A Different DE Blade Thread

[TheBurgh]

Let's do something a little different for a blades thread. More depth, more specific.

Plenty of "favorite blades" threads scattered here and elsewhere. Thousands of "I like..." listings. Interesting and fun but overwhelming in numbers of postings for others seeking particular types of blades. Comparison charts? Dated and incomplete.

All can agree that useable DE blades have a range of cutting strengths (using a variety of descriptors), a better defined, narrower and more useful criteria. So, let's categorize our favorites - one blade brand/type per category - by our opinion of their edginess (to best match up with complimentary razors):

MILD
MODERATE
AGGRESSIVE

Please confine your choices to readily available, still-in-production blades, and only one brand/type (your favorite) per category. And, yes, stipulated on all posts that E(EVERONE'S)MMV.

Lastly, bonus points. Match your favorite razor to each of one, two or all three of your blade choices. Price is not a factor here; your actual shaving favorite combinations are the crux.

With your generous contributions, we can make this a reference quality resource for many shavers. We novices will be especially grateful.

Thank You!

 

[South Dakota Guy]

Good luck with your quest. Razor blades are very subjective, we all experience them differently. You can try to establish a consensus, but you really need to try them yourself to make a determination.

 

[APBinNCA]

I may have misunderstood. The below is based on the aggression of the razor, what blade I would use.

Mild: Perma-Sharp
Moderate: Personna Platinum
Aggresive: Super-Max Titanium

Henson mild is, well, mild. But effective with a sharper blade.
Tatara Nodachi is moderate with the Masamune(OC) plate.
Timeless Ti95 is as aggressive as I want to go.

Edit: So far, I like the Indian made black Super Platinums even better than Perma-Sharps, but don't have enough time with them. For the moderate, depending on the razor, any Personna(Super, Med, Israeli). For Aggressive, Super-Max has a couple different blades that are the same sharpness(green box, Super Stainless). But they also have some that are clearly not quite.

 

[TheBurgh]

Good luck with your quest. Razor blades are very subjective, we all experience them differently. You can try to establish a consensus, but you really need to try them yourself to make a determination.

Thanks for participating!
Motivation here is not to build a consensus but rather collect the widest ranges of personal opinions and experience into a single potential source of information.

 

[South Dakota Guy]

Mild Derby Extra (Blue Tuck)
Moderate Personna Chrome Platinum (various models)
Aggressive Gillette Nacet

 

[TheBurgh]

OP here.

Example: MILD. Derby Extra + Merkur 37C Razor

 

[Ron R]

Mild: Voskhod, smooth & but not the sharpest blade out there but works well in aggressive razors. Longevity can be limited to 3-5 shaves for my beard type.
Moderate: Gillette silver blue, excellent balanced blade meaning sharp & Smoooth. 4-5 shaves then starts to drop off. Very enjoyable shave. It can cost more than other Gillette blades but worth it IMO. Gillette 7oClock SP(alternative to GSB IMO). If you have a favorite razor you should notice the sharpness and smoothness, first blade to get a BBS with when I first started traditional wet shaving.
Aggressive: Kai SS, this blade is awesome because it is extra wide by 9/1000 or 4.5/1000 inches per side. Sharp & smooth with excellent longevity 8-12 shaves seems to be what I have witnessed. They are pricier than other DE blades but you get more shaves and they just work excellent in mild razors that need a little more blade feel or blade exposure. This blade is superior to shimming a razor and will give great results from the razors I have used it in.

 

[TheBurgh]

This is subjective, non-scientific, simplified and dependant upon razor and user. NONTHELESS, helpful for some as a starting point for further investigation and trial. That's the point of this thread.

 

[Yuritau]

IMHO, there's two blade characteristics that matter when talking about whether a blade is "mild" or "aggressive", sharpness and smoothness. Both are determined by the edge grinding process; the quality and grit level of the abrasives coupled with the edge geometry. Both qualities can be heavily influenced by the razor it's held in and the technique of the user, resulting in wild variations in the perceived mildness or aggressiveness between users. Hence the much overused expression you see everywhere on these forums.

Generally speaking, I think that blades perceived as "mild" likely tend towards high smoothness and middling sharpness, while blades perceived as "aggressive" tend towards the opposite.

MILD: King C Gillette. In every razor I've tried with this blade, it maintains a very smooth feel. Even in an aggressive razor like my first gen Tradere OC it felt like it was barely there, while still being sharp enough to cut well. I would recommend it to anyone who can get over the unfortunate sticker price, or find it on a deep sale.

