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Help with mild to sharp DE blades

For whatever reason I have a hard time telling a mild blade from a sharp blade. This is probably because I use my razors in a rotation and move the blade from one razor to the next.

I would like suggestions on 3 mild, 3 medium and 3 sharp blades. I would think for mild Derby Extra, medium Gillette Silver Blue and sharp Feather. I would appreciate any suggestions to help me fill in the blanks.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
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You always have to take a list like this with a grain of salt, but putting GSB in the medium category is, I think, missing the mark by a bit. I would put PolSilver SI and Wizamet slightly sharper than Gillette Yellows.

I believe asking for members to suggest their favorites in each category is exactly the right way to go.

Feather is a great sharp blade, but fairly expensive and most unforgiving of any lapse in technique and fairly poor in the longevity department. I only recommend them for people who have a beard that demands that level of sharpness. GSB is a very popular sharp blade, but doesn't work well for me personally. My favorite pretty darn sharp blade is the Wizamet.

I don't have much experience in the other two categories as I don't find medium and dull blades that work for me. But I would try lots of blades and see what works for you. As long as you get a good, comfortable shave you won't care what category anyone calls it.
 
I do not agree with the chart shown in the second post. The basic premise of the chart is that sharp and smooth are polar opposites. That just is not the case. I have a very tough beard and super sensitive skin, so I look for blades that are BOTH SHARP and SMOOTH. To me, a sharp blade is one that will easily slice though my coarse stubble with no effort or tugging. To me, a smooth blade will not irritate my sensitive skin even during my clean-up pass.

I do consider Derby Extra, Shark Super Stainless, Shark Super Chromium, and Merkur blades to be very mild. For my beard, these blades are so dull they rip out my beard hairs rather than cutting through them. For those with fine beard hair, these blades might be suitable.

In the chart, Astra Superior Platinum Green blades are shown as some of the sharpest. I disagree. Although they are sharp enough that I could use them, they are not sharp enough for me to enjoy using them. They always tug at my beard.

The chart shows Nacet blades as mid-tier sharpness. I find them to be nearly as sharp as Feather and BIC Chrome Platinum. Other super sharp blades are Permasharp Super, and 7 O'Clock Super Platinum (black). In the chart, Personna Plaitnum blades are listed as mid-range. While they are not quite as sharp as the ones mentioned previously, I find them to be BOTH sharp and smooth.

There are many mid-tier blades. The chart lists Gillette Silver Blue in the sharpest category, but I find it to be a mid-sharp blade along with Gillette Platinum, Polsilver, and 7 O'Clock SharpEdge (yellow), 7 O'Clock Permasharp Stainless (green) and Rapira Platinum Lux.



There is a web site where the author attempted to measure blade sharpness using the BESS CERTIFIED edge sharpness tester. Although his methods are just as controversial as the sharp vs smooth chart, I have found that my own subjective evaluation of many of the blades does tend to agree with the results shown on the Refined Shave web site. However, the test results have not been updated in several years and there are many less familiar blades that I have found to work quite well that were never tested by the author. For example, in the right razor, I enjoy using Dorco Prime Platinum STP301, Lord/Shark Platinum, DuraBlade Sharp Titanium, and Vidyut SuperMax Blue Diamond. There are many others I have not tried.


It really does not matter what anyone else thinks about razor blades. The only opinion that counts is your own. Blades will perform and feel differently based on your beard, your skin, your razors, and your shaving technique, including pre-shave preparation and shaving lather. For that reason, I always recommend trying a blade sampler pack with blades ranging from super-mild to super-sharp and in between. Once you find out which range of blades works best for you, you can try to find blades with similar characteristics.
 
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My advice is to take the various blade charts as more like a general guide and not as something definitive. I've seen countless charts and while some of them are close to my own preference, I've never truly seen one that I completely agree on. I also don't expect anyone to fully agree on my preference too, so there's that.

Here's my list of blades:

Super sharp - Feather, KAI, BIC Chrome Platinum

Very sharp - Nacet, Perma-Sharp, Minora Stainless (gold package), Polsilver SI/Wizamet SI, Willy's, Bolzano, Personna Lab Blue

Mid level sharp - Gillette Silver Blue, Wilkinson Sword, Astra SP, Voskhod, ZAZA, Gillette Platinum, Derby Platinum



There are also blades with sharpness below the mid ones, but for me anything below is just too dull and I don't recommend it.
 
The other thing that can be quite confusingwhen evaluating blades is the change in sharpness and smoothness over their lifespan. Some blades like Feather start out super sharp, but the edge deteriorates rapidly. Many people report they can only get 2-3 shaves from Feathers before they become harsh.

Blades like 7 O'Clock Super Platinum Black, Wilkinson Sword Classic and Personna Comfort Coated Lab Blues have a thick coating that makes them very smooth, but not quite so sharp on the first shave. As the coating wears off the blades become much sharper. While many blades experience this change, these three seem to be affected the most.

Thus, should blades be evaluated based on the first shave out of the wrapper or should they be evaluated after a couple of shaves.
 
