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Blade Sampler Pack - Where to Begin?

After 40 years of electric shaving, I'm going to make the move to wet shaving. After some fantastic advice in another section of the forum, I ordered a sampler pack of blades (5 blades of each):

Asco Platinum
Astra Superior Platinum
Astra Superior Stainless
Derby Extra Super Stainless
Derby Premium
Gillette Nacet Stainless
Lord Platinum
Perma-Sharp
Rockwell Stainless Steel (comes with razor)
Shark Platinum
Shark Super Stainless
Sharp Titanium
Treet 7 Days Platinum

Being a newbie to wet shaving, I have no clue as to the differences in the above blades, which of the above blades I should try first, or how to decide what to try after that. I have a 1967 Gillette Black Super Speed TTO arriving tomorrow, but I'll probably start out my wet shaving journey with the blades in a Rockwell 6c.

Any help and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

TripleB
 
Didn't you already ask this question on another post... ❓ 🤣

In your shoes, I would start in the middle of the pack, don't bother with the lower tier blades right now, save them for another day.

After you have a few shaves under your belt, it would be a good time to move to a sharper blade.

You ultimately will want the sharpest blade you can shave with comfortably, that is durable enough and not too expensive.

Don't judge a blade on the first shave. The first shave takes off some of the coating and most blades will become smoother and better on the second and third shave. Depending on the blade, your beard and technique you may able to get 3-6+ shaves from each.

Start: Astra SP
Similar: Astra SS, Lord Platinum, Treet 7 Days
Sharper: Perma-Sharp Super (gold/red pack), Nacet

Your blade education will not be complete without blades such as Feather Hi-Stainless, Personna Comfort Coated, Wilkinson Sword (Germany), and others. That's fine, you can try them later on.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
It's impossible to predict how your face/beard/technique will match a particular blade. My only constant advice is to save the Feather for last, which won't be useful because they didn't include it in this pack.

Technique will likely be an issue, as yours will be changing as you gain experience. You will be experimenting a bit. Discover what prep works for you - try more and then less and find the sweet spot. Use very light pressure and then cut that in half. If the blade is not cutting you need to change the razor angle.

There are occasionally bad blades in a pack. There are also blades that are simply bad for your beard. If the first couple of strokes feel like tugging instead of smoothly cutting and a change in razor angle doesn't help you've probably got either a bad blade (often only one edge) or a bad choice. Stop mid pass and try the next one down in the pack. If it's still bad put the rest away and try a different blade.

Enjoy the journey, it will get easier fairly quickly.
 
I’d start with Astra or Perma-Sharp, as they’re relatively smooth. But whatever you pick, I definitely recommend you work through the entire tuck before moving on. This forum encourages exploration and experimentation, which is great, but especially when you’re just starting out you’ll benefit from focusing on technique and learning the tools you have, over changing the tools every day.
 
Those are all similar range blades in terms of sharpness imo other than the Derby Extra (perhaps the dullest) and the Perma-Sharp and Nacet (certainly the sharpest). I would proceed accordingly, just pick one from each grouping and move around until you determine what level of sharpness you like best.

Honestly if you're a newbie, it might be best to just learn how to shave for 3 months or so before you start switching up equipment. In that case, the Astra SP is good, CONSISTENT blade that will work for most anyone, and I would use it as a baseline first.
 
Honestly if you're a newbie, it might be best to just learn how to shave for 3 months or so before you start switching up equipment. In that case, the Astra SP is good, CONSISTENT blade that will work for most anyone, and I would use it as a baseline first.

One razor, one type of blade, one brush, one soap for three months — assuming good picks — would serve every beginner well.
 
Don't start with the Rockwell blades. Super Speed + Treet 7 Days.
Thank you for that advice!

Didn't you already ask this question on another post... ❓ 🤣

Start: Astra SP
Similar: Astra SS, Lord Platinum, Treet 7 Days
Sharper: Perma-Sharp Super (gold/red pack), Nacet

Your blade education will not be complete without blades such as Feather Hi-Stainless, Personna Comfort Coated, Wilkinson Sword (Germany), and others. That's fine, you can try them later on.
Yes I did but was hoping to get specific recommendations here on the blade forum.

