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Blades, blades, blades - pretty confusing for a newbie who started out with Feathers.

Hi all,

I'm about three months into my DE shaving adventure and I'm loving it. When I started doing research before buying my first razor, blades, brush etc I didn't know much and I made a stupid assumption. The sharpest damn blades there is on the market clearly isn't the perfect blade for everyone, and especially not for beginners. Well, I thought that the sharpest blade sounded like the perfect start for me since I had always had problems cutting my beard since it the hair is quite thick, and I bough some packs of Feathers.

I have since tried a bunch of different razors, brushes and creams but I stuck with the Feather blades until today. Maybe using Feathers for every shave for the first three months helped me out in some ways. I know I have cut myself sometimes, got some nicks and had different grades of irritation, but I probably learned to respect a razor blade and to take it slow and easy. I though the nicks and irritation was due to my not yet perfected technique, and it's still not perfect of course, but when I popped a "Rapira Swedish Supersteel" in my Merkur HD today I quickly understood that I had a pretty good technique and I cloud get a very close shave with very, very little irritation.

Maybe it's quick to abandon Feather after one shave with another blade, but my best guess is that I should try to find some other blades... I didn't get bad shaves when it comes to the actual cutting of hair, but I had problems with irritation.

The problem now as I see it is that there are so many different blades on the market, and the fact that I have read many posts about this and that blade going out of production scares me. I would hate to find a favorite blade and then see it disappear from the market anytime soon. The different blades, names and versions confuses me a lot but I'm hoping that some of you would share your thought on good blades that you like , that are fairly easy to find online and of a brand that are pretty established.

I'm not sure what I expect here since I'm a bit confused when it comes to blades, but any advice or thoughts would be appreciated.

I have the following blades (5, 10 or 20 of each) at home right now, but I would be happy to order more brands to try out on your recommendations:

Gilette 7 O'clock SharpEdge
Dorco New Platinum Stainless Blade
Personna Platinum
Rapira Swedish Supersteel
Gilette Super Thin (Thailand)
Wilkinson Sword
Far too many Feathers :)
 
Sample packs of DE blades work best... www.westcoastshaving.com has great packs there with a great variety..go at least 2 shaves and write down on paper your thoughts...then when it tuggs n pulls..go to another random blade of your choice..do the same on paper..dont forget to have a rating 1-10...10 being amazing and getting 3+ shaves comfortably..make sense?
 
Don't be too afraid of blades going out of production for now. There are so many left to try it will take you years before you have most of it covered and besides, blades have gone out of production since Gillette's patent on the DE blade was over. My bet is that far more blades went out of production than there are still being made today and even today we have a significant number of brands and blades to choose from.

Sampler packs are the best start no doubt but make sure that when you place an order for a new razor, brush or whatever you also put that blade you haven't seen before in your basket. It is fun, blades are by far the cheapest AD around and one day you will find your fav blade(s) for sure.

On B&B we have lots of members of all over the world happy enough to swap some blades with you if you would like so enjoy your blade journey! With blades one man's heaven is another man's hell so advice on blades is pretty pointless; you will have to try them for yourself.
 
Thanks for the replies! I understand that it's impossible for anyone to tell me what blades would be right for me :) I will aboslutely have to try loads of them in order to find the perfect ones.

What might help me, and maybe I should have been clearer about this when first posting, would be to hear about:

- What blades YOU like the most and why.
- Examples of brands that are well established and well-know for quality and appreciation (aka "here are some blades that many people seem to like")
- Any thoughts about Feathers, starting out with them and how they work for you.

Thanks!
 
Feathers are fantastic blades as long as you are up to them. The problem I have with them is that I only get 2 good shaves from them. In some of my AutoStrops I must use them (SE Feathers) as they are the only game in town. It bothers me to pay $.50 per shave, but in order to use those razors, that's what it costs. Great shaves though!

My favs are Personna Med Preps ( or lab blades) and Gillette Yellows. OK, now you understand that they may be total junk for you, right? I like them because they are in the upper tier of sharpness yet are smooth, and I get a week out of one blade shaving every day.

There are lots of other blades I can also use and wouldn't feel like I was shaving with a substandard blade, but the 2 I mentioned are the top 2 of some extremely good blades that I've used. I'm still testing blades though and will be, near as I figure, for another 5-6 months.
 
Thanks for the replies! I understand that it's impossible for anyone to tell me what blades would be right for me :) I will aboslutely have to try loads of them in order to find the perfect ones.

