Blade Reviews Thread - read the rules before posting

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by BaylorGator, Apr 30, 2017.

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  1. RyX

    RyX DoH!

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  2. BaylorGator

    BaylorGator MISTER Fancypants

    I look forward to it. Anyone who can pull off a successful shave with blade expoxied to a twig, has my full attention for any shave review of any type that they want to post. Bring it Fuzzy, I'm all ears!
     
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  3. wchnu

    wchnu Duck Season!

    Will get right on that.
     
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  4. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

    And above his neck, as well!

    Sometimes it is necessary to try a few blades at first to get one that works passably well. Some folks get lucky and find a good blade on their first try. My first blade (Merkur) was horrible, but the second one (Derby) excellent. It might take four or five different blade types before some guys find an acceptably good blade, however. Other than that, I agree wholeheartedly with your statement. Once a reasonably good blade is found, it is important to not change any variables for awhile and develop technique.

    A nest of hornets after they have been sprayed with the garden hose beats B&B in friendliness.

    BaylorGator, I think this thread is a good idea. What level of detail are you looking for in the reviews? Will just brief commentary on each blade do? If the level of interest is high enough, perhaps blades deserve a sub-forum of their own.
     
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  5. RetLEO-07

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

    +1 on the B&B comment
     
  6. BaylorGator

    BaylorGator MISTER Fancypants

    At this point I'd love any sort of discussion about blades just to learn other peoples opinions. I've been surprised not to see many opinions more detailed on Shave forums than "Brand X is my favorite", or "I don't like brand Y", or worse yet "blades are a YMMV thing so you gotta try them yourself to find out". Everyone has their favorites, and everything in shaving is a YMMV thing, but most people don't have a problem getting very detailed about why they like their razors, soaps, etc. They talk about slickness, face feel, aggressiveness, etc. I just don't see that discussion happening much about blades and I'd love to see it happen here. For example, you like derbies, I find them particularly uncomfortable as they pull my facial hair before cutting it. My guess is this is because there is something different about our faces more than just explaining this with YMMV. It's not like the scents, which are totally subjective. There has to be a reason for some of the differences that we could discuss and explore. For example I have very coarse facial hair, and knowing nothing about you, my theory would be if you like derbys, your facial hair or may not be as course, or you're skin may be more sensitive than mine to a sharper blade, or you may have a really aggressive razor that it works well in. I have no idea any if this is true or not because it's hard to find anyone talking about specifics like that with blades. Certainly I would love for some blade gurus with lots of experience to weigh in but honestly I'd love to hear any discussion on blades from people experienced enough to make an intelligent comment or two. I'd really love if the discussion went beyond "I like derbies because they're smooth, or I like feathers because they are sharp, or I hate brand X because it gives a really lousy shave", and folks got into more detail, or gave thoughts on why people have the opinions they have.
     
    Last edited: May 6, 2017
  7. DaltonGang

    DaltonGang Ol' Itchy Whiskers

    I think that that thread has some very good input. I bumped it so it's easier seen by others.


    @BaylorGator , it's your thread, you can demand of it what you wish. Just understand that blades are BIG YYMV thing, and some people have different experiences that you might have, with the same blade. Also, some people don't like to over analyze their blades. If it works for them, they use it. If t doesn't, they don't. Simple analysis, but far from unintelligent.
     
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  8. RetLEO-07

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

    Thank you Reverend!
    Amen!
     
  9. BaylorGator

    BaylorGator MISTER Fancypants

    Wasn't tying to flame here. I was trying to make the analogy that soap scents are as YMMV as it gets, yet you can get opinions aplenty on what people think, their impressions of the scent and soap, and a friendly interchange of ideas. Ask for the same type of feedback about blades and it's like you called somebody's mom fat. I just don't get it.
     
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  10. BaylorGator

    BaylorGator MISTER Fancypants

    By the way, not only do I understand and agree with what you are saying. If you look at my initial post, cut and pasted here, it says:

    Second, please understand that blades, as with much of shaving, is a very much a YMMV thing. Therefore, posts with completely different opinions on the same blades are encouraged, as everyone's feedback contributes to our learning, as long as it remains civil.

    Just to be clear, if my previous post led anyone to think otherwise, I don't think, nor did I post that anyone has said anything unintelligent here, as no one has. That's why you won't find the word "unintelligent" in my posts. What I said (maybe said poorly, maybe misinterpreted, maybe both, I don't know) is that I believe there are a lot more comments that can be made by intelligent folks here that go beyond "I like it", "I don't like it", or "YMMV". That doesn't mean those three comments are unintelligent. On the contrary, they are indesputable facts. I just think there's more here to discuss.

