Anti-climactic Feather Experience

[Dr. Mike]

So I finally had sampled all the other brands of blades in my West Coast Sampler, and finally got to the legendary Feather. I went in with some trepidation. Would I be cut to pieces? Would I damn this new hobby of mine? Would I sever some major artery?
Nothing happened. I got a decent shave. I did have one nick, but I have nicked the same spot with other razors. It wasn't the closest shave I have ever gotten. Better than the Derbys, but for me, not as good as the Merkurs (better) or the Gillettes (best). I was really hoping that this would be my blade, that I would find one that performed better than the Gillettes so I could get them cheaper. But sadly the Gillettes are the best for me, and are the most expensive. Maybe I will also try the razor and brush sampler to see if one of those other brands can get me what I want for less than the Gillettes.

[redbike]

Try the Sharp blades. For me they come closest to the Gillettes, which are my favorites. After I tried them in the R&B sampler, I bought 200. Send me a pm with your address and I'll send you a couple.

jim

[Slant-Fan]

So I finally had sampled all the other brands of blades in my West Coast Sampler, and finally got to the legendary Feather. I went in with some trepidation. Would I be cut to pieces? Would I damn this new hobby of mine? Would I sever some major artery?
Nothing happened. I got a decent shave. I did have one nick, but I have nicked the same spot with other razors. It wasn't the closest shave I have ever gotten. Better than the Derbys, but for me, not as good as the Merkurs (better) or the Gillettes (best). I was really hoping that this would be my blade, that I would find one that performed better than the Gillettes so I could get them cheaper. But sadly the Gillettes are the best for me, and are the most expensive. Maybe I will also try the razor and brush sampler to see if one of those other brands can get me what I want for less than the Gillettes.

I am with you insofar as the Gillette Swedes being the best for me too but I rate the Feathers 2nd and the Merkurs somewhere down the pecking order. I suggest you give the Feathers a few more tries. I find the Gillettes to be smoother but no sharper then the Feather. It appears that the sources for cheap Feathers have dried up though so give the blue IPs a try. They are a pretty nice blade and still reasonably priced.

[Dr. Mike]

I am with you insofar as the Gillette Swedes being the best for me too but I rate the Feathers 2nd and the Merkurs somewhere down the pecking order. I suggest you give the Feathers a few more tries. I find the Gillettes to be smoother but no sharper then the Feather. It appears that the sources for cheap Feathers have dried up though so give the blue IPs a try. They are a pretty nice blade and still reasonably priced.

What are the blue IPs? Are these the Israeli Personnas? Are they different than the Israeli Crystals that are part of the West Coast Sampler? And where do you find them?

[Slant-Fan]

What are the blue IPs? Are these the Israeli Personnas? Are they different than the Israeli Crystals that are part of the West Coast Sampler? And where do you find them?
Yes they are Israeli Personnas. I got 200 on ebay awhile back . I am not sure if this is he same guy but if you do a search for item # 300162845211 they appear to be IPs . You might do as well with West Coast Blades. For a time there were some red wrapper IPs floating around. Some said that they were not as good and were faux IPs and that the blue wrapped blades were the real Mc'Coy. The reds weren't bad IMO but the blues are better. I have read that the Crystals are the same as the blue IP but I have never tried them myself.

[Dr. Mike]

Okay, here is the update for the second day of my Feather experience.
I decided to leave out as many variables as possible to just control for what the blade itself does to me (I am a scientist by training).
On the first shave, I used my C&E SAO cream, which I always get a great slick lather from. But last night I decided to go with old faithful, Proraso. I don't know if I could get a bad lather from this if I tried, especially combined with my C&E best badger.
Well, the shave was a bit smoother than the first night. I still nicked the same spot (while I have nicked this spot before, it is extremely rare, especially since I have started using a DE razor, to nick it 2 days in a row). All in all, I got a decent shave. I'll probably keep these in the rotation. I'm interested in picking up a slant one of these days and seeing if the combination of the two will give as good a shave as so many people claim.
But for my go to, all around best shave, when I want that really smooth feel with no irritation, its going to have to be the Gillette. I'll keep looking, though.

[Christoph]

For me sharper does not equel better. I like Derbys the best. Treets are also good. I just found feathers to be too sharp.