What might help me, and maybe I should have been clearer about this when first posting, would be to hear about:

- What blades YOU like the most and why.
- Examples of brands that are well established and well-know for quality and appreciation (aka "here are some blades that many people seem to like")
- Any thoughts about Feathers, starting out with them and how they work for you.

Thanks!

Markus...

To answer your questions. I like Feathers because of the closeness of the shave, and because by now I am used to their shave, so they are dependable.

Which brands are well established? To find that answer, I'd look at the large sampler packs from Bullgoose or WCS. After I chose Feathers a few years ago, I don't follow what blades other people use.

Starting out with Feathers? Can be tricky because in certain razors with certainly people they are unforgiving. I can easily get 7 3-4 pass shaves with one blade. I believe my prep has improved enough to allow me to get this many shaves.
 
Between the 7 brands you have now, at least 1 will work well for you.
After that, you're just chasing incremental performance increases every time you try a new brand.
 
With so many types of blades I wouldn't worry about a blade going out of production. Also as your technique improves you will find that a blade you thought was great when you started don't really give you the same shave a year later.
 
Well, this is coming from someone who ordered a bunch of blades and found their favorite a month or two later and it was out of production :D I have yet to find anything I like as much as the IS blades. That being said, I still get good shaves from other blades.

Maybe you can post some of your feathers for trade on B/S/T for a sampler pack, try out each blade for 2-3 shaves and then go back to the ones you like for a second round. Pick whichever ones you like and order. It's nice to have several types you like because your favorite may indeed go out of production, or you may like to have different sorts of shaves, or you may like the price point of an OK shaving blade but still want the perfect shave that another more expensive one gives you.

In addition to what you have, I would say to try:
Astra SP
Shark Super Chrome
Bolzano
Other Gillettes (Rubies, Dark Blues, Greens)
Other Rapira brands


I'm on my latest round of testing new blades and when I'm done I plan to order 2-300 more blades, minimum. They are cheap and available now, so I don't see any reason not to buy them.
 
Thank you all for the help. I have now ordered loads of different blades and I have created a spreadsheet file where I will log my shaves with different blades. Hopefully I can manage to find the best blades for me this way.
 
Good going. I'd say typically shave with one brand for a week, then switch to a different brand. Hate to tell you this (if it hasn't already been said) but different blades seem to perform differently in certian razors too. Merkur blades sucked for me in Merkur razors but worked better in gilletes, while in my red tip and 64 adjustatble I had some wilkinson's that were awful but in my black handled non-adjustable they were great. It's a tad frustrating but since these styles of blades are so cheap it wasn't that big of a deal for me.
 
I just made an order with razorbladesandmore.com (a vendor here on B&B) and for $30 shipped, I bought a nice variety sample pack and an extra box of blades I wanted to try. 107 blades, 11 different varieties from around the world. I'd go there and grab a sample pack. What you don't like pack up and give as a PIF here for kind gesture.
 
Eric V: Thanks!

Christopher_loaf: Hehe, I figured that would be the case. I started out with a Merkur Futur + Feathers but have been using my Merkur 34C HD for every single shave the last couple of months, I just like it better. I am logging a lot of details about my shaves now, including blades and razor used. I will try to use the same type of blades + razor for at least 6-10 shaves in a row before switching so that I really get a good feeling for the combination.

DC_MPA: I used two different vendors and just made my own little collection of blades that I want to try. Haven't heard about razorbladesandmore.com before but will check them out, thanks!
 
I'll tell you the truth markusX too, don't give up. TRUST me. It's very very frustrating (at least it was for me) when your shaves don't turn out so well the first go-round or so. There are LOTS of things to try before you get a routine down. And look at it this way, let's say you have this issue, "well crap, not sure if I like this Merkur razor anymore. Maybe I should try a _____." You'll almost always 99% of the time find somebody to buy your old equipment off of you to recoup some of the loss. Then again, you might not want to!!! lol
 
While you are learning, you shouldnt be changing variables.

At this point in your life, it isnt the blade thats causing you problems, but technique.

The British Wlikinsons that gave me weepers in 1972 give me one pass BBS today.

ALL blades are sharp enough to cut you. Stick with one blade and practice
 
Astra SP is an excellent blade and super cheap at around $9 for 100 pack, and is a favorite of a great many people on here. Bolonzos are also excellent. And if you haven't tried them yet, Israeli red Personna and Crystals are also some of the best. And the good news is, they are all drastically cheaper than Feathers, and a little more forgiving while still being sharp and consistent.
 
Gillette GSB's, Med Preps, Perma Sharp Supers, Bolzanos. These are the only blades in my rotation besides Feathers. IMO, really hard to beat that line-up.
 
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