How did you decide on your current blades?

[Kaeckerut]

This is something I've been wondering about and suspect I might have gone a bit crazy with testing different blades.

I'm currently still in my exploring phase. I've got 31 different in production blades and I've got 4 left to try. Then I'll likely do another round just to see how the favourites stack up and maybe try a few others in case there was duds.

How many blades did you go through before deciding what you would stock up on?
Do you stick to one type or rotate through a few?

Side question, what do you do with the remaining blades that you don't like? I'm thinking I might do a PIF of them at a future meet.
(Current PIF contenders are Treet, Rockwell and Crystal, would this be too mean? )

 

[Callum]

(Current PIF contenders are Treet, Rockwell and Crystal, would this be too mean? )

For the moment I think I have settled on Astras, but have most of the 100 other Blade’s still to try from a sampler pack.

I’m down to 1 Rockwell & have got to say they are tolerable, but I sometimes end up with a bit of shaving rash from them.

I’ve tried one Merkur blade & thought they were terrible at the time (but that may have had more to do with my technique as a newbie than the blades themselves).

Haven’t tried Treet or Crystal yet so can’t say if you will be subjecting people to unspeakable evils or not by PIFing those.

 

[Korbz]

This is something I've been wondering about and suspect I might have gone a bit crazy with testing different blades.

I'm currently still in my exploring phase. I've got 31 different in production blades and I've got 4 left to try. Then I'll likely do another round just to see how the favourites stack up and maybe try a few others in case there was duds.

How many blades did you go through before deciding what you would stock up on?
Do you stick to one type or rotate through a few?

Side question, what do you do with the remaining blades that you don't like? I'm thinking I might do a PIF of them at a future meet.
(Current PIF contenders are Treet, Rockwell and Crystal, would this be too mean? )

It’s funny how some razors like different blades. For example the Rockwell for me loves permasharp and brown polsilvers, however in the Rex I prefer Rapira Platinum lux. Then in the Timeless, astra greens work well, as does rapira chrome. Voskhod seems to go ok in most, but aren’t the best in any for me (great all round blade). Find your fave blade for your fave razor and stock up. Pick the best blade for each razor you own.

With the left overs, keep to try in new razor acquisitions. You never know when a derby premium or Bolzano might top the pack.

 

[Razor Burn]

This is something I've been wondering about and suspect I might have gone a bit crazy with testing different blades.

I'm currently still in my exploring phase. I've got 31 different in production blades and I've got 4 left to try. Then I'll likely do another round just to see how the favourites stack up and maybe try a few others in case there was duds.

How many blades did you go through before deciding what you would stock up on?
Do you stick to one type or rotate through a few?

Side question, what do you do with the remaining blades that you don't like? I'm thinking I might do a PIF of them at a future meet.
(Current PIF contenders are Treet, Rockwell and Crystal, would this be too mean? )

I've still got plenty of blades from my sampler pack that I'm yet to try, such as Feather, Kai, Treet... I like Astra, most Gillette's, oddly enough don't mind Merkur or Rockwell (have 100) but dislike all Wilkinson blades and Rapira Lux didn't work no matter the DE (SB, OC, Slant). Having tried the Nacet in my 6S I notice a distinct difference than say just using the Rockwell blade but I can tollerate the Rockwell blade for daily shaving.

 

[Razor Burn]

It’s funny how some razors like different blades. For example the Rockwell for me loves permasharp and brown polsilvers, however in the Rex I prefer Rapira Platinum lux. Then in the Timeless, astra greens work well, as does rapira chrome. Voskhod seems to go ok in most, but aren’t the best in any for me (great all round blade). Find your fave blade for your fave razor and stock up. Pick the best blade for each razor you own.

With the left overs, keep to try in new razor acquisitions. You never know when a derby premium or Bolzano might top the pack.

+1

 

[Mark1966]

Blade + Razor = Shave

So ...

Blade A + Razor B = Shave C
Blade B + Razor B = Shave D
Blade A + Razor A = Shave E
Blade A + Razor B = Shave F
Blade C + Razor A = Shave G
Blade C + Razor B = Shave H

etc etc

So don't always give up quickly on a 'bad' blade ...

 

[Kaeckerut]

Thanks for the responses. I'm actually shocked that you still like the Rockwells @Razor Burn, but I guess that's just more evidence of the YMMV part of shaving. Crystal is another one that I hear good things about, but they don't agree with me.

@Korbz, you make a good point. (Edit: Also @Mark1966 )
Has anyone had bad blades jump to being excellent with a razor change? Or if it doesn't work in one it likely won't work in others, similar to the Plat Lux's with @Razor Burn?

Also,
https://www.refinedshave.com/treet-black-beauty-razor-blade-review/

 

[58RW]

Hit & Miss till finally came across the Gillette Stainless Steel (Vintage) & bingo at this stage home run every shave

 

[Mark1966]

...
Has anyone had bad blades jump to being excellent with a razor change?

I can't recall BUT I've had razors I was not impressed with / getting to grips with come to life with a different razor

Or if it doesn't work in one it likely won't work in others, similar to the Plat Lux's with @Razor Burn?

I think some certainly are duds (thinking Merkur) but others I generally find can be OK.

