For tonight's shave I decide to go with a wildcard. I have a jar in my den where I keep all the odds n' ends when it comes to blades. The ones you get for free with purchase, or get passed along in a trade or whatever. I've got a couple of days growth, and while I'd normally use an OC with a Voskhod, I figured it was Saturday night, so let's party. I grabbed my underused '62 Gillete SS and pulled out a mystery blade from the aforementioned jar. It had Chinese characters all over the pink wrapper. I unwrap it and it's a Ri Mei Platinum. Lather up some TOBS sandalwood, and away I go... ...on a nightmare journey of the worst shave ever. Okay, that's being overdramatic. No cuts or weepers, but after the first pass of constant tugging, a second pass with less tugging, and a third pass that burned, I ended up with what can only be described as the shave of a mad man. Some parts of my face are BBS. Some feel like they need at least 2 more passes. Most parts are somewhere in between and the whole area feels badly scraped. Not sure what I ordered to get thet Ri Mei torture device, probably a cheap Chinese 3 piece. It tugged so much on the first pass that I actually almost tossed it right then and there and put in something better, but in the interest of shavitude I kept a stiff upper lip and trudged on.
Of the dozen or so blades I've used over the years, by far the worst blade I have ever used was a Zorrik. I've had multiples of those that had sections of the blade that weren't sharp and left strips of uncut hair. I've had a couple Derbys do that too but those were pretty rare. I'm getting to the point where if the blade doesn't feel right after a couple passes I'll chuck it. In the past I would attempt to deal with it but a horrible shave hurts longer than the minute it takes to swap out a blade.
You are tougher than I, Shaverman. I'm always willing to try a new blade, but I'm not willing to suffer for more than 1 pass.
I have not had a good derby blade yet. And I agree if the blade is not good why suffer through a shave. That is why I stopped using cartridge razors
That's the spirit. The advancement of shaving science is more important than a little irritation. If there were a Nobel Prize for shaving you would be in the running sir. Good job.
