. This Oster clipper though will work on an Andis Master but it will not work on the Wahl so that's where some of the differences in these different companies and different brands come into play. If you're using an Andis Masters they have various assortments. They have magnetic attachments. They also have the traditional clip on attachment for a number 5 and that would just basically go on by locking through the top and then pulling it down to this little lever here. What's nice about this is you can also rest with your fingers so when you're cutting you're able to kind of make sure the guard doesn't pop off during the course of things. With the Andis this will not work on your Wahl however I've not tried it on my, on my Oster. I believe that it would probably work on the Oster as well. And lastly is the Wahl. Now my Wahl's become kind of my personal favorite just because I'm a visual person so helping with Wahl is allows the color, the color guarded system so that you can easily detect that this is a number 5 cause it's your yellow guard. They may mix up the color scheme on some of their newer, newer systems but it's really easy to help you to visually recognize this is the size guard that I need. With the 5/8ths on this particular clip it just goes again right on the top part and clips on down so that you're holding it. You can hold it with your, hold it with your finger you're, while you're cutting here and it works really well. In retrospect when you're using a number 5, now why would you use a number 5? Essentially I would use a number 5 more for a blending purpose so for example generally I use the lower guards from a 0 right up to the number 4 which tends to be your standard business man's cut but if somebody was maintaining like either a fohawk or had a, wanted to maintain longer hair in this section which we call basically the crest area of the head and keep it short on the side. You can run into some blending issues. That's where using a number 5 can be very handy because it helps to maintain the length of the hair on the top that you're looking for while still blending into the lower numbers that you're using on the sides. For example, if you were to take it and you were to go along the ridge almost keeping it vertical and just going against the grain of the hair, you got to always have to cut in the opposite direction for which the hair grows and that way you will be able to see how it will blend going around the crest area so that when you're cutting with your shears or your scissors on the top part you have a nice fluid blend from the top down into the bottom. So that's a little bit about the number 5 guard today I hope that'll help to answer any questions that you might have. My name's Chris with High & Tight. I'll look forward to talking with you again.