What Are The Best DE Blades?

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by theguitarshaver559, Mar 19, 2017.

  1. Bama Samurai

    Bama Samurai with Laser-like Focus

    Blades don't matter nearly as much as some would like to think they do.

    No such thing as beginner blades.

    Technique is vastly more important than blades. Blades are the most debated and least important part of the shave.
     
    RyX, DesertTime, Beardbgone and 4 others like this.
  2. RetLEO-07

    RetLEO-07 likes his penguin deep fried, with pink sparkles

    Everything but the Astra, my brother. Never worked for me.
     
    NCoxSTL likes this.
  3. crackstar

    crackstar Israeli Ambassador to TSD

    For me it's a three-way tie between:

    Astras
    Rapiras
    Voskhods
     
    NCoxSTL likes this.
  4. jimjo1031

    jimjo1031 never bloomed myself

    The best DE blades would be what ever works for you. Just keep trying different ones and choose.
     
    NCoxSTL, Bama Samurai and crackstar like this.
  5. Screwtape

    Screwtape A Shaving Butterfly

    In addition to the Russian blades, I also like some of the Personna blades -- the Personna Lab Blues and/or Med Preps made in the USA and the Israeli Personnas, which are also marketed under names such as Crystal. I have several hundred Lab Blues and IPs stashed as my main blades, backed by 100 PolSilvers, 100 Rockwells (they're okay too, and a decent price), and odd tucks of Voskhods, GSBs, Nacets and 7 O'clocks.

    But honestly, once you have your technique down, almost any blade made of good steel with proper attention paid to quality control will work. Some shave a little smoother than others and some last for a few more shaves than others, but any non-defective blade made by any reputable manufacturer will cut whiskers and leave skin intact. The only real exception I have seen to that is a few individuals with allergic sensitivity to some blade coating materials will experience hives, itchiness, puffiness, etc if they use blades that contain those coatings. Other than that, I suspect most of us could survive quite nicely if we were handed a reputable brand and told that that was to be our only option from now on.

    In short, if you are experimental by temperament, by all means get a sample pack of blades and try them to find what works best for you (and maybe even which works best in each razor). But if that seems like a lot of unnecessary bother, just pick a namebrand blade and try it. If it doesn't give you an allergic reaction and seems to cut whiskers reasonably well, then just stick with it -- and you probably won't honestly miss much.
     
  6. Col C

    Col C Well-Known Member

    I did a rather large test of many dozens of blades - below are the ones I like and now that my technique is pretty good - all the blades give me an excellent shave. I have no doubt there are many others out there that would work too. I truly have come to believe that if you have good technique combined with a good quality razor and a decent soap - just about any blade will work.
    Blade Stash.jpg
     
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  7. Screwtape

    Screwtape A Shaving Butterfly

    Further to my earlier comment, you have a list there of five brands of blade you already own. All five definitely qualify as blades made by reputable manufacturers who use top blade quality steel and excellent quality control. All five have loyal and devoted users (you'll notice at least three of them in the photograph of @Col C's stash of tested favourite blades.) Frankly, that should be enough of a "sampler" without adding dozens more choices -- at least ONE of those five should work well for you.

    I would suggest you pick one razor and use each blade in it for a week in turn. This gives you long enough with each make to get to know it and to see if you have a strong preference for any of them. Then do the same with your second razor and see if you have the same or a different preference with it. Then mainly use those blades. And if you find all five makes are pretty much the same, that's good too -- you're one of the people who can make any blade work and you can just forget the whole issue from then on.
     
    RyX, NCoxSTL and theguitarshaver559 like this.
  8. theguitarshaver559

    theguitarshaver559 Active Member

    Thanks for the advice ;)
     
  9. NCoxSTL

    NCoxSTL AAACK!

    I will say that the Israeli blades all performed extremely well, and I am really suspicious that they are all really the same blade with different brands printed on it. Ok, so probably not but they're that consistent. They're not an option for me personally for reasons that have nothing to do with their quality, but when I ran them through the trial they all performed very well. The Personna Lab Blues and Med Preps are the same blade with the only difference being they wash and clean the Med Prep to make it usable in medical situations out of the wrapper. I like how you put Blues and/or Preps which reflects that. No reason to pay the extra money for the Med Preps unless you're just a germaphobe!
     
    Screwtape likes this.
  10. theguitarshaver559

    theguitarshaver559 Active Member

    For the record, I'm not the one that said that Astra is a beginner blade, I just repeated what I read on another site.
     
  11. RetLEO-07

    RetLEO-07 likes his penguin deep fried, with pink sparkles

    Outstanding!
     
    NCoxSTL likes this.
  12. Col C

    Col C Well-Known Member

    :)
     
  13. dustmite

    dustmite Well-Known Member

    That'll get ya in trouble every time! ;)
    Some people seem to love marking some items "beginner" and other's "experienced" but I don't buy into it. Use what makes you happy, and don't let anyone make you feel like it's not good enough.
     
    NCoxSTL likes this.
  14. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    I know. I said this back in post #11.
     
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  15. Screwtape

    Screwtape A Shaving Butterfly

    Yoda definitely would not approve: "Do or not do. There is no try."

    You are either using equipment that shaves all your whiskers cleanly or you aren't: if you are, then you are shaving with gear that you could use the rest of your life to do the job -- and there is nothing "beginner" about that; and if you aren't, then you need to upgrade to gear that works, period.

    I feel the same way when people refer to some motorcycles almost sneeringly as "beginner bikes". It's true that some of the supersport bikes and hugely powered cruisers can only safely be handled by a well-trained and/or highly experienced rider, but that certainly doesn't mean that all the smaller bikes therefore become "beginner bikes". I can't help noticing, for example, that in large metro regions with fleets of courier riders, the guys racking up hundreds of miles a day on the city streets mostly ride those "beginner bikes", because they are light, handy, economical, and nimble in city traffic...

    Ultimately, as the saying goes, it's shaving, not rocket science...
     
  16. Engblom

    Engblom Well-Known Member

    Some blades get more love than other, but all blades seem to have some fans. For example, many on this forum seem to agree that Derby, Dorco and Merkur are bad blades. Still you find people loving these blades. So only you will be able to find the perfect blade for you.

    Of course, there is a bigger chance you find the perfect blade among the most loved one, so it is good to begin the journey with them.

    The maybe most loved blades on the different shaving boards are the Russian blades (Astra, which you like so far, is also a Russian blade), Feather, Personna and Wilkinson.

    I highly recommend this sample pack for Russian blades: http://www.ebay.com/itm/85-mixed-Ru...367569?hash=item33c9e20f51:g:D0wAAOSwMVdYHK6z
     
    Screwtape likes this.
  17. Primotenore

    Primotenore missed opera tunity

    Article Team
    :signs011:
    I used to think that Astras were just so-so blades, but now that my technique has solidified, I have gained an appreciation for them.
     
  18. Jayaruh

    Jayaruh The Cackalacky House Pet

    Supporting Vendor
    I bought 50 Super Chrome Sharks as my first big buy. They were very good blades. My second big buy was 100 Personna Super Blue. They have been my go to blade. I do love the Russian blades, too. I have no idea which is the best though. I did recently get my 46th shave out of a Personna Super blade.
    [​IMG]
     
  19. PickledNorthern

    PickledNorthern Fabulous, the unicorn

    This ^^^^^.

    I wish I could like it more than once.
     
    dustmite likes this.
  20. FranklinFurter

    FranklinFurter Well-Known Member

    Gillette Silver Blue but I'm going to try the Nacet.
     

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