Blade Selection Help

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by Stu929, Apr 20, 2017.

  1. Stu929

    Stu929 Well-Known Member

    Im looking at a number of different blade sample packs online. And there seems to be so much vareity as well as a handful of brands Ive never seen before. Im well aware my face will decide and I'm fine with that, what Im looking for is must try blades to help me in my selectikn process. I see a lot of support for Gillette Blues, and 7 O'Clock and others. So what im asking is what is your must try blade?

    Im currently running a super speed with Gillette Platnium Plus. I got 2 great shaves out of it, the third while not bad I definitely ended up with a few nicks and weepers. Could have been I rushed but I think I have sufficiently killed the blade. This isnt a new thing as I used to burn through carts very quickly with my beard being fairly thick. So far though given my very limited experience the Platnium Plus have served me well and I would even be happy with those over carts.

    Thank you in advance for any help.

    Steve

    Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
     
    RyX and jimjo1031 like this.
  2. jimjo1031

    jimjo1031 never bloomed myself

    You will get many different answers, but it all comes down what ever works for you. Personally I like Personna Lab Blues, Voskhods, Ladas, Rapira (various types), Astra SP and Israeli Personna blades.
     
    Screwtape, RyX, lightcs1776 and 3 others like this.
  3. Stu929

    Stu929 Well-Known Member

    Thats what I want honestly! Ill see what shows up a lot and look for a set that has most of them. Been browsing a ton of threads but figured if I gave what Ive been using and whats working more or less I could get a better sample set.

    Keep in mind no asking what will work for me, I know I need to do the work there. Im just posing the question what blades do you feel are a must try....

    Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
     
    RyX and jimjo1031 like this.
  4. RetLEO-07

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

    Voskhod, 7 o'clock Green, Shark Super Chrome.
    Blades that didn't work for me but may for you: Derby, Wilkinson Sword Classic(Germany), Bolzano.
    Some places have themed samplers, i.e. Russian, Best Selling etc. Have fun finding that blade that's just right.
     
    RyX and Shave Fu like this.
  5. GarnerPW

    GarnerPW Well-Known Member

    Don't tell anybody but I like the Derby Extra.

    Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk
     
    RyX, George X and Stu929 like this.
  6. RaZorBurn123

    RaZorBurn123 waiting hardily...............

    I use a blade twice, no reason to have a bad shave over a nickel. I'm a big Personna Lab Blue user, I'll throw in a Ladas from time to time.
     
    RyX, George X and jimjo1031 like this.
  7. Linuxguile

    Linuxguile dating an unusual aristocrat

    jimjo1031 likes this.
  8. Christopher Powell

    Christopher Powell Well-Known Member

    I placed an order with Try A Blade. I bought 8 different blades (2 each) and shaved with all of them. I chose the blades based on what I read on TSD. After my little experiment, the Astra SS were the clear winner. Best blades by far. Other winners were Astra SP, Personnal Lab Blue, Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellow and Rapira Super Stainless. Losers for me were. Supermax Super Platinum and Voskhod.
     
    George X and Shave Fu like this.
  9. Primotenore

    Primotenore missed opera tunity

    Article Team
    Can of worms...
    I use and enjoy:
    Vintage Personna 74 Tungsten
    Polsilver SI
    Feather
    Astra SP
    Derby Premium
    Personna Medical Prep blades.
     
    George X and Stu929 like this.
  10. Shave Fu

    Shave Fu Shavette Sensei

    Hello Stu, fellow newbie here. The gurus in the forum (pretty much everyone) can shave even with glass, that's why you don't see a specific blade section. I started with Weishi, which is a SuperSpeed clone, albeit probably milder. To get confidence with the razor, i 'd suggest 5 Derby extra blades, as they are close to impossible to cut you. To me they are also dull for the same reason and bad choice in the long run. I had excellent results with Astra SP and Dorco ST-301 and good result with Shark Super Stainless. But, in general, sharper blades go better on milder razor. I haven't tried Voshkod, but being teflon coated should be newbie friendly, while being considered a sharp blade.

