So i'm back with another monthly review! As before, each blade will be reviewed based on a 2 pass (plus touch up) shave using a Van Der Hagen long handled razor, Long Rifle 1776 soap and a 3 brush rotation consisting of a Fento badger, Yaqui synthetic and an Omega boar. I use a different brush each shave so every brush sees at least 2 shaves per brand.
I run through 2 of each blade and use each 4 times; for a total of 8 shaves per brand. I'll be grading based on sharpness, smoothness, longevity and consistency. Price will be a factor but only of it's very cheap or expensive since most DE blades are pretty cheap comparatively.
This month i’m reviewing what is probably DE shaving’s most well know blade: The vaunted Feather Hi-Stainless. Alternately loved and feared in near equal parts, the Feather has been proven to be the sharpest blade available on the market today. It’s scalpel like precision and sharpness are what makes it one of the most polarizing blades in all of shaving. But more on that later. First, a little backstory...
Feather as a company was founded in 1932 under the name “Japan Safety Razor Company.” It wasn’t until 1953 that the name was changed to “The Feather Safety Razor Company.” The original production facility in Seki Japan is still the main factory producing blades today; though a second factory in Mino Japan was opened in 2003. Feather now produces a range of modern cartridge razors as well as industrial and medical blades that are used around the world.
If that sounds like an advert well, i’ll be waiting on my check from Feather. The DE blade i’m reviewing today, the New Hi-Stainless, is currently the only consumer DE blade available. Oddly they have two different packaging colors but as far as i can tell, the only difference is in the size of the tucks (10 being yellow black and red and 5 being white black and red.) The blade packaging is blue feathers on white wax paper and the blade is stamped “Trademark Hi-Stainless” and has a stamped picture of a Feather. As far as i can tell, they are one of the rare, truly “uncoated” blades. The only others i can think of are carbon blades and another Japanese blade, the Kai. But i could be wrong on this so feel free to correct me.
With such a fearsome reputation, I was intrigued as to how “different” the Feather would be from all the other blades i’ve tried. Generally speaking, i’ve noticed that it’s far easier to perceive dullness than sharpness when testing blades and was curious if the vaunted Feather would break the mold and blow me away with it’s awesome cutting prowess. So did i hack my face to pieces? Was it so sharp it was splitting atoms as it destroyed my stubble? Or was it just another DE blade? Read on to find out! Or if you’ve lost interest and gone this far, just give up and go have yourself a nice shave...
First up is the ol’ sharpness category. I can say unquestioningly that (SPOLIER ALERT!!!) yes, this blade is sharp. Is it eye wateringly (not a word,) game changingly (also not a word,) cut you if you look at it wrong sharp?! In a word...no.
My first shave was actually so smooth, irritation and weeper free that i was pretty certain i had the wrong blade. Where was the blood?! Where was the penalty for not abiding by the “use only the weight of the razor or you’ll pay” mantra?! I was honestly a little disappointed. It was expecting an epic battle between focus and steel. A true test of my DE razor skills. In practice it was just a fantastic, blood and drama free shave. Which is great! But not exactly an epic story.
Shave two was more of the same. A really great, effortless shave. I did notice the sharpness decrease a bit but it was still plenty sharp. Then...it happened. Perhaps it was laziness, a bad lather, complacency or not abiding by the bushido code, but i got cut up. Shave 3 was harsh, weeper filled and about as unpleasant as it gets. Oddly enough the blade felt substantially DULLER not sharper which is why the result was strange. Perhaps i applied too much pressure to compensate for the new lack of cutting power? I’m not sure. The 4th shave was actually so dull that i declared the blade spent on the first pass; but persevered for science. The result was ok but the blade had clearly lost its trademark edge (double entendre anyone?)
The second blade was like the first in that the first shave was fantastic and the blade gradually dulled over each shave. I was able to avoid the bloodbath on this blade but by shave 4 it was also clearly dull enough to be thrown out.
Smoothness obviously was a mixed bag. I found the early shaves on both blades to be excellent. Blood free, irritation free and BBS. But by shave 3 both blades were degrading substantially in sharpness which somehow translated to far more irritating and unpleasant shaves.
Consistency was good but not great. I felt the first blade was just a bit sharper and more efficient but also degraded more on shaves 3 and 4. Blade 2 held up better but the best shaves weren’t as good as blade 1.
Longevity was actually pretty poor. The feather was what i’d call a “two and toss” blade. Were i to shave with these regularly, i’d not even bother going past shave number two. Not many other blades dull this quickly so it’s really on the low end of blade longevity.
Price-wise the feather’s are quite expensive by DE blade standards. 100 will run you $24.68 on amazon at the moment and other than perhaps Pol-Silvers, feathers are probably the most expensive blade out there.
So what’s the final verdict out of that mixed bag? Oddly i really did like this classic Japanese standard bearer despite some obvious flaws i pointed out. The first two shaves on both blades were some of the best i’ve had with any DE blades. The problem is they’re expensive, don’t last long and the bad shaves were pretty awful. For me that puts them just out of the “elite” blade category. Were i judging them solely on their best shaves, i’d give them a 10 easily. But all factors considered, i’m awarding the feather a 7 out of 10. I DO recommend giving them a try since i think early shaves are nearly unparalleled, but i personally think there are more well rounded, affordable blades on the market.
So that’s it for the iconic feather. Next up is the Eddison. Another Personna blade to throw into the confusing mess that is the Personna brand. Until then, happy shaving!
