Sharpest DE blade?

[Xcursion88]

I see many opinions on the razors ....

How about the blades.

What seems to be the sharpest you've used?

For me it seems to be feather. Having said that I don't have much experience with many blade mfg.

Feather, derby, persona, Wilkinson, merkur, some dollar store blades made in Korea??? Possibly a few others...

So I'd love to hear your opinions on this and what seems to be the sharpest.

Thanks

 

[jmudrick]

See objective tests at refinedshave dot com. Feather is sharpest out of the box but quickly overtaken by others on subsequent use. I'm a BIC man myself, way sharper than Feather after a use or two.

 

[sharpstar90]

Some people say Kai, but I think Perma Sharp, gillette silver blue, and Nacet are among the sharpest as well. Also, Astra SP is nothing to shake a stick at either.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[jmudrick]

Kai blades are not particularly sharp at all out of the box but they sharpen up after use and retain sharpness quite well.

Some people say Kai, but I think Perma Sharp, gillette silver blue, and Nacet are among the sharpest as well. Also, Astra SP is nothing to shake a stick at either.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[Strayhair]

Nacet and Feather

 

[sharpstar90]

Kai blades are not particularly sharp at all out of the box but they sharpen up after use and retain sharpness quite well.

Man, that sounds pretty good. I already bought around 400 blades so I will not be trying Kai anytime soon. They're in the back of my mind, though

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[jaybird210]

See objective tests at refinedshave dot com.

+1 The objective test results are very interesting to read through. I like the blade reviews, as well.

However, the feel of sharpness seems to vary quite a bit, person to person. Feathers are often said to be very sharp, but personally, I haven't felt that sharpness during the shave. After I shave with them, my face feels pretty raw, so maybe that's indication of their sharpness (coupled with possible bad technique on my part), but during the shave, they don't feel as effortless as some other blades do, for me, like GSB, Nacet, persona reds. So far, the blade that has felt the sharpest for me during the shave, based on effort, is the Gillette 7 o'clock black, where it felt like cutting through butter. No resistance at all.

Sometimes the razor can make a difference too. I don't have a massive collection, but in the few I do have, I've noticed I prefer certain blades in one razor over another. For example, I didn't like the GSB at first in my 34c, but I love them in my 6c, and vice versa for the perma sharp blades.

But the key words here are "for me", so it will likely be totally different for another person. Maybe it's the skin type, hair type, angle of shave, lather quality, water hardness, direction of the wind, air pressure, alignment of the planets, yadda yadda... it's all a great mystery to me.

 

[turkish]

Feather

 

[jmudrick]

I think there's near consensus about Feather's initial sharpness. How it feels on your face or how it performs after a shave or two is another matter entirely. I never particularly liked th3m, other sharp blades - BIC, Permasharp, Nacet, especially I prefer.

+1 The objective test results are very interesting to read through. I like the blade reviews, as well.

However, the feel of sharpness seems to vary quite a bit, person to person. Feathers are often said to be very sharp, but personally, I haven't felt that sharpness during the shave. After I shave with them, my face feels pretty raw, so maybe that's indication of their sharpness (coupled with possible bad technique on my part), but during the shave, they don't feel as effortless as some other blades do, for me, like GSB, Nacet, persona reds. So far, the blade that has felt the sharpest for me during the shave, based on effort, is the Gillette 7 o'clock black, where it felt like cutting through butter. No resistance at all.

Sometimes the razor can make a difference too. I don't have a massive collection, but in the few I do have, I've noticed I prefer certain blades in one razor over another. For example, I didn't like the GSB at first in my 34c, but I love them in my 6c, and vice versa for the perma sharp blades.

But the key words here are "for me", so it will likely be totally different for another person. Maybe it's the skin type, hair type, angle of shave, lather quality, water hardness, direction of the wind, air pressure, alignment of the planets, yadda yadda... it's all a great mystery to me.

 

[Xcursion88]

+1 The objective test results are very interesting to read through. I like the blade reviews, as well.

However, the feel of sharpness seems to vary quite a bit, person to person. Feathers are often said to be very sharp, but personally, I haven't felt that sharpness during the shave. After I shave with them, my face feels pretty raw, so maybe that's indication of their sharpness (coupled with possible bad technique on my part), but during the shave, they don't feel as effortless as some other blades do, for me, like GSB, Nacet, persona reds. So far, the blade that has felt the sharpest for me during the shave, based on effort, is the Gillette 7 o'clock black, where it felt like cutting through butter. No resistance at all.

Sometimes the razor can make a difference too. I don't have a massive collection, but in the few I do have, I've noticed I prefer certain blades in one razor over another. For example, I didn't like the GSB at first in my 34c, but I love them in my 6c, and vice versa for the perma sharp blades.

