I completely agree on the sampler packs. Here is my "starter" pack with a few of my older stuff pictured as well. I do have multiple tucks of most of the blades. At the time the picture was taken I just brought out single tucks. Keep buying and trying until you find one you like or until they arrest you. Because no sane person would have hundreds of blades. They must be upto no good. Here is my incriminating evidence.
Hmm ... interesting choice of blades for a sample pack ... I would have made an entirely different blades selection. I haven't tried all of the blades in your pack, but the ones I tried (both Sharks and two of the Lords) are pretty low on my "like" list. YMMV and such, of course. What I personally would put in a sample pack for a new wetshaver? (limiting myself to 5 blades) Derby Extra Astra SP Feather Gillette Silver Blue (or Nacet) Israeli Personnas That should give one some variation across the spectrum of smoothness and sharpness.
Me too, and my favourite blades are the Rapira Platinum Lux ones. But since everyone is different, it's best to try a number of blades with very different characteristics.
I'm confused; you said you'd have made an entirely different selection, yet each of the blades you listed appears to be in the picture @NapalmCola posted. How is that "entirely different?"
My 9 cents, I like feather's but not the price. I turned to Astra but not really, tried various Personna's and the Reds were ok but still not mine, Found the PolSilver and they were very very nice but again i was getting up in price, Don't know where or how i tried the Rapira Swedish Supersteal but they are a god send. I like them better then the Pol's and i still like Pol's very much. I also found a guy in russia who sends them to me for $11 per 100 on the auction site. in fact my last order was for $28 for 300 so I am at 9 cents a blade including shipping. Same price as one 12 pack of Gillette Fusion Blades. Now if i could just find my aftershave I will be all set.
I think I noticed a generic Aqua Velva type concoction at the grocery store that is probably quite a value... And by that I mean, is blade price really that big of a consideration? I guess if you shave daily and change blades daily, it might be. Up until now I've only tended to change blades once or twice a month shaving once or twice a week. In context of the rest of the hobby, I figure I'm worth the cost of even the most expensive blade I've yet to discover. Now the most expensive blade might not become my choice, but if I settle on something less expensive, it won't be based on price.
I do shave every day and i use a blade no more than twice, i feel they loose some value after that point and like you i am not willing to sacrifice anything to make it worth while but perhaps i was not really clear, I price aside, i like the Rapira better than the feathers or the PolSilver. As for the Aqua Velva... I don't think that one sounds like my style but i am gearing up to buy various flavors of Pinaud Clubman, they seem to be very popular again with the young shavers.
I like the smells of my soap, my balm, and most of all, my pomade so much that I typically don't wear aftershave. But when I do, it's genuine Aqua Velva to honor my dad or 4711 to honor my mom or Brut to honor Joe Namath.
Hi xnykid, what is it about the Rapira that sets them apart from the Polsilver for you? I found the Polsilver to be really comfortable for my skin, I'm on a sampler right now myself and def would like to see those in my next sampler provided there are benefits. Thanks
Now I'm going to seem really bizarre: After discovering tryablade.com and having the information readily available, I may try to make my blade choice based on country of origin.
OK, the PolSilver for me were sharp and that is good but not as sharp as the Feather's and the PolSilver's were more smooth than the Feathers IMHO. I always loved smooth so much that i am a Derby fan but I can't get the shave i need from Derby, not sharp enough for me but I love the smooth and recommend them to beginners my buddy loves them and uses them everyday. I was happy with PolSilvers and still am but here it is, the Rapira is smooth, very smooth but it has a very good sharpness too. for me a Feather is 9.2 sharp and 6 smooth, Rapira is 7.8 sharp and 8 smooth. very similar to the profile of a Pol but ...... let me put it this way...I went back and forth for a while Pol's and Sweds and after a while just found my self wanting to grab the Sweds on a regular basis. I still take out a Pol from time to time but they don't have the same smooth as the Sweds do for me. I am a daily shaver, i use an aggressive razor, R41 90% of the time, I never use a blade more than twice and i shave ATG every day. If i do it right the alcohol based aftershaves have a very cooling effect and if i got it wrong i know where and why and for the most part is is when I make to many passes to get it right, didn't stretch my skin enough or didn't go in the correct angle for that patch or just pushed to hard. I have also tried some of the other Rapera Blades, I gave the Lux version ten tries but they were not as good for me as the Swedish, not as smooth.
and i am thinking that i am going to ask my wife to load one of like 5 blades that i want to compare so I can try to do a more blind test. Perhaps i will knock that down to 3 blades,,, I can't remember five days ago any more.
Thanks for the reply I also toss my blades after 2 shaves that's what I liked about the pols the smoothness and also the sharpness but with your experience being so good with these I'm def looking for them in a sampler. Thanks again for the input. Happy shaves
Thanks for all of the replies everyone. I'm trying out the Lord Super chrome today for the first time. And with everyone else's suggestions I just ordered some more to try out. Personna Lab Blue Polsilver Super Iridium Rapira Platinum Lux Gillette Silver Blue Feather New Hi-Stainless Thanks for all of the input, it's good to be able to read other people's perspective and compare it to how well those blades work for me.
I like your choice for the sample pack. This was actually an order from try a blade as well as maggard razors and some others I have got over the last few months. I have a mustache composition book I take notes on to keep track of my good and not so good combinations. Sharks, Lords and Bens are not my favorites either. All made in Egypt, maybe same factory ?
I'm a minority when it comes to the Astras. They don't work well for me. Personna close but not bbs, last and last though. I really like the pols, if Rapira Swedes are similar I need to try them next.
