DE Razor Blade ranking?

[Doc Dan]

Is there a chart or something that rates DE razor blades by sharpness, aggressiveness, mildness, and etc. by brand and model?

I am working on one for myself, but there are a lot of blades out there. Trying to pair blades with unknown qualities with razors of known qualities is a trial and error sort of thing. It looks like there would be a chart that would provide a starting point.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Wogus]

Is there a chart or something that rates DE razor blades by sharpness, aggressiveness, mildness, and etc. by brand and model?

I am working on one for myself, but there are a lot of blades out there. Trying to pair blades with unknown qualities with razors of known qualities is a trial and error sort of thing. It looks like there would be a chart that would provide a starting point.

Anyone have any ideas?

Take a look at this: Razor Blade Sharpness Summary with Comparison Chart at Refined Shave. You can sort the table by clicking on the different header fields.

Just remember a lower number indicates a sharper blade.

 

[Doc Dan]

Thanks!

 

[Medivh]

I never liked or agreed with the most of the reviews on that website regarding the different blades that the author tested. He basically claims that most of the better blades on the market are either ok or meh and only a handful of blades are considered to be good. Calling blades like Personna Lab Blue, Perma-Sharp and Polsilver SI meh is unrealistic and I wouldn't take that guy seriously no matter what tests he did and how ''accurate'' his sharpness tests are.

 

[BigJ]

In my humble opinion, the only ranking that matters is how a particular blade performs on my beard!

There are so many variables! For example, some value ‘sharpness’ out of the wrapper. I value sharpness over the life of the blade. Even more, I value ‘comfort,’ ‘smoothness’ and ‘longevity.’ Each of these characteristics is evaluated using my kit on my face.

Your mileage certainly will vary!

I find reviews here on B&B much more valuable than ‘objective’ measurements elsewhere.

 

[Happy Jack]

I never liked or agreed with the most of the reviews on that website regarding the different blades that the author tested. He basically claims that most of the better blades on the market are either ok or meh and only a handful of blades are considered to be good. Calling blades like Personna Lab Blue, Perma-Sharp and Polsilver SI meh is unrealistic and I wouldn't take that guy seriously no matter what tests he did and how ''accurate'' his sharpness tests are.

I find his sharpness ratings to be credible. Of course that's just one variable that makes a blade better or worse than others. I wouldn't necessarily want the sharpest blade in an aggressive razor.

 

[Medivh]

I find his sharpness ratings to be credible. Of course that's just one variable that makes a blade better or worse than others. I wouldn't necessarily want the sharpest blade in an aggressive razor.

For the most part I really don't see anything on that website that most DE shavers don't know about the sharpness of the DE blades already. There might be some truth here and there about some of the blades that I haven't used or really care about, but the author's personal opinion on the performance and critics on some of the most popular and better blades on the market is unrealistic at best. I know we all have our preferences on which blades are good and bad, but calling the blades that i've mentioned above not very good or meh is just laughable. I'm not saying that they are the best blades ever or my favorite, but they far from bad and that's not just my opinion.

 

[RenoRichard]

IMHO the Refined Shave information is useful, but only to a certain extent. Blade choice and perceived quality has so many factors that make it very personal.

This thread is an interesting one, albeit an opinion poll, but as more people participate it picks up some weight: Mass Appeal DE blade - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/mass-appeal-de-blade.618111/

In looking through that thread I've noticed that all IMO of the top recommendations for a blade that would have the greatest mass appeal are pretty good blades.

 

[Doc Dan]

I think that his initial sharpness is helpful, but he needs to test a sampling different lots to be completely valid. His other tests are not helpful. He would need to set up something like a CATRA test and repeat it so he could have verifiable data. His are subjective. Still, some of his testing shows what I already knew or suspected. The only ones I was surprised about was the Gillette Wilkinson Sword and the Derby, two of the lest sharp blades I have used.

 

[tm3]

I like this chart. It's description of the Feather mirrors my impression from using it, although I didn't know why it behaves the way it does until I saw this. The dude that compiled this is an engineer and goes by the "numbers don't lie" principle FWIW.

https://imgur.com/sYvGcdH

 

[demaro]

In my opinion, any reviews of blades are totally irrelevant. What works well for some , does not work well for others.
also , sharper and more aggressive is not necessarily better .

 

[Yuritau]

The sharpness tester used by Refined Shave is a reliable and repeatable instrument, for new blades. But as soon as a blade has been shaved with, there is an unavoidable assumption made by using that tester that the edge damage from shaving is uniform across the length of the edge.

Even using his testing methodology of 4 readings per side of the blade, discard the high and low, and average the remaining 6, you end up basing your results on testing approximately 2% of the blade. IMHO it would take testing and averaging hundreds of blades to get reliable post shave sharpness numbers, and even then that would carry the massive caveat that the numbers are only representative of the blade condition after that guy shaves with the blade.

All of the fresh blade numbers are reliable and comparable to other BESS test units. The rest I would only take as interesting anecdotal information. I don't know if there exists a standardized sharpness test that tests the whole blade edge at once, but if there is, that would be FAR more useful for judging post-shave edge quality.

 

[Maxima1]

The only ones I was surprised about was the Gillette Wilkinson Sword and the Derby, two of the lest sharp blades I have used.

