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Bottom Tier Blades

Sounds like most of my DE blade rotation is someone’s bottom tier. I abandon blades in my bottom tier:
BIC
Merkur
Timor
Bolzano
Personna Red
Derby Extra

My top tier (have bought 100, currently use):
Rapira Platinum Lux
SuperMax Blue Diamond platinum
Voskhod
Feather (short life)
Astra SP (neglected them, now appreciating them again)
LOL One man's ceiling is another man's floor. PS. Love Rapira Platinum Lux and Astra SP too.
 
Crown is my favorite blade. So smooth.
You know, I've been meaning to comment on these.

Every time I see them in my cabinet I hesitate, because they were so inexpensive. And quite literally every time I use them I always am amazed at how smooth and comfortable they are.
 
I read somewhere (I cant find the reference) that one of Gillette elf's learned that a shaver cant tell the difference between sharp blades. What they feel is tugging. This realization led to the development of special blade coatings. So when we say a blade is sharp what we are really saying is this blade doesn't tug.
That would be correct, Gillette studies prior to the development of the Super Blue coatings showed just that.

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I have been using the Derby Extra in the blue tuck for the past three shaves. It is officially my favorite bottom tier blade. Much, much better than the older green tuck Derby Extra.
 
I have been using the Derby Extra in the blue tuck for the past three shaves. It is officially my favorite bottom tier blade. Much, much better than the older green tuck Derby Extra.

The old green Derby Extra blades are not nearly sharp enough for my beard. They tug painfully. I certainly hope the new blue tuck blades are better. However, most of the places that carry Derby blades still have the ones in the green packaging.
 
I have some German made Schick, that is my worse.
A lot of pulling and tugging with that one. I refuse to throw them away. Maybe, as I bought them on a trip to Colombia.
 
Razor blades are a YMMV thing so what work for some folks may not work for others. The question I have is that since razor blades are relatively inexpensive, why would anyone have a blade in their rotation that they consider to be bottom tier?

Because my 'best', Feather, is alone at the top and has worse packaging compared to a 'still working' blade like Tiger Platinum. Don't get me wrong, if I skip a week shaving or am running short on time, I instinctively reach for a Feather; the grease spots of the newest batches, the useless plastic packaging are the main reasons why I don't order them every year any more. Plus I don't like how some blades tend to disappear after several years of manufacturing, so I like having at least a plan B.
 
Because my 'best', Feather, is alone at the top and has worse packaging compared to a 'still working' blade like Tiger Platinum. Don't get me wrong, if I skip a week shaving or am running short on time, I instinctively reach for a Feather; the grease spots of the newest batches, the useless plastic packaging are the main reasons why I don't order them every year any more. Plus I don't like how some blades tend to disappear after several years of manufacturing, so I like having at least a plan B.

Interesting. I find Feather blades to be very sharp, but I cannot even get three good shaves from them before they deteriorate to the point of irritating my face. Many others have reported a similar experience. Thus, for me, Feather blades are acceptable only if I change them every two shaves. Since I can routinely get 3-4 good shaves from less expensive blades, I consider Feather to be a poor value.

I cannot imagine going a week without shaving. By then I would have a good start towards a full beard.
 
Interesting. I find Feather blades to be very sharp, but I cannot even get three good shaves from them before they deteriorate to the point of irritating my face. Many others have reported a similar experience. Thus, for me, Feather blades are acceptable only if I change them every two shaves. Since I can routinely get 3-4 good shaves from less expensive blades, I consider Feather to be a poor value.

I cannot imagine going a week without shaving. By then I would have a good start towards a full beard.

I also don't like skipping more than 3 days, but sometimes I have to and if I wanted to try out a new blade, I would put it to my "stress test". I.e. some 9 out of 10 blades I have ever tried fail the test.
The longevity does not matter for me. 1 shave = 1 blade (or at least the cutting side which is unused)
 
I also don't like skipping more than 3 days, but sometimes I have to and if I wanted to try out a new blade, I would put it to my "stress test". I.e. some 9 out of 10 blades I have ever tried fail the test.
The longevity does not matter for me. 1 shave = 1 blade (or at least the cutting side which is unused)

If you only expect a blade to last for one shave, then Feather blades are great, but expensive blades.
 
If you are talking about the Czech blades that are the same Tatra, I agree. I while back there was a huge buzz about Tiger and Tatra Czech blades being the next greatest thing. There were around $6 a 100 pack, so i bought one of each to try. For that price why not. Both were very bad for my face. Tried several shaves on each brand and could not get one good shave between them. Shame. Anyways, I have given away a bulk of them, and the recipients seem to like them.
I own them both too and I have a heavy beard and with proper prep they are both sharp and smooth kinda like a astra platinum.The Tiger and the Tatra are the same blade.

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A while ago I bought some Treet Black beauties primarily to see if they would strop to a smooth shave after the first 2 initial uses like the Gillette Thins do. The Black Beauties don't strop worth a darn, and don't work worth squat in any of my Super Speeds, Slim or Super adjustable Th shaves were ho hum - never got a smooth & easy shave without effort & never particularly close.
Yesterday afternoon I decided that it was worth trying an old school blade in one of my Old Types - thicker blade, carbon steel, no coatings. They work great in the Old Type. My shave rivaled that of a Superspeed with a Lab Blue or GSB - so smooth & close that 15 hours later I've still got an exceptional shave.
 
A while ago I bought some Treet Black beauties primarily to see if they would strop to a smooth shave after the first 2 initial uses like the Gillette Thins do. The Black Beauties don't strop worth a darn, and don't work worth squat in any of my Super Speeds, Slim or Super adjustable Th shaves were ho hum - never got a smooth & easy shave without effort & never particularly close.
Yesterday afternoon I decided that it was worth trying an old school blade in one of my Old Types - thicker blade, carbon steel, no coatings. They work great in the Old Type. My shave rivaled that of a Superspeed with a Lab Blue or GSB - so smooth & close that 15 hours later I've still got an exceptional shave.


I've always had ok results with the Black Beauty. Short lived blade for me, but the results are usually good. I'll have to try one in an Old Type.
 

Whilliam

First Class Citizen
Last time I bought a sampler (about ten years ago), I found Derby Extras to the the worst . . . which is why I was so surprised later to find how well Derby Premiums and Derby USTAs performed.
 
Feather: too sharp, too expensive, wear out too soon. Worst value in shaving

I love sharp blades, so for me Feather blades are not too sharp. However, they do deteriorate quickly. So their cost per shave in poor. I have some stashed away, but rarely use them.
 
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