DERBY EXTRA - blades - UK

Hey gents,

it's been a while since I posted in this forum, but here goes...

I decided to treat myself to some new shaving cream from the ever impressive website; gentlemans-shop.

I got some taylor’s almond. And then I saw that they had some DERBY razor blades. I didn’t know these were available in the UK. I used to hear “derby blades” mentioned a lot in this forum when I used to post more often last year, so I got a pack.

So I guess my question is, are these blades any good? Are they sharp? I haven’t used them yet. Just wondering if I need to change my technique in accordance to these blades. I usually either use TESCO blades or swedish gillettes.

I guess I should just use them and find out for myself!!

I personally had a bad experience with them, but I'm willing to blame my technique and re-visit Derbys in a few months.
Most people seem to like them.

I find derby blades to be very forgiving and smooth. Quite similar to the Tesco ones. I used to use them a lot in my Merkur HD, because that had quite a bit more blade exposure than my old Gillette Tech razor. It depends on how thick your beard is, but they are quite an average blade. Nothing special, just really nice and smooth.

Yeah, I agree - the Derby's are a great blade, my favourite and go-to blade.

I studied the reviews a while back on B&B and made my mind up that these were the ones for me. I put my total trust in the guys on this site who recommended them. Yes, there are a few UK sites that sell them, but I confidently went straight in at the deep end and bought 200 from the U.S. on eBay - I've never looked back.

I recently bought a few packs of Feathers to try and although they are damn sharp they don't, for me, last as long as the Derby's sharpness. Although YMMV.

Derbys are very forgiving IMHO but I can't get more than 3 shaves out of them where I can get 5 out of a Wilkinson (white label) & 7 out of a Merkur, I like to use http://connaughtshaving.com/ for my blade purchases as they include the postage in the price, I ordered some Crystals & some Arko shaving soap on Sunday evening & they arrived today.

They are decent blades, very forgiving but not as sharp as the gillettes. I just tried Derby's last week and was pretty "blah" about them. I find the Swedish Gillettes are a better blade being sharper and longer lasting.

actually, sorry to do advertising, but theres a derby seller on ebay, just look for derby blades, they provide 100 blades at 10 pounds and 200 at 18 pounds, free shipping to europe, and they seem to provide next day in the UK,

The Derby's are a very good middle of the road blade - good combination of sharpness and smoothness - also very reasonably priced when bought in bulk.

Tried them for two shaves last week. I'm undecided now and will revisit them in a few weeks.