    The best newbie to newbie advice i can give you, is this which i translated from a local shaving website:

    Possible problems:

    1) The razor doesn't seem to cut and multiple passes are needed? --> The problem is the razor being very little aggressive. Some would suggest a sharper blade and this is true to some extent, but the main problem is the razor, act on the razor.
    2) The blade scratches the skin while passes and removes the hair in one pass --> This is the opposite problem. The razor is overly aggressive and tends to amplify the blade's defects. Blades that by nature are not docile can prove "lethal" in this case.
    3) The razor doesn't glide well, it gets stuck, jumps and you need to "push" it in certain areas: This is the typical trait of a blade that is too dull for your beard, that doesn't manage to cut and might even cut the skin instead of the hair.
    4) In the 1st pass the razor doesn't give any problem, but irritation appears at the 2nd or 3rd pass: This is typical effect of a blade too sharp for your skin. All you need to do to verify, it to use an alcohol based aftershave: If at the end of the 1st pass, the aftershave doesn't burn or burns a little, but you howl like a wolf after the 2nd or 3rd pass, this is your problem. The explanation is: In the 1st pass, your hair keeps the blade at a distance from your skin, but once cut, the blade starts to dig deeper in the skin, because it's sharp for your skin, with conseguence irritation.
    -------------------------------------

    I would add that 3) can also give irritation, by pulling your hair.

    P.S: In general, Feathers and KAI are supposed to be the sharpest blades out there.
     
    Last edited: Apr 20, 2017
    George X and Stu929 like this.
  11. Stu929

    Stu929 Well-Known Member

    I get it. Same thing happens with 9mm vs 45acp, tung oil vs linseed oil, the list goes on just throwing it out there.

    Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
     
    RyX, George X and Primotenore like this.
  12. RetLEO-07

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

    No contest. .45ACP :D
     
  13. Linuxguile

    Linuxguile dating an unusual aristocrat

    Not this again .... LOL
     
    RyX and George X like this.
  14. RetLEO-07

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

    Just sayin'
     
    George X likes this.
  15. Rusty blade

    Rusty blade The Good Humor Man

    Everyone has their one or two favourite blades. I like Gillette Silver Blues and Astra SP. You should experiment with different kinds of blades and come up with your own favourites. Experimenting is half the fun!
     
    jsw41, RyX, George X and 3 others like this.
  16. Shave Fu

    Shave Fu Shavette Sensei

    @ Stu, you may find this useful too. I made it for future newbies and finally i can put it to use. Chances are, that if you like the blade from a certain manufacturer, you will like more of his blades and the contrary:

    http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/a-blade-and-manufacturer-database.55384/

    Also, this i found in another forum, where they made a blind trial of blades and someone (nickname "alexface" for the credit), categorized the results, by user preference:

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Apr 20, 2017
  17. RetLEO-07

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

    :signs011:
     
    jsw41 likes this.
  18. Stu929

    Stu929 Well-Known Member

    Thats actually what Im trying to do, its just that the samplers vary so much. I am going to try to pick one incorporating as manynas possible from the recommendations.

    Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
     
    RyX likes this.
  19. Bookworm

    Bookworm Well-Known Member

    Tryablade is also my recommendation. Some folks here might also offer you some overstock of razor blades they won't be using. (like if they bought a 100 pack of Derby, and decided 5 in to stop)
     
    RyX likes this.
  20. jtspartan

    jtspartan appropriately stimulated, via Netflix

    My addition to the excellent advice on here already is to actually get a tuck (pack of 5) of each blade you decide to try from tryablade, fendrihan, amazon or anywhere else that has samples. The reason is that your preference may change from the first time you use a blade -or even in different razors- as your experience grows. Pick from the bestsellers (My personal top two are Polsilver and Astra SP, but also have SharpStar and Voskhod in bulk). Pick 5 or 6 different and give them a try over a period of time. Using the same blade (and razor and soap) for 30 days will give you a much more informed decision. There might even be a thread for that...
     
    Screwtape, RyX and wristwatchb like this.

Share This Page