Excalibur Club - Blade Longevity DE, SE and Injector

[psfred]

Thomas:

My experience exactly with the one Derby I used. Got very close shaves, but by the fourth shave on one edge, I felt like I needed both hands to drag the thing across my face. Sort of like a cartridge when it's been used a couple times too many. I may try again someday with a more aggressive razor, since the end result was excellent and there was no irritation or nicking. Just not an experience I want before breakfast.

Peter

 

[Dog Whiskerer]

Moved the Gillette 7 O'clock SharpEdge from my Gillette Rocket Flair Tip to a Gillette Slim for shave #17. Set to 4, it was a slightly better shave than number 16 in the Rocket. Next shave will be at setting 5. I'm pretty sure this blade will break the 20 shave barrier.

Impressed with the 7 O'clock Yellow blade. My first time using it. This blade was from a sampler pack. I have a tuck of Yellows unopened and I'm sorry I don't have two.

There is a 7 O'clock Green in the sampler too. Also a never-used-before-blade. I'll have to use that next.

 

[psfred]

Lol, I should be testing blades well past my 80's at this rate, looks like the very first blade I put in DE razor is going to make it past 20 shaves (#15 tomorrow) and I have at least 40 different brands to test. I assume some will be "not for me" and go pretty quickly, but many will give me a good number of shaves at this rate.

Peter

 

[davidsilva]

Frankly I have no idea, the term comes from the straight razor guys. On the other hand I also have no idea about reasoning of women, even after 35 years of marriage...

LOL - hey Bosse - you sure do understand female reasoning by now - I am an old married guy and am in the same boat - the only reasoning to know is she is always right and I am always wrong!!!!

 

[davidsilva]

I'm working to get a feel on the longevity of the AC style blades. I have a Feather ProGuard at 16 shaves now, and expect it to go north of 20 with no problem. The edge on these seem to hold up very well!

 

[LoungeLizard]

Well, a baker's dozen is all I could get out of the Astra SP (13). Had to let it go this morning after 3 passes and just under a DFS for second day in a row. Have a few from tryablade and not sure which to pick next. I think I'm ready for a feather at this point. Perhaps that will be next.

 

[dkeester]

I'm working to get a feel on the longevity of the AC style blades. I have a Feather ProGuard at 16 shaves now, and expect it to go north of 20 with no problem. The edge on these seem to hold up very well!

I have one (Feather Pro) that I started in my Colonial Razors the General and moved to my RazoRock Hawk. It has 9 shaves on it so far. I am using it for Single Edge Sundays. I think your assessment is probably correct that these blades should easily get past 20 shaves. They appear to hold their edge like Injector blades do.

 

[dkeester]

Shave #15 with Astra SP today and the blade still feels like new to me. I used it in my Progress @3. The shave was so good that I decided to go for the third pass. I am glad that I did because my face feels great! I am still BBS 5 hours later.

 

[psfred]

My Astra at 15 was a little draggy. Didn't shave my chin very well, and felt a bit rough. Used the other side to touch up and if felt much better, so I may be done around 20 shaves on this one. I've been using only one side since last Wednesday, and plan to use one side until it's shot then the other in the future.

Peter

 

[Arjen]

I'm working to get a feel on the longevity of the AC style blades. I have a Feather ProGuard at 16 shaves now, and expect it to go north of 20 with no problem. The edge on these seem to hold up very well!

I have the same experience. I never kept track, but my previous Pro blade in my Feather AC DX just kept on going, so its replacement is carefully tracked to see how many comfortable shaves I can get out of it. This morning I recorded shave number 13. And what a great shave it was

 

[Thomas Darkblade]

Today was shave #8 with the Derby Extra. Yesterday it didn't shave too well in the Rockwell with plate #3 so today I tried it in the Fatip Piccolo.
2 XTG passes went well, but at the ATG pass the same result as before. It was dragging and a bit scratchy. Needed a lot of cleanup, especially on the neck. The results on the face were ok but neck is still rough.
Seems is not a good blade for me, even if the start was good.
I discarded it and will look to test a sharper blade, maybe 7'o clock yellow.

 

[davidsilva]

...I think your assessment is probably correct that these blades should easily get past 20 shaves. They appear to hold their edge like Injector blades do.

I have the same experience.... This morning I recorded shave number 13. And what a great shave it was

+1 Doug and Arjen, thanks. I have high hopes for the Feather ProGuard. We'll see where it goes!

