How to construct a blade rating criteria

[Kent Kimmons]

For Christmas, my wife bought me the following sampler pack:

Abest Hi Platinum​

ASCO - Super Stainless​

Asco - Super Stainless (Orange)​

Asco - Super Stainless (Red)​

Asco - Platinum​

ASTRA - Superior Stainless (Laser Marking)​

BIC - Astor Stainless​

BIC - Chrome Platinum​

Big Ben - Super Stainless​

Big Ben - Super Stainless (Purple)​

Big Ben - Classic​

Bluebird​

Bolzano - Superinox Inossidabile​

Champion Platinum​

Clifton Classic​

Concord​

Crown - Platinum​

Crown - Super Stainless​

Derby - Extra​

Derby Extra Blue​

Derby Premium​

Diamonds Pro Excell​

Dollar - Platinum​

Dorco - Prime Platinum​

Dorco - ST-300 Platinum​

Dorco - ST-300 Platinum (Vietnam)​

Dorco - ST-301 Stainless​

Dorco - Titan​

Dovo Super Platinum​

Elios Inoxidable (Germany)​

Elios Inoxidable (Egypt)​

Euromax - EMP800​

Gillette - 365​

Gillette - 7 0'Clock - Permasharp Stainless​

Gillette - 7 0'Clock - SharpEdge​

Gillette - 7 o'Clock - Super Platinum​

Gillette - 7 0'Clock - Super Stainless​

Gillette - 7 0'Clock - Super Stainless (Golden Shave)​

Gillette - Minora​

Gillette - Minora Stainless​

Gillette - Nacet Stainless​

Gillette - Platinum (Laser Marking)​

Gillette - Platinum New​

illette - Sputnik​

Gillette - Rubie Platinum (Laser Marking)​

Gillette - Silver Blue (New Version)​

Gillette - Silver Blue (Old Version)​

Gillette - Super Thin Platinum (Thailand)​

Gillette - Winner Platinum​

Gillette - Winner Stainless​

Kai – Stainless Steel​

Ladas - Super Stainless​

Laser - Super Platinum​

Laser - Ultra​

Lion Super Stainless​

Loi Titanium​

Lord - Blue Sword​

Lord - Classic Super Stainless​

Lord Cool​

Lord - Extra​

Lord - Platinum​

Lord - Platinum Premium​

Lord - Superior Platinum​

Lord - Super Chrome​

Lord - Super Chrome (Blue)​

Lord - Super Stainless​

Lord - Tajam​

Merkur - Super Platinum​

MÜHLE​

Muster Quality​

Muster Shaver​

Ok - Super Stainless​

Parker​

Perma-Sharp - Super​

Personna - Crystal​

Personna - Eddison Stainless​

Personna - Lab Blue​

Personna - Med Prep​

Personna - Platinum (Germany)​

Personna - Royal​

Personna - Tomy​

Racer - Super Stainless​

Rapira - Platinum Lux​

Rapira - Super Stainless​

Rapira - Swedish Super Steel​

Razolution​

Shark - Platinum​

Shark - Super Stainless​

Shark - Super Chrome​

Sharp 7AM Super Platinum​

Sharp Hi Chromium​

Sharp Hi Platinum​

Sharp Titanium​

Silver Star - Super Stainless Steel​

Strangelet Platinum​

Super-Max - Blue Diamond​

Super-Max - Diamond Edge​

Super-Max - Platinum​

Super-Max - Platinum Plus​

Super-Max - Stainless​

Super-Max - Super Stainless​

Super-Max - Super Stainless (Blue)​

Super-Max - Super Stainless (Blue Plus)​

Rise - Classic​

RK Stainless​

Super-Max - Super Stainless (Green)​

Tatra Platinum​

Tiger - Platinum​

Topaz - Platinum​

Topaz - Stainless​

Timor - Stainless Steel​

Treet - 7 Days Platinum​

Treet - Classic​

Treet - Dura Sharp​

Treet - Falcon​

Treet - King​

Treet - New Steel​

Treet - Silver​

Treet - Super Power​

Treet - Tjax​

Treet - Trim​

Trig - Silver Edge​

Voskhod​

Wilkinson - Economie​

Wilkinson - Sword (Indian)​

Wizamet - Super Iridium​

Zorrik - Super Platinum (India)​

Zorrik - Super Stainless​

Add to these the Viking Sword, Feather, Wilkinson Sword (German) and VDH blades I have laying around, and that's at least 132 brands. She actually bought them for me when the TryABlade purchase went sour and PayPal offered us an immediate refund.

