Derby Extra or Derby Premium - which are better blades?

[Jim K]

40 shaves?!?

Agree with your question 40 shaves???? Why, why, why would anyone want, desire, or need to do that...??? One can get 100 blades of Extras or Premiums for at most $8.99 / 100 - that is $.09 per blade. To quibble overusing a blade for more than 4 or 5 times (ie: for $.02 each is ridiculous!). 40 shaves on a blade means someone is ssooo tight and frugal that they need to only pay $0.00225 per shave . or 12 years to go through a pack of 100 blades...Wow is all I can say! Like using a paper napkin 40 times. they ARE cheap and disposable for a reason...The term is "diminishing returns" for a reason!

 

[EddieSlick]

Just nasty. I'd be hesitant to use them to scrape dried paint on windows.

 

[zoidberg]

I really wanted to like the Premiums but they give me irritation.

+1

It's actually a very smooth blade, sharp enough as well but my face reacted to the strange coating of the blade. It happened with a Derby Extra as well. Only 2 blades of 50+ I have used to invoke such an odd reaction from.

Otherwise I'd recommend a Derby Premium without a hesitation. It's a good blade.

 

[Roy]

I think 40 May be a misprint as it certainly not an average. More like 4?
I used them in a sample pack and found them rough. However ,blades are cheap enough to buy a pack when you next order soap etc.

 

[Whilliam]

Just tried a new Extra. Not bad.

 

[lancre]

Agree with your question 40 shaves???? Why, why, why would anyone want, desire, or need to do that...??? One can get 100 blades of Extras or Premiums for at most $8.99 / 100 - that is $.09 per blade. To quibble overusing a blade for more than 4 or 5 times (ie: for $.02 each is ridiculous!). 40 shaves on a blade means someone is ssooo tight and frugal that they need to only pay $0.00225 per shave . or 12 years to go through a pack of 100 blades...Wow is all I can say! Like using a paper napkin 40 times. they ARE cheap and disposable for a reason...The term is "diminishing returns" for a reason!

Here we go again.

Personally, I usually go 6-8 shaves per blade. Once, just for the heck of it, I left a German Wilkinson in my Fatboy just to see how many shaves I could get (48). That was a one-off for me, but check out the Excalibur group to see how serious some guys are about it.

 

[lurchbrian]

40 shaves?!?

well it dont take a lot to trim fluff lol.

 

[pdieten]

I think 40 May be a misprint as it certainly not an average. More like 4?
I used them in a sample pack and found them rough. However ,blades are cheap enough to buy a pack when you next order soap etc.

No, for him, it's 40. The Excalibur guys like to see how long they can push a blade. A quality blade is good for 100, supposedly.

I don't know. I've tried pushing a blade beyond 10 only once and did not enjoy the experience. And that was a high quality blade, and it was more difficult to remember how to shave with a sharp new blade again. Would not repeat the experiment. But, to each his own.

 

[psfred]

Yup, only 40 shaves. Good blades last more like 80 plus. And no, I don't have a whispy beard.

A co-worker who has a very dense and coarse beard used to get a full year out of a tuck of Gillette blades back in the day, so I'm not alone.

Technique counts, and PTFE only lasts three or four shaves....

 

[Slats6NYR]

Feh, and Premium Feh.

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[sugardaddy]

Going farther than the small amounts of uses that everyone is told in the beginning isn't really about saving money. Often a wonderful smooth phase is encountered that 7x'ers will never see.

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[pdieten]

Going farther than the small amounts of uses that everyone is told in the beginning isn't really about saving money. Often a wonderful smooth phase is encountered that 7x'ers will never see.

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I'm familiar. It's too smooth to cut. Like dragging the spine end of a Gem blade across my face. Personally I prefer a bit more efficiency than that.

 

[Grundi]

Most of those people seem to have formed their opinion based on the pre-2016 version of the Extras. Shaving by the numbers has documented the difference between then and now.

Like you, I've had good luck with all of the Derby Blades. Roughly 25% of all the blades I've used have been Derby Extras. It's the blade I learned on. If I include Derby Premium, Derby Usta, Bluebird, the total climbs to about 35%.

I'm one of the ones who like the Derby Premiums; but it's been quite a while since I've tried the Derby Extras. I happen to have a tuck (not sure when they were made) and I'm in a lull waiting for Shark Week to start; so, I thought it would be a good time to try the Extras again just to how the stacked up to "my memory of them".