 

[psfred]

I got the equivalent of 8 shaves out of a Derby (four on one edge) and took it out. Very close shave and very little irritation for as much as the blade dragged, could barely finish the shave with it. May try in a more aggressive razor later, but I'm not in any hurry!

I think the Astra SP, my very first DE blade, will be done tomorrow, got a stubbly shave today on the last good edge, not bad for the first blade and all the mistakes I made learning to use a DE razor. Next one should be better.

Peter

 

[Runnin_Ute]

This morning was #19 on a Gillette Silver Blue in my Flare Tip Super Speed. Not sure if it was me or the blade, as I didn't have a lot of time, but even after two passes it wasn't a great shave. Monday is the next shave with this combo.

 

[FarmerTan]

This morning was #19 on a Gillette Silver Blue in my Flare Tip Super Speed. Not sure if it was me or the blade, as I didn't have a lot of time, but even after two passes it wasn't a great shave. Monday is the next shave with this combo.

Those GSB's are freaky good, ain't they? I won a PIF from Highspeedlane when I first started this journey, and probably that is the reason the transition from carts was so easy. So thanks a bunch Lane.

 

[troy]

Those GSB's are freaky good, ain't they? I won a PIF from Highspeedlane when I first started this journey, and probably that is the reason the transition from carts was so easy. So thanks a bunch Lane.

I love GSBs, they were the first blade I took to double digits, and my first to go into the 30s. They also seem to work great in any razor I've tried them in. I'm finding Astra SPs to be very much on par with them.

 

[FarmerTan]

Great! Now I suppose I'll have to get some of those too! Don't tell my wife please.

 

[bosseb]

Small interim report on the Black Indian 7 o'clock standard run:

Vitos Green croap, NEW De luxe on aftermarket handle, my own moisturizer, Geoff Anderson custom brush and Vitos AS​

Today was shave # 58, so just about reaching halp point in this run.

The shaves are sublime, better than expected actually. The blade is in glorious buttery mode and I barely need to use a clean up at all. I do have a suspicion that the weekly flipping of the blade might make a small difference after all. Thanks for the tip!

In two weeks I will begin using my TTO's for the second half of this run. I will report on progress and end result as usual.

Enjoy your shaves!

 

[bosseb]

Small random observation while looking at a friend shave:

I do believe that the concept of angle and pressure is somewhat neglected when discussing shaving and developing the technique for more enjoyable shaves.

For me the proper angle of the blade on the skin is the most important factor in a comfortable shave. I change the angle extremely often to compensate for the round forms of the beard area and for the direction and angle of the beard. By extremely often I mean at least twice per inch. In practice I change the angle constantly and never use the long sweeping strokes often seen in commercials for carts. While developing my technique I have learned that every centimeter of the beard area is different and needs a unique approach. This is how I managed to trim my 3 pass shaves down to 2 pass ones with better quality.

Pressure has been discussed on these pages frequently. I have not been able to really get a grip of what different posters mean by "just the right amount" of pressure. The expression is often confused with the YMMV concept. IMHO these are two different concepts. The right pressure is in my mind the least amount of pressure for getting the blade to cut. First you have to get the angle right and then trim down the pressure to get enjoyable shaves.

The pressure is IMHO the second parameter to work on in order to get more enjoyable shaves.

Of course this is all academic unless we have a method for the concepts. The only method I know of is to shave with brutally different razors to get to know the extremes and thereby defining the field of play. I personally use two kinds of very different razors than I normally use, namely these two:

The Rocnel SE and the CJB​

The Rocnel uses half an ordinary DE blade and the CJB uses a Feather Pro type of blade. The Rocnel weighs over 150g and the CJB is extremely lightweight, but the blade in it is distinctly sharper than anything else in this hobby.

By incorporating a week now and then with these razors I find that the muscle memory is reset. This results in a better awareness of angle and pressure and at least for me is a very effective way of keeping the technique alive and well.

Hope you find this advice something to consider, it has helped me a lot. BTW you don't have to use these exact razors, any shavette and SR type will do. Personally I never learned to hone the Swedish straights...

 

[troy]

I just finished number 13 on a Chick in my Schick C-1 Repeater. The blade still feels great, I'm just starting to need a little cleanup after 2 passes to get to DFS. I feel like it should hit at least 20. This is pretty surprising to me, with Gem style SE I can only get 10. From my limited experience with injectors, I thought 10 was going to be all these were good for too. I should say my numbers may be a little skewed as I'm shaving less of my face this time of year. These shaves are head shaves with neck and cheek line cleanups, During the summer I leave at least a goat and stache, and usually an inch or so strip along the jaw.