Which Blade in a Feather SS

I just bought a Feather SS to give Straights a try. I've been a mug and brush guy for 60 years, and a DE shaver for about 10. I picked up a Feather SS which came with a pack of the Feather Pro Super blades. My initial reaction is that I would like to try a milder blade. Would you recommend the Pro, the Pro Guard or the Pro Light as my next choice. FWIW my DE of choice is either a Futur on 3 or a Tradere, either with Feather Blades.

Most folks recommend the pro blades over the pro guards. Just take your time and go slow. Keep the spine of the razor very close tour your face at all times. Good Luck

Pre guards are a great blade to learn on, imo. Once learned, the regular pros are super shavers.

My favorite blade for the feather ss hands down would be kai milds. They come both with and without guards. I find them to be the most skin friendly for my face.

No Consensus so far, except not to use the Professional Super, which my face agrees with. Not only got a few nicks, but also felt there was more razor burn than I expected.

Can anyone compare the Kai Mild with the Feather Light?

Any down side to starting with the Guard Blades?

How tough is your beard? The Kai PINK blades are not near sharp enough for me. I find the Super Pro is the only blade that is nearly as smooth shaving as a regular straight razor. The difference between the Super Pro and the Pro is fairly subtle.

I would suggest the pro guards to start. You can still get a good shave and they are more forgiving in the beginning IMHO.

I ordered a pack of Pro Guards. The Pro Super is definitely more than I want to deal with right now. Maybe in the future.

The Pro Guards are definitely easier on my face and more forgiving. I think I might be able to learn how to use the Feather SS.

It certainly is a lot harder to reach all the places on my face with a straight than with a DE. It is going to take a lot of practice to get all the hollow places without nicks. Cheeks are easy, necks, not so much.

I like the kai mild blades very much.

Ski-Patroller said:

The Pro Guards are definitely easier on my face and more forgiving. I think I might be able to learn how to use the Feather SS.

It certainly is a lot harder to reach all the places on my face with a straight than with a DE. It is going to take a lot of practice to get all the hollow places without nicks. Cheeks are easy, necks, not so much.

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I did my first completely Straight shave today. No touch up and a reasonably good shave. NO CUTS OR WEEPERS. i just did mostly a single pass, mostly WTG. It was not as close as a 3 pass with a DE but I think better than a typical DE single pass. (I almost always do a 3 pass with a DE razor). I'm going to keep working with the Pro Guard blades until I have better technique. I still feel that I am clumsy with the Straight, compared to a DE.

Ski-Patroller said:

I did my first completely Straight shave today. No touch up and a reasonably good shave. NO CUTS OR WEEPERS. i just did mostly a single pass, mostly WTG. It was not as close as a 3 pass with a DE but I think better than a typical DE single pass. (I almost always do a 3 pass with a DE razor). I'm going to keep working with the Pro Guard blades until I have better technique. I still feel that I am clumsy with the Straight, compared to a DE.

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I have had a very similar experience with the pro guards. I probably have 8 shaves with them and they are as close or closer than my m41 is with 1 less pass (wtg,xtg vs wtg,xtg,atg) with no irritation. They can still bite though, I was getting a little too cocky on my last shave and got a nice inch long cut on my jawline.

Motobi said:

I have had a very similar experience with the pro guards. I probably have 8 shaves with them and they are as close or closer than my m41 is with 1 less pass (wtg,xtg vs wtg,xtg,atg) with no irritation. They can still bite though, I was getting a little too cocky on my last shave and got a nice inch long cut on my jawline.

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I have 4 consecutive days with the Feather Pro Guard blades now. A few tiny weepers, and no real cuts. Shave is not as close as I would like, but not bad. It doesn't take as long as I expected which is a good thing. I'm still trying to get all the hand positions I need and learning to control the angle, especially with my left hand.

I find it is really hard to see my side-burn line. My hand is in the way no mater which hand I use.