I want to set up an evaluation criteria for these blades so that I can score them and them come up with MY relative rating, which I will publish here. Yes, I know this means a commitment of almost 2 years to get through them all.

Most blades last me about 4 days based on a 3 pass shave in the AM and a one pass shave in the evening to make my CPAP mask more comfortable.

My evaluation criteria are: Blade comfort/ smoothness Shave #1, Blade comfort/ smoothness Shave #2, Weepers (total), Bleeders (total), Total Number of passes before disposal and Shave Quality. Each having an an established criteria on a 1-10 scale where higher is better. My plan is to use the same razor and the same soap for every shave.

If you were setting up your own criteria, what would those criteria be?

 

[silverlifter]

My informal criteria are:

• Sharpness on first shave (1-5)
• Smoothness on first shave (1-5)
• Longevity (1-5) (how well they maintain the above characteristics for subsequent shaves)

Very few blades come in at a 15. Those that do, I have stocked up on.

 

[Big_T]

I do a more simple approach, putting them into these categories:

Never again
It's ok
I really like it
My top dogs

 

[Kent Kimmons]

I do a more simple approach, putting them into these categories:

Never again
It's ok
I really like it
My top dogs

I have 3 categories and all will eventually end up in 1 of those 3:

1. Will buy and use
2. Will use but will not buy
3. Will not use

 

[Phoenixkh]

I only have a few DE blade selections so far. All of them are recommended by people who enjoy a similar shave feel I like. I'm slowly working my way through them.

I have as very limited rating.... pretty much: smooth, comfortable and close. I don't expect to get more than two shaves with them. So far, every time I've tried to push a DE blade to a third shave, they lose "that lovin' feeling".

 

[Eric_75]

I have a special rating for Derby Extra --- Dear Lord, may one never get near my face again.

All YMMV, of course.

 

[musicman1951]

Most blades last me about 4 days based on a 3 pass shave in the AM and a one pass shave in the evening to make my CPAP mask more comfortable.

My evaluation criteria are: Blade comfort/ smoothness Shave #1, Blade comfort/ smoothness Shave #2, Weepers (total), Bleeders (total), Total Number of passes before disposal and Shave Quality. Each having an an established criteria on a 1-10 scale where higher is better. My plan is to use the same razor and the same soap for every shave.

If you were setting up your own criteria, what would those criteria be?

I hope you have at least two of each blade as there is definitely the possibility of a bad edge on a blade.

This looks like a fine evaluation scale with the possible exception of weepers. Blood is virtually always the result of a momentary lapse in technique, so I'm not sure it tells you much about the blade. On the other hand, there definitely are blades that are less forgiving of these momentary lapses, so that may well be worth knowing.

I would personally use each blade until the shave quality declined from the first shave. Another way to go would be to use a blade until you get a terrible shave, but I have no interest in experiencing that even once. If you use each blade the same number of days I imagine it would be more difficult to come up with an accurate evaluation of longevity.

I would also consider giving up on the longevity of any blade that was obviously not ever going to be on my buy it again list. I hold no truck with suffering.

I'll be looking forward to your report in two years.

 

[BigJ]

I classify blades in three levels based on comfort, sharpness and longevity:
1. Top-tier: the best 10% or so, that I could happily use every day.
2. Mid-tier: the middle 80%, solid, average blades that I could use.
3. Bottom-tier: worst 10% that I would only use if forced or in an ‘experiment.’

But that‘s my rough guide, YMMV for sure!

 

[APBinNCA]

I have a special rating for Derby Extra --- Dear Lord, may one never get near my face again.

All YMMV, of course.

Derby Premium has entered the chat.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

I think you should factor in a ‘bravery’ rating, either as a multiplier like ‘degree of difficulty’ in diving, or as a score from 1 to 10. So, for example, a blade that you’ve never heard of made in Bangladesh or Rwanda would be a much higher bravery score than a boring, regular Gillette. If the blade is rusty carbon steel or has a visibly jagged edge then that would also score high. I know these things are a big driver of blade choice for many forum members.

