Blade preferences changing over time

Grishnak

Forum GOD!
According to Connaught, all of the blades made by Lord and Treet are PTFE coated.

I’ve ordered a Lord sample pack and some Trig blades. That should be a good start.

I’ve just realised that Nacet and GSB blades are also PTFE coated as well. I didn’t get on with them either, so it may not necessarily be the coating itself that makes the Voskhods and Sputniks so smooth.


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@ajc347
Our experience is very similar.
Nacet and Gillette Silver Blue are also on my definite no list.

@halvor do you think the “less of a definite no” is due to technique improvement?
 

Wayne

Forum Sod
I used to adore the Voskhod blades but now I only have 420 blades to my name. 200 Shark and 200 7oclock yellows and a few feathers. I don’t know why I fell out of love with my Russian blades but I have piffed them all. I still have a couple of gsb’s somewhere but I’m more than happy with my two faves now.
 

Grishnak

Forum GOD!
I used to adore the Voskhod blades but now I only have 420 blades to my name. 200 Shark and 200 7oclock yellows and a few feathers. I don’t know why I fell out of love with my Russian blades but I have piffed them all. I still have a couple of gsb’s somewhere but I’m more than happy with my two faves now.
Strangely (well, it’s a new experience for me) I used a Gillette 7o/clock sharp edge for the first time a few days ago.
I had an awful shave, very sore, lots of dried blood spots the next day that were not apparent at the time.
Popped the blade in my old razor yesterday for a second try and had a great shave.
I’ve never experienced such a change between two razors.
 
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NRG

Forum GOD!
When I had mild razors in rotation, I changed my 16- year favorite blades "Sputnik" to more sharp Feathers and Personna Lab, but "Sputnik" is still as good for my vintages FatBoy and Slim and more aggressive razors.
 

celestino

Forum GOD!
I’ve been in this game for nearly four years, but cannot discern any movement in blade preference. I quickly found Polsilvers back then, and they’re still my go-tos along with, now, Wizamet (for all practical purposes the same blades it seems). Plus Nacets, which are less smooth but somehow more durable or ‘solid’.

Voskhods: tried them back when — definite no. Tried them last year — less of a definite no.
I haven't found these two blades to be the same, at all. I much prefer the Wizamet ones as they are much smoother, for me and I have been using them for the past seven years, exclusively, seeing how sharp, smooth and long-lasting they are. Furthermore, I have such a large supply that I won't need to buy any more blades for the next three lifetimes. . :)
 

ajc347

Forum GOD!
I’ll give Sputnik a try and if you are correct (in my case/face) I may join you on that search.
I’ve tried the following PTFE coated blades over the last few days:

Lord Super Chrome
Lord Platinum Class
Lord Stainless Classic
Shark Super Chrome
Shark Stainless
Asco
Big Ben
Super Star
Gillette 7 O’Clock Permasharp
Gillette 7 O’Clock Black
Trig
Derby Premium

They all felt a bit rough to me apart from the Lord Stainless Classic which was by far the stand out blade. It felt as smooth as a Polsilver and has become the Lord blade against which I’ve judged the others.

The Platinum Class takes second spot followed by the Big Ben and Asco blades. I didn’t care much for the others though.

Next on the list to try are:

Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Stainless
Dorco Titan
Gillette Platinum
Gillette Super Stainless
Super Max
Super Gillette Blue
Rapira Swedish Supersteel
Rockwell

I’ll send them over to you when I’ve finished so that you can give them a try if you’d like?





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Grishnak

Forum GOD!
I’ve tried the following PTFE coated blades over the last few days:

Lord Super Chrome
Lord Platinum Class
Lord Stainless Classic
Shark Super Chrome
Shark Stainless
Asco
Big Ben
Super Star
Gillette 7 O’Clock Permasharp
Gillette 7 O’Clock Black
Trig
Derby Premium

They all felt a bit rough to me apart from the Lord Stainless Classic which was by far the stand out blade. It felt as smooth as a Polsilver and has become the Lord blade against which I’ve judged the others.

The Platinum Class takes second spot followed by the Big Ben and Asco blades. I didn’t care much for the others though.

Next on the list to try are:

Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Stainless
Dorco Titan
Gillette Platinum
Gillette Super Stainless
Super Max
Super Gillette Blue
Rapira Swedish Supersteel
Rockwell

I’ll send them over to you when I’ve finished so that you can give them a try if you’d like?





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“Blimey mate!”

How did you manage to get through all those in such a short space of time!
Are you shaving four times a day?

I’m assuming you just shaved once with each blade.
It takes me ages to test blades.
I shave three times with each blade, but only shave twice a week. I also try two blades in case one is a dud. I also try it twice in my Rocca and once in my Gillette Black Beauty (which tames a great deal in comparison to the fussy Rocca). So that is approximately three weeks per brand.

I would love to give them all a go, though don’t expect such a rapid write up of my experience (I anticipate 2020 LOL).

At this rate I’ll be about 20 years older before I try a new razor.......
 