I think I'll keep using the Pro Guards for a while and then order some Feather Mild and Pro. The Super Pro's still seem to intimidating.

I recently started with the same razor. Here is a link to my journal http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/410174-Jwesleym-s-Feather-AC-Journal. Unfortunately, I've recently stopped using my Feather, for the convenience of my DEs due to moving across the world. I'll get back into it soon, but it might wait until I start going out to sea.

For me, there is a very small sweet spot to see my side-burns. I usually line up the blade when I can see it, then cut using the muscle memory. You will find it easier over time. I had a few issues that just seemed to resolve by themselves with a little more experience under my belt. My neck continued to be difficult due to all of the uneven topography, but you tend to learn how to shave a little better each day.

Good luck!

Day 9 with the same Feather Pro Guard. I think it is getting dull. I'll change tomorrow. I'm getting acceptable shaves with little or no blood. Not as close as a DE shave, but almost as fast. I spend as much time on my chin as I do on the rest of my face. I'm going to use two or three more Pro Guard blades and then order a package of Pros.

I've had the best luck with Cella. D.R.Harris seems to dry out to quickly and MWF has a similar problem, although not as much. Do other folks find that soap is a bigger issue with Straights than with DE? I assume it is because I can go through each pass a lot faster with a DE razor.

I really like the idea of putting alum on my hands to make them less slippery. I never would have thought of that.

I like the super pros in my feather dx, i believe the artist club razors take just as long to get the hang of as straights, somewhere around that 100 shave mark if you can hang in there you will be rewarded. 1 pass with the DX does what takes my straights 2 passes to achieve. You might want to lather your face only-shave, then lather your neck and shave it until you get faster

Triad said:

I like the super pros in my feather dx, i believe the artist club razors take just as long to get the hang of as straights, somewhere around that 100 shave mark if you can hang in there you will be rewarded. 1 pass with the DX does what takes my straights 2 passes to achieve. You might want to lather your face only-shave, then lather your neck and shave it until you get faster

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The Super Pros were scary. I think I'll try the Pros after I've gone through 3 or 4 more Pro Guard blades. I don't find the Straight all that slow, except for the picky areas, mostly my chin. Cheeks take about 3 swipes on each side to cover the whole area, and the neck isn't much longer. Corners of My mouth and my chin take forever. I'm getting a pretty good shave with only an occasional small weeper. It isn't as close as I would get with a DE, but I'm only doing 2 passes. There are some areas where I have no idea how to get the third direction in.

I'm really seeing a difference between Cella and MWF. I like both of them for DE shaving, but MWF is not working all that well for a Straight.

After about 19 shaves with Pro Guards I'm thinking about moving up. I've used them every day since July 30, except for one day I skipped and one that I used a DE.

I get a pretty good shave with almost no nicks or weepers (none at all today), but it is not as close as I get with a DE and a Feather. I gather a lot of people like the Feather Pro blades. Can anyone comment about the difference between Pros and Super Pros? I did not like the Super Pros at all initially, although I could try them again.

Ski-Patroller said:

After about 19 shaves with Pro Guards I'm thinking about moving up. I've used them every day since July 30, except for one day I skipped and one that I used a DE.

I get a pretty good shave with almost no nicks or weepers (none at all today), but it is not as close as I get with a DE and a Feather. I gather a lot of people like the Feather Pro blades. Can anyone comment about the difference between Pros and Super Pros? I did not like the Super Pros at all initially, although I could try them again.

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The Super Pros are a thicker gauge of steel and are exposed very slightly more than the Pros. I don't think either of those are noticeable in back to back comparison. The main difference is that the Super Pro has a narrower bevel angle, very close to that of a regular straight razor. The super pro is marketed to "heavier" beards. I'm not sure I could identify one over the other in a "blind" test. I would suggest trying the super pro a few more times and if you find it too sharp, try some Kai mild blades.