Second try with Feather blades!

**Guinness Draught** · 01-30-2011, 10:03 PM

My first DE shave with my Blue IP's went great. On my second shave I thought, what the hell I'm so good at this already I'll use these Feathers that all those pansies out there couldn't handle! Well I got through almost half a cheek and a quarter of my mustache and already had like 3-4 weepers and the damn blades just hurt like hell. So I wraped it back up and decided to get more practice at the DE.

So with about 8 DE shaves under my belt I decide I want to give those Feathers another go. So after I get out of my shower I load up my "best" Royal Shave Badger brush with AOS Sandalwood Soap and go to town.

The shave was effin wonderful! Two passes (WTG and ATG and a third just for the final touch on some slightly rough patches. BBS shave all over a just a tiny weeper on the left side of my chin. I think these are my new favorite blade!

**theagent** · 01-30-2011, 10:32 PM

Feathers are great for me too. Have you tried Astra blades yet? Both great blades for me, Astras are by far cheaper though.

**Guinness Draught** · 01-30-2011, 10:37 PM

Originally Posted by theagent

Feathers are great for me too. Have you tried Astra blades yet? Both great blades for me, Astras are by far cheaper though.

No, But I will now thanks.

**Optometrist** · 01-31-2011, 04:38 AM

Coming from more forgiving blades often results in failure with the Feather, for the simple reason that too much pressure is being used. Most blades will compensate for that, but not the Feather. Correct technique is essential, and there is no better blade to learn with. You'll probably cut yourself a few times like I did initially, but you sure do learn quickly. Feathers, I believe, should be the compulsary learning blades.

David

**Phog Allen** · 01-31-2011, 05:47 AM

I concur with David. The old Boy Scout rule applies; a sharp knife is safer than a dull knife. To me, the same applies to razor blades. Getting nicked up with a DE is simply the transition from a cartridge. Usually. For me, once I tried Feather it was all over. I have some NOS Schick DE's from the early 2000's that come kind of close but nothing really equals Feather. At least not in this day and age. Surprisingly the Wilkinson Sword DE blades from Walmart have performed much better for me than brands like Derby. As always, technique and practise are the rule of the day.

Regards, Todd

**stvince71** · 01-31-2011, 06:35 AM

I've used Feather exclusivly since I went to DE

. They were the blade that I bought with my first razor and have only tried one other blade. Which I promptly gave to my son with the the razor as soon as I recieved my Fatboy

. I think because they were so sharp, they forced me to slow down and improve my technique.

**nrdoty** · 01-31-2011, 06:59 AM

I am leaning heavily towards feathers myself. I still have 5 or so blades to try in my sampler, so I can't say for sure. I am only a couple months into this so I think my technique is still pretty inconsistent. This is making it hard for me to pick up the nuances of each blade. But if I had to pick one and stick with it right now I think it would be the Feather.

Originally Posted by theagent

Feathers are great for me too. Have you tried Astra blades yet? Both great blades for me, Astras are by far cheaper though.

My last few shaves have been with an Astra. They were fairly close shaves but each time I got at least one weeper. I used a Feather 6 times before that with only one cut, and that was a tactical error on my part. How would you say Astras compare to a Feather? Reading the reviews seems a bit confusing. The Feather often scores 9-10 in sharpness and 7-8 or so in smoothness. These numbers seem inverted for most Astra reviews. Why does the allegedly "smoother" blade seem to dig in more?

**inspiringK** · 01-31-2011, 07:05 AM

Originally Posted by nrdoty

These numbers seem inverted for most Astra reviews. Why does the allegedly "smoother" blade seem to dig in more?

I am more likely to get a weeper or two with a feather that has been used 3 times than an Astra that has been used 3 times? Maybe we just create different shaving conditions. IMHO those are both great blades.

**maxman** · 01-31-2011, 07:19 AM

Feather is a great blade.
I've tried others and I find the Feathers just give me the closest shave.
They also last the longest of any blades I've used.
Keeps the cost down in the long run.

**TheSentinel** · 01-31-2011, 09:26 AM

I find the Feathers and Astras to be opposites. In my HD, I find the Astras to be very forgiving in that I can get a very close shave, but it's because I can do a lot of touch ups. Feathers in the same razor give me trouble. I'm either too gentle and don't remove enough beard or too aggressive and left with a lot of razor burn. I haven't been able to find a good middle ground with the HD-Feather combo.

With my Superspeed, being a much milder razor, the Feathers work wonderfully and give a great shave with a tiny bit of touching up on my chin. The Astras do work, but require too much extra time and touching up to get a really nice shave.

**nrdoty** · 01-31-2011, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by TheSentinel

I find the Feathers and Astras to be opposites. In my HD, I find the Astras to be very forgiving in that I can get a very close shave, but it's because I can do a lot of touch ups. Feathers in the same razor give me trouble. I'm either too gentle and don't remove enough beard or too aggressive and left with a lot of razor burn. I haven't been able to find a good middle ground with the HD-Feather combo.

With my Superspeed, being a much milder razor, the Feathers work wonderfully and give a great shave with a tiny bit of touching up on my chin. The Astras do work, but require too much extra time and touching up to get a really nice shave.

I use a Krona and have heard several say those are fairly close to the SS in aggressiveness. Maybe I'm just subconsciously using more pressure with the Astras and that's why I'm getting cuts and some irritation. I'm gonna swap back to the feathers tonight and see if they are nice as the first time I tried them.