I was introduced to this forum in March of '07 after 40+ years of shaving. I had started out with the Gillette DE in the early '60s and changed over to the Gillette Good News in the '70s and there I remained for 30 + years. So my friend JBHoren found B&B and pointed it out to me.I became interested and began to shave with an old DE that I had picked up along the way and JB gave me an old red tip SS and some IPs. I never did try a sampler pack but went right to Feathers and found them to be very sharp and more then satisfactory. Along the way I also picked up a serious case of RAD which i haven't quite gotten over yet.
A lot of the DEs I bought came with complimentary blades so I had a fair sampling before too long. The Gillette Swedes were IMO the best blades with the Feather, Israeli Personna, Wilkinson & Merkur next in the pecking order. The Derby and the Dorco were IMHO garbage. Dull and not fit to shave with. The fact that many forum participants praised them while condemning Merkur Supers mystified me. I soon realized that YMMV was a fact of life where wet shaving is concerned.
At the same time friend JBHoren was telling me about his wet shaving routine . He told me that he did a pass WTG rinsed & re-lathered did a pass across the grain, rinsed and re-lathered and a final pass against the grain. I had never heard of such a thing. Seemed like pure over kill to me. Jon explained that he was using the progressive stubble removal technique.
My shaving technique had always been to do one pass and expect that any blade worth it's salt would shave clean and close in the one pass. A touch up here and there was not out of the ordinary but I had never re-lathered and did a second pass. So I fooled with this multiple pass business but still tried to get down to BBS in one pass. I guess that is why I found the Slant/Feather combination so appealing.
Razor burn, nicks and weepers had me modify my technique somewhat and I began to experiment with the no pressure let the weight of the razor do the cutting. I still did not have the patience to really do the progressive stubble removal technique. I had to learn to stop and smell the shaving cream so to speak.
So I began to slow down and work at shaving "right". I had tried Derbys a few times in different razors and always had tried to do the one pass bbs with poor results. One day I picked up a '40s Gillette SS and loaded it up with a brand spanking new Derby. I took my time enjoying the lather and did a three pass gradual stubble removal shave and got an irritation free BBS shave with that Derby. I have since found that the Derby is ideal for the gradual removal technique. It is also great if you went a bit overboard the day before with a Feather in a Slant and have a bit of razor burn. A Derby in a SS the following day is just what the doctor ordered.
So I learned a little something about shaving, blades and patience. I have since found Derbys to be so good that I just ordered 500 of them from an ebay seller. I have a stash of Feathers and IPs but seeing what happened with availability of the Feathers and the Swedes I figured I better get the Derbys while the getting is good.
A lot of the DEs I bought came with complimentary blades so I had a fair sampling before too long. The Gillette Swedes were IMO the best blades with the Feather, Israeli Personna, Wilkinson & Merkur next in the pecking order. The Derby and the Dorco were IMHO garbage. Dull and not fit to shave with. The fact that many forum participants praised them while condemning Merkur Supers mystified me. I soon realized that YMMV was a fact of life where wet shaving is concerned.
At the same time friend JBHoren was telling me about his wet shaving routine . He told me that he did a pass WTG rinsed & re-lathered did a pass across the grain, rinsed and re-lathered and a final pass against the grain. I had never heard of such a thing. Seemed like pure over kill to me. Jon explained that he was using the progressive stubble removal technique.
My shaving technique had always been to do one pass and expect that any blade worth it's salt would shave clean and close in the one pass. A touch up here and there was not out of the ordinary but I had never re-lathered and did a second pass. So I fooled with this multiple pass business but still tried to get down to BBS in one pass. I guess that is why I found the Slant/Feather combination so appealing.
Razor burn, nicks and weepers had me modify my technique somewhat and I began to experiment with the no pressure let the weight of the razor do the cutting. I still did not have the patience to really do the progressive stubble removal technique. I had to learn to stop and smell the shaving cream so to speak.
So I began to slow down and work at shaving "right". I had tried Derbys a few times in different razors and always had tried to do the one pass bbs with poor results. One day I picked up a '40s Gillette SS and loaded it up with a brand spanking new Derby. I took my time enjoying the lather and did a three pass gradual stubble removal shave and got an irritation free BBS shave with that Derby. I have since found that the Derby is ideal for the gradual removal technique. It is also great if you went a bit overboard the day before with a Feather in a Slant and have a bit of razor burn. A Derby in a SS the following day is just what the doctor ordered.
So I learned a little something about shaving, blades and patience. I have since found Derbys to be so good that I just ordered 500 of them from an ebay seller. I have a stash of Feathers and IPs but seeing what happened with availability of the Feathers and the Swedes I figured I better get the Derbys while the getting is good.
