Well I started out shaving with the Derby's and used them for a little over a month straight. I switched over to these about a week and a half ago and this is my impression of this blade. On the first shave about the same as the Derby for me but a little less smooth. The second shave is OK but I don't get a good shave by the third shave and I get irritation. Short answer not as good as the Derby for me..... YMMV. I will finish the pack of ten but I will only use them for two shaves and throw them away. I will use these if I have to but I would use the Derby's before these if I had a choice. This is my first blade change and I still have a lot more to try in my sample packs.
I used two of the dorco 301 and I got a mild shave but no irritation that I have experienced with some of the sharper razor brands. The derby I tried pulled way more than it cut.
I actually had one bad Derby straight out of the pack that ate my face up. I thought it was my technique but after 2 bad shaves I swapped it out and all was good again so there are some bad ones out there.
Well, I just tried a Dorco ST-301 for the first time this morning. Definitely not as sharp as most of my favorites but my first impression is - Wow! What a nice smooth blade. Even discounting the fact that it might be the cheapest blade you can buy right now, they're worth a try. I see they're available for $6/100 or so on eBay or even a little less if you buy 1000. After 3 passes, my shave seems to be just as close as I get with my favorite blades and I got absolutely no feedback from the after-shave. Any blade that leaves me with no irritation is a good one in my book. We'll see how the next couple shaves go (and how the next few blades go). If I can get that kind of result consistently over the next couple weeks and get a few good shaves from each blade, I'll be buying more of these for sure. You guys will probably think this is crazy but after the shave, I was thinking what blade they'd compare to and I think the closest I can think of is a Gillette Spoiler. Granted that's after one shave. A Spoiler can last me a week easy. Not sure if these will be that good but at the price, a few good shaves will be fine.
For me Derby and Dorco are worst blades I ever tried. In my opinion, they are neither smooth nor sharp. Each time I see someone liking them, it surprises me very much, but it also really proves that when it comes to shaving everything is YMMV. It is good that there exists many manufacturers so everybody could get a working blade.
Very true. I'll agree with you on Derby. Worst blade I've tried. But part of that I think is that they're just not sharp enough to cut my whiskers. The Dorco is sharp enough though. And for me at least, it feels smooth through at least one shave. Seems like it'll be a good match for an aggressive razor and I've got a place in my den for a blade like that. Today, I used a Progress which works well with lots of blades. The next razor I use with it will probably be something more aggressive and I'll see how it does there.
Derby apparently was on the slide about the time I got into wetshaving about 5 years ago. I recall hearing old timers talk about how they'd gotten rougher (some said they always were), but as a brand they were still a "hot" blade that lots of guys hyped and swore by. So when I tried them, sure enough, they were uncomfortably rough. I always liked Dorcos. I don't go out of my way to obtain them but could live with them as my only blade if I had to. Derby? Nope, I'd switch to another blade format it it came to that.
I use the Dorco ST-301's on occasion. Although I don't consider them one of the finest blades, I find they work just fine in most of my razors, especially the more aggressive ones. Considering the low cost of these blades, they seem to be a good choice for everyday shavers. I shave most everyday, so rarely have a very long growth. I don't know how these would work for someone who only shaves every few days, but for someone like myself who most always shaves daily, and sometimes twice a day, they work just fine.
I put the third shave on mine yesterday and had no issues. I'm going to try #4 in just a few minutes and we'll see how that goes.
Shave 4 went fine. I may not get a 5th. Leaving town for a few days so I'll probably bin the blade unless I'm up really early in the morning and have time to shave before going to the airport.
I have tried only 2 of ST-301's but used ST-300's (both Blue and White wrapper) and they were pretty good for me. Very mild, maybe not so sharp. But left me without irritation like some others did.
If I would go really cheap, for me Voskhod would be a better option. They are somehow very smooth. They also cost about the same...
