What’s been your recent blade revisit, new discovery? What’s your routine for trying new blades? Mines become try 2 then revisit 5 more if good enough. When I try the two it’s with my baseline razor, 34 HD. Then the five see other razors I own.
View attachment 939116 When I first started I sampled blades by buying a tuck at a time. I ended up with a few blades that never made it to a 3rd blade. However I did find several blades I liked enough to buy in bigger quantities; 7 o’clock blacks, Nacets, Lab Blues. Earlier this year I bought several blades two at a time from try a blade and then figured out which to try out a whole tuck. First pass helped me discover Rapira Platinum Lux; it made to tuck level with Voskhod and Med Prep. It won over the other two for bulk purchase. This time around making the cut to tuck was Bic, German Wilks, and Permasharp. Bic was actually a blade I used earlier on with success and moved on from for no apparent reason. Decided to revisit. German Wilks; a blade carried by Christmas Tree Shoppes. It’s always nice to have a blade you can buy on the road. Lastly, Permasharpa. One that after two blades looks like a contender for a big purchase.
What’s been your recent blade revisit, new discovery? What’s your routine for trying new blades? Mines become try 2 then revisit 5 more if good enough. When I try the two it’s with my baseline razor, 34 HD. Then the five see other razors I own.
I like your system too. My journey was kind of weird. Here goes.
I bought a tuck at a time on ebay. Many of them were ones that I liked the sound of, along with a few recommended ones like feather, GSB and astra SP. I found a local store that sells German Wilkinsons and bought several of those. My favorite was Sharp Star (it looked cool) and it was the only one for a while that was sharp and smooth at the same time.
Then I learned it was only produced for one year in 2012, barely any online. I managed to scare up 650 of them and bought them all!
I bought one tuck of gillette Rubie and loved them. They aren't super easy to get for a great price. I did find a deal and immediately bought 100. The last I wanted to try was Indian Wilkinson sword. They were just a little more expensive for 100 than they were for 5 blades! This was $3.50 for 5 or 100 for $7.50 on amazon. So I just bought 100 sight unseen.
So that's a strange blade trip!
Base razor only applies to first two. The tuck then gets tried out in multiple razors. I had put 34 aside for awhile and then revisited to find that zamak aside, it really had a good head geometry to evaluate blades.I use your 2 from tryablade ...... move the acceptable ones on to a tuck ....... try ‘em in different razors ....... and then buy 100 of the ones I love.
I insist on loving them. If I bought 100 of all the ones that were just good ...... I’d have a million by now.
Lots of fun exploring, though.
My base razor used to be the 34HD, too, but I got tired of it and PIFed it to a buddy. Not sure if I have a base razor any more .... since if a blade fails in any of my razors, why promote it to tuck level?
How are the Indian Wilk Swords?I like your system too. My journey was kind of weird. Here goes.
I bought a tuck at a time on ebay. Many of them were ones that I liked the sound of, along with a few recommended ones like feather, GSB and astra SP. I found a local store that sells German Wilkinsons and bought several of those. My favorite was Sharp Star (it looked cool) and it was the only one for a while that was sharp and smooth at the same time.
Then I learned it was only produced for one year in 2012, barely any online. I managed to scare up 650 of them and bought them all!
I bought one tuck of gillette Rubie and loved them. They aren't super easy to get for a great price. I did find a deal and immediately bought 100. The last I wanted to try was Indian Wilkinson sword. They were just a little more expensive for 100 than they were for 5 blades! This was $3.50 for 5 or 100 for $7.50 on amazon. So I just bought 100 sight unseen.
So that's a strange blade trip!
Average in a good way. Smooth, reasonably sharp with great edge retention. The winter air is drying my beard into iron so I have had to use my sharpest blades lately. They'll do the job, but a feather is better for me right now.How are the Indian Wilk Swords?