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Let's talk DE blades!

ShavePastor

ShavePastor

0
Exceptional category:
I find the following blades to be an exceptional balance of sharpness & smoothness with no tugginess, nor hardly ever any weepers, cuts, nicks, etc....and for my face these are the blades that really work well for me:

-Gillette Silver Blue
-Gillette 7 o'clock blacks
-Personna Med Preps
-Perma-Sharp Super

There are still way more blades I have yet to try in my stash, but these ones are SO good, it's been hard for me to use anything else!

Good/Average category:
The next category is good, but not exceptional. I can get really good shaves with them, but usually at the cost of a couple weepers & a definite step down in smoothness:

-Gillette 7 o'clock yellows
-Feather
-Kai
-Polsilver
-Gillette Nacet

Bad/No Go's category:
Lastly, this next category of blades are the "no go's" for me; ones that cause weepers, nicks, proneness to irritation, tugginess, & uncomfortableness:

-Voskhod
-Derby
-Bic Chrome
-Merkur
-Astra SP

So there it is. That's my list of blades that are exceptional, that are ok, & that are no go. One interesting thing to note about these categories in my experience is that any of my exceptional ones work equally well in any of my favorite razors, where as the ok category is somewhat more picky about the combo's, working better in some razors than others.

So tell me about the blade's in your categories!
 
My favorite blade is the Personna Platinum Chrome.

After that, the blades that work well for me are:
Feather
Personna Med Prep
Voskhod
Gillette Silver Blue

Thats about all I use. Because that’s what I have. I never experimented with blades much.

The inly blade I ever used that I hated was derby.
 
My favorite blade is the PolSilver SI although I question the quality of my recent batch.

After that, the blades that work well for me are in no particular order:
Personna Israeli Red
Rapira Platinum Lux
Voskhod
Gillette Silver Blue
Perma Sharp Super
Bolzano

I have also used but don't necessarily care for:
Derby
Gillette Nacet
Bic Chrome
Astra SP
Others I'm probably forgetting............because they were forgettable
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To be honest...I know I am four years into Traditional Wet Shaving but I don't think I have actually figured out what my favorite blades are! I THOUGHT at one time it was GSB...then Voskhod...then Polsliver SI...now I am going back and trying new ones almost every shave. I thought Feather Blades were my nemesis...but trying out the Rockwell not too long ago...I got many smooth shave out if it. Just don't know anymore!
 
Truthfully, I find blades to be the least important part of the shave. It really doesn't matter what brand. I can get good shaves from just about any of them. Heck, I went 65 shaves with a Graham Field!
 
I was until recently a GSB and Astra SP only guy. Now i have recently added Personna Israeli Reds and Gillette Rubie. As well i have some Personna Blues and some Treet Platinum that SWMBO loves. I also have some Nacets on the way. The only blades i refuse to use are Lord blades those just suck for me.
 
DocHoliday0831 said:
I was until recently a GSB and Astra SP only guy.
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This is me, right now. Haven’t moved from these preferences for 3 years. Feather is OK too, but these two have performed consistently and have longevity I have yet to find in any other blade, albeit I have only tried a handful of others.
 
GearNoir said:
This is me, right now. Haven’t moved from these preferences for 3 years. Feather is OK too, but these two have performed consistently and have longevity I have yet to find in any other blade, albeit I have only tried a handful of others.
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Until recently i thought GSB was the bee's knees but the Rubie may dethrone that.
 
My favorite blades are :

Polsilver
Derby Extra
Dorco Titan
Sputnik
SuperMax Super Platinum
Shark Stainless

Actually I can get good shave with any blade, still haven`t found a blade, which gives me bad shave.
 
Z-2 said:
My favorite blades are :

Polsilver
Derby Extra
Dorco Titan
Sputnik
SuperMax Super Platinum
Shark Stainless

Actually I can get good shave with any blade, still haven`t found a blade, which gives me bad shave.
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Bless your heart if you can made a Shark work for you. I remember that was one of the first blades I ever tried. Think it came with my razor from Amazon. Ripped my face up something fierce!
 
