blade sampler packs

OK, if the point of the sampler packs is to find the blade that works best for you, please give me you opinion on what pack is most likely to contain the winner. Specifically, seems to me that some of the smaller size samplers at westcoastshaving have what appear to be the more popular blades and as you go to the larger size packs, they start adding in blades that are less popular. If this is more-or-less correct, what sampler pack do you guys suggest?

I would go with the DE Sampler Pack that is $10.00. It has the most used blades in it which are:

Feather New Hi-Stainless Platinum (10 blades)
Crystal or "Israeli" (10 blades)
Derby Extra (5 blades)
Red Israeli Personna (5 blades)
Astra Superior Platinum (5 blades

To this I would add a pack of the Gillette Yellow 7 O'clocks and a pack of the Iridium Super.

I think you would have all the bases covered. Remember as you are sampling that razor blades will NOT perform the same in different razors.

I only have one DE razor (a '59 fatboy), have yet to contract razor acquisition disorder

bill mcdill said:

OK, if the point of the sampler packs is to find the blade that works best for you, please give me you opinion on what pack is most likely to contain the winner. Specifically, seems to me that some of the smaller size samplers at westcoastshaving have what appear to be the more popular blades and as you go to the larger size packs, they start adding in blades that are less popular. If this is more-or-less correct, what sampler pack do you guys suggest?

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I would recommend the "choice" pack, nice mix of many blades that are considered to be quite good.

I wouldn't get the "standard" pack, as the very highly regarded "Red Israeli Personna" blades are instead swapped out for the "Merkur" blades which are generally regarded on this board as being overpriced garbage; having used them, I would have to agree: they pulled, and skipped on shave 1, the way other blades do at the end of their life.

Bullgoose Shaving also sells Blade Sampler packs by the way:

http://www.bullgooseshaving.net/blsapa.html

Razor blades are the most YMMV item we discuss here. You really can't judge by the experience of others, as others do not, well, possess your face. My advice: buy the most variety you feel you can afford. You may very well spend the better part of a year trying different blades to see which you prefer. That's a good thing, as you'll be very confident with your decision in the end, and have excellent shaves to boot!

Gruder said:

Razor blades are the most YMMV item we discuss here. You really can't judge by the experience of others, as others do not, well, possess your face. My advice: buy the most variety you feel you can afford. You may very well spend the better part of a year trying different blades to see which you prefer. That's a good thing, as you'll be very confident with your decision in the end, and have excellent shaves to boot!

Click to expand...

I agree! I struggled with my choice a bit too. If cost is a consideration, I agree that the "Choice" set is maybe the best mix based on all the blade reviews I've read. Otherwise I would go with the "Everything" set. I went with that one because I wanted to try the DORCO and the Derby and have read several posts that there is a big difference between the DORCO ST-300 and 301. Plus I wouldn't want to miss out on trying the Merkur to see if they really are as bad as everyone says.

One other thing, you don't mention if you are new to DE shaving or not. Most posts I've read suggest you get one blade and stick with it for a while till you get your technique down. I'm at that point myself and am sticking with what I read as a decent "beginner" blade the DORCO ST-300. Once those are gone, I'm going to try the Derby then work my way through the rest. I will say that it is very hard to resist the temptation to try a different blade every 4 or so shaves!

Not new to using a DE to shave, but have never tried anything other than Wallyworld Personnas. Time to open up my horizons