Feathers, Derby's, Astras, Gillette Silver Blues

I find that the Feathers are a BBS shave, but either cut or irritate my face. I've settled into Polsilver and believe it or not, Treet blades! Both of these blades work well in either a 34c to a R41. They seem equal in sharpness vs. smoothness!

Blade preference
Feather
Polsilver
GSB

I generally shave with more aggressive razors; ATT R2 & H2, Braveheart and Joris. Paired with feather and polsilver, the combination requires a good soap and gentle technique. Combination also delivers BBS. I use GSB with my Weber and New LC on my off days. Smooth and more forgiving.

I used a Derby today after 1 shave with a GSB. I'll take the Derby any day. I pushed hard like I would with a Mach3 (or is it 2? I forget). One tiny nick under the bottom lip but that was my fault. So far IMO the Astra is only better. For me.

GSB's are my go to blade. Will use Astra blades pretty regular too. But my face likes GSB's best. I have some Dorco blades that came with my shaver that I could use in a pinch and a few others. My current GSB is 5 shaves in and is still going strong. (Monday 11/23 was the start)

rabidus said:

In the beginning, Feathers drew blood every use but not anymore...

I like Gillette Silver Blues blades way better than Astras.

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Used a Derby today, haven't used one in quite a while. Great shave in my NEW SC, nice and smooth. Even Astra's shine in the SC.

The Derby's are sharper then the Wilkinson Sword Super Sword Edge I tried.

Not sure how long they last, but for 6 cents a blade for the Derby, I may be stocking up on some more of these.

Nice thread with great reviews.

I too am a Derby fan. I get the whole YMMV dit, but these blades do seem to have a less than favourable reputation. Personally I get outstanding shaves with them each time. Smooth, close and comfortable; WTG, ATG and touch up. I've shaved with Feathers too. I believe these are sharper and probably lead to a closer shave far quicker, but it's not the Feather that I'll be keeping a large stock of, it'll be the Derbys. One of the main reasons I moved to DE shaving was to get away from paying extraordinary sums of money for cartridges. If I'm getting great shaves with the Derbys, there seems little point in forking out on Feathers. Don't get me wrong, I'll most probably keep a small stock of Feathers, but at the moment the Derbys are my gotos and it'll be them that I'll be keeping in larger numbers.

knoxTN said:

My relationship with each of these blades.

Feather - Nicks and weepers every time, but VERY close shaves! This morning, I had one good bleeder and 4 other nicks (Merkur razor). Mostly under my nose... Best used at night when I have plenty of time to stop the bleeding. I still like the blade a lot!

Derby - Smooth shave every time. Never a cut. Not BBS every shave, but great shaves in 3 passes with touch ups. My go-to blade if I shave in the morning.

Astra and GSB - the in-between. Sharper than Derby, but less likely to cut me than Feathers. I have been nicked by them but only one or two tiny ones here and there, and not with every shave like the Feather. Can't recall a bad cut with either blade that didn't stop with a few simple cold water splashes.

I have at least 150 Gillettes, 200 Derbys, and 125 or so Astras. Feathers, I have about 15.

Good for the next 8 - 9 years I would say. I get 1-2 weeks out of a blade, shaving an average of 4 days a week.

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This is mine:
Feather - Only once in a blue moon I use them because of the cost, but when I do I get a very close shave, but it takes me twice as long because if I go at my normal speed I get nicks and weepers, I'm lucky to get 4 good shaves from a Feather, so it would cost more than they're worth to buy in bulk.

Derby - My face and Derby blades are like chalk and cheese- they just don't get on!! I get close, smooth shaves with a Derby, but I always get a lot of redness and you wouldn't believe how itchy it feels after the final pass. By the time the 1st cold towel, alum block, 2nd cold towel and a splash of aftershave have all worked their magic my face is back to normal again, but I think I must be allergic to Derby blades!!

Astra - Astra Platinum are in my regular rotation because they happened to be the best deal from Turkey, but I'd be just as happy with Astra Stainless - they're both as good as each other and I get 3 good shaves out of each blade, so they're on a par with the rest of my rotation performance wise.
GSB - Only used them when I was a beginner as part of a sampler pack, but from what I remember they were good blades, but too expensive for me to buy in bulk

My Top shelf blades are - Feather, Wilkinson Sword Classic(Germany), Gillette Nacet, Rainbow Stainless and PermaSharp - I only use them once in a blue moon because of the high cost to replace them
My Regular Rotation blades are - Astra Platinum, Centwin Super Platinum, Rapira Swedish Supersteel, Rapira Platinum Lux, Voskhod - All good, reasonably priced blades, all good for 3 shaves each, but my go-to blades cost less per shave
My Go-To blades are - Rapira Stainless and Shark Stainless, both great blades and cost less than €6/100 from Turkey, both good for 3 shaves, and at only 2c per shave they both give me the most bangs for my buck !!