I have revisited blades and most of the time my first negative opinion was correct. I'll never use the following again. Astra SP, Bic super chrome, Gillette 7o'clock green (Russian), and shark (all of them). The blades that surprised me, and became part of my rotation, after a revisit were GSB, and Nacet.
Do you revisit blades that previously didn't work for you?
- Thread starter nlife
- Start date
Yes, after having a tear or two of shaving under my belt I started revisiting blades that didn't work for me, before. My technique had improved so I was able to evaluate a blade & not be dramatically impacted by my good, or bad, technique. I will still go back & occasionally try blades again.
The only blade that hasn't worked for me is the Treet Carbon Steel (Black Beauty) blade. It didn't matter which razor I used them in, I couldn't get through 1 pass with them. Dragging, skipping, not cutting at all.
It has been over a decade since I went through the tuck and I have no desire to try them again-there are just too many excellent blades on the market for me to waste another moment of time I'll never get back on that blade.
marty
It has been over a decade since I went through the tuck and I have no desire to try them again-there are just too many excellent blades on the market for me to waste another moment of time I'll never get back on that blade.
marty
I'm like a dog returning to it's vomit when it comes to the Derby Extra or the Dorco 301.... When I'm feeling my oats and think I can survive another dance with them.....BAM! my incredibly handsome face looks like Ali used it for a punching bag! True story doggone.
- Thread starter
- #25
That's a concern that's always in the back of my mind... Damn harsh blades on my handsome mug! It's how I makes my living for Pete's sake!
the black beauty I wanted to like because it looks cool BUT like you could not stand 1 pass they are one of the worse blades I have tried
so ironic the best for me so far is the Treet Dura Sharp ?
The falcon is OK the rest are a hard pass and the majority horrid
is funny how that goes but same with other companies like Lord one of them is OK and the rest are hard pass also
Do you realize your face would be the most recognized face in the world if it wasn't for those rounds you took as Ali's punching bag? Just think of how different the world would be! I'm not saying we would all be in the Garden of Eden, of course not. But we sure would be close. Why I bet we'd be within spittin distance of it.
Last edited:
I have yet to revisit Feather. But I am thinking I'm going to give one a go in my Henson AL13.
Funny to see this thread as this topic has been on my mind the last couple of days. I'm probably going to try Kai blades again after I've used more of my current blades. My previous experience with Kai was really odd and I'm thinking if I use them with the right razor and cream they'll be great.
While I hate Shark Super Chrome and Super Stainless, I found Shark Platinum to be surprisingly decent. They will never be my favorite blades, but unlike the first two, I can use the later.
Since you like Nacet blades, I am surprised that you cannot use BIC Chrome Platinum blades. These two brands are top of the heap for me.
Also, I find that 7 O'Clock Russian Super Stainless greens and Gillette Super Blue blades are quite similar in both sharpness and smoothness. I am surprised that you like one but not the other.
Well like we always say YMMV. Could be my razors or my technique. I've tried a tuck of each shark and never finished one of them. Bic is much sharper than Nacet and more a kin to Feather IMHO. I do agree with you that SS greens are very similar to GSB, at least on the first shave, but they aren't quite as smooth, nor does the smoothness last. I wish more blades worked for me. I love the smoothness of Wilkinson Sword (German), but I can't achieve more than a DFS unless I want razor burn. I get the same results with Voskhod.
I do revisit blades. Sometimes it's a blade I initially didn't care for, I'll try again to confirm, or not, my initial impression. Occasionally my later experience is different from my first impression. There are times when I go away from a "good" blade only to find out when I get back to it the experience is not as good as I remembered.
Sure! Especially blades that I decided were ‘no go’ during my early days.
I do. And having done that, I came to the conclusion that the razor is a much more important variable in shaving than the blade. I got into vintage Gillettes and tried out some blades that I disliked before. For example, the Indian Wilkie and the Green 7 o'clock, I nearly binned them. Then I put them in my Tech and Superspeed and they totally wowed me. So I'd say generally if you change razors, go back to trying out lots of blades in it.
Sound advice. I've noticed the same.
You are totally correct on that. I have a number of vintage Gillettes and each one seems to favor a different blade or blades. With the exception of a slim, which doesn't appear that picky.
If I loathe a blade, I won't intentionally buy tucks of (just) them again. However, if a tuck winds up in a sampler pack, I'll typically persevere and try to get through it because I hate waste. If it's significantly better on reassessment, I might get a third tuck as a quality "tiebreaker."
The first tuck of pre-2016 Derby Extras I got in a sampler pack was absolutely awful; I nicked myself just by putting one of them on my skin without pressing. I wound up with a second pre-2016 tuck in another sampler pack; it was...not fantastic, but significantly less awful than my first tuck (maybe a C+/B- instead of an F), enough to make me curious about trying the post-2016 blades once I exhaust my other stock.
The first tuck of pre-2016 Derby Extras I got in a sampler pack was absolutely awful; I nicked myself just by putting one of them on my skin without pressing. I wound up with a second pre-2016 tuck in another sampler pack; it was...not fantastic, but significantly less awful than my first tuck (maybe a C+/B- instead of an F), enough to make me curious about trying the post-2016 blades once I exhaust my other stock.
When trying a new blade, I always get a full tuck (5 or 10 blades). Usually try at least 2, in case one is a dud. If I don’t like them, then I put the tuck aside until I get a new razor to try them in.
I also don’t waste my time trying blades that I can’t readily buy a 100 pack at a reasonable price.
The country of origin also influences blade choice.
I also don’t waste my time trying blades that I can’t readily buy a 100 pack at a reasonable price.
The country of origin also influences blade choice.
I settled on the Lord family of blades quite a few years ago. They work very well for me and are inexpensive and I see no reason to try anything else.
I've used a couple of them, the Lord Platinum and the Shark Super Stainless, and they've really impressed me.
Similar threads