Thank you your advice as well as the other recommendations. I've read a lot of great things about the Feather blades but with a quick search it seemed like I couldn't find any "smaller" packages (ie: under $8) with those blades. But after trying several in my sampler pack I'll definitely look into purchasing some of those.

Again, I appreciate you help and advice!

My only constant advice is to save the Feather for last, which won't be useful because they didn't include it in this pack.

Technique will likely be an issue, as yours will be changing as you gain experience. You will be experimenting a bit. Discover what prep works for you - try more and then less and find the sweet spot. Use very light pressure and then cut that in half. If the blade is not cutting you need to change the razor angle.
If the first couple of strokes feel like tugging instead of smoothly cutting and a change in razor angle doesn't help you've probably got either a bad blade (often only one edge) or a bad choice. Stop mid pass and try the next one down in the pack. If it's still bad put the rest away and try a different blade.

Enjoy the journey, it will get easier fairly quickly.
Will definitely check into the Feather blades...many many many people seem to love them!

I appreciate you taking the time to offer advice on changing the prep, the pressure, and the angle. As a newbie those are the types of things I probably wouldn't have thought about if you wouldn't have mentioned. I'll keep each of those in mind as I go through the learning process of we shaving.

Thank you for letting me know that there are possibly bad blades within a pack and not to give up on a blade brand without trying a second blade.

I'm honestly looking forward to the journey a great deal. I've used an electric shaver for 40 years and have hated shaving for 40 years. I'm finally excited about shaving again!!!

I’d start with Astra or Perma-Sharp, as they’re relatively smooth. But whatever you pick, I definitely recommend you work through the entire tuck before moving on. This forum encourages exploration and experimentation, which is great, but especially when you’re just starting out you’ll benefit from focusing on technique and learning the tools you have, over changing the tools every day.
Thank you for those starting recommendations. Through sports (and teaching correlations as a 7th grade Math teacher) I've learned that you only want to change one variable at a time. But I appreciate you reminding me of that fact because I also don't want to rush through the journey...I want to take my time and enjoy it.

I appreciate you responding!

Those are all similar range blades in terms of sharpness imo other than the Derby Extra (perhaps the dullest) and the Perma-Sharp and Nacet (certainly the sharpest). I would proceed accordingly, just pick one from each grouping and move around until you determine what level of sharpness you like best.

Honestly if you're a newbie, it might be best to just learn how to shave for 3 months or so before you start switching up equipment. In that case, the Astra SP is good, CONSISTENT blade that will work for most anyone, and I would use it as a baseline first.
I appreciate the recommendation of the Astra SP and the idea of shaving for a few months before changing up anything. I need to make sure I get a solid foundation for shaving set up so that when I do make a change I can tell if it was for the better or worse.

One razor, one type of blade, one brush, one soap for three months — assuming good picks — would serve every beginner well.
Love the 3 month idea and will set that as my goal. Use the Rockwell 6c from November 1st to February 1st with Astra Superior Platinum blades! 👍

Again, I can't thank everyone enough for all your help, and patience, with all my (way too) many questions. When you start something brand new at age 57, you want to make sure you set yourself up for success. With everyone's help here, I think I am as prepared as I can possibly be as I start wet shaving tomorrow!

TripleB
 
Of those options my favorites are Astra SP and Nacet. Since the Nacets are sharper, I agree with the recommendation that you start with the Astras.

Blades are the most YMMV aspect of ‘traditional’ wet shaving. Thus, you really need to just work through your options to decide which are best for you. And, mostly, ENJOY the journey!! :thumbup1::thumbup1::thumbup1:
 
Of those, these are my favorites in order of preference.

Perma-Sharp
Gillette Nacet Stainless
Shark Platinum
Derby Premium
Sharp Titanium
 
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I agree with you guys about keeping things fairly consistent when you're starting out, but switching to a better blade is not a huge change and can actually help you improve your technique.