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ajc347

Forum GOD!
“Blimey mate!”

How did you manage to get through all those in such a short space of time!
Are you shaving four times a day?

I’m assuming you just shaved once with each blade.
It takes me ages to test blades.
I shave three times with each blade, but only shave twice a week. I also try two blades in case one is a dud. I also try it twice in my Rocca and once in my Gillette Black Beauty (which tames a great deal in comparison to the fussy Rocca). So that is approximately three weeks per brand.

I would love to give them all a go, though don’t expect such a rapid write up of my experience (I anticipate 2020 LOL).

At this rate I’ll be about 20 years older before I try a new razor.......
Lol. [emoji846]

I’ve got pretty good at working out whether a blade is going to suit me or not pretty quickly.

My Hone 15a is my testing razor of choice as it works well with smooth blades and quickly lets me know if a blade is problematic. I’ve found that my Rex Ambassador is pretty good in this respect as well.

I start with my a known preferred blade and then test a blade against that doing half a pass with each blade (and then switching on the second pass to even things up).

If the new blade feels awful on the first pass I will sometimes substitute a second blade on the second pass. That still gives me a pretty good idea as to whether a blade is going to work or not.

I’ve done more three and four pass shaves recently than I’ve done in ages.

Some blades (such as the Derby Premium) only needed one test for me to reject it (it’s as rough as old boots) and some blades I’ve used before (Shark Stainless and Lord Platinum Class) so I already had an opinion on them which needed double checking.

I noticed early on that the Big Ben and Asco Blades felt identical as did the Lord & Shark Super Chrome Blades (hence I didn’t need to test all four of them that much).

Give me a week or so, and I reckon I will have made some inroads into the other blades. [emoji106]


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Grishnak

Forum GOD!
Lol. [emoji846]

I’ve got pretty good at working out whether a blade is going to suit me or not pretty quickly.

My Hone 15a is my testing razor of choice as it works well with smooth blades and quickly lets me know if a blade is problematic. I’ve found that my Rex Ambassador is pretty good in this respect as well.

I start with my a known preferred blade and then test a blade against that doing half a pass with each blade (and then switching on the second pass to even things up).

If the new blade feels awful on the first pass I will sometimes substitute a second blade on the second pass. That still gives me a pretty good idea as to whether a blade is going to work or not.

I’ve done more three and four pass shaves recently than I’ve done in ages.

Some blades (such as the Derby Premium) only needed one test for me to reject it (it’s as rough as old boots) and some blades I’ve used before (Shark Stainless and Lord Platinum Class) so I already had an opinion on them which needed double checking.

I noticed early on that the Big Ben and Asco Blades felt identical as did the Lord & Shark Super Chrome Blades (hence I didn’t need to test all four of them that much).

Give me a week or so, and I reckon I will have made some inroads into the other blades. [emoji106]


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I’m so glad this isn’t a race LOL

I guess it is my inexperience and wanting to make sure my blade rejections aren’t user error........which is probably all of them.

Incidentally, did you try Sputnik?
 

Preacher

Über Member
I started out with Merkur blades. Now I use Feathers and GSB's. For me, early on, it was about using blades that were very forgiving of bad technique. As my technique improved I began to go for sharper blades, which further forced me to concentrate on technique. My first Feather taught me a bloody lesson. Now I can get a comfortable close shave without irritation or weepers.
 

Grishnak

Forum GOD!
I started out with Merkur blades. Now I use Feathers and GSB's. For me, early on, it was about using blades that were very forgiving of bad technique. As my technique improved I began to go for sharper blades, which further forced me to concentrate on technique. My first Feather taught me a bloody lesson. Now I can get a comfortable close shave without irritation or weepers.
I do wonder whether some blades on my “never again” list are victims of technique and possibly even the razor.
I don’t bother scoring the blades on a sliding scale as all the “no, no, please not again” (about 80%) would all score a 1. The winners would score an 8 or 9.
Nothing around the 4 or 5 Mark? !

As my technique improves I have found I can dial my adjustable down (and a borrowed go on my brother’s Tech) and still get a good shave, though with a smaller “sweet spot”.
This may be a sign I need a milder razor and a re run of the list.

I’m afraid to even look at a Feather across the room at this stage, much less add to my list, but maybe a Tech and a Feather is my destiny :laugh:
 

ajc347

Forum GOD!
I’m so glad this isn’t a race LOL

I guess it is my inexperience and wanting to make sure my blade rejections aren’t user error........which is probably all of them.

Incidentally, did you try Sputnik?
Lol. It’s definitely not a race at all mate. [emoji846]

Sputnik are one of my favourite blades - they give very smooth and mellow shaves. [emoji106]




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Northam Saint

Forum GOD!
After trying so many when I first started DE shaving and developing my technique theres a fair few I should really try again. Ive no doubt revisiting will change my mind on some I have disregarded. Feathers, Bolzano, Nacets and a few I haven't used in a while such as yellow 7 O'clock. Preference at the moment though is a Lab Blue.
 
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