Winter clipping is maintenance work rather than a haircut. The aim is a coat short enough to dry quickly and stay reasonably clean through a wet season, and the tool for that job is a plain medium blade run over a lot of surface area. The A2 is that blade: wide, unfussy, and cutting to a length that tidies without leaving skin exposed to the weather.

A 24-tooth cutter runs against a 35-tooth comb, leaving between 2 and 3mm of coat behind. That is the useful range for a working animal in cold weather, short enough that sweat and mud come off easily, long enough to leave some protection against wind and sun. The 78mm cutting width is the other half of the story, because it covers ground quickly when there is a lot of body to get through.

• Cutter: 24 teeth
• Comb: 35 teeth
• Cutting width: 78mm
• Depth of cut: 2 to 3mm
• Suited to routine full-body seasonal clipping

Worth knowing. It is not a cat blade. A 78mm A2 is a large-animal width, made for covering a body in long passes, and nothing about it belongs anywhere near a cat.

Who it's for: Anyone doing routine seasonal clipping with a full-size machine and working to a standard 2 to 3mm finish.