Musings on Merkur Blades

[Justso]

I should have talked about this a while back, but now the topic is hitting home with me. Okay...

A month or so ago I ran out of Merkur DE blades, so I ordered more from Charles at QED but in the meantime, I needed a blade. So I reluctantly drove up to Walmart to see what they had on the shelf and little to my liking, I see a pack of Persona DE Blades for $1.36. I rolled my eyes and thought, what the hell am I going to do to my face? But that was the only option so I bought them with the understanding that it would just be a few days until I got my Merkurs. Got back to my place, threw em' in the drawer in the bathroom until the next morning.

I loaded up the ol' Vision and the first pass felt MUCH different, almost like ZERO resistance. But that's not atypical of my regular shaves and it was just a passing thought as I shaved with the grain. But when I went against the grain, HOLY MOLY! It was like a hot knife going thru soft butter. Hands down the easiest shave I've ever gotten! I mean, it made my Merkur blade feel like I was scraping my face with a Swiss Army knife. I couldn't believe it. I kept feeling my face to see if I was dreaming this up and I was amazed at how smooth my face was with ONE against the grain pass.

So finally, yesterday I decided to put in a Merkur blade just to see if I was crazy. Nope. Worst shave I've gotten in a while, lots of nicks and irritation and drag. The strange thing is why are these generic $1.36 pack of blades whooping up on the giant name in DE razors & blades? I mean folks, maybe it's just me, but the shave was not even comparable. The Persona blades made my face feel as smooth as a freshly Zamboni'd hockey rink. At $1.36 a pack of 10 with a nice little container, I think everyone should at least give em' a shot.

Needless to say, I may give the Merkur's one last shot, but as it stands right now, I'm going to have to put up two brand new packs of Merkur blades for sale/trade if this keeps up. Now I realize everyone's beard type is different and this may just be my nirvana, which is cool because it's cheep cheep cheep. But I will say this, after about 4 shaves, the blades do have a noticeably reduced shave "strength". Although that's nothing new, I was only getting about that out of my Merkurs.

Just thought I'd give you a heads up and get some feedback.

 

[soulshine]

i have been using the personna's from wal-mart for the last 2 weeksw & am surprised with how well the shave. i have yet to drop a merkur back in my futur to compare....maybe this weekend. this morning was day two with a new blade and i was rushed so i did only one pass against the grain and had zero irritation!

s~s

 

[With The Grain]

US personnas have a bad wrap on the boards it seems, ive read more than a few posts like this where a gent says theyre his favorite blade; quite the bargain also.

for what it's worth my sweet spot for shaving with merkurs seems to be shaves 2-6

 

[soulshine]

i think the "sweet spot" for the razor blades i have used are 2-5. i may start changing my blades sooner than once a week.

s~s

 

[Justso]

They can knock the Personas all they want, I'll keep buying them

Seriously, everyone owes it to themselves to spring for $1.36 and try a pack.

 

[PottyDoctor]

I should have talked about this a while back, but now the topic is hitting home with me. Okay...

A month or so ago I ran out of Merkur DE blades, so I ordered more from Charles at QED but in the meantime, I needed a blade. So I reluctantly drove up to Walmart to see what they had on the shelf and little to my liking, I see a pack of Persona DE Blades for $1.36. I rolled my eyes and thought, what the hell am I going to do to my face? But that was the only option so I bought them with the understanding that it would just be a few days until I got my Merkurs. Got back to my place, threw em' in the drawer in the bathroom until the next morning.

I loaded up the ol' Vision and the first pass felt MUCH different, almost like ZERO resistance. But that's not atypical of my regular shaves and it was just a passing thought as I shaved with the grain. But when I went against the grain, HOLY MOLY! It was like a hot knife going thru soft butter. Hands down the easiest shave I've ever gotten! I mean, it made my Merkur blade feel like I was scraping my face with a Swiss Army knife. I couldn't believe it. I kept feeling my face to see if I was dreaming this up and I was amazed at how smooth my face was with ONE against the grain pass.

So finally, yesterday I decided to put in a Merkur blade just to see if I was crazy. Nope. Worst shave I've gotten in a while, lots of nicks and irritation and drag. The strange thing is why are these generic $1.36 pack of blades whooping up on the giant name in DE razors & blades? I mean folks, maybe it's just me, but the shave was not even comparable. The Persona blades made my face feel as smooth as a freshly Zamboni'd hockey rink. At $1.36 a pack of 10 with a nice little container, I think everyone should at least give em' a shot.

Needless to say, I may give the Merkur's one last shot, but as it stands right now, I'm going to have to put up two brand new packs of Merkur blades for sale/trade if this keeps up. Now I realize everyone's beard type is different and this may just be my nirvana, which is cool because it's cheep cheep cheep. But I will say this, after about 4 shaves, the blades do have a noticeably reduced shave "strength". Although that's nothing new, I was only getting about that out of my Merkurs.

Just thought I'd give you a heads up and get some feedback.

I haven't yet tried the Wally World Personnas, but I have used several of the Israeli Personnas and I love them. I thought maybe it was just a quirk when I first used one [compared to the Merkurs] but after about 6 Personnas and trying Merkurs again...I will keep what few Merkurs I have only to use when I don't have anything else!

And today I tried a Derby blade in my Merkur HD and it seemed to be even smoother than the Israeli Personna...but I'll use a few more blades before I make a definite comparison.

At any rate, I'll definitely buy a pack of Wally's Personnas and test them. Thanks for confirming what I thought about the Merkur blades.

