The Worst Blade?

Gillette Nacet from Malaysia is a new low point for me. Like using a dull butter knife.

+1 Don't include your blades for noobs. If they mess up their faces they will blame the blade, and if they get a great shave they may attribute it to the blade.

Codfish said:

I am convinced that whatever their value as blades, Merkurs are the worst-marketed.

To me, including a Merkur blade sample with razors recommended for new shavers is nearly suicidal.

They're going to be blamed for the poor first shave that new shavers often get. It took me nearly two years to try a Timor, which are rumored to be the same blade with different packaging. I like Timors, but am reluctant to ever try a Merkur again.

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I will say it makes it tricky to decide on my first blade. I do have a sampler set coming from West Coast.

Interesting answers. I went back to wet shaving 2 years ago after a 40 year hiatus. During the last two years I've tried just about every blade out there. Some of them I liked, some of them I didn't. The funny part is that as my technique has improved, so has my opinion of many types of blades. Feathers, Personna, Merkur, Dorco and a few others used to cut me to ribbons or give me razor burn. They are now among my favorites. As a matter of fact I no longer have a problem with any of the blades I use. I use either a Gillette Red Tip or a "New" Open comb and I now get good shaves out of just about anything. I get no nicks, no cuts, very few weepers and no razor burn. Try this. If there's a blade you tried when you first went back to wet shaving and didn't like, wait a year and go back to it. You may be surprised. It's not always the blade. Sometimes it's you.

For me Blue Bird was terrible, not in the razor burn or anything but it seemed to not cut as close as a gillette silver blue or even an astra

Shaved with a Greman Wilkie yesterday. Horrible - dull and rough. Tossed it after one shave.

For me:
1) Blue bird
2) Merkur
3) Derby--(inconsistent blade to blade)

For me, either of the Dorco offerings come to mind. That said, some of the worst (and funniest) reviews I have read were on a blade called "Flagfish."

Easy pick for me...Shark Chromes...these Sharks bite every time.

MacedonianHero said:

Easy pick for me...Shark Chromes...these Sharks bite every time.

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Funny with Shark Chrome. I actually like them 3rd amongst all I've tried out of ~10, behind GSB and Astra SP. Definitely a YMMV situation.

Derbys were not my friend. Sharks second...

I tried a Merkur blade. I tried it for 2 shaves thinking that they might smooth out as many blades do on their second use. But disappointed even on 2nd try. They tugged like hell. Two worst shaves of my life. Its the worst blade I have ever tried. And I used to think Derbys were the worst.

Tiger 3H. This wasn't shaving; it was a post-apocalyptic attempt at scraping away the whiskers using a ration tin lid honed on a bit of rubble.

Crystal left my face raw without a very good shave at all

play said:

I tried a Merkur blade. They tugged like hell. Two worst shaves of my life. Its the worst blade I have ever tried.

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Agree....

I haven't tried a bunch of different blades yet. I think I only tried 6 different brands (GSB, Astra, Feather, Dorco, Personna Blue, Merkur) and the the MERKUR were the worst. They tug and they cause irritation. Very disappointing.

With all the Merkur hate out there, you can box those nasty things up, and I'll PM my address.
I'll safely dispose of them for ya...

I've not had a horrible blade yet, but 7 O'clock is probably my least favorite.
Carry on.

For me it's Blue Birds. Or at least the small batch I got about 3-4 years ago seemed very dull from the get-go.

I can shave with just about any blade buy I tried a Shark Super Chrome the other day and it was TERRIBLE. It's the only blade that I've contributed a bad shave to.

Mr Daniel said:

I can shave with just about any blade buy I tried a Shark Super Chrome the other day and it was TERRIBLE. It's the only blade that I've contributed a bad shave to.

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I have a love hate relationship with the Shark Super Chromes. They tend to tug and pull on all passes but at the end I have amazing, smooth shaves with little irritation. I just don't understand them. If they could be a tad smoother they might be my favorite blade. Now I just need to figure out what to do with the 100 that I just bought.