Fifth Annual "One Blade in February" Challenge

21 Shaves for a humble Personna Red Pack DE Blade with a Muhle R41.

The last 10 days of shaves were mostly DFS. It was a challenge to finish the shave without nicks or cuts as the blade was definitely getting duller, and today I felt some yanking going against the grain.

I'll say this, even now, more than 12 hours after completing the shave, I do not have 5 0'Clock Shadow.

It's been a great ride!

I've been lurking on this thread but today I had my 28th shave on a GEM SE blade. The last two days were a tad rough but overall a month of DFS! Tomorrow, I think I'll start a fresh blade.

Bob L. said:

My Dad, born 1917, (Yes, I am almost the same years young as your Dad.) liked every new fangled thing that came down the pike. He taught me how to shave a few moons ago with his Gillette Slim. He switched to electrics soon after teaching me how not to commit hari kari with a razor blade. This was in the 60s. I wish my Dad was still around to hear me say I went back to the DE razor.

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Good stuff. Same generational gap between my dad and his, as you and your dad. His dad was born in 1918. I miss my grandfather a lot. I always thought of him as "Mr 40's". Up into the 80's and 90's he still wore his Fedora proudly. What a great generation.

Closing off my participation in this year's thread with my first March shave.

Gillette pre-WW2 Fat Handle Tech / Personna Blue (1)
Proraso White PS
Ogalalla Bay Rum & Sandalwood Soap

The pairing of a mild razor and sharp, smooth blade gave a great shave.

So long, February. It was fun!

Epilogue
Razor: Gillette UK NEW LC raised flat bottom with modern Bulldog handle (the same one as yesterday).
Brush: Rooney Emillion 2.
Superlather
ASB: Neutrogena.
Blade: fresh Polsilver SI.

Using exactly the same set up as yesterday, I loaded a brand new PSI blade. After the first pass, I thought the results might end up being similar to the last shave with the Wilkinson Sword Light Brigade, but I was wrong. The PSI was much sharper and slightly smoother. After 3 passes, there was very little touch-up needed. Yesterday, I need a fair amount of touch-up on both the left and right sides. I won't really know until tonight, but I'm quite certain that the today's shave with the PSI will end up being much closer than the 24th shave with the LB.
However, I am now on a mission to keep going with the LB until it really gives up the ghost because it is still giving me smooth DFS shaves. So, maybe once a week, I will load it up and give it a go.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!"

Finished out the month with shave 19 on a Personna 74*. I usually shave more than that in a month but a few things conspired against me. This last shave was still fantastic and I intend to continue to use it until the performance drops off. I'm not doing any stropping, cleaning, or other routines to try to increase blade length.

So far I've only used DRH soap with this blade, but starting to night will start using RR XXX.

Personna 74* (19)

This was a great experience. I learned a Feather blade would easily go twice as far as I general take it. I ran two Feather blades through February rather than 4. Not bad!

I promised photos of the humble blade and here they are, with apologies for the delay.

Steve in Shalimar said:

"Thirty with a Derby" achieved.

I'll check in again in a few days since there's very little change day to day.

Derby (30)

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Nice work!
You are a better man than I, Gunga Din. I doubt I could get 3 shaves from a Derby, much less 30!

The Personna 74 has been sent off to a hero's burial...after 28 shaves through March 2, I figured it was time to give it a break, even though I know I could have continued.

My face's 'canary in the coal mine' is the area just below the nose, and the P74 had gotten a little grabby there. Noticeably smoother this morning with a new Super Iridium.

Thanks again to goby for the blade. Enjoyed reading about everyone's experiences.

30 days now on the Feather and it's still going strong. I actually popped in a new Gillette 7oclock black on Sunday just for grins. It was a fine shave, but no kidding, it doesn't feel quite as sharp as my 30 day old Feather. I went back to my Feather for today's shave . I've going to go back and forth a few times just to make sure, but it was quite apparent. My feather is developing a small dull-ish spot near the center of the blade on both edges - I can feel it on a WTG pass under my nose where only the center contacts. If I shift over toward the side of the blade, it's fine. So, I figure it's not got too many days left on it at this point. But overall, still better than that new 7 oclock! I might have a dud pack of those blacks...they've all been pretty crappy.

I dropped in a new 7 o'clock SS and it was sweet to go back to one-pass shaves with results as good or better than the 2+ I had been doing with the month-old blade.

jamesspo said:

I actually popped in a new Gillette 7oclock black on Sunday just for grins. It was a fine shave, but no kidding, it doesn't feel quite as sharp as my 30 day old Feather... But overall, still better than that new 7 oclock! I might have a dud pack of those blacks...they've all been pretty crappy.

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There has been reports of a dud batch of the Black Indian 7 O'clock. I did check my batches and they were not affected. Unfortunately I cannot remember which month was the bad one.

On a side note: too bad my skin can't handle the Feather blade! The curse of being an old fogie with the skin of a young girl.

I wound up getting 27 days out of my Personna 74 (one day, a day after I got careless, I used a Gillette Guard). The first couple of days were with a Gillette New head on a Tradere handle; the next 2 1/2 weeks were with a Schick Krona; then, after I noticed that my smooth, comfortable shaves were leaving a lot of beard behind, I did the last 5 days with a Cadet TTO Open Comb, which was fairly rough, particularly on the 27th and 28th (if I hadn't been so close to the finish line, I'd have ditched the blade). Saturday I was thrilled to switch to a 7 O'Clock Permasharp Green.

Lessons learned:

1 "Uze moar product" - soap/cream is fairly cheap -- use enough, don't cheap out.
2. More time lathering pays off -- and use plenty of water.
3. In general, pay attention. The day I had the bad shave that had me use the Guard the next day, I was a victim of "distrated shaving"

bosseb said:

There has been reports of a dud batch of the Black Indian 7 O'clock. I did check my batches and they were not affected. Unfortunately I cannot remember which month was the bad one.

On a side note: too bad my skin can't handle the Feather blade! The curse of being an old fogie with the skin of a young girl.

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Yeah, I've heard about the bad batches...in 2011 I think, which is when I bought the couple of packs I have. I'll have to grab a new pack and see how they do.

DunEdinRanger said:

I promised photos of the humble blade and here they are, with apologies for the delay.

View attachment 419350View attachment 419351View attachment 419352View attachment 419353

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Hmm, I wonder if you have hard water? Get a softener man!

Gents!

Today I did my last shave with my trusty Black Indian 7 O'clock.

I have decided to have a fresh blade for tomorrows shave because of the excessive touch up needed to have a good result.

In summary: 36 BBS shaves, no discomfort (other than from using the #15 Aristo) and some lessons learned.

See you next year, I will probably try a Polsilver... or a Shark... Well I have to think about this!

Hi,

Today sees the canning of another Personna Blue blade after 14 days of use. This scheme works repeatedly. Seven days in the Tech shaving the third pass, followed by seven days in the Fasan shaving passes one and two. Due to this challenge, I discovered I was canning blades seven days sooner than is necessary.

Stan