Derby Blades

[steveclarkus]

I've been reading blade reviews for two days and have concluded that blade choice is very personal and has a lot to do with an individual's face. There was no way to find what was generally considered the top blade.

I then started looking for the blade review with the most comments and it seems to be Derby.

What accounts for this? Was Derby the hot blade before the Feather came along since more people commented on it than any other blade? Or, perhaps, is Derby the subconscious choice of the most people.

Also, the Derby and the Feather seem to be the standard by which more blades are measured against than others.

I've been using Gillette 7 O'clock super stainless and have been quite satisfied but this inner voice keeps saying "Buy Derby".

Opinions?

 

[michiganlover]

Derby was a well regarded mild blade for quite awhile. It is what I got my start with. Recently they changed the look of the packaging, and the blades in the new packaging seem to be of less quality: the initial shave is really rough, generally resulting in a boatload of weepers. Followup shaves are a little smoother. One can make the first shave as good as the second on these Derby blades by running each edge of the blade lightly through a piece of cork a couple of times.

 

[FL shaver]

I arrived at the same conclusion as you did and jumped at buying 100 Derbys. I think the reason for the popularity was they were a cheap blade that performed very well. This was before a change in the packaging. The Derbys that were delivered to me were in the "vertical" packaging (Google image search vertical and horizontal Derbys or search here) and performed poorly. I gave half of the remainder each away to 2 guys. One guy passed his on. The other continues to use them. The consensus now seems to be that the blade changed somehow and doesn't perform as well. I would suggest you try a small quantity first.

 

[oversaturn]

You can still get the horizontal Derbys here:

http://stores.ebay.com/bestshave

Recently I ordered a pack of 100 and here's what I got:

100 Horizontal Derby Extra + 5 ASCO blades for free.

 

[MaxJ]

I've been using Gillette 7 O'clock super stainless and have been quite satisfied but this inner voice keeps saying "Buy Derby".

Opinions?

Ignore that voice. At all costs.

As you said, blades are very much YMMV, but I cut my teeth (and every inch of my face) on Derbys after reading all of the B&B posts recommending them as a go-to for newbs. Never again. Inconsistent, not smooth in any way, not particularly sharp; it's like someone designed a blade to inflict maximum pain. It's my opinion that the world's supply of Derbys should be launched into space, never again to harm mankind.

(And we're talking about the "old" package Derbys here, btw)

 

[Chester]

If you have a blade you like, stick with it. If you want to try something different, get a sample pack. There's nothing wrong with your 7 o'clocks, but if I were you, I'd buy a couple packs of derbys and see how you like them. (Then again, I like trying new blades!) Anyhow, for all the reports of vertical derbys not behaving well, I've had no problems with them, fwiw... maybe I'm in the minority.

Myself, I'm really enjoying using different blades every other week or so. I've been on Timors for the past week, and I'm really liking them... so much so that I took the Iridiums out of my dopp in favor of Timors.

... one note about blade reviews:
In general, no one blade is the one that everyone thinks is top o' the pops. It's YMMV, as you know. You'll note that there are about a dozen different blade brands in the review section that get 4 stars or more. If you read the reviews, sometimes people downgrade a blade based on packaging or wax spots, or they try a blade in one razor with bad results, only to get better results in another razor later on. I'm no longer surprised when I read threads/reviews that come from people who dismiss a blade after a few tries, only to find that they like it six months later. My point is that you're going to have to come to your own conclusion, and there are so many factors that can influence your perception of a blade. Feed your curiosity, but don't let a review make up your mind ahead of time.

-- Chet

 

[sodajerk]

I'm a daily shaver with what I consider an average beard. I have tried six different brands of blades so far and the only one that is noticably different is the house brand Personnas I got at CVC. For me, each brand of blade has it's own personnality but all give good shaves. Add to that differences in technique and razor combinations and you begin to understand why you hear differnet stories.

Derby's give me seven really good shaves and I use them 90% of the time. Yes, the first shave can be rougher than the rest, but 7o'clocks (green) and Sharks do the same thing. May be me, though, because I even got good shaves with the (mostly) hated Merkurs! )

On thing for sure - you'll never really know the answer until you try them! Enjoy your shaves.

 

[Jon1944]

Ignore that voice. At all costs.

As you said, blades are very much YMMV, but I cut my teeth (and every inch of my face) on Derbys after reading all of the B&B posts recommending them as a go-to for newbs. Never again. Inconsistent, not smooth in any way, not particularly sharp; it's like someone designed a blade to inflict maximum pain. It's my opinion that the world's supply of Derbys should be launched into space, never again to harm mankind.

(And we're talking about the "old" package Derbys here, btw)

Don't do it, I use to love Derby's so I bought 100 of the bay and got the ones with the new packaging, and they tear me up.

 

[keeptahoeblue]

This is no good! I'm a big fan of the old Derby blades and am quite bummed with the new.

 

[tater_salad]

I havent tried the new derbys but the reason you see a lot of "buy derby" especially for newbies looking for recomnendations is because it was a great starter mild blade. It'll give you a close enough shave that you won't get frustrated with DE shaving, and you'll have a decent margin for bad tecnique so you aren't frustrated.

 

[awesomefunn]

i bought a derby 100 pack from ebay when i first started to shave. i am so glad i tried other blades and didnt stick to that 100 pack.

 

[BrianL]

I like them and have used both the vertical and horizontal blades and could not tell the difference. I get a weeks worth of shaves from each blade and I shave daily.

 

[brianw]

This definitely a case of YMMV. I tried Derby's early on and I did not care for them. My next blade was a crystal and I have fell in love with them...my go to blade when I use a DE

 

[Chester]

I like them and have used both the vertical and horizontal blades and could not tell the difference.

Whew! I'm not the only one!
-- Chet

 

[steveclarkus]

Thanks for the info guys; I think it has calmed the inner voice. There were so few choices when I started shaving in the mid sixties, I think all the reviews just burned my brain a bit.

I use a Gillette "New" which is pretty aggressive but an excellent razor and the 7 O'clocks work well with it. I think I'll periodically buy sampler packs to satisfy my curiosity.

Rather than buying a bunch of razors since I found one that works really well for me, I'm going to concentrate on blades and soaps for a variety of experiences.

Since you have to shave anyway, you may as well maximize the enjoyment.

 

[americanarmsdealer]

I've had good shaves from the Derbys I have, and I have the new packaging.(verticals) Nothing to really write home about, and I doubt I'll ever buy them in bulk, but they worked pretty well.

Of course, YMMV and all that jazz.

 

[sandmountainslim]

I have to report that I recently finished a weeks worth of shaves with a Vertical Derby and it worked well enough for me.
Didn't cut me and wasn't very rough to my face. .....good thing because I have 200 of them!
Wp

 

[DE Shaver]

I have have good shaves with Derby blades, although to date they've been only with "horiztontal" Derbys. I tempted to purchase from "vertical" Derbys to compare.

 

[Justinsane]

So from what I'm reading, the "horizontal" version is superior to the new "vertical" version, is that correct? What's the horizontal and vertical all about?

 

[Speedwell68]

Derbys are a fine blade IMHO. They are cheap, easy to come by and the quality seems good. I too bought a 100 pack and in the beginning I did have some irritation with them. But since I have refined my technique Derbys work just fine, in both my Muhle R89 and my '53 Gillette. My wife has also had no issue with them in her EJ DE86. They would be my 'go to' but I have found another brand that works just as well and are a bit cheaper.