I've recently strayed away from my usual Astra SPs to try something a little different. So far, I could recommend: -Astra SPs -Rapira Platinum -Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellow -Personna Lab Blues Out of all the blades I've tried, these seem to be the perfect balance of smoothness and sharpness. Hardly any tugging or weepers, ever. Of course though, YMMV. I tend to learn towards the Russian blades, with some U.S. made ones as well.
Astra Sp are best for me. Followed by Nacets and gillete black. I do like do mix in gilletes yellow/greens/gsb, feathers, and vokshods too. End of the day tho, Astras Sp are defintely the best value. Sent from my KIW-L24 using Tapatalk
Okay, bearing in mind this list is coming from a guy who has and likes .32ACP and .380ACP pocket pistols in addition to 9mm service autos and .45ACP and .38Spl in addition to .45 Long Colt and .357Mag in his revolvers, here goes: First, I'm with this guy and others who say "most blades will work OK". I find some have better endurance and can last for more shaves, but almost any fresh blade from a reputable named manufacturer will work. Having said that, I like Israeli Personna (IPs), Personna Lab Blue, PolSilver, Voskhod, Rockwell, vintage Gillette Platinum Plus (haven't used new), and GSB. Those also, by sheer coincidence, happen to be about the only brands I have tried so far -- when I started traditional wetshaving exclusively last summer, I got a sampler of 30 - 50 different brands but I quit testing as soon as I found all of the ones I tried worked and a couple were available cheap in bulk (IPs and Lab Blues at the time). I bought several hundred IPs and Lab Blues and I then PIFed all the unused miscellaneous tucks (to the Badger and Blade "try a blade exchange" actually) and settled in to shave with consistent blades for awhile. Since then, I added 100 packs of PolSilver and Rockwell when I found they worked and were cheap just then, and I was gifted a couple tucks to try of the most popular current blades -- GSB, Voskhod, Nacet, 7 O'clock Black, and Shark SS. So far, I have tried the Voskhod and GSB of the sample tucks -- and they both work fine too. My advice: Pick two or three of the current blades that are popular and reasonably cheap, like Astra SP or the other Russians, and if they seem okay, then stick with them for several months.
In a year, we may all be dead, with so many gunmen walking in the forum! The question, is what does a newbie do in the meantime? Suffer the Derby or enjoy a better blade while waiting out the year? Ok, it's pretty simple. Google around the internet, read all shaving blogs, read all shaving forums that,by coincidence have a blades section, since i suppose newbies hang out in there. Go see again the guys who are older wetshavers and have trouble with Weishi, let alone Weishi + Derby! Try to reconcile all that. Here's what i found. It all goes down to a Gauss distribution. Let's say that this is a distribution made out of the opinions of peope about whether the blade matters or not: Now, from -2σ to +2σ, it's the 90% of opinions. (Ok, this is random, i can't possibly make a proper statistics study here, the principle remains). These are people who actually buy preferable blades and avoid others and partecipate in blade sections of other forums. Because apparently they find blade differences. Otherwise why bother. Now observe there are 2 "tails", the 2 extreme segments on the graph, the one betwee -3σ and -2σ. This is your territory. They are the gurus that have arrived to Zen state and don't care about blades anymore, cause they can't feel the difference. Much like an adult, can't remember anymore, how it felt when he was 5. There is another territory in the other extreme, between +2σ and +3σ. These are hopeless newbies, probably even worse than me, that find it extremely hard to find a workable blade and have a very restricted number of blades they like. The others are in the middle of the 2 extremes. The more you are towards the left of the graph, the closer you are to the Zen territory, of becoming Zen Blade Master. Alas, most of them, are not there. Which explains why they even bother to post in blades sections or buy favourite blades. Bottom line. If in 1 year i become a Blade Master, all the better! Unless some rogue bullet gets me in here, i plan to be alive and well in 1 year and i have WAY to many Derbys that i will be HAPPY to consume! In the meantime, i see no reason to uselessly torture myself with an everyday use of Derby. If my technique will improve so much as to find them same as Astra, this will happen while using any blade. I am actually positive that sharper blades make me improve my technique much faster than Derby, because they make me more careful. See, isn't that a lovely explanation? Yes, it is! P.S.: There are also those beyond +3 standard deviations, who are newbies on their way back to cartridges, after a bloodbath and there are those beyond -3 standard deviations, who are those that can't find satisfaction with a simple DE razor anymore and are on their way to shavettes.
I'm new and still trying to find "My Blade". Made a newb mistake and bought 100 Personnas and they seem to be dull and hard on my face, may end up doing a PIF with them. I did like the Personna Reds though. Will be trying Feather this week, maybe. So far my top 3 are: Wilkinson Sword Classic Gillette 7 O'Clock yellows Voshkod
Damn, i thought they were the same thing! Now that you mentioned it and google them, yes, they have a difference! But they look the same (ugly and dangerous), so why don't we include both!
Given what everyone has listed I picked the most commonly reccomended blades and Im going to order... Astra Sp Vokshods Personna Lab Blue Gillette Silver Blue Polisilver SI 7 Oclock green and yellow I did see astra SS but they have them so I may try them as well. Test those out and see how it goes. Thanks Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
Remember, it's about the journey. So enjoy the ride and happy shaving. Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk
Is there something strange about that? The best calibre gun is the only you'll actually carry and use.
Now that I have been wet shaving for some time and my technique is pretty good - I get good to excellent shaves from most blades. I did my original test using just a Merkur 34c for standardization. Now that I have a few more razors - I have found some razors such as the Merkur 34c and my vintage Gillette Fatboy will take almost any blade and perform well. My Muhle and Edwin Jagger (they have the same head) are a lot more picky. I truly have come around to believing that the blade is less important than the razor and your technique. However - I still like Russian blades. Since firearms somehow made it into this thread - below are my two carry firearms. Depending on what I'm wearing it will be one or the other with the occasional Ruger LCR (38 + P) thrown in.
Col C, I like how you snuck that DE in there to make the photo relevant to the thread. Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk
OK, Cournal, you are probably, let's say, between -2σ and -σ, mostly to the -2σ side. A little bit longer and you won't mind anymore about blades, you ll just buy Derby and join @Bama Samurai in the Zen zone.
Oh, Cournal, i like you always more! Did you hear that, @Bama Samurai? He said, D-e-r-b-y!. Cournal, the bad news, is that at this pace, you will never reach Bama Samurai in the Zen zone. The good news though, is that you won't have to touch a Derby and even more, shave with one, for the rest of your life! I still have 398 to go between Derbys and Bluebirds!