[scorpion]

So I finally had sampled all the other brands of blades in my West Coast Sampler, and finally got to the legendary Feather. I went in with some trepidation. Would I be cut to pieces? Would I damn this new hobby of mine? Would I sever some major artery?
Nothing happened. I got a decent shave. I did have one nick, but I have nicked the same spot with other razors. It wasn't the closest shave I have ever gotten. Better than the Derbys, but for me, not as good as the Merkurs (better) or the Gillettes (best). I was really hoping that this would be my blade, that I would find one that performed better than the Gillettes so I could get them cheaper. But sadly the Gillettes are the best for me, and are the most expensive. Maybe I will also try the razor and brush sampler to see if one of those other brands can get me what I want for less than the Gillettes.

I had a kind of similar experience with feathers. I like them ok but I always notice a bit more skin sensitivity afterwards. I've probably had 20 shaves with them - certainly enough to give them an honest look. At any rate I've found the IP's to be fantastic as well as a couple different selection from Treet. I also really like the Wilkinson blades. At some point when I get around to it I'm going to post an offer to straight up trade 40 Feathers for 40 IP's (Crystals?) and see if I get any takers. Seems the feathers are getting harder to get for a good price and if I'm not gonna use them I'd like to send them to someone who would.

[BarryR]

I've been DE shaving for 4 months and I'd been thinking about ordering a bunch of feathers as I liked them when I used them from my sampler a while back. I've now been going through the Razor & Brush large sampler though and was going to hold off. When I saw that the supply might be drying up though, I decided to retry the Feathers now. My first 3 or 4 shaves (with a 38C) were excellent and the 4th OK. Today I shaved with a Feather in my Slant with very good results (but actually not as good as with the 38C). I do get a little more irritation with Feathers than, for example, Derbys, but it's quite mild and I imagine might improve as my technique improves.

Long story short, for me the Feathers been one of the best and certainly shaves me the closest. I haven't had good luck with the Swedish Gillettes (though I'll be re-exploring those soon). I like the Derbys and bought 100 recently but today ordered a carton of Feathers (250) from Pauldog figuring they might become harder and harder to get at his price of $0.25 per blade.

I'm always amazed at the extent of YMMV that occurs.

[TstebinsB]

What are the blue IPs? Are these the Israeli Personnas? Are they different than the Israeli Crystals that are part of the West Coast Sampler? And where do you find them?


Yes they are Israeli Personnas. I got 200 on ebay awhile back . I am not sure if this is he same guy but if you do a search for item # 300162845211 they appear to be IPs . You might do as well with West Coast Blades. For a time there were some red wrapper IPs floating around. Some said that they were not as good and were faux IPs and that the blue wrapped blades were the real Mc'Coy. The reds weren't bad IMO but the blues are better. I have read that the Crystals are the same as the blue IP but I have never tried them myself.

While many people call the blue wrapper blades Personnas, they are not. John (letterk) posted in another thread that the blue wrapper blades are sold under Crystal and Navarro branded packaging. The Personnas are the blades in the red packaging. There are Personna blades in blue packaging but they are made in America.

[doctorsimon]

I cut myself badly today, twice with a feather blade. But it wasn't a DE if you know what I mean! Not joking, but they are like 3-4cm long each. Only thing that stopped those bleeders was time! (I'm revising blood clotting at the moment and was relieved to observe that I do.)

[gagarin]

I like the smooth/sharp balance of Red IP's and Swedes, but, if you really like sharp sharp, you might want to give Treet Platinums a whirl.

Chuck

[tim8557]

For me sharper does not equel better. I like Derbys the best. Treets are also good. I just found feathers to be too sharp.


+1 on that. After trying them all....I gave away everything except my Derbys.

[EmpireView53]

I finally got a bunch of Feathers. And used one once in the 38C and one once in the HD Slant. I am disapointed in the shaves I got. The 38C was so-so, definately not BBS. The Slant was worse. The WTG felt ok but XTG and ATG was the pits. Some irritation resulted. I'm not motivated to try them again soon. I only need to shave every other day, and expect a good comfortable BBS shave when it's time. What works for me are the Sharps, IP's and Derby's. Haven't tried the sampler pack yet.