Let's talk DE blades!

[OpusX]

To compare against the Viking Sword I choose another Israeli blade, an older Personna Red. They are still quite sharp and smooth, just as I remembered them.

 

[Blade-meister]

I'm always amazed at the different results in how many shaves guys get our of one blade. When I first started I thought it was too much pressure (which it could have been) but I've gotten the pressure thing under control and the most I get out of a DE blade period is 6 or 7 shaves until it starts causing redness or tugging. Feather's give me the best shaves and have the best longevity. I almost never get cut (can't remember the last blood shed with a DE blade) and most of the time use William's Mug soap. I favor the better soaps, but with my shower shave routine Williams works the best and is not heat sensitive. The Gillette SB's worked really well for a long while and I got smooth shaves, but after 4 shaves the blades were done. Feather's seem smooth to me in the sense that I have a very tough beard growth so the sharpness precision just plows through it. I start getting tugging around 6 shaves and if I'm not careful some redness in the areas on my cheeks where the hair grows every which way (seem every stroke is ATG).

I wonder if operator error causes the variance in how we perceive how a blade performs? Angle, pressure, stroke direction.....with all those variables there's so much room for error. Perhaps we develop a technique that only works well with certain blades. I've seen some guys videos that the pressure seems to be creating some serious cheek waves and I know if they tried that with a Feather they'd have a nice fillet rolling up in front of their razor. Because I use Feathers and have gotten use to the lighter pressure, maybe when I use another blade it needs more than I give? Thoughts anyone?

 

[August West]

No doubt there are two sides to every DE blade.

Favs:
ASCO Orange
Feather
Vintage Wilkie