    Maybe that's just not gonna happen here. If it doesn't I'll abandon the idea. I just thought it was a reasonable ask.
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2017
  11. BaylorGator

    BaylorGator MISTER Fancypants

    By the way, @Shaver X, I probably posted too long a response above, and created some confusion, so I'll give a simple recap. 1. If you like or don't like the blade is a good start. 2. YMMV is a given. 3. Anything else you want to post after that about your experiences or opinions has my full attention, as I am here to listen and learn.
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2017
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  12. RyX

    RyX DoH!

    That's what may be lacking from Blade Ranking discussions. So many variables from beard type through razor choice, into technique and skill level of the shaver.
    I appreciate your effort Randy!
    The topic of having a Blade Forum has been brought up & knocked down. Keep up your efforts in this thread. Knowledge shared raises all shavers results.
     
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  13. BaylorGator

    BaylorGator MISTER Fancypants

    Thanks Rick. That's exactly what I was hoping for, but i'm starting to wonder if I'm paddling a bit against the current at the moment. If anyone has input or suggestions on how to better make this happen, i'll gladly make more changes to improve this thread or close it down and defer to the better man/woman who starts the thread that accomplishes this. I just really want to learn a bit about blades and hear what other people have to say on the subject.
     
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  14. LevelupShaves

    LevelupShaves Well-Known Member

    Next Saturday when I get back from a business trip in San Antonio I'm going to do a 30 day focus with Shark blades because they were my favorite from a sample pack I haven't settled in on a soap and AS just yet the razor will most likely be my Murkur 38C HD long handle. Once I'm done I'll have a lot of input on Sharks


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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  15. BaylorGator

    BaylorGator MISTER Fancypants

    Awesome! Looking forward to it @LevelupShaves! Thanks!
     
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  16. '65 G-Slim

    '65 G-Slim Well-Known Member

    Sharks are actually a pretty decent blade...I may have to revisit one tonight.
     
  17. wchnu

    wchnu Duck Season!

    That's the spirit. Proceed along the path...
     
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  18. Bama Samurai

    Bama Samurai with Laser-like Focus

    Welcome to wet shave sanity. I will follow this thread and contribute when I can.

    Vets don't typically write blade reviews. Most blade reviews are written by people who are exuberant and new, and are basically unreliable in any objective way. Blades are basically the catch-all excuse for bad shaves, and much more comfortable than blaming poor results upon rather than one's lack of skill or lack of proper technique. It's my honest opinion that blades don't matter anywhere near as much as people pretend they matter, and the differences are largely indiscernible to someone who is new. And I agree with you, sample pack blades are just regurgitated advice that no one examines. Sampler packs delay skill progression, and are pointless for the reasons stated above.
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2017
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  19. LevelupShaves

    LevelupShaves Well-Known Member

    I agree wholeheartedly. Isn't that human nature I'm a sales manager for a living and you hear the economy price bla bla bla as excuses for not selling same here. If it isn't the blade it's the soap and how it lathers or the razor and how aggressive or not it is etc. People love having a boogie man to point to because the alternative is that we need to work on something and that's a hard pill to swallow. Personally I appreciate the extra work that's why I went to traditional shaving if I have to do it almost daily why not make enjoyable and do it well.


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  20. BaylorGator

    BaylorGator MISTER Fancypants

    +1 for sure, as I couldn't agree more with both of you. Having said that, several of us tried to shave with a "Japanese Pain Stick" yesterday and virtually all of us got a tuggy, chattery, horrible shave of pretty epic proportion. All were veteran enough for me to trust their opinions and recognize that was a crappy blade. Again, using another example at the two ends of the spectrum, if you did a blindfold test on me and gave me a derby and a feather, I'm about 99.9% sure that I could tell you which was which, as the derby pulls my facial hair to the point of pain before cutting it. The feather doesn't do this at all. (This is me - don't flame me - the Derby's are some folks favorite for a reason, but my facial hair could pick them out of a lineup from a mile away). Could I tell the difference between a rapira, an astra and another good russian blade of your choice with 1 blindfolded shave? Probably not. Could I tell the difference between the Astra on shave 1 and shave 10? Probably so. Does the Astra retain its sharpness longer than the rapira (or substitute your own brands here)? I have no idea, as I haven't played this game yet. Lots of people tell me the Feathers lose their sharpness very quickly, but I've never pushed it enough to find out. Again, looking for informed discussion about subtle (or occasionally not so subtle) differences, not a newbie blade scapegoating discussion. I think we are all on the same page here, and I continue to believe will result in some learning and respectful discussion. Again, if not, I'll punt.
     

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