Once you find a few blades that really work well, you will not want to torture yourself with blades that don't work as well for you.

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I agree with you guys about keeping things fairly consistent when you're starting out, but switching to a better blade is not a huge change and can actually help you improve your technique.

Once you find a few blades that really work well, you will not want to torture yourself with blades that don't work as well for you.

View attachment 1936304
Yes, yes, and yes. I do not like Derby Extras at all! If someone told me starting out that I had to stick with Derby Extras for a month, I'd have given up and gone back to cartridge razors or I would have just grown a beard. 😀
 
@TripleB, I wanted to mention you can exchange some of your blades with @dmshaver (David) who runs the Blade Exchange on B&B. That way, it's just the cost of postage to try some other blades. I think it goes two of one brand for two of another brand he has in stock. With ten blade brands, that could be ten other brands you could exchange for the cost of postage.
 
Step one: put the sampler pack away for a month or two. Pick one blade that people like - it doesn't matter which one (I like Astras for this purpose). Use only that blade type for a few weeks while you learn how to wet shave. Do not try different blades while you are learning. Once you are getting solid shaves and have the technique down, then you can begin trying different blades looking for the perfect shave. If you start changing blades while you're learning the technique, you'll have no idea if your technique or the blade made the difference. Reduce variables.
 
Step one: put the sampler pack away for a month or two. Pick one blade that people like - it doesn't matter which one (I like Astras for this purpose). Use only that blade type for a few weeks while you learn how to wet shave. Do not try different blades while you are learning. Once you are getting solid shaves and have the technique down, then you can begin trying different blades looking for the perfect shave. If you start changing blades while you're learning the technique, you'll have no idea if your technique or the blade made the difference. Reduce variables.

That's fine as long as you pick a good blade to start with then stick with it. Not everybody does well with Astra SP, you know. I am not a big fan of them, for instance, but they are very popular.
 
That's fine as long as you pick a good blade to start with then stick with it. Not everybody does well with Astra SP, you know. I am not a big fan of them, for instance, but they are very popular.

Basically any decent blade is good enough for the purpose of learning how to shave. You don't like Astras because you have enough experience to evaluate them. Without sufficient experience, you cannot properly evaluate a blade to know whether or not you like it. Trying to compare a bunch of blades while simultaneously learning how to shave isn't a good idea. It's a bad way to compare blades and it's a bad way to learn a new skill.
 
Basically any decent blade is good enough for the purpose of learning how to shave. You don't like Astras because you have enough experience to evaluate them. Without sufficient experience, you cannot properly evaluate a blade to know whether or not you like it. Trying to compare a bunch of blades while simultaneously learning how to shave isn't a good idea. It's a bad way to compare blades and it's a bad way to learn a new skill.

Whatever you say, Chief.

That is not what I was suggesting (trying a bunch at the start). You just read it that way.
 
It will take a while to get the basics down, so it would be unfair to judge a blade’s performance on one’s lack of experience. Your first 10 blades should probably be considered as castaways.

I would suggest setting aside at least two blades from each tuck in order to be able to revisit them once you nail your technique down. Spares are also useful to have when test driving a new razor.

Plenty of us revisit blades and razors we hated as newbies only to find out we now actually enjoy them.

Expect milder blades to tug, and sharper blades to be less forgiving of bad technique.

Also keep in mind that some guys say their skin doesn’t react well with some coatings, it hasn’t been an issue for me, but nevertheless less it hasn’t been reported.

Rockwell Stainless Steel (comes with razor)

Which model Rockwell did you get?
 
Which model Rockwell did you get?
Thank you for all that amazing advice! Extremely helpful!!!

The 6c. Toyed with the idea of going with the 6s but didn't want to put that much into my first razor. I know it may go on sale during Black Friday, but there is absolutely no way I could wait another month to get started on my wet shaving journey 😁

TripleB
 
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