What's new

Blade journey

lasta

Blade Biter
When I started wet shaving almost 4 years ago Derby blades were still being recommended along with Astra SP, GSB, and Nacet, so I got 5 tucks of each, plus a few more tucks of Derby's that came with razor purchases.

I gave away all of the Derby tucks, still have 4 tucks of the Astra SP's, but still reorder GSB, and Nacet blades. Gillette 7 o'clock blades have just replaced my Gillette Platinum blades as my favorites, with Wizamet blades hanging right up there too.

~doug~
7 O'clock yellow, green or black?

I never tried any 7 O'clocks, halfway through my 3rd batch of GSBs and personally, haven't found anything better. Interested to hear more from a 7 O'clock convert!
 
7 O'clock yellow, green or black?

I never tried any 7 O'clocks, halfway through my 3rd batch of GSBs and personally, haven't found anything better. Interested to hear more from a 7 O'clock convert!
Well I have yellow and black and they are good blades. I had about 7 shaves with a black and still have a yellow with 4 shaves. My experience is that they tend to deteriorate rather quickly in comparison to my other blades - particularly KCG and Dorco Titan. Have not had 10 shaves yet per blade with is kind of my benchmark for good versus great.

Guido

O and ps - YMMV
 

lasta

Blade Biter
Well I have yellow and black and they are good blades. I had about 7 shaves with a black and still have a yellow with 4 shaves. My experience is that they tend to deteriorate rather quickly in comparison to my other blades - particularly KCG and Dorco Titan. Have not had 10 shaves yet per blade with is kind of my benchmark for good versus great.

Guido

O and ps - YMMV
Thanks!

OK, 7 O'Clock(s) check, Dorco Titan check. And I thought I was pretty far in my blade journey :c3:
 
Thanks!

OK, 7 O'Clock(s) check, Dorco Titan check. And I thought I was pretty far in my blade journey :c3:
Anything to get your blade bank filled! I think the blacks are smoother than the yellows. I also prefer them - date I say - to Nacet. I know it’s a forum favourite, but Nacet while initially good gives me harshness after just a couple of shaves. Need to test them better, but so far the jury is still out.

Looking forward to Mitch’ review of Nacet which is up in just two shaves if I read the spreadsheet correctly.

Guido
 

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
I hope my blade journey is a short one. I just got some USA Personna Labs. I hope these are the last blades I buy, other than replacements for the ones I have now. So far, I'm only getting two shaves out of any of the blades I've tried. My whiskers seem to attack blades. Most people get 10 to 12 shaves with AC blades.. I can't push them beyond 6... and some of them, I only get 3 shaves. The guarded AC blades are the only ones that give me those 6 shaves.

DE blades in house:

The aforementioned USA Personna Labs Platinum Blue
Wizamet Super Iridium
Gillette 7 O'clock black
King C Gillette: these might be my favorite blades but they are very expensive, compared to other offerings
Gillette Platinum Light
Gillette Perma-Sharp
Astra Super Platinum Green: a gift from our son along with a RazoRock Lupo aluminum... this started my wet shaving journey
Kai
Silvermax... came with a razor purchase... 50 of them.. pretty odd, I thought. I haven't tried them yet
 

lasta

Blade Biter
7 O'Clock Black. The only thing I found sharp about the yellow's was the name, but they were acceptable, the green's slightly better. I used to love GSB's, then started using Gillette Platinum became my Go-To-Blade, but I really am beginning to enjoy the 7 O'Clock Blacks.

~doug~
Thanks for sharing!

I got some Platinums earlier this year, Im not using the YMMV cheap shot, but pretty sure mine was a bad batch! @Guido75 could probably weigh in :c14:

Anything to get your blade bank filled! I think the blacks are smoother than the yellows. I also prefer them - date I say - to Nacet. I know it’s a forum favourite, but Nacet while initially good gives me harshness after just a couple of shaves. Need to test them better, but so far the jury is still out.

Looking forward to Mitch’ review of Nacet which is up in just two shaves if I read the spreadsheet correctly.

Guido

I could always throw ~170 Nevas in there...
 
I got some Platinums earlier this year, Im not using the YMMV cheap shot, but pretty sure mine was a bad batch! @Guido75 could probably weigh in
So far, I would be inclined to support that statement. They were in Doug‘s words acceptable and not yet a blade that would make my top 5. I still have one in rotation on 3 shaves, but haven’t touched it since forever - I guess that’s a subliminal message.

Guido
 
I LOVE the discussion happening here. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences with me. @Guido75, the NACET is indeed up for shave #11 on Saturday (after the "Shaverboy" :facep:on Thursday). As tempted as I am to skip some of the blades in the journey (yes, I'm looking at you Shaverboy), I am imposing discipline to stay true to the "open-minded" goal of the test.

My job requires me to be able to identify and suppress bias in my thinking, so I believe I have some degree of skill at it. Even so, I'm not sure that the Shaverboy stands much of a chance against my skepticism, but maybe it will surprise me. They sell for less than $6 per 100 from a Canadian company in Montreal. I'm guessing they are not made in Canada; just guessing. I hope others weigh in on them after I post Thursday night about the shave.

In the meantime, I will have a post on the DORCO ST301 later today once I get to the 12-hour mark after my shave this morning. I think @Rosseforp will concur in my assessment, but we'll see ;)
 
Last edited:

lasta

Blade Biter
I LOVE the discussion happening here. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences with me. @Guido75, the NACET is indeed up for shave #11 on Saturday (after the "Shaverboy" :facep:on Thursday). As tempted as I am to skip some of the blades in the journey (yes, I'm looking at you Shaverboy), I am imposing discipline to stay true to the "open-minded" goal of the test.

