I just got my blade sampler pack from westcoastshaving.com. Here are the blades I got: Feather New Hi-Stainless Platinum (10 blades) Crystal or "Israeli" (10 blades) Derby Extra (5 blades) Gillette Platinum (5 blades) DORCO Platinum (10 blades) I read that the feather is super sharp so I am guessing that the order of sampling would be reverse, trying the sharpest blades last: Dorco, Gillette Platinum, Derby, Crystal, Feather Did I get that right? I have some time - I am still stuck on choosing a brush.
My only real tweak would be swap the Crystals and the Gillettes in the marching order. Starting with Dorcos and ending with Feathers, though, is a good answer.
I concur with the previous post switch the Gillettes with the Crystals and you will have them in a good mild to sharp order. Good luck and do not be intimidated by the Feathers, they are a wonderfully smooth blade that just need a light touch.
Thanks for all this awesome advice. The place I bought the sampler from didn't get into that so this is really, really helpful. I've been pretty busy of late so I haven't been checking in but again this is great folks. I just got my brush from some recommendations in the newbie forum and I am ready to give it a go. I'll be reading the newbie advice again, watching mantic videos (again) and I'll start my innagural DE shave this weekend with the Dorkos. I've already read a bunch of posts about blade life so this n00b won't be asking that :smile:
Am I allowed go off topic just momentarily to say I love your avatar and username Doctor Who! I am a big big fan and especially of the 4th doc..
I would recommend using the feathers and gillettes last. Everything else is about the same. I dont find any of those others to be sharp.