 

[Kyle]

I like the Wal-Mart Personnas as a travel blade. They're good for a couple of shaves and economically priced so I don't feel guilty when throwing one away after a single shave.

 

[dubes]

This post falls into the YMMV category, but I wholeheartedly agree with Justso's assessment of the Merkur blades. I used them for a month or two, but once I "discovered" the Ebay Israeli blades--which are both cheaper and give me a more comfortable shave with less bloodshed--there was no going back.
Mike

 

[With The Grain]

gotta say this post and others made me go out and get some personnas at wally world. ive since used them for 3 of the wost shaves off my DE career and i was really surprised, i was truly expecting to like them a good deal but what i got was the polar opposite of the original post here, lots of nicks and even a bit of burn on the stache (an area that doesnt normally give me any trouble).
I'l try one more blade for 2 shaves before casting them off but im not looking forward to it. goes to show ymmv

 

[Jonnybc]

I’ve had a similar experience with Merkur blades. I shaved for a few years with a Merkur Rake with considerable success until I left it in a hotel room, together with a Kent shaving brush. In the months that followed I tried various different razors including electric none of which were up to the shaving quality of the Merkur. Eventually my girlfriend, having had enough of me moaning, bought me a lovely silver-tip brush from Taylor’s of Old Bond Street and a tub of St James’ Collection shaving cream. I immediately set off to get another Merkur Rake from my local barber shop (living in central London has its advantages).

I got home and had what had to be a pretty poor shave remembering my experiences with the old razor I was very disappointed. I persevered with the Rake but really didn’t get on with it at all so I thought spending some more money might help and got myself a Vision; these are a bit too rich for my local barber to stock so I had to travel about a mile to get one. Again, I got home, shaved and had pretty poor results; I put this down to inexperience and continued to use it for two to three months with painful and sore results.

I started thinking about how my new shaving routine might be different from before. The only difference I were the blades I get a pack of 10 Merkur blades with each razor I had bought and I bought a pack of 10, The original razor was bought without any blades at all and used Wilkinson Sword (an English make if you’ve not heard of them). I went out and got a pack and my shaves are now better than with my original set up. The stubble is now cut rather than being levered out of my face. I have subsequently found these blades on ebay at between £10 and £13 ($15 to $20) for 100. And am getting on really well with them, they last around about 3-5 shaves and when I use an alum block on my face after shaving there’s hardly any discomfort at all.

 

[Kyle]

Welcome to B&B, Johnny.

Interesting views on Merkur versus Wilkinson Sword.

 

[Jim Whiting]

Greetings all.
For $1.36, the Personnas are certainly worth a try. I load my Merkur Futur w/ a Feather blade and lather up w/ Taylor's shave cream and get, day in and day out, the proverbial "lightbulb" feel when done. I'm hard pressed to believe a Feather can be beat, but, again, what's to be lost by a 1.36 investment (except maybe a little blood?-kidding).
Jim

 

[Justso]

Just as a follow up...

I went back and loaded the Vision up with a Merkur blade..What a poor shave..What i do with my Personnas got me little blood stickers all over my face with the Merkur..The face actually felt smooth, but the jaw area and neck was nowhere near the same smoothness as my Personnas. I want to try the Feather blades soon to see what all the hoopla is about.

Oh well, again, my two cents..It's worth what you paid for it.

 

[PoshRichM]

Guys,

Just a reminder to keep the "dissing" to a minimum. While it's more than fine to evangelize in favor of your favorite products and report difficulties or problems with others, it's perfectly clear that Merkur blades work terrifically for lots of people, me included.

I'm definitely going to try the pack of Personnas I've had sitting around, though! It'd be nice not to have to mail-order my blades.

-Rich

 

[Justso]

Rich,

No one is product dissing. Relax.

 

[joel]

YEAH - No dissing!
Dis what?

 

[dubes]

Rich,

No one is product dissing.

Well, after re-reading my post above, I might be. Sorry about that, Rich. I really just wanted to remind folks who are starting out with double edge shaving that the choice of razor blades can also make a difference in the comfort/quality of the shaves, and that after they've attacked the usual newbie trouble spots--pre-shave prep, improper blade angle, too much pressure, allergic reactions to particular soaps/creams, etc.--and they still have issues, they should ALSO try changing razor blades.

So, once again, humble apologies for my "dissing" post above. I don't want to muscle in on Joel's turf!

Mike

 

[PoshRichM]

Wasn't pointing any fingers, Mike, just wanted to make sure we keep the level of discourse civil, and the members of this board are generally great at it!

Sharp wits, like sharp razors, are best deployed with finesse.

-Rich

 

[htownmmm]

I have tried the personnas at wally world also and almost lost my face in the process! After my normal 2 passes, my face was smooth but irritated. In fact, I could feel the sting of the alum block.

The next day, on my chin/jawline, I had a hard knot-not a razor bump, but a knot the size of a marble. The only change in my shave routine were the blades as I too thought that it would make sense to shop locally. However, after that experience( which was duplicated a week later with a new blade), I decided thatt no more.

now this is my experience with these blades-it may not happen to anyone else( I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy), but there is no way they will EVER touch my face again!

so far, I have used 3 different blades(merkur,personnas, and israeli). I am looking forward to trying the derbys and the feathers-but no personnas ever again.


Marty

 

[guenron]

As the Poshman failed to mention this, "It's different strokes for different folks." If one particular blade was so good that it was the be all, end all obviously no one would be using anything else.
I am always amused by some of the more colorful comments, "Suited for use as a boxcutter," etc..
As I have often stated, "That's what makes horse racing!"