Love for Derby is growing

**demaro** · 08-04-2012, 09:44 AM

I used a Deby this morning , Smooth shave and BBS !!!

**sandmountainslim** · 08-04-2012, 10:43 AM

Derby is my most used blade. I have 700 of them and will buy more!

**Nando723** · 08-04-2012, 10:38 PM

Originally Posted by dtezla

It's a DE razor. Palm stropping is using your palm to 'strop' the blade and remove minor imperfections and soften the edge a bit. Here is a video:

http://www.bruceonshaving.com/2010/1...-razor-blades/

dtezla, Thanks for the video! I'll give it a try.

**bvance554** · 08-04-2012, 10:54 PM

Originally Posted by TheLegalRazor

I tried about 10 different blades before choosing the Derby as my first choice. I normally have about 300 stashed away. They're so inexpensive you can use one per shave.

You could throw them away after one shave, but in my experience I would be throwing away its best shaves. The first shave is always ho-hum, but the following shaves are great. I've never experienced a blade that seems to improve that much after the first shave.

**JimK** · 08-05-2012, 12:55 AM

I suppose I'll have to try Derby blades at some point in time..... The problem is that DE blades have become fairly competitive in recent years, and simply buying bulk packs of Shark, Astra, Personna, Feather, and a few other select brands at price points that would only fund a three pack of the latest 5 blade cartridge (free shipping to boot) has left me with about a four year supply of really nice blades. Even if I tossed a blade in the trash every three days, I'd still be good to go for a couple years. One of these days, I will try some Derby blades though.... A ten pack is cheaper than a two pack of disposable razors at a convenience store, and they don't go bad sitting on the shelf.....

Edit... I made the error of pulling up the Amazon site on my phone. Twenty five Derby blades for less than three bucks, and free shipping.... How could I pass on such a tease? Before long, I will have enough high quality blades to keep a small village clean shaven for several years. And I will still have saved coin over the cartridge fiasco for my own needs.....

**sleggsman** · 08-05-2012, 01:07 AM

Originally Posted by Robert45

I used a Derby for the first time in a couple of months this morning. I got a good close shave with it. It was not as smooth a shave as some other blades, but as I recall the second and later shaves with Derby are always much smoother than the first. I will likely always have some Derbys in the drawer.

I second you! I personally get a more satisfying shave out of Derby blades whether in my Edwin Jagger 89 or my Merkur Futur.

**DMT** · 08-05-2012, 02:14 AM

I think they are like a milder version of the 7 o'clock greens, quite forgiving, but from my personal experience, not sharp enough to tackle coarse beards, so you'll end up doing more passes to give yourself a closer shave at the cost of irritation which sort of defeats the purpose. Unfortunately for me, 4 passes shave didn't give me a particularly close shave, if I tried to reduce my beard any more I would be risking razor burn or worse. I'd recommend this blade for anyone with lighter, softer beards, if it works well for you you've found yourself a reliable go to blade.

**phillylion** · 08-05-2012, 08:38 AM

I also like Derby's--but it depends on the razor. For me, they work great in my SuperSpeed, O.C. NEW, or EJ89L, but not so good in my R41 or ABC Gillette.

**nymtber** · 08-05-2012, 09:34 AM

Derby's never cut it for me. neither did Personna red. Feathers last one shave then are very rough.

I use Gillette 7 O'clock sharp edge (yellow), Personna Med prep, Personna Lab, and Personna Barber. Those 4 blades do my face good :) I get 6-8 shaves out of a Yellow, 4-5 out of personna's.

Blades are a YMMV type of thing!

**fingerguy** · 08-05-2012, 10:05 AM

I personally thought the Derby was extremely overrated. I recently switched to my 34C as my primary shaver of choice and bought the multi pack that includes Derby and Feather blade. I yet to try them all but so far I love the Feather (but by the 3rd shave it sucks) and the Derby sucked on the first shave; not impressed.

**Nando723** · 08-07-2012, 08:06 PM

So, I guess you Derby lovers out there were right. I just had my second shave with the same Derby blade and it was much better than the first time. Noticed that the blade was a little off in the razor so I open the razor and adjusted its position so the blade was evenly exposed. Not sure if this had anything to do with my disappointing first shave with the Derby but if it continues to shave as it did today I will definitely keep the blade in my rotation.

**Rodeoflyer** · 08-07-2012, 08:57 PM

My first DE razor was a SS that I bought on FleaBay. It came with a new Derby blade. My fist wet shave was so successful that I bought a box of 100 of them and have yet to try anything else lol.

