I feel like I'm cheating and wanted to share

honeybadger79 · May 27, 2016

I an sorry if this is in the wrong forum, but I thought it would be good to share in the "general" area. I recently joined the B&B EXCALIBER club for blade longevity just to try. At my first crack at it, I am 16 shaves into an Astra SP and the bbs shaves just seem to be getting easier and more comfortable as I go. I almost feel like I'm cheating at this point and stealing easy BBS shaves from my tough stubble.

I know I will cross a line somewhere and pitch the blade, but I figured that this was good info to shave with the general group from an advertising point of view

matwho · May 27, 2016

I have never tried to get more than 4 shaves out of a blade. After reading you post I might have to try it.

honeybadger79 · May 27, 2016

matwho said:
I have never tried to get more than 4 shaves out of a blade. After reading you post I might have to try it.

The only other thing I will add is that if you have a bad shave somewhere along the way (nicks, irritation, etc), take a leap of faith and tel yourself that it was your technique (as opposed to the blade). If the next shave is fine, keep going. Otherwise change the blade.

i have found that if i do this, i just keep getting good shaves until an imperfect shave comes along. Repeat process untill you have 2 shaves you are not thrilled with. I find that I am actually getting better shaves overall while using less blades. Not that i need to skrimp on blades, but why bother changing them if they're fine.

BigJ · May 27, 2016

Congratulations! Not cheating at all, sounds like you are doing great IMHO! :thumbup:

BlackBard · May 27, 2016

It's amazing, isn't it.

SteveWY · May 27, 2016

Good work and thanks for sharing your findings. I'm in a personal "blade-a-week" thing for 2016, 7 shaves on every blade and out. Some blades are still doing fine on shave 7. I went 12 shaves on a Bolzano last week but I was joining in on a Feather in a Fatip challenge so I pitched it. Interesting the varying opinions and practices on blade life. I have never tossed a blade before 5 shaves.

xxvaleria · May 27, 2016

It's not cheating to try to get the most out of your tools.

Lord Fatboy · May 27, 2016

I wish I had the faith ('trust' may be better) to not toss them after one shave. Having said that, I did accidentally toss a 1970s Wilkinson after one shave & could've kicked myself, 'cos I was going for minimum 10 shaves. I only have 4 more, but really want to try a longevity challenge (especially with NOS blades). This thread inspires me to try it.

honeybadger79 · May 27, 2016

Lord Fatboy said:
I wish I had the faith ('trust' may be better) to not toss them after one shave. Having said that, I did accidentally toss a 1970s Wilkinson after one shave & could've kicked myself, 'cos I was going for minimum 10 shaves. I only have 4 more, but really want to try a longevity challenge (especially with NOS blades). This thread inspires me to try it.

i was really quite surprised myself. I figured that there would be dragging, weepers, and irritation after shave #6. Nope, just more good shaves thus far. I know it will come to an end somewhere, but i'm very happy so far

xterribad · May 27, 2016

Never tried this myself. I'll try with my Personna Blues and see how that works out. Hopefully I get to keep my neck!

honeybadger79 · May 27, 2016

honeybadger79 said:
The only other thing I will add is that if you have a bad shave somewhere along the way (nicks, irritation, etc), take a leap of faith and tel yourself that it was your technique (as opposed to the blade). If the next shave is fine, keep going. Otherwise change the blade.

i have found that if i do this, i just keep getting good shaves until an imperfect shave comes along. Repeat process untill you have 2 shaves you are not thrilled with. I find that I am actually getting better shaves overall while using less blades. Not that i need to skrimp on blades, but why bother changing them if they're fine.

xterribad said:
Never tried this myself. I'll try with my Personna Blues and see how that works out. Hopefully I get to keep my neck!

good luck! Just remember what I wrote in post #3 and you may consider strolling over to the Excalibur Club over in the clubs and brotherhoods section for info from those wiser than I

cvargo · May 27, 2016

The furthest I have pushed an Astra SP to is 10 shaves. It probably could have gone longer but I figured that was enough.

Daveho · May 27, 2016

It sounds like you are like me, blades don't just suddenly stop being smooth and start knicking and irritating you, they just get smoother, so smooth in fact that they are in efficiant. I recently did 22 shaves on a Graham Field blade and while it had the reputation of being the worst blade in the world, a few shaves in they just smooth out. I prefer my 4th or 5th shave on a blade to my first generally

nyrican52884 · May 27, 2016

I used to throw out a blade after 3 shaves, but I've recently been trying to do the same as you. I got about 7 shaves out of a Crystal blade, then went back to a Personna lab that I already had 8 shaves on and had BBS with only 2 passes. Keep it up!

I think I prefer the Astras over the Labs, but I have read so much about the Labs lasting 10-15 shaves. I'm convinced that longevity has to do mostly with technique.

mudlark · May 27, 2016

This definitely appeals to my inner sloth.

I will see how far I get with my Astra SP which I normally bin after 3-4 shaves. I tend to ditch them at that stage as a preemptive measure rather than any real performance issues.

Mako72 · May 27, 2016

I use the Astra SPs and use a blade a week. I used to try for two weeks, but, iirc, at about 9 to 10 they used to start feeling a little harsh, so I dialed it back to one week.

honeybadger79 · May 28, 2016

Mako72 said:
I use the Astra SPs and use a blade a week. I used to try for two weeks, but, iirc, at about 9 to 10 they used to start feeling a little harsh, so I dialed it back to one week.

did it feel harsh for more than one shave? If not, it may have been something else. I'll ditch it if I get 2 shaves in a row that i am not happy about.

Tallships · May 28, 2016

I never really tried more than 4 shaves from an Astra SP, even though the 4th shave was a BBS, Blades are so cheap that around $14 a year for a hundred blades, I just toss them. But just for an experiment, I think I'll try to see how many BBS' I can get out of 1 blade. If I can get 16+ shaves out of one blade, that would mean I'd get about 4 1/2 years out of a pack of a 100 a cost of about $3..50 a year for blades. Compare that cost with the cost of cartridges, would make an interesting discussion. (I think I just opened Pandora's Box lol)

musicman1951 · May 28, 2016

I have gone 8 shaves with a Med Prep a few times. But being a woodworker, I know that eventually the chisel will cut the dovetails easier if I hone the edge again. It slowly becomes less efficient and I slowly add more force until I resharpen.

I have the same experience with shaving. As the sharpness level drops I unconsciously add a bit of pressure to compensate. My last blade purchase was 300, so I can't say this is a big concern for me. But if you're getting good shaves use them until they drop.

Cash_Stronomer · May 28, 2016

I like to go a blade a week, but some of these can really hang in there. Three weeks or more on a Nacet I can do, but I found most blades are their best on about a week.

Search

I feel like I'm cheating and wanted to share

honeybadger79

matwho

honeybadger79

BigJ

BlackBard

SteveWY

xxvaleria

Lord Fatboy

honeybadger79

xterribad

honeybadger79

cvargo

Daveho

nyrican52884

mudlark

Mako72

honeybadger79

Tallships

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu

Cash_Stronomer

Similar threads