Newbie. Feathers. Thoughts.

[darinpix]

I'm a total noob. Barely a month into wet shaving. I started with a Muhle loaded with Wilkinson Swords. Couldn't really get a feel for the blade cos it was all a bit... new. Stitched to Astra SPs, then Red Personnas. They seemed better than the Swords - smoother, maybe sharper. I couldn't really feel much difference between them.

Then I bought a Superspeed. And thought, what the heck? And chucked a Feather in it. Knowing the fearsome reputation of the aforesaid blade. Knowing that my lather was often dodgy, and my technique still very very hesitant.

Ive shaved several times now with Feathers, in two razors. And every shave has been comfortably streets ahead in terms of comfort, closeness, and most importantly to me, a total lack of post shave burn. I have given myself one pretty tasty nick right on my bottom lip, but that's it.

In other posts, I've seen forum members postulate that you might as well just start with Feathers - plunge straight into the deep end, basically. I'm now inclined to agree. I certainly don't think I need to try any other blades for a while. I knew they were sharp. I didn't expect them to be so smooth.

 

[Toothpick]

Knowing the fearsome reputation of the aforesaid blade. .

Somehow, somewhere Feathers have acquired this reputation of being a nasty fierce blade and everyone seems to think "horror" when they think of Feathers, especially noobs.

I wish we could change this.

I'm glad you found a blade that suits you. I'd suggest sticking with it for a month or so. Your shaves will improve even more as you develop a solid technique.

I use a Gillette Superspeed for 99% of my shaves now. Feathers are my go to blade when I'm not sampling new blades.

 

[ricardo9505]

for that BBS i have to do 3 passes including atg. I do this every 2-3 days including on upper lip- thanks mantic59.
I use crystals and enjoy them.

 

[wagstaff]

Feathers in a SuperSpeed, or Tech (with a heavier handle for me), or especially a Weber DLC, have provided some of the most comfortable shaves ever. I like other blades in my Fatip or ATT Titan..... and I think Iridium Supers last longer, and are otherwise similar.

Fear not the Feather!

 

[darinpix]

Somehow, somewhere Feathers have acquired this reputation of being a nasty fierce blade and everyone seems to think "horror" when they think of Feathers, especially noobs.

I wish we could change this.

I'm glad you found a blade that suits you. I'd suggest sticking with it for a month or so. Your shaves will improve even more as you develop a solid technique.

I use a Gillette Superspeed for 99% of my shaves now. Feathers are my go to blade when I'm not sampling new blades.

Sticking with them is the plan. Even though, in Australia, they are twice the price of, say, the Astras, they are still only 44cents a blade. A touch better than $4 a cartridge...

 

[takeshi]

Somehow, somewhere Feathers have acquired this reputation of being a nasty fierce blade and everyone seems to think "horror" when they think of Feathers, especially noobs.

Like any other discussion forum site there are a lot of dubious generalizations that get spread around. It's not just the Feather reputation but "badger for cream, boar for soap", "tallow is better than non-tallow", etc etc. Don't buy into any of these and always rely on first hand experience to assess things for yourself. It's what works for you in the end that matters.

 

[Toothpick]

Like any other discussion forum site there are a lot of dubious generalizations that get spread around. It's not just the Feather reputation but "badger for cream, boar for soap", "tallow is better than non-tallow", etc etc. Don't buy into any of these and always rely on first hand experience to assess things for yourself. It's what works for you in the end that matters.

agreed. I preform a when I read a post like "scary review, definitely wont be trying those now" especially with blades.

Try everything!! You could find something that works magically. And come back to things later if they don't work right now.

I did this with Feathers. First run at them I wasn't to impressed. I came back a few months later and boom perfect.

 

[jcwit]

I've been wet shaving going into my third year now. Have tried Feathers on and off quite a few times. Last time happened to be 2 days ago. Every time I try them I get razor burn, I give up, will stick with Super max and my Russian blades.

 

[Oklahomer]

I'm about two months in and had my first Feather shave today. I could tell it was sharp, but I did my typical preparation and four-pass shave (WTG, XTG, opposite XTG and ATG). Zero cuts, zero nicks, zero irritation.

Clearly the blade needs to be respected, but they all do.

 

[Chadao]

The Feather was my go-to blade for quite a while and is stil my second favorite. I now use Israeli Personna/Crystal. This is not the Feather's fault. I love its sharpness, but I have essential tremors, and an unexpected twitch with a Feather means big nicks, blood runnng down my face. The Crystal is sharp, but not as sharp as the Feather and much more forgiving. With the Crystal, unplanned twitchs mean the occasional weeper. If I could, the Feather would still be my go-to.

 

[darinpix]

I've been wet shaving going into my third year now. Have tried Feathers on and off quite a few times. Last time happened to be 2 days ago. Every time I try them I get razor burn, I give up, will stick with Super max and my Russian blades.

Fair enough. What struck me about the feathers was they were the first blade I tried which gave me no burn at all, not to mention a great shave. Perfect example of why everyone recommends trying out different blades for yourself, I guess

 

[Retiredgene]

I followed the path of using Feathers "later" in my blade sampler shaving. Why? I knew my technique was not up to par after 30+years of cartridge shaving, canned goop and a full beard

When I tried them after 15 to 20 different blades, I really liked them and found them to be the sharpest & so I put them in my top 5 blades after finishing around 30+ different blades. As I got to know the Feathers more, I bought a 100 pack from a B&B vendor for $27 and then a 200 pack for $53 and now they are in my rotation permanently!

Today was my 3rd shave from one (I usually shave every other day) which is when I toss it (4 has been the most) but I decided to go for 5 shaves to see if / when any degrading occurs for me.

As usual, YMMV.........Gene

 

[Alphonse]

Somehow, somewhere Feathers have acquired this reputation of being a nasty fierce blade and everyone seems to think "horror" when they think of Feathers, especially noobs.

I wish we could change this.

This is the problem that Merkur blades face. Merkur blades get a terrible rap here, but I've rediscovered them and love them. Yeah, it takes a little bit of extra work(that's fine with me) to get the same result you would with a Feather, but they give me error free shaves and they're smooth in all the razors I've tried so far( Black handled Superspeed, Slim, Fatboy). Noone seems to use Merkur blades here. Everyone always mentions how expensive they are, but I honestly don't care to hear about how expensive they are.. especially from anyone that spares no expense on all the other gear.

On a side note, I love Feathers. The only problem I have with them is that the 3rd shave will burn me pretty good from time to time.

 

[Toothpick]

This is the problem that Merkur blades face. Merkur blades get a terrible rap here, but I've rediscovered them and love them. Yeah, it takes a little bit of extra work(that's fine with me) to get the same result you would with a Feather, but they give me error free shaves and they're smooth in all the razors I've tried so far( Black handled Superspeed, Slim, Fatboy). Noone seems to use Merkur blades here. Everyone always mentions how expensive they are, but I honestly don't care to hear about how expensive they are.. especially from anyone that spares no expense on all the other gear.

On a side note, I love Feathers. The only problem I have with them is that the 3rd shave will burn me pretty good from time to time.

true story.

My first shave was with the merkur blade that came with my razor. I used it once, got a decent first DE shave with it, but never used it again. and that was because I had 50 Astra SP blades. The merkur wasn't bad, i just had other blades i preferred to use.