Hmmmmm, I Can Certainly Tell The Difference Between A Gillette Wilkinson Sword And A Feather Blade..... Ive been Wet Shaving For A Number Of Years And Have Pretty Good Technique. One Pass, With The Grain,With A Feather Gets Closer Than A Wilkinson Sword On My Face. I Use A Rockwell Razor Plate 3 Every Other Day ......... I Can Definitely tell the Difference When I Change Blades.... Wilkinson Sword Is Mild Compared to a Middle Of The Road Astra Green... A Feather Blade to My Skin is more Aggressive/Efficient ... To Each His Own My Brotha's... Not Sure If There Is A Right Answer. Everybody's Man Scape Is Different.. Yall Be Kool Though.... Its Just Wet Shaving....
Haha fair point mate. All I'm trying to say is maybe feathers are sharper than wilkies. I wouldn't know - haven't tried feathers yet. But I've tried lots of others and Wilkinson Sword blades do the job. I say the job, because they all do the same thing at the end of the day. If Feathers work for someone in their Tech, but they feel too sharp/ harsh in an R41, yeah, I get that. But the opposite argument is ridiculous... "Dorco blades aren't sharp enough. They give me ingrown hairs when I use them in my tech. But if I use one in my R41 they're great" Does the razor handle somehow make them sharper or remove the deficiencies? No. They're still rubbish. If it was them giving you ingrown hairs, you would still get them. Maybe it's your technique with a Tech. So then people appear on the forum and write, "Dorco blades are awful in a mild razor, but can be a excellent choice in something more aggressive." That's wrong. The phrase "I don't like aggressive razors paired with very sharp blades" is more neutral and suggests it's a personal preference, rather than blaming the razors. But even then when aimed at newbies it perpetuates the misconception that they could just be using a blade that "doesn't suit their skin" and encourages them to change blades or razor instead of putting in some practice. And don't even get me started on the people who seem to think it's actually the razor handle which is making the difference. "I get good shaves with an R41 but can't with my Tech. It's too mild and just doesn't get me BBS".
I Get It..... When It Comes To Newbies It Can Be A Bit Confusing.. Shave On My People.. Shave On. Thanks For Sharing...
Maybe it's the language people use... this is a pretty good example. If both blades were in contact with the skin, they can't shave any closer. What you might be suggesting is that the feather will leave less hairs. It catches and cuts more. But not closer. If the feather is cutting the hairs closer and the Wilkie is cutting higher, away from the follicle, you need to alter your angle so the blade is touching the skin. Job done.
Getting ingrown hairs , at least for me is the result of shaving against the grain. Men with curly hair are more prone to them. Irritation however can definitely happen from a Tech if one keeps going over the same spot. A good lather imo, is the most important, because if your lather is off, your going to pay for it. I still think some blades are better suited for other razors. Different gaps and different angles. I love Feathers in my Tech or Krona btw. Sure a milder razor can get you bbs, it just takes more passes. However dud our fathers and grandfathers really do multiple passes? Idk, but I doubt it. That's why cartridges were invented, so they could get a closer shave. Maybe some did, but who knows.
Really, cartridges were invented to push people into buying product. The quality of the shave had little if anything to do with it. Just like Gillette has done in the past, when patents run out or competition caught up, roll out a design change to force people to upgrade blades. The New was nothing more than a way to patent a new blade design. Cartridges were the natural progression of this. Build a patented design, market it as better than what was in existence previously, and get people to buy more expensive products.
I would agree that it can get confusing to newbies, but I think that all these blade recommendations, especially recommendations for different blades in different razors just adds to the confusion. In reality, picking a quality blade and razor and sticking with that same set up for a month or two is the best method to progress past a newbie stage. I am speaking as someone who didn't necessarily listen to all of the advice offered and would say I was fully stuck in the newbie stage for close to a year of wet shaving.
Agreed , Different Beards/Hair Types Can Require Different Applications... Thanks for your Efforts Sir
All along the blades and razors are more or less the same, yea, maybe. Although one could say the same about the automobile you drive too. When your just learning those little differences seem to be bigger than after you get a grip on keeping it on the road. As you get older we seem to like one over another because of personal experience, body type, and ability. I see razors about the same way more or less. I like my small 4 door for work and back, moving the grand kids, going to the store and such. To me, my wife's SUV has a terrible ride but she loves it. Now when I am in my truck, well, you know. They all have 4 wheels, 4 doors, an engine, etc.... more or less drive one drive em all. Unless you have never driven on the road before. Then what one would be easier to learn to drive in? Some would say 4 door car, but it's a stick shift. Oh then the truck, but its a full quad cab with an 8 foot bed. Then the SUV, but its very very unforgiving if you take a corner wrong. Well?? tp
You pick one and learn. Funny you mention learning to drive. First comparing cars and trucks and suvs to razors really is not it. Razors have much less differences. A blade and a handle. Pretty much everything else is not much different. Also I always say changing through blades when learning is like changing through tires when learning to drive. Why? Your not gonna know if one is better then the other. Pick one...learn the skill set. Then pick favorites. I know I have mine.
CORRECT! But most all have had to learn to drive at some point in time. So I used that as an example. "Pick one...learn the skill set". I will say like cars there are razors that are easier to learn with compared to some others. The guys that have been doing it for years may have forgotten what it was like way back at the starting point for them. So for them a razor is a razor is a razor, with a blade. Not so much for us new guys. If I started out in my teens, I would wonder what all the hub bub was all about. I didn't use a real razor until half way through my 50s. Almost seems wrong it took that long. I would have had my favorite chosen decades ago, but I'm an old man learning a teenage skill. With everthing any more it takes longer to learn any thing new. Next up sky diving... No, not really. Thank you. tp
Personally, I've felt that the other force driving shaving "innovation" has been the idea of improving perceived results regardless of skill or the lack thereof. This goes all the way back to the idea of a "safety" razor in the first place. Then KCG came along with the idea of not needing to strop or hone the blade. By the 1920s and 30s, blade handling starts to become a big issue giving us Col. Schick's Magazine Razor and TTO razors from Gillette and Gem. Gillette continues this trend with the SuperSpeed and SpeedPak blade dispenser. By the 1950s, we get acknowledgement that not all men's beards are alike, resulting in the Light/Regular/Heavy triad of Superspeeds and, ultimately, the Adjustable razors. Cartridges ostensibly seem to address two issues: providing even closer shaves through the use of multiple blade edges and, as a byproduct of construction, making blade handling "safer". Pivots and lube strips further address user faults in angle and lathering.
derby blades don t work for me, tried them as a newbie and they pulled and tugged. 2 years in i get great shaves from all my razors with my usual favorite blades. tried derby again recently- pulled and tugged straight out of the box.
my tech razors shave a little differently than my aristocrats, but with riding the cap and using good prep, technique and practice they all give the same result, a great shave. i use the same blades in all of them...
I prefer to use something with a few less variables. Like a basketball. Yeah, you can get some with different groove patterns and made of different materials, but go and watch a kids coaching session ( or basketball training at any level for that matter) and you'll see the same thing. Kid shoots, and misses. No one, ever, said "you should try the new Spalding ball. It's groove patterns may suit you better". I have found some balls that did help with handling, and shooting. But no one gives them to newbies to learn. You missed because you haven't had enough practice to be successful yet. You're expected to miss. It's not the shoes... Shoot a thousand a day. Practice hitting them, not missing them. Start close and move away. Keep your elbow in etc Put in some practice and that ball will go in when it matters.