Noob blade suggestions?

Hi. I've been using my DE for a few weeks now and made a noob error in buying 100 Derby blades. To be honest I thought the Derbys were fine until I tried Personna med preps, and I now think that the Derbys are not sharp enough for me. They do shave well, but tug quite a bit on the first pass which the med preps don't. So, before I make the same mistake again and order a pile of med preps, what would you suggest that I try first?

Ideally I'd like to keep it to three or four blades as there are tons out there!

I think I did a similar thing when I started DE shaving. After using the Merkur blade that came with my 23c, the posts I was reading at the time on the Derby blade were decent, not raving, but I thought they were priced right so I think I bought 20, maybe 40 of them. I think I still have most of them unopened because soon after the purchase I tried Feathers which blew the doors off the Derby. I've tried several others since then but I've never been tempted to go back to the Derby's. (BTW -I'd be glad to trade them for Astras, Personna Reds, or basically anything else that I haven't tried.)

Anyway, since you already like the Med Preps, some others that typically get considered as being in the same class as the Med Prep... my top (3) Feather, Perma-Sharp Super, & NOS Iridium Super (but those are harded to find and more costly).

Other higher priced blades that are often recognized, Gillette 7 O'clock Yellow Pack , Polsilvers (never tried the Polsilvers.)

In the budget blade category, Astra SP's Personna Blues & Personna Reds have a very loyal following.

This is just a start but if I were to create my own sample pack of blades that are currently being produced it would be Feather, Perma-sharp Super, Astra SP, Personna Red, Personna Blue, Personna Med, Personna Lab, Gillette Yellow, " Black, & "Blue. I've tried most of them but those I haven't regularly get mentioned as strong performers.

There's nothing wrong with Derby blades unless you have a beard like a wire brush

You don't say what razor you are using which would be helpful.

I would advise you to work on your pre-shave preparation as this may be your problem. To many people blame the tools not the hand operating them.

Do you use a hot towel press before shaving? Do you wash with a glycerine soap? Do you use any type of pre-shave products? You may find these suggestions will help you get a better shave than "blade jumping"

If you have not read the wiki articles on pre-shave prep, you should do yourself a favor and go over them. You may find that what you now have is all you will need when a little knowledge is mixed in with it.

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Pre-shave_prep

Sorry for the omission, I'm using a Merkur HD.

I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with Derby blades, just that I don't think they suit me. As for prep, just a shower prior to shaving and then I leave my face and head wet. With the med preps even four days' stubble (I don't usually leave it that long) was gone in two passes with ne'er a tug and wife-approved smoothness. TBH I did consider just sticking with the med preps, but the possibility that there might be something even better is preventing me from stocking up for now.

I don't mind paying for the higher priced DE blades, they're still a shedload cheaper than cartridges. I did have Feathers and 7 O'clock Yellow in mind as worth trying, but have heard that Feathers only last a couple of shaves?

Derby's are a love/hate blade with very little in between. The lovers really love them, though. You should be able to sell/trade them easily on the BST. Just trade 'em.

I myself hated the Derby's. Not the worst blade I had ever used but nowhere near smooth for me, as usual YMMV If I had to suggest a blade for someone just starting out into the de world, which is almost impossable to do since everybody is different I would recommend the Gillete sampler pack like I bought from Bullgoose shaving. Gillettes get alot of love here, and I think they represent a good point in which to relate to other blades. For myself, there is a couple of Gilletts I simply love( blues,blacks) and there are a few I hope to never see again ( greens, super thins) for example, there are so many here that use the 7 O'Clock yellow as an example to compare another blades sharpness to. The yellows for me were, meh, they are sharp, no doubt but I think they might be too sharp for me. They were not as smooth as the Feathers for me. I just started to use Voskhod and this is going to be my go to blade. They just might be just as sharp as the 7 O'clocks but a whole lot smoother. If anything, get a sampler pack and see what works.


Chris