Sampler Packs versus Honing One's Technique: Pros and Cons

This sums up my thoughts on the matter pretty well. I don't think you can really tell whether or not a blade is better or worse until you have the technique worked out. "Soft hands and ride the edge by feel" is an excellent way to describe how it should work.

 

But, no matter your technique, your tools WILL make a difference. A "Little Giant" razor blade plane is a terrible choice for oak, but would work very well in balsa and ok in light pine or poplar - and lets you reuse those old razor blades!

I know there are some here that keep reiterating the constant refrain that it's all technique, and I'll counter with the refrain that if tools were all the same, people would only buy at Harbor Freight, and Makita and DeWalt would be out of business.

 

Oh trust me, you can tell a Merkur blade from a sharp blade. Likewise, the Van Der Hagen blades are terribly dull. There is much pulling and tugging. If you don't believe me, pop a VDH blade in your razor after plopping down 3.50-5 bucks for a tuck of five into your favorite razor and give it a go. Maybe you'll have the same opinion, but somehow I doubt it.

 

Hehe. I learned on Schick blades, mostly, and ended up spending .. decades? a long time.. using dollar store Dorco, because I wasn't willing to drop $10 on 5 blades from the drug store. I can shave with all sorts of crap - with a DE. Haven't found a DE I couldn't shave with, but one of them came REALLY close, and several I'll never try it again.

 

Ever have a razor that you just did not like? I have had a couple. One example is the MMOC. Man I figured it would never work for me. Too harsh etc. well time went by and along the way I started shaving with straight razors. I am not an expert SR shaver but I get by. And I'm not a daily SR shaver. From doing this I learned way better edge control simply because a careless mistake with a SR is something we don't want to experience if at all possible. From that point forward all my shaves with all of my razors were dramatically improved. Back to the MMOC I now really enjoy using it and get fantastic shaves from it. To sum up my rambling it really is "technique trumps tools " A good razor a decent blade and good prep is all you need. The rest is you.

 

I agree that some blades are crap but the popular brands are all pretty good.

 

Oooohhh, yes. Now, to be fair, they were the rock bottom Chinese made TTO knockoffs. I think I'll blame the tools in this case.

 

Try a 100 year old hollow ground blade hand sharpened on a rock in a 100 year old razor. Properly done it works very well.

 

I think I need a donut.....

 

Right - but it was probably made by someone who cared.

 

You deserve one

 

I'll allow that some crap razors are out there.

 

Oh definitely. I'm pretty sure any blade produced at the famous St. Petersburg factory will give you an excellent shave simply because the Q/C there is outstanding. Likewise, Feather's surgical grade steel just blows away a lot of shavers for how sharp and long-lasting they are. Those Feathers will be the last in my sampler that I try, after the Silver Blues and the PolSilvers. And then I still have 96 Astra SPs to go through, ha ha!

 

I agree with your take and I'll add that the only universal truth seems to be "your mileage may vary." Many people will agree that technique trumps tools but there are still quite a few who might think otherwise, me being one.

As you mentioned, everyone has different skin and different hair. Maybe Dorco works for 90% of people but there is still a group for whom they pale in comparison to other blades. I will always have room for improvement but I'm pretty confident in my technique at this point. However, I still wouldn't touch certain blades because they simply don't work well for me and they aren't worth the hassle.

This is ties into why I switched to safety razors in the first place. Sure, those 500-blade cartridges might have given me great shaves if I had better technique but safety razors ended up giving me more comfortable shaves. When I have to temporarily switch back to carts for whatever reason like when I'm traveling, I still get nicks and ingrown hairs that I pretty much never get with safety razors.

 

Blades are not that different...beards are not that different...how long have you been in this game? There really are not that many variables at all. If a person learns how to shave and developes good technique they can lose the training wheels.

 

I totally did this backwards then forwards. I got a sample pack went to work tearing up my face found a few blades I liked, mostly sharper blades Feathers, Bic Chrome,Shark Stainless, Gillette Platinum and stuck with one Shark Stainless for the price. I worked a rule for a month after that then tried some more blades. I definitely realized some subtle differences but I also figured out how to work with them. I can get a decent shave from almost any blade now the thing is it takes more work then I’m willing to do. I really don’t like smoother blades like Derby’s Because I have thick facial hair and it takes more passes to use a full blade. Even though it’s too late long story short technique trumps tools but tools matter.


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I would add a second (or more) to this. I used to think certain blades were far superior. I actually hated Astra the first few times I tried them. A while back I swapped between blades as much as I could just to see if I could find some that were better than others. The results were that most blades were about the same. Are there some small differences, perhaps, but I am able to get a great, comfortable shave from any I have ever tried. My early struggles with a few blades was my lack of technique. I could understand that some Chinese or Indian blades may have QC issues, and I am not necessarily talking about these. But, IMO, the differences in a reputable blades is small, especially when compared to technique.

 

What about when comparing very different blades like a Derby to a Feather or a Shark Crome to a GSB. While I agree any of these can provide a good shave I’m pretty sure I could tell the difference blind folded. I’m only talking about very different sides of the spectrum from dull to sharp anything in the middle I doubt I could really tell.


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I can definitely tell the difference between a Dorco (Dollar General/Family Dollar), an Astra, and a Derby.