Shaved with it for the first time. It's a mild razor but it was still able to give me a great shave in just two passes. Between this one and it's full-metal brother the HFT/G-Bar I'd have to say the latter one came across as a bit more efficient as the Feather Weight did require me to do a bit of clean up after my two passes. Nice razor.
Maybe the kind of blades differ depending on location? I ask because the SE blades I bought at the Walgreen store near me were slightly cheaper than CVS, and are completely unusable. Crazy dull. Much duller than Derby. About equal to antique Gillette Blue Blades. They literally will not cut my chin hair. There is YMMV, but these blades? They have to be something other than what you describe.
For me it has always been Connaught. Even though they are in the UK they are still cheaper than what I pay here in the US for the SS coated blades.
I've used many SE's, MMOC, 1912, Damaskeen, 1914,1924 Shovel Head, HFT and Feather Weight. I liked all of them, except for the MMOC, but got my best, most irritation free and closest shaves with the 1924. I actually quit using my 1924 because I can't find Gem SS blades locally as the Walgreens in my area no longer sells Gem SS blades.
I think 64 Slim is a safe guess on Sinatra....it appears he likes the adjustable, by that slot between the head and the adjuster knob. And I imagine he has a few of the newest ones strewn around his various dressing rooms and sport clubs.....Notice the bottle with WH on it....Guess thats witch hazel, and probably labeled because this is not his home. The WH and Jeris etc are probably there for club members...I'm guessing where the steam room is. I looks of pics of him and Dean Martin etc in steam rooms with Sinatra wearing a towel like a turban.... Notice no Aqua Velva.....Fuzzy here you should close your eyes......I read Sinatra (and I dig him anyway) had an aversion to AV...He would not allow anyone into his house if he could detect them wearing it....ha,ha.... As far as Mantle; great pic BTW .....It looks like a locker room pic, so having a few super speeds laying up there like that...Thats too circumstantial to be indicative of what razor he's using....The fat advertising dollars he was getting from GEM though....I imagine he was probably lathering up to enjoy a great GEM shave....ha,ha! I probably would have been too....Either GEM, EverReady or Schick...come on, thats The Mick....You know he was using the best...ha,ha YMMV of course....lol!
My Walgreens doesn't carry them either, but will order them for you.....And with an in-store pick-up there are no shipping charges and the whole turn around is like 3 days...4 days max..... My last order I notice came in Fed-Ex....and still no shipping...and they e-mail and phone you the minute it arrives.... So if I were you Eddie, I'd ask your local Walgreens if they'd order it....I've been ordering my stainless GEM blades and all the different Pinaud Clubman stuff, no shipping and no more than a 3 day wait.....GOOD DEAL! Check out Walgreens dot com....The local stores should order everything at that site...not for stock but as special in store pick-up. But if you ask for it to be sent to your house, you pay shipping and the wait time is a little longer...
I never heard of the GEM Featherweight until tonight. I just bought one online for $10.00. I can't wait to take it for a spin.
In the past I asked Walgreens about special ordering and basically was blown off.. One woman told me they only order items carried by the main order center(where/what ever that is?). I don't mind the wait, but the total lack of information, service or helpfulness has left me VERY uninterested in doing business with Walgreens. I'm hoping to find an independent drug store that stocks them.
