Why are Derby Blades Highly Regarded?

As a newbie with a merkur slant, I have sampled the merkur, derby, 7am and feather blades.

Without question the feather shaves closest and requires less passes. 7am cuts almost as close but leaves my face feeling softer, cleaner and refreshed.

For some reason the derby blades require more passes to achieve a good de shave. The message boards worship derby blades (maybe second only to the well deserved feather).

Why all the love? Why not more love for the 7am blades?

Your comments please?

 

Derbys work for some and not for others. Most people have no problems with Derbys. Me they chewed my face up. So did Crystals and Merkurs. Personna reds are the only ones that I have found that do not eat me up. I recently tried Wilkinsons Sword White, very sharp, but chewed me up.

You can get the Derbys cheap. I too was mystified by the love for a blade that to me was no good.

If 7ams work for you, great, but do not forget to experiment with others if you can.

 

I have a theory.

Derby blades were 1 out of about 5 blade types that were heavily discussed until Razor and Brush came out with their sample packs. Even though that huge sample pack brought some obscure blades into the fore front, they still don't have the reputation that brands like Derby, Feather, and Crystals have.

Personllay, I love Derby's I use them for every shave and have for about 6 months. I get great two pass shaves (wtg, atg) and touch up.

 

Plan to also sample Dorco and Iridium. Any others you suggest with the merkur slant?

 

I love irridiums. Astra superiors are also great. Treets arent the greatest blade in terms of shaves, but theyre pretty good, and it doesnt get much better than a dollar for a ten pack.


Also, I thought most of the "popular" blades were pretty bad, including derbys.

 

I love Derby because they work best for me. I've tried a lot and I haven't found any blades that I like better. I suppose Feather give me a closer shave, but I don't like the random nicking thing.

7am are good- but for me they just aren't as good as Derby. Same is true for many other blades I've tried. I have only found two brands I would label as bad- and some folks absolutely love those blades.

This is another good illustration of YMMV.

 

Hi there,
The dorco Platinum 301 has been the one with the better reviews, so keep that in mind. It's a different grind than the 300, from what I've seen and read.
I will be forever grateful to Giovanni for first mentioning the Iridium blades months ago, and how much he enjoyed em. They've taken the place of my Swedes. Easily as sharp as the Gillette, but much more forgiving than a feather (which is my other blade of choice). I alternate between em, using my fatboy.
Hope that helps,
Martin

 

Derby, Feather, Crystal and Sharp are the only blades I have tried. For me, they are the same except that Feathers can be hazardous on day one. After that, the same as the others. Sharps last only about 3, maybe 4 days; the others, a week or so. Otherwise, same close, irritation-free shave, same number of passes - regardless of which blade.

I didn't feel that way before I finally figured out HOW TO SHAVE with a DE. But once I had that down, I found that the choice of blade made little difference.

 

And I thank him for that.

Sharps = :love055

 

The Derbys were an average blade for me as well. To me they were only marginally better than Merkur. The Feathers are frankly too sharp. The reason the 7am blades don't get "more love" is quite frankly due to the inconsistency in their quality. You can get two or three good ones in a row but man when you hit a bad one it is BAD indeed.

For me when it comes to DE blades nothing beats a Swede. But since I've gone SE lately I haven't even been using very many of those.

 

I'd say its a combination of: 1)good price 2)easy to get (online) 3)works well for a lot of people.

 

A man after my own heart. Red Personnas are the only blades that give me two, maybe three good shaves. For all others it was one and out, to include the ever popular Derbys and even Crystals which get a lot of good press. In the end this is definitely a "to each his own" issue. Find what works for you and stick with it.

 

+1. 7am's are great when they're good- but I've noticed a tremendous variation in quality, from good to average and down to awful.

 

Hmm..I've tried the Merkurs, Swedish Gillettes, the Crystal's and the Derby's. I have some feathers but have yet to try them. The Merkurs are too dull for me, too much pulling and I have to make too many passes, causing irritation.

The last time I shaved with a crystal, the results were average.

The Derby's have been the consistent performer for me, not so sharp that I'll rip my face up, but sharp enough to give me a consistently good shaving experience.

The Swede's (I believe these are the Gillette's that come in the plastic pack) are about on par with the Derby's for me. I still have a couple pack's of these wonderful blades. My reasoning for not using them is: They are more expensive than the Derby's and don't really perform any better, for me; just as good, but not noticeably better..

I've yet to try the 7am's.

Steve

 

I started out with Derbys. I would have to say that they have the reputation that they do because:
1. They are much better than the drugstore Personnas
2. They are sharp (not Feather sharp, mind you, but much better than a cartridge or the drugstore Personnas)
3. They are very mild and forgiving (leading to their reputation as a great noobie razor blade)

However, after going to a Feather, I can see the Derbys seeming very unimopressive, especially in a slant. A Feather in a slant is probaby as close to a straight as you can get in a DE (too close for me, I have not entered the slant world and don't know that I will)

I have some Iridiums and Polsilvers on their way from England. I am also told the 7 o'clock SharpEdge are a great shaver, almost on the order of a Feather. I sometimes use 7 o'clock SuperStainless, but the Feather is still King.

 

Hi Steve,
Well, by now you certainly have a good reference point for what you want in a blade. Man.......that experience is so important to this 'hobby', and now it's just a question of finding what blade(s) satisfies your needs. The main thing (as for us all) is that now you know WHAT to look for.
Steve? Try that feather.....just for the heck of it. Those are a lot different from the others you've used, and you just might like em. They are not like any of the other 20-25 blades I've tried. Hehe, of course you may hate em, but you already have some handy.
Hope that helps,
Martin

 

CONSISTENT, that's the reason. If you use a lot of different razors in your rotation, or you only use one razor, the blades are consistent in quality. After a while you know what you are shaving with. I enjoy finding, buying, cleaning, and Shaving with my razors. The first time I shave with a new (old) razor I use a Derby. The hunt for new razors is a lot of fun. Using the razors you find should not result in a trip to the doctor, as such a lot of folks think a lot of Derby blades. For me they always deliver a damn fine shave (DFS) and have the potential to deliver a BBS shave if I do everything right.

 

I'm one of those that doesn't agree with Derby's. So far my favourites are IP's, a great allrounder, works in most razors I keep in my rotation. But every now and then I go out on a limb and use Feathers in my Futur