I know, I know...YMMV. But I'm winding down on a sampler pack (at least the blades I want to continue dragging across my face), and these weren't included. My first impulse is to grab the grandiose box o'Astras, but these two brands intrigue me. So I'm going to put the blades I've used so far in order of preference best to last; and if a few of you could give a rough idea where Bluebird and Shark Super Stainless fit in that crazy world, I'd appreciate it. Astra Derby Wilkinson Classic Red Personnas Dorco 301 American Personnas (Wally World, Rite Aid, Walgreen Wonders) 7 a.m. Sharp Wilkinson and Derby are close to each other. A little lower, Dorco 301's and Red Personnas are close for the first two shaves; then Dorcos hit the bottle and get nasty. The fact that 7 a.m. has 4 stars and Sharp has 3.5 in the review section makes me wonder if hacksaw blades would get 3 stars. I dislike them that much. I know I should hunt for a sampler that has both brands, but the ones I've seen have a gazillion other brands as well, and I just want to go for some consistency for a while. Well, at least with blades.
I just tried some sharks and was unimpressed. They seemed decent for the first shave, but went south after that. Subsequent shaves, for me at least,were like shaving with a can lid.
I forgot to mention. I recently got some Astras as part of a give-away. They are very nice. I want to try them for a couple of weeks straight. As you can tell, blades, like everything else with this hobby, are very subjective. I wouldn't worry too much about reviews or what any of us say, for that matter. Just try a bunch, like you're doing, and go with what works best for you. Sample packs are wonderful. Now if they only had them for brushes and razors and ...
I have tried Bluebirds, and they are one of my favorite blades. I just received a order of 50 yesterday. I have tried the Shark Super Chromes, and found them to be pretty much awful. I presently have 7 Shark Super Stainless to work through. There are a few ebay vendors who stock both (ntguy), and also sell blade samplers. My blade order yesterday came from NTGUY, who was a pleasure to deal with; shipping maybe a little slow, however, as he sometimes ships out of Canada.
ARGHHH! :angry032 :happy102 :happy102 LOL my fault for asking that subjective a question. DesertTime, since you like Astras, I'm guessing your skin is sort of, kind of similar to mine. Michiganlover, thanks for the heads-up on NTGUY. I've seen his store, and was wondering about how they are as a vendor. I heard the Bluebirds are pretty sharp, and that's what I'm going for, so I might take a chance and get a 25'er and see how it goes.
Astras are a hard blade to beat in both performance and price. The Shark blades are like soup can pop top lids to shave with IMO. The Bluebirds I have never used.
Another contradictory opinon to confuse you, but Sharks are my second favorite so far, behind only Feathers, and much less expensive. Of the others on your list, Derby, Red Personna, and Dorco were all okay for me, but nothing special. I have samples of Astra and Blue Bird, but haven't tried them yet.
My main blade is Derby. Been using them for over a year and they do the job for me. But my beard isn't especially heavy. My son, who has a much heavier beard, prefers Feathers. I don't really want to like the Astras because I still have about a years worth of Derbys left. But they are kind of sweet IMO. Again, this is all very subjective. You'll find the right one for you.
Anyone with a few lonely sharks taking up space, I'll take them. Yes fishgutmartyr, maybe you have notice there are as many opinions as there are products, plus a few more.
I don't like Sharks that much, they're kind of inconsistent. Red Personnas are my favorite and I can get 5 very good shaves from them.
I love Astras, and get the best shaves from them. But seeing those other two flying around (HAH! Bluebirds flying around! :ashamed001), I just was afraid they might be the heavenly ones. Azshaver, I saw this coming. It was still funny to see, though.
Red Personna's used to be my go to razor blade. Now its Shark blades. For me the shark is very consistent, smooth and sharp. I'm coming close to the end of my 100 blade order. I will order another 100 coming up soon. I won't even consider another blade.
I like sharks but don't love them. They are a twinge sharper and rougher than an astra. Astra is my favorite "value" blade, but I find yellow gilettes to be smoother and longer lasting, making them my overall favorite blade to date ( though I really must try irridiums).
I broke down and got NTGuys 100 blade sampler. It had a bunch of blades I haven't tried yet and want to (Feathers, Kais, Lords, etc.), so why not? I've been commenting on the blades I have tried in this thread, doing a haphazard ranking of the blades I try with occasional comments. I'll probably add the lists to my medicine cabinet eventually. Honestly, I was kind of surprised no one reviewed the two I originally posted about on this site yet; especially when so many blades I've never heard of/seen on the internet have been reviewed.
