So I know someone mentioned checking the local drugstore, but does anyone have any blade selection info? I don't even know any brands of SE blades...
Not a huge selection of S/E blades, most are made by ASR corp. If you have a CVS nearby that would be your cheapest source for some stainless blades, Walgreens sells them too, but they cost more. Pella blades are known for being very sharp S/E blades, they are ASR made too, but available only online. Your best source would be either Bong here in the classifieds or BullGoose.
You can get some carbon steel blades, but alot of people have trouble with them rusting, but then again they are the blade of choice for some. And really, the ASR made blades work great, get the variety you need from the different S/E razors.
You know what would be smart? If forums like this were secretly run by razor manufacturers. What do we do all day? Convince each other to buy more shaving gear and/or sell shaving gear to each other. Its perfect low cost marketing. Sorry, marketing exam tomorrow, its on the mind. But seriously, I just need to stop asking questions. The forum is free, the answers aren't.
This website below has a good price and charged me only $5.00 shipping. Minimum 100. They come in a hard plastic box. They also have DE and injector blades: http://www.emsdiasum.com/microscopy/products/preparation/blades.aspx#71940 Look for: D. Single Edge, Gem "PTFE" Coated
If you want to go the drugstore route, here is Walgreens and here is CVS. Prices in your local store may vary.
Between the CVS and Walgreens (Personna) blades, in my experience the Walgreens SE blades are far superior. As noted the CVS blades are cheaper but any time I ever used them they had lots of quality issues. The shave was decent enough but the blades seemed like they almost immediately started to tarnish/rust. I'd be hard pressed to ever use CVS blades again.
I will be sure to check out walgreens when the time comes for the to buy a SE. They just built a new one here.
Really? Thats odd, the CVS blades I picked up were stainless and never rusted on me. I went through 2 packs before buying Pellas from Bong. The only ones I ever had rust were the carbon steel blades.
Alright, my previous post may seem one sided. To be fair I've used a Gem Micromatic and got extremely close shaves with it. I'm considering trying SE's again and do recommend them. The blade cost was the real drawback as I already own a large amount of various DE blades that work well from the 10-15 cent range per blade.
I didn't think it was one-sided. You listed pretty much the basic facts of the situation. The reason so many people don't try SEs are the things you listed. Sure the razors are inexpensive, but the blades are limited and not as cheap as some DE blades. And as much time as it takes some of us DE users to find a good blade, the limited SE blade selection deters people from trying. I have a bunch of SE razors downstairs, but I have never bought blades. Cause I don't wanna go out of my way to get them, and I don't want to pay what they cost. If the blade situation was different I'd probably be willing to try the SE.
Using Jedi mind trick... Try them you must... before judging them you do.... I will send you some Pella's to try..... Fuzzy
I haven't judged anything yet. If you want to send me blades, I will certainly try them out. But the cost of blades is also prohibitive. So, the shave would have to be world's above what my DE set-up can give.