What's the best strategy for jumping on grenades?

Question

Consider the following scenario: as a pyro, I turn a corner and notice an enemy grenade on the ground. I know there's not enough time to run. Will I take less damage by reflecting it or by leaving it as it is? My intuition is that players take less self-damage from explosives than from enemy fire, but I'm not sure if the fact that the grenade becomes a mini-crit offsets that self-damage reduction.

For the sake of the question, assume no teammates are around for me to shield from damage. Also assume that I've got a flamethrower that can airblast and have adequate ammo. Answers with actual damage formulas to back it up are encouraged.

Answer 1

Critical hits and mini-crits do not deal additional self-damage (despite the "you got crit" sound playing). Reflecting an explosive and making it a mini-crit therefore does not increase the damage it would do to you.

As a result, reflecting it is always better than just letting it hit you. If self-damage reduction applies, it's the obvious choice knowing that the mini-crit status has no effect. If self-damage reduction does not apply, you'll still have the chance to push it slightly farther away.