I have been consistantly great shaves from my Polsilver SI blades but once in awhile I decide to visit a blade from my first sampler pack. I picked the derby this time. I remembered it as a very forgiving blade when I was first learning. Well, one and a half shave later I tossed it. I felt like I was punishing myself for all the cartridge razors I tossed in the landfill. Mr. Derby we are not friends!
Derby punishment
- Thread starter BearHeart
- Start date
I had been on again off again with Derby's, but lately I am really enjoying them. Sometimes it is the smoothest blade I've ever used.
They're probably the worst blade I have ever used. I have never finished a single pass with a Derby. Far too blunt.
- Thread starter
- #4
I should have included that this was with a merkur 34c. I had to double check that I hadn't grabbed a blade from my utility knife.
They're a good blade and I've used a lot of them. That said, I'm down to my last 10 blades and don't plan to buy more in bulk.
I tossed it half a shave before you... Didn't like it at all. YMMV
I've had great results with Derby blades until a week ago. That particular blade was a different animal depending on which edge I used. One edge was fine, the other rough.
I experienced the same thing with a few Derby blades. I thought it was in my head. Glad to see someone else had the same issue.
People have said to "keep all your blades"! You never know down the road if it might work in a new razor you aquire. One day I was holding my new R41 after a couple fine shaves with various blades and trying to decide which blade to try next. I glanced into the drawer and that box of Derby's was staring at me..... I've also seen people suggesting to use sharp blades in less aggressive razors and less sharp blades in aggressive razors.
> I've also seen people suggesting to use sharp blades in less aggressive razors and less sharp blades in aggressive razors.
+1 - That's certainly the case for me.
+1 - That's certainly the case for me.
I have yet found a modern razor that when matched with a Derby works well for me. However in razors made from the late 30's to the 80's, they work extremely well, very smooth and give excellent shaves.
The text below about the shave I had with a Derby today I have copied from the DE blade testing diary I am keeping.
Blade: Derby(used two times before this shave)
Razor: Gillette aluminum Tech
Brush: Semogue LE 2010
Soap: Speick
I did not shave yesterday.
The Derby blade has not ever treated me right. Today's shave was again a bad shave since I got a lot of irritation and two cuts. The thing with the Derby blade is that it has a tricky personality, so to speak. It is cutting smoothly for a while and suddenly I notice I have a cut. But not a the area where I am shaving but rather at another spot which I have shaved already. When it comes to irritation I also have this delayed awareness with Derbys. This is something I have experienced with previous Derbys and not with any other blade. So for me at least, Derbys are consistently "tricky" for lack of a better word.
On my first pass I decided that it would be my only pass because of the cuts and the irritation I already had. This gave me an acceptable shave.
Blade: Derby(used two times before this shave)
Razor: Gillette aluminum Tech
Brush: Semogue LE 2010
Soap: Speick
I did not shave yesterday.
The Derby blade has not ever treated me right. Today's shave was again a bad shave since I got a lot of irritation and two cuts. The thing with the Derby blade is that it has a tricky personality, so to speak. It is cutting smoothly for a while and suddenly I notice I have a cut. But not a the area where I am shaving but rather at another spot which I have shaved already. When it comes to irritation I also have this delayed awareness with Derbys. This is something I have experienced with previous Derbys and not with any other blade. So for me at least, Derbys are consistently "tricky" for lack of a better word.
On my first pass I decided that it would be my only pass because of the cuts and the irritation I already had. This gave me an acceptable shave.
Same kind of thing happened to me yesterday. Recently I've used two SIs, two Silver Blues and two GBEs. With those blades fresh in mind I put in an RP - one of the first blades I ever used. Yuk. Pulled, tugged, hurt as I used it, gave me a bad shave, and left me with post shave burn. I threw it away after using it once and loaded up another Silver Blue. Since yesterday's shave was so bad I shaved again today (rarely shave every day) and got a fantastic shave with the Silver Blue
Derby gives me the best shave of all the blades Ive used. Feathers are WAY to sharp for me and my sensitive neck area, Persona's, Wilks are the only others Ive tried. I have seven packs of five Feathers in the yellow pack I'd like to trade for equal amount of Astra's to try if anyone is interested.
The Blades have been traded!
The Blades have been traded!
Last edited:
Interesting, your beard must be heavy and tough, I get Baby bottom shaves all the time without all those red bumps on my neck like with Feathers.
Wanna swap those to my seven packs of Feathers?
It's not dense but the individual hairs are thick IMO. I do prefer sharper blades.
Put one in the Slant today. Whether it was the razor or the blade I can't say, but the shave was excellent.