...I would like suggestions on 3 mild, 3 medium and 3 sharp blades...
Here are the blanks, filled in:

mild Derby Extra, Wilkinson Sword (Germany), Personna Platinum Chrome (Israel)
medium Astra SP, Gillette Platinum, Gillette 7 O'clock Super Stainless
sharp Feather, Gillette 7 O'clock SharpEdge (Yellows), Gillette Perma-Sharp.

The rest is noise. When it comes to strictly blades, YMMV "concept" is nonsense.
My opinion, exclusively.
 
In the end you are the only person whose opinion counts.

For what it is worth, I evaluate blades over their useful life. Key variables include: sharpness, smoothness and longevity. Based on those criteria, my ‘top-tier’ in no particular order:
GSB
Wizamet SI (or Polsilver)
Astra SP
Personna red
Personna lab (or med preps)
Nacet.
 
Here are the blanks, filled in:

mild Derby Extra, Wilkinson Sword (Germany), Personna Platinum Chrome (Israel)
medium Astra SP, Gillette Platinum, Gillette 7 O'clock Super Stainless
sharp Feather, Gillette 7 O'clock SharpEdge (Yellows), Gillette Perma-Sharp.

The rest is noise. When it comes to strictly blades, YMMV "concept" is nonsense.
My opinion, exclusively.

If YMMV is nonsense, why is it that I disagree with your groupings? I would place your blades into the following groups:

Mild- Derby Extra, Astra SP
Medium- Gillette Platinum, 7 O'Clock Super Stainless green, 7 O'Clock SharpEdge yellow, Wilkinson Sword Classics on 1st shave,
Sharp- Feather, Perma-Sharp Super, Personna Platinum Chrome Israeli reds, Wilkinson Sword Classic after 1st shave.

I cannot use the blades I list as sharp in my Muhle R41, but I can use SharpEdge yellow blades in that razor as they are not that as sharp.

I have a very coarse beard and very sensitive skin, so my opinions might well differ from yours. YMMV!
 
If YMMV is nonsense, why is it that I disagree with your groupings? I...

I..., but I...

I...

I do not agree....

It really does not matter what anyone else thinks about razor blades. The only opinion that counts is your own. Blades will perform and feel differently based on your beard, your skin, your razors, and your shaving technique, including pre-shave preparation and shaving lather...
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
This is my how I judged these blades as I used them and it's just a general reference guide to help folks visually where these blades are in their main physical charteristics that folks enjoy. The blades in sharp & smooth column that are just going over into the sharpest column are my favorites from my use. For DE blades Gillette silver blue are excellent and for sharpness and longevity Gem and Schick are still leaders in the SE IMO, AC SE 50mm blades have more variety to choose but lack longevity IMO.
Blade Review #6.3 June 26th 2020 (3).jpg

Have some great shaves!
 
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If YMMV is nonsense, why is it that I disagree with your groupings? I would place your blades into the following groups:

Mild- Derby Extra, Astra SP
Medium- Gillette Platinum, 7 O'Clock Super Stainless green, 7 O'Clock SharpEdge yellow, Wilkinson Sword Classics on 1st shave,
Sharp- Feather, Perma-Sharp Super, Personna Platinum Chrome Israeli reds, Wilkinson Sword Classic after 1st shave.

I cannot use the blades I list as sharp in my Muhle R41, but I can use SharpEdge yellow blades in that razor as they are not that as sharp.

I have a very coarse beard and very sensitive skin, so my opinions might well differ from yours. YMMV!

I'm with Rayclem on this, there are too many arguments about blade sharpness for YMMV to not exist!

The first chart also just looks plain wrong to me, in particular putting an Astra SP (the milder of the two Astras) above a Nacet!

I use Mild, Medium, Sharp and Very Sharp categories of blades and I've listed some below based on my personnal ratings. I would suggest getting some sample packs and figuring out what you like and in what razors (depending on the razor my shave with blades can vary)

Mild: Derby Extra, Tiger SP, Tatra SP, Astra SP, Big Ben Super Stainless, Derby Premium, Parker Premium Platinum, Super Shave X, Muhle K1, Shark Super Chrome, Shark Platinum, Merkur Super Chrome, Lamix Platinum Plus, Ladas, Rapira Swedish Supersteel,

Medium: Gillette 7 O'Clock Green (Russian) Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellow, Gillette King C, Gillette Silver Blue, Rapira Stainless Chrome, Rapira Super Stainless, PolSilver, Gillette Platinum (white)

Sharp: Astra SS, Tiger SS, Personna Platinum Chrome (Israeli and German versions), Gillette 7 O'Clock Black, Rapira Platinum Lux, Sharp Star, Voskhod, Gillette 7 O'Clock Green (India), Gillette Platinum (blue), Vikings Sword, KAI.

Very sharp: BIC Chrome Platinum, BIC Astor, Gillette London Bridge, Feather (for the first couple of shaves), Gillette Perma-sharp, Gillette Nacet
 
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