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Feather Blades: Hype and Longevity

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.
 
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Very impressed you've got so far! I love Feathers in my DE89, of all the blades I've tried they're the sharpest, smoothest of all. However, despite trying a few times, even with my sparse stubble by the time I hit 3 shaves I'm starting to feel some tugging.
 

Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
19 shaves on a Feather! Most I've heard of I do believe!

Feathers are at the very top of my list now.

When I first used one I disliked it. Felt like it was just to sharp, gave me to many weepers.
I went back to them several months later and turns out it was just my technique not the blade.
I've got fantastic shaves from them since.

Glad to hear you enjoy them as well!
 
For the sake of keeping things easy I load a new Feather every Monday. 7 shaves per blade and no complaints if I do my part right.

I believe I could get quite a few more shaves out of the blades but for what they cost I figure I'd rather limit the variables and use a new blade each week that way if I have a bad shave I know odds are it was my fault not the razors.

Travis
 
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.
I couldn't agree more!

After an almost 15 years journey with carts (and that one after a 1-year journey with a cheap plastic DE razor - after many years of electro-mower suffering) I had started with Feather blades right from the beginning. No nicks, no cuts - until I got lazy a few times, but that also happened with other blades.

I think the Feather is a great blade, but not the only one at the top. I further came to the conclusion that blade life can vary a lot within the same brand. The maximum number of shaves I have reached so far with a Feather is somewhere around 14, but most are done before reaching the 7th shave. It also depends with which razor I use it. I never force it to crank out more shaves. When I am not satisfied with a shave the blade goes to another razor or makes its way to the bin. The longest living blade I have used so far is an Indian black 7 o'clock with 21 shaves in a Gillette NEW, and still going strong, while other black 7 o'clock blades have ended in the bin after 5 shaves. I would describe my beard as medium coarse, but very stubborn.
 
I guess it depends on your beard. I have a wiry fairly thick beard. There are NO blades that last more than seven times for me. I can get as many as five or six shaves with a Personna Lab or Med Prep blade to as few as two with a Feather. I don't find Feathers to be face slashers or overly aggressive. Rather, my beard for some reason seems to dull the blades sufficiently after just two shaves so that if I stretch it to three, I get irritation.
 
I prefer the Red Personnas to Feather. Feathers don't actually feel rough, they feel smooth, even more than Personna, but they make me bleed. With Feathers you don't feel when you cut yourself, it's deceptive. It's like: "woah, what a nice, smooth, effortless shave... BLOOD!".
 
I have mixed feeling about the Feathers. I get a different experience depending on the razor. Like them in a SC NEW but don't like them in a 38C, for example. Could just be my face agrees more with one razor than the other, could be a razor/blade combo...I don't know. I prefer Astra or Personna, since they perform more consistently over different razors for me. Feathers are sharp for sure, but that's not really enough to deserve the hype. I think they dull pretty quick. That could be a mind thing though since they start out so sharp.
 
Feathers are great. I like 'em. For me they aren't something to shave with when I'm needing the job done in a hurry. I've run one 14 days as an experiment and it still gave a reasonable shave. I get a week out of my Feathers or any other favored blade. Then on Sunday morning a new blade is loaded up.
 
I like Feather blades in Gillette Tech. I normally make 4 passes + cleanup. Feather blades last me about 5 shaves. I like Kai even better. But they are crazy expensive.
 
Personally, I'm impressed with the number of shaves a well. But what impresses me more is the fact you're using a d20 to track your shaves. Very nice! I'm a D&D/Pathfinder man myself, starting back with 2nd Edition. If you're a fellow gamer, that makes me feel less lonely here. :)
 
Well, Today was #21. Still going strong.

Just wanted to add, that as most know, each blade will behave differently in different razors. Some like Feathers in an aggressive razor, but from what I've read it seems most prefer them in something mild like the Tech. That's why I put it in my Merkur HD, which I consider to be fairly mild.
 
Most of the people who hate Feathers seem to be those who used them at the start of their DE journey. Many times people revisit the blade months or years later & their views change completely. If your technique is lacking, a Feather will find it out far more easily than say a red Personna.
 
Honestly I can't really believe that most the members(from what I've read here) switch blades after 3-4 blades with ANY blade. I usually go atleast 6-7 with most blades and sometimes so long that I don't even keep track and don't really notice that much of a difference until a couple of weeks. That said, the feathers usually wear out faster for me and don't give me the desired amount of smoothness so I found them to be a waste of time & money.
 
Feathers are my #1. Get about 7 shaves and I am fine with that. Use straights primarily but have 100 feathers for the next day I want a DE shave.
 
Honestly I can't really believe that most the members(from what I've read here) switch blades after 3-4 blades with ANY blade. I usually go atleast 6-7 with most blades and sometimes so long that I don't even keep track and don't really notice that much of a difference until a couple of weeks. That said, the feathers usually wear out faster for me and don't give me the desired amount of smoothness so I found them to be a waste of time & money.

My beard has freaky super powers. I start to notice a steep degradation in any DE blade after 2-3 shaves. That's why I could never use cartridges. Even a $5 "Fusion Power Plus Polyglide with Extra Creamy Nougat and Vitamin B12" only lasts 3 shaves at most before starting to cause pain and irritation. Given they are so incredibly expensive, I was in the habit using them far, far longer then they should have been used, and shaving was a terrible ordeal for me. I used a face-mower for a long time, but I would consistently have 5 O'Clock shadow before noon. The picture in my avatar is one month of beard growth.

I can't begin to imagine what one of my blades might look like after 10 shaves, let alone 21.
 
Feathers are a one and done shave for me. So I won't pay for them. Granted, its a heck of a close shave, but not worth it.

I get 4-6 shaves with a Lab blue, and they cost 1/3 of a feather. No-Brainer.

This is why many many blades are made :) We all have our preferences!
 
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