My job requires me to be able to identify and suppress bias in my thinking, so I believe I have some degree of skill at it. Even so, I'm not sure that the Shaverboy stands much of a chance against my skepticism, but maybe it will surprise me. They sell for less than $6 per 100 from a Canadian company in Montreal. I'm guessing they are not made in Canada; just guessing. I hope others weigh in on them after I post Thursday night about the shave.

In the meantime, I will have a post on the DORCO ST301 later today after I get to the 12-hour mark after my shave this morning. I think @Rosseforp will concur in my assessment, but we'll see ;)
My job requires me to suppress my objective nature and produce biased results! My crystal ball is seeing red with the Shaverboy, but I hope you survive, there are more I look forward to reading.

BTW, YMMV get's thrown alot around here, but I'm not discounting batch variations (or even the theory of rotating batches sold under difference product SKUs...). I bought 2 boxes (50s) of Platinums from Razor Blades Club earlier this year. The first box was more or less identical to KCGs - excellent, even shared some locally with similar feedback. The second felt more like Derby's...

So when I say vintage Wilkies are all Derbyesque, it's probably my bad luck. 3 of the 4 varieties I've tried came from the same ebay lot. London Bridges were just fuel to the fire.
 
Last edited:
For my PIF'd Blade Journey shave #9 (rated 6.8/10), I used the following setup:
  • Razor: Birth year 1961 G4 Tech with custom stainless handle by @Rosseforp that is gold plated by BRG
  • Blade: Korean-made DORCO ST301
  • Brush: Semogue Owner’s Club Mistura Taj (incredible)
  • Preshave: Noxema dwell before rinsing (value pre-shave)
  • Soap: D.R. Harris Marlborough stick (excellent)
  • After shave: Thayer's unscented Witch Hazel splash followed by vintage Old Spice splash and Nivea Cool Sensitive balm
PXL_20221211_195847675.jpg

I was not particularly impressed by the DORCO blade. It was barely acceptable in my book and not a blade that I would seek out to put in my rotation. The first pass WTG was mildly tuggy revealing a lack of sharpness that left more stubble than I prefer. The second pass ATG took down most of my remaining stubble but gave me some irritation in my moustache area and on my right jawline despite my taking extra care to shave with a light touch. Again, the sharpness of the blade wasn’t sufficient to provide a smooth cutting feeling. The third pass was more like an extensive touch up pass that mostly achieved BBS except on my left jawline. I did another touch up on that trouble spot to clean it up as best as I could. I definitely had irritation during my shave (not as bad as the Derby Extra). Again, the irritation focused mostly throughout my goatee and moustache areas, where my whiskers are the coarsest. I also had a weeper on the right edge of my moustache and my right jawline. The one on my jawline did not close up particularly quickly. Although better than the Derby Extra, this blade doesn’t do it for me.

Two hours after my shave, I still have minor irritation. At 12 hours, I had a DFS- finish but the area right under my nose is quite irritated with a couple reddened and sensitive bumps. To try to tame this irritation, I’ve had to apply some antibiotic ointment, which feels like it may be helping. I'm left wondering whether the irritation was caused in part by the terrible shave #8 with the Derby Extra on Sunday.

The D.R. Harris soap is a really nice shaving stick that generates very slick and protective cream with ease while being face lathered. The Marlborough scent is very subtle and pleasant. I like this stick very much.

Summary sheet of my PIF'd Blade Journey is HERE.

Next up is a blade I've never used and for which I have VERY low expectations, the Shaverboy Super Stainless blade. I’m skeptical, probably because I’m an old man ;). I hope I'm wrong because I really need a good, irritation-free shave. Nevertheless, I look forward to seeing out it stacks up in this “controlled” test.

:badger:
 
Last edited:
So, what's a "snuff thread?"
If you don't know what a snuff film is, I don't think I want to mention it, but take it as meaning "self harm thread." Like not being able to look away from an impending accident. Not that you are doing bad, it's these blades that make me think Uh oh, this isn't going to go well. You have to try things for yourself, I wouldn't have found some of the blades that I use if I hadn't tried myself. But some of them are just bad.
 
If you don't know what a snuff film is, I don't think I want to mention it

Oh, I know what a snuff film is, and I sincerely hope this doesn't go that far. You're right about some of these blades being, let's just say, "off the beaten path." I'm trying them in the spirit of adventure and learning though. I've had a few really nice shaves, and I really enjoy the conversation in the thread.

No sexagenarians were harmed (permanently) in the making of this thread ;).
 
The Korean Dorco’s have had quality issues I read in other threads. That explains your rough experience Mitch.

Dorco subsequently moved production to Vietnam and quality has been good since then. My ST300 and Titans are both Vietnamese and excellent blades.

Guido
I have another DORCO blade coming up that I thought was an ST300 from the wrapper. I was actually considering skipping it because I'd read that the differences between ST300 and ST301 were just packaging. Then I noticed that the upcoming blade is labeled as having been made in Vietnam. So, I won't skip it. I sincerely hope it offers better than yesterday's blade.
 

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
This is the reason DE shaving scared me so much. As you know, I started out with a ESC Claymore Evolution... only 5 or 6 AC blade choices. It was easy for me to try them all out..... There are over 100 various DE blades from which to choose. Totally overwhelming for me when I first started traditional wet shaving.

Fast forward to August. I got my first DE razor and started reading about DE blades. Thanks to the wonderful people here, I was able to buy a few varieties that worked well for them and are currently working for me as well. That has taken that initial fear away.

I do admire you for all these blade tests. They are helpful for newbies like myself. Thanks a lot. This thread is very informative.... and though it might sound hmmmmm I'm not sure how it will come across but "Better you than me.".... LOL
 
Top Bottom