**imfallen_angel** · 08-07-2012, 09:07 PM

The only Derby blade I've had was the one that came free with my razor.

I was a beginner at the time but I gather that I'm a lucky one that managed some half-decent skills from the beginning.

But the Derby blade is the only blade that I stopped halfway into the first pass of my shave, took it out and placed it in the garbage can and carried on with whatever else I grabbed.

I'm glad that some of you are finding it fine for you, but I've been using Crystals, Astras, Sharks and a few others and I've never had anything come close to the painful pulling experience that the Derby gave me, including blades that I did 4-5 shaves with.

I might have been unlucky and got a defective one, but I'm not willing to risk it, and now I'm too well stocked with other blades.

**Nick Danger** · 08-07-2012, 09:10 PM

I get mixed results with Derby blades. If I use a Derby on two or more days of growth, and if the blade is almost new, I get an ok shave. Yesterday I shaved one day's growth with a fresh Derby, and got a bit of razor burn. Granted, I'm a newbie and don't have a lot of experience with different blades, but I do seem to get better results with Astra SP blades.

Nick

**Cobre** · 08-07-2012, 10:51 PM

I love them too, they are in my top 3 blade brands

**Retiredgene** · 08-08-2012, 07:48 AM

Started out with the Derby blades that came free with my new EJde89l last December and went through all 5 blades, 3 shaves each no problem while refining my technique. I moved on to trying out 15 different sampler blade packs (using same EJde89l) and with my technique improved, almost all blades worked fine, just some better than others. Each time I came back to try a Derby to compare, they were still excellent so whenever I saw Derby on sale for $8 to $9, I bought a sleeve of 100 and now have 300 stashed away!

On the other than Derby blades that shaved better than most, I would purchase 100 sleeve packs when I saw a good price or the B&B folks mentioned one. So I now have sleeves of 100 for Feathers, Astra, Sharks SC, Personna Med Prep, Red IP but Derby is always there for an excellent & comfortable shave and in the top 3 blades

Gene

**RobAtSGH** · 08-08-2012, 08:10 AM

Originally Posted by michiganlover

+1

When I first joined, they were the default recommendation for every newbie. Not sure what changed exactly, but I am pretty sure it's not the blades themselves.

I seem to remember some debate over a mythical "horizontal" vs. "vertical" difference depending on how the top card of the tuck was printed. The things we obsess about, eh?

As always, everyone's MMV, but I still think that it's hard to get a bad shave from any reasonable blade. I've been through Sharks, Astras, Derbys, Feathers, Red IP's, Crystals, 7 O'Clock Yellows, Dorcos, Personna blue "labs", generic Personna/ASR bulk blades, and several more I can't remember. While I can perceive some difference in edge durability and sharpness, with proper technique and prep you should be get a comfortable shave with just about any blade out there. Can I get a closer shave with a more efficient blade like the Personna blues or Feathers? Sure, but since I've actually learned to use the tools, I've never had a blade that I couldn't finish even a single shave with.

I think Derbys got a bad rap precisely because they were recommended to new shavers, with horrible shaving technique, who then attributed their razor burn, nicks, and tugging to the blade. I know I thought Sharks were the worst thing in the world, because that's what came with my first razor, and my switch to Crystals coincided with learning the basics and managing a decently comfortable shave. As a result, I thought Crystals rocked and Sharks sucked. Now, I realize I can drop pretty much any blade into any of my razors and come away happy - even though there are blade/razor combos I know that are exemplary.

**JetsMets#1fan** · 08-12-2012, 03:30 PM

Originally Posted by RobAtSGH

I think Derbys got a bad rap precisely because they were recommended to new shavers, with horrible shaving technique, who then attributed their razor burn, nicks, and tugging to the blade. I know I thought Sharks were the worst thing in the world, because that's what came with my first razor, and my switch to Crystals coincided with learning the basics and managing a decently comfortable shave. As a result, I thought Crystals rocked and Sharks sucked. Now, I realize I can drop pretty much any blade into any of my razors and come away happy - even though there are blade/razor combos I know that are exemplary.

Great point.

**The Provost** · 08-12-2012, 04:46 PM

Originally Posted by edgerunner

Derby are a bit rough for me on the first shave, then are fine and long lasting. There's something unique about them. They don't feel smooth and sharp but don't cause irritation and are quite efficient.

I've had similar experience with Derby blades. They do feel a little like they are tugging, but they're actually not uncomfortable. I can get pretty good results with them and like you, don't get much irritation.