But the key words here are "for me", so it will likely be totally different for another person. Maybe it's the skin type, hair type, angle of shave, lather quality, water hardness, direction of the wind, air pressure, alignment of the planets, yadda yadda... it's all a great mystery to me.

I believe so much is on the tool and angle.

Something else that isn't talked about enough is frequency. Too much frequency and sharp blade, aggressive razor, and you'll be raw quick.

 

[Space_Cadet]

I would say that Nacet is as sharp as Feather.

 

[jmudrick]

When ?? First stroke? One shave ? Two shaves. I think the question of sharpness is way more complicated than people often make it.

I would say that Nacet is as sharp as Feather.

 

[Space_Cadet]

I only had one shave with Nacet, because they were too sharp for me. I remember i was almost shocked about how sharp they were because they aren't often mentioned as one of the sharpest blades. I prefer milder blades.

 

[jaybird210]

I think there's near consensus about Feather's initial sharpness.

I agree that they must be sharp. This many people can't be wrong, and also the testing on refinedshave dot com seems to be reliable. It's just strange to me that I can't feel the sharpness myself.

I believe so much is on the tool and angle.

This is very true. I've tried in 3 different razors to allow for tool difference, but it could be just that I haven't found the sweet-spot in the angle for this blade yet. I have a 10 pack, so will keep trying a few more times before I write it off, but I have found plenty of others I like, so not a big deal if I can't get feathers to work for me.

I wonder also if different coatings have anything to do with how the blades move through the stubble as they are cutting. This is talked about in some detail on refined shave, as well.

I often read, for the blades that increase in sharpness after a few shaves, it's likely the result of the coating wearing off. I wonder if for some people the certain coatings help the blade glide through the stubble better.

It seems the feathers are not coated, and that is probably why they are sharp from the start and only go down from there instead of having a slight increase in sharpness.

 

[BigJ]

Feather

+2! Definitely, out of the box!! At least IMHO.

 

[Xcursion88]

I agree that they must be sharp. This many people can't be wrong, and also the testing on refinedshave dot com seems to be reliable. It's just strange to me that I can't feel the sharpness myself.



This is very true. I've tried in 3 different razors to allow for tool difference, but it could be just that I haven't found the sweet-spot in the angle for this blade yet. I have a 10 pack, so will keep trying a few more times before I write it off, but I have found plenty of others I like, so not a big deal if I can't get feathers to work for me.

I wonder also if different coatings have anything to do with how the blades move through the stubble as they are cutting. This is talked about in some detail on refined shave, as well.

I often read, for the blades that increase in sharpness after a few shaves, it's likely the result of the coating wearing off. I wonder if for some people the certain coatings help the blade glide through the stubble better.

It seems the feathers are not coated, and that is probably why they are sharp from the start and only go down from there instead of having a slight increase in sharpness.

That blade test is cool. .... But...the accuracy of it I'm not so sure.

I've never found Wilkinson sword blades to get better with passes.

 

[jmudrick]

Better is a subjective judgement, sharpness objective. I have found his tests to be pretty spot-on. Whether you agree with his subjective reviews is something else.

That blade test is cool. .... But...the accuracy of it I'm not so sure.

I've never found Wilkinson sword blades to get better with passes.

 

[Cumberland Sausage]

I've found a number of vintage blades to be at least as sharp as Feather or Kai, but smoother and much longer lasting. Personna 74 and 1970s Wilkinson Sword blades come particularly to mind.

 

[jaybird210]

That blade test is cool. .... But...the accuracy of it I'm not so sure.

It does make for an interesting read. I can't say that I fully understand the mechanics behind the testing either, but from his explanation it seems to make sense, how he tests each blade against a strand hooked up to a mechanism that will measure the resistance before the strand breaks. The lower the number the sharper the blade. And he does seem to give each blade a fairly large sample size per test. But even he explains in the detailed review of each blade that purely sharp doesn't always equal "good". He seems to find the blades that show the middle level in sharpness to be the most agreeable, for him.

Even then there are significant differences between many of the blades that fall under the same "ideal" sharpness level, so it just goes to show there are many other factors. Maybe coating, maybe even the QC standards of the manufacturers. As many have said, with some of the cheaper manufacturers of the popular blades, in a pack of 100, people will find the occasional dud blade here and there. I assume that there's probably a little more consistency in the higher end manufacturers with better QC standards.

 

[jaybird210]

Better is a subjective judgement, sharpness objective. I have found his tests to be pretty spot-on.

+1

Same here. I found most of his reviews and test results to be consistent to how the blades felt to me, but not for all, which is just the YMMV factor. As a general review, it is quite good.

For example the Treed Black Beauty blades that he completely obliterated in his review. I have no experience with them, so can't say from personal experience, but for as horrible as he said they are, I'm sure there're some people out there who get nice shaves from them. But most likely I'll guess the general consensus will be that they are not so great.