MODERATE: Astra SS. Somewhat reduced smoothness compared to it's green sibling, but perhaps a little sharper as well. More or less the baseline blade for me. I compare all blades I use to the Astra SS, anything lesser and I will not use it.

AGGRESSIVE: Kai. Very sharp and quite smooth, but with the extra width of the blade, it increases the aggression of any razor you use it in.

 

[LRod]

I'll play and try to get the OP's thread going again. I think most that participated were being scientific and that's not what the OP (from my interpretation) was looking for. A simple blade/razor combo where "you" feel whether the combo is mild, moderate or aggressive. Obviously based on the combo that you use(d). All of this of course is subjective but it does give a novice a general idea of what to expect when different razors are paired with the same type of blade.
Note: I only have 4 months of experience but have already rounded up a few different types of razors and have tried over a dozen different brands of blades. (I'm a daily shaver!)

Here are my quick picks based on the combos that I'm currently using most:

Mild: Wet shaving club "Winning razor" + Bic blade
Moderate: Wet shaving club "Winning razor" + Feather blade

Moderate: Razorock Lupo DE Aluminum + Bic blade
Aggressive: Razorock Lupo DE Aluminum + Feather blade

Mild: Pearl Flexi Adjustable (on setting #1) + Bic blade
Moderate: Pearl Flexi adjustable (on setting #3) + Bic blade
Aggressive: Pearl Flexi adjustable (on setting #6) + Bic blade
Moderate: Pearl Flexi adjustable (on setting #1) + Feather blade
Aggressive: Pearl Flexi adjustable (on setting #3) + Feather blade
Aggressive++: Pearl Flexi adjustable (on setting #6) + Feather blade

Mild: Parker Variant adjustable (on setting #1) + Bic blade
Moderate: Parker Variant adjustable (on setting #3) + Bic blade
Aggressive: Parker Variant adjustable (on setting #5) + Bic blade
Moderate: Parker Variant adjustable (on setting #1) + Feather blade
Aggressive++: Parker Variant adjustable (on setting #3) + Feather blade
Aggressive++++: Parker Variant adjustable (on setting #5) + Feather blade

 

[wulfgar1976]

Mild - Treet Dura Sharp (yellow packet) or Feather.
Moderate - Gillette 7 O'Clock Permasharp or Sharp Edge
Aggressive - Gillette Super Blue

 

[ShaverAZ]

IMO, categorizing your blades is only valid if you use one razor. I've found that the so called 'milder' blade give a closer & smoother shave with my old types, LC & SC's and Goodwills. The sharper & more 'aggressive blades work best with my Techs & SuperSpeeds. My Slim Adjustables & Super Ajustables give superior shaves with almost any blade I put into them.

 

[md1234]

Mild: Lord Cool
Moderate: Gillette Platinum dark blue
Aggressive: Gillette Nacet

Mild - Treet Dura Sharp (yellow packet) or Feather.
Moderate - Gillette 7 O'Clock Permasharp or Sharp Edge
Aggressive - Gillette Super Blue

Are those Super Blues the ones made in China?

 

[Guido75]

Ok, my 5ct and with limited blade experience in terms of different number of blades:

• (Too) Mild: KCG with a Tiger Platinum
• Medium: KCG with KCG blade
• Aggressive (but very comfortable): Fatip OC with KCG

Honourable mention: a Fatip Gentile (or a KCG for that matter) with a Dorco ST300HQ would be upper medium for me: a very comfortable and sort of efficient shave.

This is extremely YMMV and I equate aggressiveness with a combination of efficiency and comfort. Either one of those missing is a lesser shave in my book. The Fatip is generally considered an aggressive razor (I bought the Special Edition at first to be on the safe side and start with the closed comb), but with proper technique I find it to be very efficient and comfortable (and moved pretty quickly to the open comb baseplate. And now I have two OC Fatips ).

Yes, I get the occasional nicks and weepers, but that’s on me not the razor. Or the blade for that matter. And only partially in the razor/blade combination.

What I would find additionally interesting and not sure if the mods can even accomplish that with current forum software, is take all the evaluations we made over the years and see what the distribution of us all is. Which razors, which blades, longevity, etcetera?

And I must admit that the KCG is my go to blade. I did not really need to buy the Dorco and the Tiger. I just wanted to check differences. I do consider myself lucky to live in a country where Gillette’s price point for the KCG is not so steep as I in other threads in this forum (although you do need to do some searching). I got them at €0.30 per blade including shipping and handling which I found to be reasonable given its performance.

One other blade I would like to add to the collection would be the Dorco Titan. I have one tuck of 5 but if it is a good blade I might buy 100.

Cheers,

Guido