Feather SS with Pro Gaurd Blades! Help! Got a few Questions!

[Euphoria]

First I would like to say hello folks! Now a little background. I used to spend 30 buck or more with Gillette blades and boy was a pain in the ***! Those multiple blades caused so much irritation! One day I thought of switching to straight razor. Tuned into GeoFatBoy and learned quick. GeoFatBoy thanks! You are the man! Then I brought a magic straight razor (cheap $8 shavette razor) with Derby DE blades. They were up a notch from the Gillettes and my irritation was reduced 40%! I would split the blade in 2 and my cost was also greatly reduced. They still caused irritation and hyper-pigmentation! Then I heard some great hype about the Turkish Bluebird Blades! So I geared up and got BlueBirds and Proraso (preshave, shaving cream, after shave) to top it off! Boy was that wonderful! My Irritation and hyper-pigmentation was reduced by 60%!!!!

I still felt something better was out there. I heard Some rumors of a beast called Feather. Many fear it! Some have bled and have given up. I didn't fear it and I have ordered the artist club SS razor with 15 pack pro Guard blades!!! I am so excited!!!

As you can't see, I'm not as advanced in the world of straight shaving as you guys so I had several question.

1.)Is there really a difference between Pro Guard and super blades in shave? (I have a tough beard prone to hyper-pigmentation/Irritation so I went with Progaurd)
2.)I don't shave against grain. So If I shave once daily with the grain, could one blade last 10 shaves or 10 days?
3.)Also the DE feather blades (yellow pack) could they be used with the artist club ss and what's the difference?
4.)Are the feathers the closest to a straight razor? Better than a straight? Slightly below a straight razor in terms of shave?
5.)Are the feathers actually the Ferrari of shaving?

 

[celestino]

Welcome to the forum!
To answer your questions:
1. i think the Feather Professional blades are the best ones, in my opinion, but you will have to determine which are best for YOU.
2. If you only do one pass, the blades should last you easily 10 days/shaves
3. no
4. This is subjective, but i think most folks would agree that straights are more forgiving
5. This is also subjective.
Good luck.

 

[lordfink]

1. I tried the Feather Professional, Proguard and Light. The Light turned out to be useless for me. I use the Proguard for trimming side burns and neatening the beard if I am not shaving. The Professional are my go to blade when using the Feather AC.

2. I think you should be easily able to do 10 shaves if you do a single pass.

3. As Celestino said, No. And please don't try it =) you might end up causing some serious damage to your face.


4. To each his own on this question. I find my Straights are just a tad forgiving when compared to a Feather. But with Straights there are too many variables for there to be a clear cut answer on this. Personally I prefer the AC SS non-folding to the AC SS folding. Find the handling a lot better.


5. Again YMMV. A lot of members here suggested trying the Kai blades with the Feather AC. I have not had a chance to do so as yet.

 

[Snuff-Belgium]

Welcome,

1. For me there is a very big difference between the guarded blades and the others, I don't like the guarded once at all, they cost a lot of money and give me bad shaves (but there are other shavers who like them very much so you'll have to see for yourself).
2. That would not be a problem, I shave my face and head daily and they go for about 15 shaves. However don't expect that much in the beginning, it will improve in time, when I started using those blades I could only get about 4 to 5 shaves out of a blade (3 passes a shave).
3. Better have 911 on speed dial ;-)
4. Straights are more forgiving but relatively high maintenance. Feathers are sharper but might be less smooth (depending on what stones the straight has been honed). Apples and oranges .....
5. If so then I have a lot of Ferraris at home ;-) Difficult to say, for me they are the best shavers and since using them I've sold almost all my vintage DE's and straights. On the other side the feather razors often are sold on BST by those who have tried and didn't like them.

 

[Euphoria]

Thanks chaps for your replies! I really appreciate it! I got it. The yellow pack DE + artist club SS= me in hospital ! I was really really surprised with the professional blades being better than the pro guards. They cost more and you get less (15 pk). I guess I'll have try to them and find out myself. Btw Kai is also another name I hear a lot about. I had checked the price and they cost about the same. They are also made by the Japanese if I'm not mistaken. I just hope all the hype adds up and I don't regret not buying a Dovo (German).

 

[dpmtherrien]

I too found the proguard's to be pretty bad, they tend to make one feel that you won't cut yourself. I triede them for awhile but switched to the regular pro's and the super pro's. I still use both blades, but I prefer the regular pro's best. Yes you should have no problem using a blade for 10 shaves. The Featherr AC straights are really top of the line straight razors, and IMHO perform even better that any regular straight due to their being so much sharper. You might also look at the Kai mild blades. They'll fit your Feather. And you cant use the Feather DE blades in any of their straights.

 

[Lmarkow]

I would not say the pro blades are better than the pro guards. New to straight shaving, I purchased the pros by accident and proceeded to practically make a hash of myself, frankly. So I got back on line and ordered the pro guards. What a difference. The pro guards were much more easily controlled by my nervous hands. I suspect that as my technique improves, results with the pro blades will improve. Until then, I'll stick with the pro guards. As they say, ymmv . . . .

 

[Euphoria]

Well I have been straight shaving for about 3 years now. I really didn't ever bleed much. The first 2 shaves I did bleed, I must admit. Went back to GeoFatboy's instructions on Youtube and my third shave had no blood. Boy was I proud ! I guess because the Derby's were not sharp (terrible) or I'm a fast learner. So my concern will not be technique and bleeding. From the way it sounds I would be better off getting the super or professional. I had seen the stars next to each blades on the Jatai website comparing the durability/smoothness etc so I went with the ProGuards. I guess It is really subjective.

 

[Lmarkow]

Go for it!