Of course the other question is which number shave do particular blades provide peak performance at ...

 

[Kaeckerut]

Of course the other question is which number shave do particular blades provide peak performance at ...

Hahaha, I was original going to reply to your other post with this 'correction' because surely that's the only way to truly compare...
Well until I invest in tools to measure blade wear per shave, so I can create an average and simulate it.

 

[TomG]

Blade + Razor = Shave

So ...

Blade A + Razor B = Shave C
Blade B + Razor B = Shave D
Blade A + Razor A = Shave E
Blade A + Razor B = Shave F
Blade C + Razor A = Shave G
Blade C + Razor B = Shave H

etc etc

So don't always give up quickly on a 'bad' blade ...

Agent 66 has spoken the truth as always...............

 

[Mark1966]

Agent 66 has spoken the truth as always...............

Well partly, I was trying to keep it simple. The full @alfredus approved (TM) version is something like

Soap + Brush = Lather
Blade + Razor + Lather = Shave

The full @todras approved (TM) version is something like

A +B + C + D + E + F+ G + H + I + J + K + L + M +N = Fragrance
Soap + Brush = Lather
Blade + Razor + Lather + Fragrance = Shave

The full @UKSteve approved (TM) version is something like

A +B + C + D + E + F+ G + H + I + J + K + L + M +N = Fragrance
Soap + Brush = Lather
Blade + Razor + Lather + Fragrance + Song = Shave

So the combinations become mind blowing!

 

[beerhog]

I purchased as many blades as I could and found what I liked best and have stuck to it.as others have already said the razor can change the blades characteristics.in my slant razor I found Chinese wilkies to be the best by far but in any other razor they are truly astonishingly awful.

 

[todras]

Feather.

 

[Timmy Dee]

Practice, practice, practice. I've tried plenty of blades over the years, and there are some razors (ball end techs, par example) that are just too mild even with a very sharp blade in there.
Unfortunately there's no one blade that's ideal in all razors, and if a person likes to rotate amongst a large number of razors, they might need to start writing down their preferred combos.
Since I really only rotate between my Futur, Slanthammer and Fatip Grande (with a few recent uses of the Yaqi DOC), I find that the Personna IPs are a steady go-to blade.

Having said all that, in their closing down sale I picked up a very mild DE from Alenka & Sam's Shave Shack.
It's extremely mild with a Red IP - I haven't so much as nicked myself once, but it just doesn't give as close a shave as I like with my usual Futur on #4.
This trial and error thing is exactly how to find a great shave; tomorrow I will throw a 7 O'clock in there and see how it shaves. If I can get a closer shave with still no irritation or cuts, I may have found the dream setup.

 

[LukehGee]

Here's a question, how many goes to you give a blade that gives you a less then decent shave on its first run.

Dump it after the first shave, or does it get a few chances?

I have been giving them atleast 2 hits before I take it out.

In my limited experience so far, Polsilvers in the 6S and the EJ DE89 are my favourites. The Perma sharp in the 6S was good too.

Nacet in the EJ DE89 I did not like but was OK in the 6S on plate 4. Was not a fan of the Gillette silver blues or the 7 o'clocks in the 6S. The Voshods went ok in both but were a little rough. Oh and the wilkinson swords I remember I thought were ok in the EJ DE89.

 

[Korbz]

Here's a question, how many goes to you give a blade that gives you a less then decent shave on its first run.

Depends on what you mean. If we're talking literally (e.g. same blade) generally I stop after the 2nd shave. Example for me was the Derby Premium, which I felt was at it's best from shaves 2 through to 5, and the first was a little meh.

If you're talking more generally (e.g. used Derby a few different times and didn't like them in any), I have a simple philosophy. Life's too short for bad shaves. Too many good blades out there that work from the get-go. That's why I'll always use Brown Polsi or Permasharp with a new razor (as I know how they perform as a benchmark and can go sharper or smoother).

 

[Kaeckerut]

Here's a question, how many goes to you give a blade that gives you a less then decent shave on its first run.

If I can complete the first shave I will try to use it for the remainder of the week. If it's bad that I can't do that, then it goes into the blade bank.

As long as the first shave is average or better, I'll be happy to continue using it until it drops below average. I'm currently limiting myself to a week of shaves per razor so I can compare more frequently. I might do longevity tests later, but if it does 6 shaves (what I do a week currently for testing) I'm happy.

 

[fruityasu]

I began my Wet Shaving life with a sample pack of various blades from Men's Biz and by the end of it all have settled on two blades as they work well for me in the razors I use....
Feather and Personna Red....

 

[Kaeckerut]

Thanks for all the replies

I finished my first round of blade testing last week and I decided I'd do another round with all of them again, but using the Timeless Bronze OC. My plan is to start with the ones I disliked with the R41 and that way I can hopefully knock them out. I had a few lined up, first being Treet, with some additional ones I suspected I'd quickly fall on to as the Treet couldn't even shave my beard last time. This time I actually managed to complete a full three pass shave. I suspect the added razor weight helped, and possibly, the first one was a dud (it was that bad).

Round two should be interesting and I guess I should hang on to my blades until that is done.