I was surprised by more than just those two. Voshkod, Shark, Treet Platinum, Gillette Platinum, BIC, to name some. I thought maybe that's because some of those are really smooth (Wilkies/Voshkod), so the coating is reducing force to cut but that doesn't explain to me why BIC is beating some of the best like GSB (read anywhere and many complain about resistance/tugging with BIC) or Shark/Gillette Platinum relative to other seemingly sharper//smoother blades.

 

[Lazarus Long]

I by no means have extensively tested every blade on the market, nor every blade tested by Refined Shave, but I have found his sharpness measurements to correspond with the efficiency of the blades I've tried. When trying to do comparisons, numbers are really the only thing that matters. I don't know how you would objectively measure 'smoothness', so that leaves sharpness. Everything else is subjective and meaningless.

His theory of the U shaped sharpness curve as a blade is used makes sense, but I can't confirm that blades with a shallow U are more comfortable than those with a deep U without getting into subjective evaluations.

I will note though that according to his chart, Voskhod and Treet Platinum have a shallow U, almost flat. Those are also 2 of the most comfortable blades (for me) I've tried shave after shave.

My favorite blade is Voskhod. Refined Shave has it sharper than average and also consistent shave to shave. While most everyone here says it is dull, I find it to be both very efficient and very comfortable. The Treet Platinum is comfortable but not super efficient. Refined Shave ranks it as average sharpness. I also like Treet Classic and Falcon. They are both efficient and comfortable. Refined Shave has no measurents for those, but I wouldn't be surprised if they also are very sharp with a shallow U.

Astra SP IMHO is one of the most overrated blades I've ever used. Neither efficient nor comfortable. Gets very irritating after a couple shaves. Refined Shave lists it as a dull blade with a deep U.

Astra SS is better but not great. Initially reasonably efficient but gets very irritating after a couple shaves. It is sharp with a deep U.

I don't like either Derby Extra or Premium. Dull with a deep U.

Shark Chrome - similar experience to Astra SP

Shark Stainless - comfortable but starts off with only average efficiency, drops offs from there - again consistent with Refined Shave's sharpness tests.

In general, I find I prefer stainless and carbon steel, not chrome or platinum blades. The chrome and platinum blades have been less efficient for me, which I intrepret as duller. The exception is the Personna Platinum, which seems to be decently sharp. I think it must have a fairly deep U though. The first couple shaves are a bit irritating.

In general, I've found Refined Shave sharpness ratings to be whole lot closer to my personal experience than subjective ratings.

 

[Doc Dan]

I like this chart. It's description of the Feather mirrors my impression from using it, although I didn't know why it behaves the way it does until I saw this. The dude that compiled this is an engineer and goes by the "numbers don't lie" principle FWIW.

https://imgur.com/sYvGcdH

Where did you get this chart? It is too difficult for me to read. I can't make out the words at the bottom.

 

[BudgetShaverGuy]

I like Refined Shave as a starting point. The razor used has a huge affect on the shave as well. Lots of trial and error is required to find your optimal blade.

 

[Maxima1]

When trying to do comparisons, numbers are really the only thing that matters. I don't know how you would objectively measure 'smoothness', so that leaves sharpness. Everything else is subjective and meaningless.

This should somewhat measure smoothness because the coatings should reduce the force to cut. I don't think his sharpness test is really any more objective.

My favorite blade is Voskhod. Refined Shave has it sharper than average and also consistent shave to shave. While most everyone here says it is dull, I find it to be both very efficient and very comfortable. The Treet Platinum is comfortable but not super efficient. Refined Shave ranks it as average sharpness. I also like Treet Classic and Falcon. They are both efficient and comfortable. Refined Shave has no measurents for those, but I wouldn't be surprised if they also are very sharp with a shallow U.

Because it is a relatively dull blade.... I think it just has a really good PTFE coating that's helping reduce force to cut.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

In my opinion, any reviews of blades are totally irrelevant.

This should be in large, bold letters at the top of the blade forum.

 

[old_school]

Refined Shave methods are consistent, the sharpness rankings more or less agree with the anecdotal information folks give in reviews around here. So it does provide a reasonable reference point for trying other blades. He's done a lot more than I have for providing something tangible, so I certainly ain't gonna bash the mans effort.

I don't agree with some of his reviews either, but that doesn't mean they're not useful. For me Nacet's are an fire fest of razor burn, Voskhod rougher than a cob and Astra SP is one of the top 2 best blades on the planet. Obviously evaluations/reviews are relative to the reviewer. So I look at my job as assessing the reviewer's conclusions relative to my face. If my likes parallel the reviewer then I have a good starting point for trying blades. If my findings are opposite then I still have a good staring point for trying blades right? Avoid what he likes. It's taken 64 years to figure out the KISS principle. It works.

 

[JCarr]

Perfect personal example of how charts only go so far: Just about every chart or graph I've come across rates the Bic Chrome Platinum a very sharp blade...one of the sharpest on the market. I've tried using them on three separate occasions and every time I had to pull the blade and replace it after a few strokes. All it ever did was tug my whiskers around. Go figure! And yet there are so many B&B members who swear by them. For my face, they just don't work.

On the flip side of that experience, a blade like the Derby Extra is notorious for being not sharp enough and not smooth at all. But I used one the other day and had a great shave right out of the wrapper.

It's so personal...what works for me might not for you and vice versa. Charts can help, but they're not everything. Best of luck with your search.