 

[Kent Kimmons]

1. I hope you have at least two of each blade as there is definitely the possibility of a bad edge on a blad
2. I would personally use each blade until the shave quality declined from the first shave. Another way to go would be to use a blade until you get a terrible shave, but I have no interest in experiencing that even once. If you use each blade the same number of days I imagine it would be more difficult to come up with an accurate evaluation of longevity.
3. I would also consider giving up on the longevity of any blade that was obviously not ever going to be on my buy it again list. I hold no truck with suffering.
4. I'll be looking forward to your report in two years.

1) Sorry, The purchase was for one blade only and I'm good with that. If I get a bad blade in a tuck, I'd likely not buy more of that brand anyway.
2) I find that the second shave from many blades is the best and by #4, it's still comfortable that the shave is nowhere near an experience I have to suffer. I will reserve the right to stop on any shave and replace the blade if anything resembling suffering starts to occur
3) I do reserve the right to stop using any blade at any time for any reason. Changing blades in the middle of a shave would be no problem for me.
4) Thanks, I plan to post blade-by-blade then do a consolidated post at the end.

 

[Kent Kimmons]

I think you should factor in a ‘bravery’ rating, either as a multiplier like ‘degree of difficulty’ in diving, or as a score from 1 to 10. So, for example, a blade that you’ve never heard of made in Bangladesh or Rwanda would be a much higher bravery score than a boring, regular Gillette. If the blade is rusty carbon steel or has a visibly jagged edge then that would also score high. I know these things are a big driver of blade choice for many forum members.

I think a bravery rating would add little as I plan to try each one and eventually, I will get good and bad. Now, for the rusty carbon steel ones with jagged edges, if I can get a BBS shave out of them, I will request a medal from the appropriate persons.

 

[Ratso]

It’s tough to evaluate that many blades with only one of each.
Will you use only one razor? One soap? I’ve found different razors like different blades.
My hat’s off to you and I look forward to your evaluations. Your posts will make for interesting reading.

 

[Dtownvino]

I have 2 types of razors, moderate and aggressive. I can’t use some blades in one type or the other. So to be fair I add will work in mod/agg/both. Ones I like in both are pure top 10%.

 

[Lockback]

I have a special rating for Derby Extra --- Dear Lord, may one never get near my face again.

All YMMV, of course.

Which is exactly why our mileage does vary: I really like the Derby Extras. LOL

 

[MartinKrpan]

1. It's never only blade. I have different ratings for each razor.
2. Rating: - , o , + and

 

[Steelerfan]

For me it's:
1. Do I like the way the blade performs?
2. How many shaves can I get?

 

[Medivh]

I like blades that are on the sharper end of the spectrum, but slightly below the Feather level of sharpness and also being quite smooth at the same time and if they can survive my 3 + pass shaves 3 times, then they are deemed worthy.

I have four categories for blades and they are as followed:

My go to/absolutely favorite/ top blades - the blades, which is used almost exclusively.

Very good blades - blades that I really like and I ''might'' buy a small stock just to have them around and they are either too expensive or just slightly behind my favorite blades

Meh/ok blades - blades that are not very good, but also not terrible and still somewhat good for shaving, but I wouldn't buy again

Awful and terrible blades - as you've probably already guessed, I do my best to avoid such blades



I still don't understand the whole razor and blade paring thing. If a razor works, then it works and if a blade works, then it works. There might be some exceptions with some combos, like with Feather and BIC Chrome Platinum but I wouldn't buy a specific razor knowing that it works only with one or a few specific blades.

I use Nacet like 90% of time and the other 10% are a mix between Minora Stainless, BIC Chrome Platinum and some other random blades that I try for a first time and so far my favorite blades work with pretty much all the razors I own both modern and vintage.

If people like to use their razors with different types of blades, then good for them, but I just don't see how much of a difference that would make, unless the razors in question are for the most part extremely mild and extremely aggressive/efficient and the only way such razors can be used is to have some middle of the road or below blades in terms of sharpness for the extremely aggressive/efficient razors and super sharp blades for the extremely mild razors.

 

[Rivers23]

1. sense of comfort during the shave - does it tug and pull at your whiskers?
2. number of weepers
3. post shave irritation

 

[CANES]

Which is exactly why our mileage does vary: I really like the Derby Extras. LOL

20+ years ago when I started this "hobby" my only options were Dorco and Derby. Apparently, Dorco has gotten better over the years from what folks say, but back then they were the cheapest and roughest blades around. Derby Extra kept me shaving and were worlds better than Dorco! I still have some around.