So, a little back story. I've never been a "blade guy". When I first started, I tried "Derby" and Personnas. Loved the latter, hated the former. So I continued on with Personnas, and never saw the need to search for any other blade. Every now and then I would receive a blade sampler, so I tried a few, including Astras and Voskhod. I liked both, but really they were no different than Personnas (to me).
Personnas for me, regularly last at least two weeks, often longer. I don't really keep track. I just shave until I notice a degrade in shave quality, then I replace.
Now, as we all have, I've read lots of stories about how sharp and sometimes unforgiving Feather blades are. Honestly for that reason alone I was kinda afraid of them. They cost about 3 times what my Personnas cost. And I've read a bunch of posts about how they are incredibly sharp at first, but they degrade rather quickly. I've often read how folks use them for 2-3 shaves, and then they pitch them. All of this added up to me deciding that Feathers were not worth the trouble of trying, despite having received a few packs free in a couple PIFs.
Well, I have no idea why, but I finally decided to give them a try. I loaded one up in my Merkur HD and went to town. Surprisingly smooth, and not harshly sharp like I was expecting. Well, as normal, I just shaved with it every day (my norm is a 2 pass WTG and XTG), knowing I would replace it when the shaves went downhill. After shave #7, I noticed a slight drop in smoothness, but nothing to warrant a new blade. After a couple more shaves the smoothness seemed to return, or I just got used to it. Well, today I'm on shave number 19, as of this morning, and it is showing no sign of letting up. I'm almost to the end of my D20, that I'm using to track shaves.
So, my conclusions are:
1) Feathers don't warrant all the hype that makes them out to be evil, wicked sharp, face slashers.
2) Feathers have more longevity in them than most people give them credit for.
3) I think I'm a convert, although I'll never give up my Personnas. They still cost less per shave.
Personnas for me, regularly last at least two weeks, often longer. I don't really keep track. I just shave until I notice a degrade in shave quality, then I replace.
Now, as we all have, I've read lots of stories about how sharp and sometimes unforgiving Feather blades are. Honestly for that reason alone I was kinda afraid of them. They cost about 3 times what my Personnas cost. And I've read a bunch of posts about how they are incredibly sharp at first, but they degrade rather quickly. I've often read how folks use them for 2-3 shaves, and then they pitch them. All of this added up to me deciding that Feathers were not worth the trouble of trying, despite having received a few packs free in a couple PIFs.
Well, I have no idea why, but I finally decided to give them a try. I loaded one up in my Merkur HD and went to town. Surprisingly smooth, and not harshly sharp like I was expecting. Well, as normal, I just shaved with it every day (my norm is a 2 pass WTG and XTG), knowing I would replace it when the shaves went downhill. After shave #7, I noticed a slight drop in smoothness, but nothing to warrant a new blade. After a couple more shaves the smoothness seemed to return, or I just got used to it. Well, today I'm on shave number 19, as of this morning, and it is showing no sign of letting up. I'm almost to the end of my D20, that I'm using to track shaves.
So, my conclusions are:
1) Feathers don't warrant all the hype that makes them out to be evil, wicked sharp, face slashers.
2) Feathers have more longevity in them than most people give them credit for.
3) I think I'm a convert, although I'll never give up my Personnas. They still cost less per shave.
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