Derby disappointment...is it me?

[camondw]

This morning I decided to move on to Derby blades.

I had ordered a sampler from WCS and had been looking forward to using the Derby blades after reading all the great reviews.

I was a bit disappointed.

I shave an odd pattern, which may have something to do with my problem. I shave WTG, XTG at a 45 degree angle against the grain, XTG with the opposite angle against the grain.

Rarely do I ever do a true ATG, the XTG is across and 1/2 against. There is sometimes a 2nd WTG before the XTG if I need it.

Anyway, on to my issue with the Derby blades.

The first shave went o.k. Nothing to write home about, not as sharp or smooth as the feather I had tried before, comparable to Wal-Mart or CVS blades (Personna?)

I did not sweat it. Some of my fav blades do better on the 2nd shave (feather)

Today was the 2nd shave with the Derby and there were several weepers and some intense burn. For me, intense burn is anything I feel painfully after about minutes. the blade was tugging about 1/3 through the 1st XTG pass and by the end of the shave you could have lit a fire on my neck. I tossed the blade and will be moving on to another blade tomorrow.

I use a Weishi razor that is about to be replaced with a vintage gillette, (once it arrives) maybe that will have an effect.

I know a lot of people like the Derby blades.

Is it me?

 

[grizzly]

My buddy hates them and suggested if I buy some online to just get the feathers. That is what I did and have been happy, so I've pretty much stuck with them and drugstore blades.

 

[global_dev]

I shave an odd pattern, which may have something to do with my problem. I shave WTG, XTG at a 45 degree angle against the grain, XTG with the opposite angle against the grain.

Rarely do I ever do a true ATG, the XTG is across and 1/2 against. There is sometimes a 2nd WTG before the XTG if I need it.

The first shave went o.k. Nothing to write home about, not as sharp or smooth as the feather I had tried before, comparable to Wal-Mart or CVS blades (Personna?)

I did not sweat it. Some of my fav blades do better on the 2nd shave (feather)

Today was the 2nd shave with the Derby and there were several weepers and some intense burn. For me, intense burn is anything I feel painfully after about minutes. the blade was tugging about 1/3 through the 1st XTG pass and by the end of the shave you could have lit a fire on my neck. I tossed the blade and will be moving on to another blade tomorrow.

Is it me?

I shave with those same passes and the derby's i found to be much smoother than the ASR personnas and more forgiving than the feathers, but there was some tug with the derbys. These are the only three blades i have tried so far and I have tried them in both a feather AS and an EJ89L and the only the derby in a feather portable and it worked pretty well.

The ASR personnas were way rougher than the derbys if i remember correctly.

 

[Greglam]

YMMV. Not every blade is suited to every face and/or every razor. Personally, I LOVE my Derby Extras in my Merkur HD.

Happy Shaving!
-Greg

 

[Uncle Erik]

No, it isn't just you. Sometimes I get good shaves from a Derby and sometimes they're awful. I find them very inconsistent. Shame, because they're good when they're good and the price is excellent.

 

[camondw]

I shave with those same passes and the derby's i found to be much smoother than the ASR personnas and more forgiving than the feathers, but there was some tug with the derbys. These are the only three blades i have tried so far and I have tried them in both a feather AS and an EJ89L and the only the derby in a feather portable and it worked pretty well.

The ASR personnas were way rougher than the derbys if i remember correctly.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of the drugstore brand over Derby, I was just surprised at the roughness on my face. Especially in a Weishi which has a reputation for being a gentle and forgiving razor.

I will be moving on to another brand in the sampler and will try the Derby again once my new razor comes.

 

[camondw]

No, it isn't just you. Sometimes I get good shaves from a Derby and sometimes they're awful. I find them very inconsistent. Shame, because they're good when they're good and the price is excellent.

Do they seem to be good or bad based on batch/pack or do individual blades in a pack vary?

 

[DE Shaver]

Not everyone will like Derby blades. In fact, that's pretty much standard across the board with regards to most blades. A certain percentage of people will not like certain brands of blades. Personally, I like the Derby Extra and Feather blades, two of the blades that people complain about the most (for different reasons, however).

 

[formyface]

They do the business for me. smooth shave, no nicks

 

[Big Kev]

I have used the Derbys a few times. Some times it was a good shave others not so much. I don't think I would buy them again, but I wouldn't throw them out if they came in a sampler pack.

 

[demaro]

They work fine for me, although I know they don't work well for others.

 

[ReGZ_93]

Do they seem to be good or bad based on batch/pack or do individual blades in a pack vary?

I have a cople packs where the blades have varied considerably. I usualy toss the bad blade and go for another. They are cheap enough.

 

[brg]

The blade is the most personal aspect of this "craft". For me they are just OK. Can't apply any pressure, because I'll get cut, but if I don't it's hard to get a close shave. I prefer the "blank" Personnas or the Iridiums when I need something sharper.

 

[BrianL]

Derby's are my go to blade and I get a weeks worth of shaves per blade.

 

[braxis]

I tried the derby today and found it a smooth shave but not very close. I will keep them but I don't think that I will be buying a 100 of them anytime soon either.

 

[Ray-Vigo]

I shave every morning, have since high school (well that I haven't been bedridden with flu or the like). I went through a 100 pack of Derbys in a little over a year's time. I get 3-4 shaves per blade. The Derbies are the only blades so far that seem to allow me a close shave, but without burn after using them everyday. I have gotten closer shaves with Iridiums and Astras, but then those blades begin to cause burn after a few days if I use them everyday. They tugged a bit less than the Derbys, but then they burned if I kept using them everyday. So I recently bought another 100 Derbys.

The Derbys seem to work well and work for me everyday in a few different razors.

That said, when a Derby is good, it's really, really good. When it's bad, it's awful (cuts and pulls). It's not just a bad blade here and there sometimes either, but whole bad runs. In that 100 pack I had 2 or 3 of the 5 blade packs that were just plain awful, and they all came back-to-back. It was like there was a day or two at the factory when everything went sour. I tossed all of those bad blades. After that run, all was back to normal and the blades were good again.

 

[bhayn007]

For me they don't work. I find Feather's much smoother. The Derby's drag and pull way too much on face.