Life with Feather - Part 2

I previously posted about my first experience with a Feather blade here. I mentioned that I had gotten 7 good shaves with the same blade, but changed it out of habit because I always change blades after my Sunday shave.

I have now been shaving with the same Feather blade for 10 days. This morning's two-pass shave was still very close with no overall irritation. I will admit, though, that I did manage to scrape a spot under my jaw and cause some local irritation. I attribute this mishap to too much pressure. These blades are very sensitive to pressure.

Any way, I intend to just keep using this same blade until it fails to perform for me. I wonder how long it will last.

I change out my Feathers after 2 shaves sometimes 3. I know I can stretch them out for more but they are so outstanding fresh, with consistent 2-pass + touch-up BBS and no irritation or burn, that it's simply not worth it to me to save a few pennies for an inferior shave.

That's good news!! I can only get two shaves from a Feather (3 pass shave).

In average, I get 8 shaves from a Feather blade, but only in mild razors (Tech, Lord LP1822L, Slim@3)
In more aggressive razors, the blade seems to get rough and dull a lot faster.

Sir Walter of Mount Royal said:

In average, I get 8 shaves from a Feather blade, but only in mild razors (Tech, Lord LP1822L, Slim@3)
In more aggressive razors, the blade seems to get rough and dull a lot faster.

Click to expand...

Good point. I have been thinking of switching this blade into my Slim to see how a used Feather might perform differently from a used blade in my EJ DE87.

PS This morning's shave was comfortable, even in that spot I scraped yesterday. I was especially careful in that area today.

I usually run 7 shaves on a feather. I ALWAYS get BBS and I NEVER get irritation. On the last two or three shaves, I have to work a little harder. I try to use the better lathering creams on the last shaves.

If I could get 7-10 good shaves from a Feather it would probably become my go-to blade but as it is I only get one great and one ok shave out of them. Still a nice blade for once and a while though.

I get 4 to 5 shaves with my slant.Love these blades!

For me it's usually 3-4 good shaves out of one, in my 23C, then it gets chucked. I've yet to try one in the black beauty though. Maybe tomorrow.

As a newbie, and one who had his first shave with a Feather just yesterday, is the longevity of the performance more based upon the density of the beard? It seems some folks only use it once or twice and others are shooting for almost a two week run...

I would say beard density/coarseness plays a part, as well as the aggressiveness of the razor. That said, I chuck mine after 4 usually just to avoid bad shaves. I may be able to get more if I push it, but blades are cheap enough that I would rather not risk a bloodbath, particularly if I shave in the morning, as that sets the course for my day

"Life with Feather". I see what you did there. Well played!

-Greg

TrowelTalk said:

is the longevity of the performance more based upon the density of the beard?

Click to expand...

Yup. And I would add that it's true of all blades, it's just that Feather's seem particularly sensitive to the rigors of shaving a dense beard.

jlindy said:

Yup. And I would add that it's true of all blades, it's just that Feather's seem particularly sensitive to the rigors of shaving a dense beard.

Click to expand...

It's easy to imagine a blade so thin at its edge that it is perceived as being very, very sharp initially, but which would bend or have microscopically small chips in it rather easily when encountering a tough beard. On the other hand a somewhat "less sharp" blade, with an edge that is not so thin might survive the rigors of a tough beard a bit longer. Just speculating here.

Greglam said:

"Life with Feather". I see what you did there. Well played!

-Greg

Click to expand...

Thanks, Greg. Never pass up a chance at a good pun or play on words. It's a great way to annoy your friends.

Today was shave number 12 with the same blade. Got a DFS, nearly BBS, no cuts, weepers or irritation. I could tell that this is not a new blade, as it did not seem to clear the whiskers as well on my NS pass, but the final result was still quite good. I shaved very carefully and it worked fine.

As regards beard density, I have an old, wiry, dense beard. Good lather and technique go a long way toward shaving success.

I was thinking that two weeks might be the absolute limit, but at this point I don't know.

I have just tried my first Feather. The first shave was fantastic, the second shave was great, but the third shave was not that good. Had qouite a bit of tugging especially on the ATG pass. This was in my Mühle R89, and I don't have coarse beard at all. The two first shaves makes this blade worth it for me though, and I will order a 100 of them. That will last me almost a year anyway.

jwilock said:

It's easy to imagine a blade so thin at its edge that it is perceived as being very, very sharp initially, but which would bend or have microscopically small chips in it rather easily when encountering a tough beard. On the other hand a somewhat "less sharp" blade, with an edge that is not so thin might survive the rigors of a tough beard a bit longer. Just speculating here.

Click to expand...

I think that is correct. The problem for a blade maker is to find an optimum in sharpness and longevity it seems and I don't find it surprising that Feather doesn't have much stamina since they went for maximum sharpness with their blades.

BlackBard said:

Today was shave number 12 with the same blade. Got a DFS, nearly BBS, no cuts, weepers or irritation. I could tell that this is not a new blade, as it did not seem to clear the whiskers as well on my NS pass, but the final result was still quite good. I shaved very carefully and it worked fine.

As regards beard density, I have an old, wiry, dense beard. Good lather and technique go a long way toward shaving success.

I was thinking that two weeks might be the absolute limit, but at this point I don't know.

Click to expand...

I look forward to the continuing reports. Maybe I should run the Feathers till they dont work anymore.....

Wildalaska said:

I look forward to the continuing reports. Maybe I should run the Feathers till they dont work anymore.....

Click to expand...

Nah...3-4 great shaves with a blade is great value. Why push it?