I don't use DE blades much anymore but I tend to agree with the idea that they are about the same so it doesn't matter very much. I think my general inability to NOTICE the nuances is why I think this way. Same with soaps, I either like or don't like...everything between is fluid.

That said, I can say SHARK (yellow box) and Merkur are the worst blades ever. I am absolutely convinced SHARK are made by jihadi terrorist intent on killing off those who shave by introducing bacteria into a million painful openings in our skin. Merkur surprised me with how pathetic they were. The little mustache trimmer blades are definitely a no go.

The BIC that come in the yellow box is the last blade I used that surprised me with how good it felt in my 1940's superspeed.
 
Shows how different we all are. The only mention of Lord I see is a bad one. I actually like the Lord Platinum blades. Those and Nacet are the two I use the most when I use a DE. Also have some Personna Blue that I like. Feather are a bit weird for me. First shave feels harsh, then they are really good for 3-4 shaves and then go back to feeling harsh again.

I agree with Chris about being surprised at just how bad the Merkur was. Derby is really bad for me and Bolsano is one that I would rather shave with a belt grinder than use again.

I've got plenty of new ones to try recently though. The Personna red weren't bad, but not good enough for replacing my top two or three. The Astra I have already tried and they aren't bad, so I know I'll use them, but still have others to try.
 
CBLindsay said:
I don't use DE blades much anymore but I tend to agree with the idea that they are about the same so it doesn't matter very much. I think my general inability to NOTICE the nuances is why I think this way. Same with soaps, I either like or don't like...everything between is fluid.

That said, I can say SHARK (yellow box) and Merkur are the worst blades ever. I am absolutely convinced SHARK are made by jihadi terrorist intent on killing off those who shave by introducing bacteria into a million painful openings in our skin. Merkur surprised me with how pathetic they were. The little mustache trimmer blades are definitely a no go.

The BIC that come in the yellow box is the last blade I used that surprised me with how good it felt in my 1940's superspeed.
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I'm going to dig up an old thread, again... Lol.

I'm surprised to see mention of a bic yellow (doubly so a positive mention)! Used to use them religiously, then I found the 7 o'clock Black. Bought a few hundred 7oB and never looked back. Well, I did look sideways... I picked up a couple hundred Nacets. But they aren't close to my 7 o'clock Blacks. I'll eventually trade / sell them.

Wow, someone else who used and liked the Bic Chromes... Amazing. [emoji106]
 
Bogeyman said:
Almost always it's a case of the Indian & not the arrow. ;)
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I can absolutely see there being a user-error factor to blades (like so many other things). Still, so many variables in shaving, which should be expected with the variables between each and everyone of us.

I firmly believe Gillette had this figured out and that was ONE OF the reasons they made such a large variety of blades. They have stainless, coated, shaper, thinner, etc..

Of course there's also market variances: the need for cheaper materials, etc. But the sheer number of Gillette made blades makes me think they were all designed to be slightly different... just like us.

My 2¢...
 
mrdoug said:
....But the sheer number of Gillette made blades makes me think they were all designed to be slightly different... just like us.

My 2¢...
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Usually it's the hone angle of the blade it appears and I think the best ones have a better hardened edge.
 
I don’t disagree with the idea that the IDEA or concept that blades might be or have been intentionally designed and manufactured to achieve a different outcome. After all, we are talking about a generation (or generations preceding) that put men into space and on the moon with startling precision using ACTUAL pen an paper. But I also kind of think the different brands and the small differences between them might have been as simple as the blades being made in different plants with different machines set up by different people to different final tolerances. Maybe even shift and material budget specs. There’s no arguing that some blades are truly different from others the question is whether Gillette set out to make dozens of different versions or they just ended up that way based on geographic production. Just a thought.
 
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