I run through 2 of each blade and use each 4 times; for a total of 8 shaves per brand. I'll be grading based on sharpness, smoothness, longevity and consistency. Price will be a factor but only of it's very cheap or expensive since most DE blades are pretty cheap comparatively.
This month i’m reviewing what is probably DE shaving’s most well know blade: The vaunted Feather Hi-Stainless. Alternately loved and feared in near equal parts, the Feather has been proven to be the sharpest blade available on the market today. It’s scalpel like precision and sharpness are what makes it one of the most polarizing blades in all of shaving. But more on that later. First, a little backstory...
Feather as a company was founded in 1932 under the name “Japan Safety Razor Company.” It wasn’t until 1953 that the name was changed to “The Feather Safety Razor Company.” The original production facility in Seki Japan is still the main factory producing blades today; though a second factory in Mino Japan was opened in 2003. Feather now produces a range of modern cartridge razors as well as industrial and medical blades that are used around the world.
If that sounds like an advert well, i’ll be waiting on my check from Feather. The DE blade i’m reviewing today, the New Hi-Stainless, is currently the only consumer DE blade available. Oddly they have two different packaging colors but as far as i can tell, the only difference is in the size of the tucks (10 being yellow black and red and 5 being white black and red.) The blade packaging is blue feathers on white wax paper and the blade is stamped “Trademark Hi-Stainless” and has a stamped picture of a Feather. As far as i can tell, they are one of the rare, truly “uncoated” blades. The only others i can think of are carbon blades and another Japanese blade, the Kai. But i could be wrong on this so feel free to correct me.
With such a fearsome reputation, I was intrigued as to how “different” the Feather would be from all the other blades i’ve tried. Generally speaking, i’ve noticed that it’s far easier to perceive dullness than sharpness when testing blades and was curious if the vaunted Feather would break the mold and blow me away with it’s awesome cutting prowess. So did i hack my face to pieces? Was it so sharp it was splitting atoms as it destroyed my stubble? Or was it just another DE blade? Read on to find out! Or if you’ve lost interest and gone this far, just give up and go have yourself a nice shave...
First up is the ol’ sharpness category. I can say unquestioningly that (SPOLIER ALERT!!!) yes, this blade is sharp. Is it eye wateringly (not a word,) game changingly (also not a word,) cut you if you look at it wrong sharp?! In a word...no.
My first shave was actually so smooth, irritation and weeper free that i was pretty certain i had the wrong blade. Where was the blood?! Where was the penalty for not abiding by the “use only the weight of the razor or you’ll pay” mantra?! I was honestly a little disappointed. It was expecting an epic battle between focus and steel. A true test of my DE razor skills. In practice it was just a fantastic, blood and drama free shave. Which is great! But not exactly an epic story.
Shave two was more of the same. A really great, effortless shave. I did notice the sharpness decrease a bit but it was still plenty sharp. Then...it happened. Perhaps it was laziness, a bad lather, complacency or not abiding by the bushido code, but i got cut up. Shave 3 was harsh, weeper filled and about as unpleasant as it gets. Oddly enough the blade felt substantially DULLER not sharper which is why the result was strange. Perhaps i applied too much pressure to compensate for the new lack of cutting power? I’m not sure. The 4th shave was actually so dull that i declared the blade spent on the first pass; but persevered for science. The result was ok but the blade had clearly lost its trademark edge (double entendre anyone?)
The second blade was like the first in that the first shave was fantastic and the blade gradually dulled over each shave. I was able to avoid the bloodbath on this blade but by shave 4 it was also clearly dull enough to be thrown out.
Smoothness obviously was a mixed bag. I found the early shaves on both blades to be excellent. Blood free, irritation free and BBS. But by shave 3 both blades were degrading substantially in sharpness which somehow translated to far more irritating and unpleasant shaves.
Consistency was good but not great. I felt the first blade was just a bit sharper and more efficient but also degraded more on shaves 3 and 4. Blade 2 held up better but the best shaves weren’t as good as blade 1.
Longevity was actually pretty poor. The feather was what i’d call a “two and toss” blade. Were i to shave with these regularly, i’d not even bother going past shave number two. Not many other blades dull this quickly so it’s really on the low end of blade longevity.
Price-wise the feather’s are quite expensive by DE blade standards. 100 will run you $24.68 on amazon at the moment and other than perhaps Pol-Silvers, feathers are probably the most expensive blade out there.
So what’s the final verdict out of that mixed bag? Oddly i really did like this classic Japanese standard bearer despite some obvious flaws i pointed out. The first two shaves on both blades were some of the best i’ve had with any DE blades. The problem is they’re expensive, don’t last long and the bad shaves were pretty awful. For me that puts them just out of the “elite” blade category. Were i judging them solely on their best shaves, i’d give them a 10 easily. But all factors considered, i’m awarding the feather a 7 out of 10. I DO recommend giving them a try since i think early shaves are nearly unparalleled, but i personally think there are more well rounded, affordable blades on the market.
So that’s it for the iconic feather. Next up is the Eddison. Another Personna blade to throw into the confusing mess that is the Personna brand. Until then, happy shaving!
. I have also found that I get about 2 shaves, but because of my coarse beard, I rarely do a third with any blade. I use feathers on days when my stubble is short and sandpapery. You know, when you can tell you need a shave but you'd get a better one if you waited until the next day? Feathers shine in those days, especially in a mild razor. When I do get nicks, theyre so tiny that they clot really quickly. Feathers also work great on those dry winter days when the heater has been running. They cut through a dehydrated beard better than anything.