View attachment 999703Personally, I usually go 6-8 shaves per blade.

This morning marked 6 DFS shaves with a Derby Extra and will use it again tomorrow morning. 1st shave was ok (not terrible by any measure) but 2 - 6 were noticeably nicer. I would definitely rate them in the upper middle of the pack. I still prefer the Premiums, but my memory rated the Extras worse than they actually are. Extras are decent blades.

 

[SmoovD]

I have never been a fan of Derby Extras, YMMV. Granted it has been a decade or so since I have used one. I have heard that they had some changes a few years ago but I have not used the newer blades. Last month I took a flyer on a 100-pack sleeve of the Premiums and I have to admit that they are pretty decent blades. I had been using them in Krona which delivers a nice smooth shave but last night I dropped a new blade into an Old Type and it delivered a wonderful shave. Color me impressed.

 

[lancre]

I'm one of the ones who like the Derby Premiums; but it's been quite a while since I've tried the Derby Extras. I happen to have a tuck (not sure when they were made) and I'm in a lull waiting for Shark Week to start; so, I thought it would be a good time to try the Extras again just to how the stacked up to "my memory of them".

This morning marked 6 DFS shaves with a Derby Extra and will use it again tomorrow morning. 1st shave was ok (not terrible by any measure) but 2 - 6 were noticeably nicer. I would definitely rate them in the upper middle of the pack. I still prefer the Premiums, but my memory rated the Extras worse than they actually are. Extras are decent blades.

I can't argue with you there. I like the Premiums a little better myself. My Extras (original tuck purchased in June, 2016 and 100 purchased from IB on Black Friday, 2016) Were basically the blades I learned on. The labels on the box seemed to indicate they were the pre-2016 variety, but the consensus her seemed to be that they were "transitional", i.e. the labelling hadn't caught up to the manufacturing change (see the thread by @ShavingByTheNumbers). Everybody's face and technique are different so YMMV.

 

[psfred]

Moved that Premium from a Slim to a slant this morning, and while it didn't feel any different, I got a really nice close shave. So I'll be using the slant with it til it's done. Might even get a reasonable number of shaves with it!

 

[Bill_G]

I just completed my first month shaving every day with a DE razor. My first razor was an EJ 89 which was returned immediately after my first shave with my recently acquired Rockwell 6C. Blade wise I've only used the Derby Extra's & the Astra SP's. I definitely like the Astra's better but I also enjoy using the Derby's Extras. In fact thank to this thread I used my last Derby Extra tonight using plate R3 & was rewarded with a great shave. I plan to try the Premiums in the near future as well as the Astra SS, Bic Chrome Platinum, Feather, Personna Red/Blue's, Voskhod's & will definitely order more Extras.

 

[Grundi]

I just completed my first month shaving every day with a DE razor. My first razor was an EJ 89 which was returned immediately after my first shave with my recently acquired Rockwell 6C. Blade wise I've only used the Derby Extra's & the Astra SP's. I definitely like the Astra's better but I also enjoy using the Derby's Extras. In fact thank to this thread I used my last Derby Extra tonight using plate R3 & was rewarded with a great shave. I plan to try the Premiums in the near future as well as the Astra SS, Bic Chrome Platinum, Feather, Personna Red/Blue's, Voskhod's & will definitely order more Extras.

Congratulations on notching your first month, @Bill_G!! That's a very nice list of blades!! Go nuts and enjoy this amazing DE adventure!!

 

[Bill_G]

Congratulations on notching your first month, @Bill_G!! That's a very nice list of blades!! Go nuts and enjoy this amazing DE adventure!!

Thanks.

 

[Grundi]

I can't argue with you there. I like the Premiums a little better myself. My Extras (original tuck purchased in June, 2016 and 100 purchased from IB on Black Friday, 2016) Were basically the blades I learned on. The labels on the box seemed to indicate they were the pre-2016 variety, but the consensus her seemed to be that they were "transitional", i.e. the labelling hadn't caught up to the manufacturing change (see the thread by @ShavingByTheNumbers). Everybody's face and technique are different so YMMV.

Loaded up a Derby Premium this morning...very nice...and I didn't have the 1st Shave Blues. Overall, it was better than Extras shaves 2-6, but not be a large amount. It's good to test these blades back-to-back to get a feel for their differences.