What's new

Feather vs. Med Prep

Which do you like better? Med Prep or Feather

  • Feather

  • Med Prep


Results are only viewable after voting.

BigFoot

I wanna be sedated!
Staff member
Lets have a friendly little debate here.

I was always a big fan of Feathers, the only issue I had was a couple of my more aggressive razors I had to use Crystals instead, due to the harshness with the Feather.

I recently bought 100 Med Preps from WCS. All I can say is wow!!!!!!! I have not found a razor yet where they do not offer a smooth as butter shave. So I am now a Med Prep convert.

What do you guys think??
 
Same opinion for the same reasons! I only like the Feather better in a Tech or Blue Tip, and "like" is probably not the appropriate word for those razors. The Med is great in ALL my other razors.
 
My only knock on Feathers is longevity. I use a new one every day. So, having heard many good things about Meds, I bought a 100. I found them to be quite harsh in comparison to Feathers, and PIF'd them after five blades.
 
Don't make me vote on one. Med Prep is an all around great blade but it can't reproduce the experience of Feather/Slant and Feather/Tech combo.
 
While Feathers are a good blade and as sharp as they come, I find the Med Preps to be a better overall blade. I find them as sharp as the Feather but significantly smoother. In a mild razor like a Tech or SS, I find them hard to distinguish from each other. But when using a more aggressive razor like a New Standard, Rocket or #15, the Med Preps are noticeably better. They are my favorite blade still in production, although I do find the Super Iridiums even better.

Mike
 
My only real problem with Feathers is their lack of stamina. My first shave with a Feather is really good, better than with the Med-preps, but the second one is so-so and that was it. The Med-preps can do 4 shaves, all of them superiour to the 2nd Feather shave, and is therefore the winner of these two for me.
 

BigFoot

I wanna be sedated!
Staff member
My only real problem with Feathers is their lack of stamina. My first shave with a Feather is really good, better than with the Med-preps, but the second one is so-so and that was it. The Med-preps can do 4 shaves, all of them superiour to the 2nd Feather shave, and is therefore the winner of these two for me.

I agree with that as well, for me a Feather was good for 2 shaves max. I am getting 4 nice shaves from the Med Prep. I have a tough beard so I was really impressed with the fact I could get 4 good shaves.
 
I toss a blade after 4 shaves max so longevity isn't that big an issue. While I voted for the Hospital blade, the "Lab" is half the price and the same blade. That makes them well under half the cost of the Feather blades and that's really what I would have voted had it been an option.
 
Had to vote Med Prep on this one. I get great shaves from Feathers, but Med Preps (and Labs) strike a sweeter balance between sharpness and smoothness, for me. Among blades that flaunt their sharpness, I prefer Gillette 7 O'Clock SharpEdges (Yellows) and Permasharps (Greens) to Feathers. But I still count Feathers in my top tier.

... While I voted for the Hospital blade, the "Lab" is half the price and the same blade. That makes them well under half the cost of the Feather blades and that's really what I would have voted had it been an option.

There are debates (e.g., here and here) about whether Labs and Med Preps are actually the same blade even though Personna says they are, and there are high-mag photos here that suggest they may be different. I do feel a small difference in the first shave with each blade (Med Prep being slightly smoother), but after that they become indistinguishable.
 
Tried my second Feather this evening. Was very pleased with the first one I ever tried when I used it in a ball-end Tech and got seven shaves out of it. Six were very nice and the seventh was passable. That's with a tough beard too.

Tonight I cheated on my plan to run all the different blades on hand through the Tech and placed a second Feather in a Fatboy that's been idling for weeks on the sidelines. First time to use a Fatboy in 30 years. Feather blades and the '59 vintage Gillette adjustable make for a wonderful shave. I only experimented with settings 1 through 3 so as to more closely mimic the Tech.

I may get around to trying the Med Prep but it's looking like the Feather is going to be the go-to blade for me.
 
...There are debates (e.g., here and here) about whether Labs and Med Preps are actually the same blade even though Personna says they are, and there are high-mag photos here that suggest they may be different. I do feel a small difference in the first shave with each blade (Med Prep being slightly smoother), but after that they become indistinguishable.

Yeah, I know about the debates and photos and participated in a couple of threads about this issue. Unfortunately, all of my posts were wiped out when someone mistakenly banned my account so I'll just say that regardless of the debates and photos, I'm convinced they are the same blade. In my case, having used both, I can discern absolutely no difference.
 
When I did a blind test of the two, I could tell no difference between them in the early shaves (which surprised me). But the Med Prep won by lasting longer, and it gets my #1 blade slot.
 
My personal top 5 blades:
1. Super Iridium
2. Polsilver
3. Med Prep
4. Voskhod
5. Feather

Kinda surprised that people find Med Preps last longer, they are after all intended for single use
 
I tried my first Feather today and frankly wasn't impressed. Yes it was sharp and may stay sharp for several shaves but frankly, I could change my German Gillettes sooner and still come out ahead on price. 40 cents for a Feather and 17.5 cents for a Gillette. I was impressed by the Valobra Menthol I recently bought. It was definitely worth the higher price than the "big box store" shave soap I've been using. And makes an immense amount of lather for a very small amount of soap.
 
Top Bottom