The Feather blades blind test

[buzzy]

Has anybody else noticed that Feather blades quality seems to vary depending on the vendor?

I got a couple of 10 blade packs from an reputable online vendor (#A) and I got 100 blades (20 packs of 5 blades) from eBay (#B).

I can differentiate the packs with the serial number printed on them. #A blades start with 24 and #B blades with 29.

It seems to me that with that I can get 6 good shaves from the #A blades and no more than 4 with the #B blades. To prove that it's not a psychological thing, I put a pack of each in a bag and I asked my wife to pick one randomly and to write the number #1 on it. The other is number #2.

Tomorrow she'll load a blade from pack #1 in my trusted 2011 R41 and I'll try to get as many good shaves as I can from this blade, and then she'll load a blade from pack #2.

If I can tell which blade comes from where, I'll think that'll prove my point.


Anybody wants to participate?
Just say that you are in and I'll randomly choose 4 people to participate in the experiment.

Each one will receive 2 numbered blades FREE OF CHARGE.
All I ask is that you try to get as many good shaves as you can from each blade, always using the same razor (very important!) and that you post your results. At the end of the experiment I'll tell which blade comes from where.

Anybody's in?

 

[jwilock]

I love experiments like this. Please also comment though on the quality of the shaves, not just on when you perceive that the blade has become unusable for you.

 

[DrAwkward]

Assuming higher numbers mean later production, it sounds to me that you think Feather's quality is slipping.
I look forward to the results.

BTW, I am not in (I'm not a big fan of Feather blades), but I think it is a cool experiment.

 

[buzzy]

Assuming higher numbers mean later production, it sounds to me that you think Feather's quality is slipping.
I look forward to the results.

Well, honestly I'm not sure what the results could mean... Either the Feather's quality is slipping or there are fake or lesser quality blades depending on the market (North America VS Singapore).

However, I don't think that we will be able to generalize from such a small sample...

 

[driftwood]

Ill jump in, provided you don't mind shipping to Canada.

 

[buzzy]

Ill jump in, provided you don't mind shipping to Canada.

Not at all! I'm from Canada too!

 

[aytri]

I'm in, if you don't mind shipping to the UK?

Cheers,
aytri

 

[driftwood]

Hey! Not too far away at all! Sweet!

 

[buzzy]

I'm in, if you don't mind shipping to the UK?

I don't think that would be a problem. You're in!

 

[buzzy]

Blade #1 - Shave 1

The shave was very smooth and the blade felt sharp but not harsh. I've been shaving with B blades for a couple of months and I found the first shave to be rougher than the second. This shave was definitely smoother that what I would expect from a B blade.

Right from the start (even the first stroke!) I have a feeling the blade #1 is an A blade.

 

[buzzy]

Driftwood and Aytri, can you PM me your address?
I'll do my best to go to the post office tomorrow to send the blades.

I'm still looking for 2 more voluntaries.

 

[Captain Bb]

I'm in too if you want to ship to the UK.

 

[buzzy]

I'm in too if you want to ship to the UK.

No problems, just PM me your address.

I'm still looking for one last voluntary.

 

[aytri]

I don't think that would be a problem. You're in!

PM sent! Thanks.

 

[stew503]

Hi,

Another from UK willing to try too (should you not be full up now). I've found the Wilko blades to be inconsistent where you'll get one with great sharpness and have a fantastic shave (and start to dull after about 4 shaves), where you'll get another and it'll be 'ouch' face time with pulls, nicks and the like from 1st shave and you'll dispose of the blade after / part way through shave 2). I've not looked over the serial numbers to check batches.

New blade today and great shave, the type of close shave where you go outside and every millimeter of your face feels the cold.

Thanks and interested to feel the difference.

 

[buzzy]

Hi,

Another from UK willing to try too (should you not be full up now). I've found the Wilko blades to be inconsistent where you'll get one with great sharpness and have a fantastic shave (and start to dull after about 4 shaves), where you'll get another and it'll be 'ouch' face time with pulls, nicks and the like from 1st shave and you'll dispose of the blade after / part way through shave 2). I've not looked over the serial numbers to check batches.

New blade today and great shave, the type of close shave where you go outside and every millimeter of your face feels the cold.

Thanks and interested to feel the difference.

Hi stew503!
Welcome on B&B and congrats on your first post!


With my experience with Feather blades, I find the blades to be very consistent within the same batch.
I don't recall having a good and a bad blade from the same pack.


PM me your address and I'll send you 2 blades.

 

[paul.o]

i tend to buy my feathers off amazon, but i have often wondered if there are any counterfeit blades out there, it was not long ago i saw on tv about a phoney batch of colgate tooth paste so why not razor blades?

 

[buzzy]

Here's a picture of both packs.


#A is on the left and #B is on the right.

There are a lot of differences :
- It's not the same logo
- One has a bar code and the other doesn't
- One is a pack of 10 blades and the other contains 5
- The font for the batch number is not the same size
- The ribbon to remove the wrapping is not exactly at the same place.

Concerning the ribbon position and the font size, I would expect them to be the same on both packs if they come from the same factory. See next picture.

#A pack on the left and 16 #B pack with the ribbon at the same exact position.



I think either the don't come from the same factory or they revamped it meanwhile!

 

[buzzy]

i tend to buy my feathers off amazon, but i have often wondered if there are any counterfeit blades out there, it was not long ago i saw on tv about a phoney batch of colgate tooth paste so why not razor blades?

How do your packs look like? More like #A or more like #B? And how many comfortable shaves can you get with the same blade?

If you want I could try one of yours to see how they compare with mine.

 

[mblakele]

There are a lot of differences :
- It's not the same logo
- One has a bar code and the other doesn't

[...]

I think either the don't come from the same factory or they revamped it meanwhile!

The square logo with one feather (29*) is supposed to be newer production, and the triangle with two feathers (24*) is supposed to be older. See http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/277497-What-is-status-of-new-logo-Feathers for previous discussion of the logo change. I have a few older packs, all triangle logo, with different numbers: 043409H, 116007J, 212310L. Otherwise they are just like your 24* blades. I guess the trailing letter might be a machine or line designation?

I suspect what you are experiencing is just variation between production runs. No two blades are exactly identical, as hard as they might try to make them so. In between runs they might change to different steel, adjust heat-treatment processes, adjust coatings, etc.