+1 They are much sharper than personas. Give them a try. You'll love them. Just keep playing with your angle and dont use any pressure, zeroooo. I hold the razor between my thumb and pointer with a very light touch and just let it drag along my face. The weight of the razor head will take it all off.
I don't think it's blade sharpness that's the issue as I now know I can use Feathers without problems. They are supposedly the sharpest blades made. However, my best shaves still come from the Personna Reds. Don't ask me why because I can't explain it.
I've a pretty tough beard (it lasted 3.5 rounds with Chuck Norris' beard - twice!), and the Red Personnas are my best blade, followed veeeeeeeery closely by the Astra Superior, and after some more shaves, could be overtaken by the 7 o'clock black (though I've yet tried the yellows or greens), but....... yep, that's it...I can't use the Red Personna in my lighter razors, it's best in my 38C, Super Adjustables or Fatboy, and surprisingly good in my Krona, but regular superspeeds just okay ehhhh, last time I tried a Merkur, fresh from the pack, using the utmost of care, technique honed from over a years practice, my best prep, etc....still looked like a drunken Freddy Kreuger tried to play Edward Scissorhands the Sweeney Todd barber with a rabid crazy drunk badger in his pants, blindfolded.... okay, not that bad, but still my worst results...bad, bad blade for me, Dorcos just barely above it, and rusty boat propellor several steps above it
Interesting discussion. There could very well be something to this notion that skill level determines which blade one should be using. After my initial sample pack test I settled on the Red IP's and thought they were the cat's meow. However as time went by they seemed to be less and less effective. About a month ago I went in search of a new blade and tried numerous samples mailed to me by the kind folks here. At this moment in time I have settled on the 7'o blacks which are supposed to be some of the sharper blades out there. After a month of testing out the sharper blades I reverted back to an IP the other day. Horrid shave. Pulled, tugged, skipped, very rough...not a pleasant experience at all. And they used to be MY blade. The only thing that's changed in the equation is my skill level. Unfortunately now I have 30 packs of IP's sitting around! I'll PIF them off once the blacks come in.
Because of the reputation of the yellow 7 o'clocks, yours has got to be some kind of a manufacturing snafu. That is disappointing, to say the least.
I can use any brand of blade with one exception--Feathers. My beard is very, very heavy, but I have skin that is terribly freagile, so that any mistake I make with other blades might do some damage, but I literally fear for my life with a Feather. Last year, I was just shaving normally, and paying close attention, and I had a Feather in my Parker 22R, and the next thing I saw, blood was pouring out of my chin, neck, and both cheeks, and I was in intense pain, and I got nauseous. This brand will never be used by me ever again.
Yikes! I haven't even had that sort of experience with a straight, that must have been really scary. Now I'm actually starting to get a little afraid of shaving!
I sliced a nice piece of my chin off with a feather once. In an HD when my girlfriend was rushing me. Interesting experience. Good thing I had styptic. Lots of it. Now I pay attention. And when I dont I wind up nicking where my notril meets my face. It bleeds forever. I need to pick up some more styptic for occasions like this.
