Tried a Derby Extra again

[psfred]

My 7am Hi Platinum blade finally played out (at 80 shaves) last week, so I decided to try a Derby Extra again, this time from a blue pack and with my rather fright producing German bakelite slant of no name.

Super easy, smooth, and close shave, no weepers. Razor is super light in the hand, and the Derby magically wiped the whiskers off almost without the sensation of blade on skin. Quite a difference from the one I tried a couple years ago, I felt like I needed both hands to drag that one through my beard!

Still pretty smooth at 6 pm to after a 9 am shave (not working today, only going in two days a week due to coronavirus concerns).

I might like these blades after all! A few directional things to work out with the razor, but in spite of the appearance, it's pretty mild. Looks like s false move and you'd lose an chunk of flesh, but in use it's nice.

 

[nemo]

Never have understood all the unfavorable reviews and negativity Derbys receive here. When I came to B&B in 2009 they were well liked, so I bought 100 (my first big buy) and they were just fine. I'm currently using tucks from the second 100 I bought because of the uproar when they changed the package from horizontal to vertical or some such. Still good, they work smoothly in most of my razors.

They are not my favorite but perfectly serviceable.

 

[RookieGuy]

A timely review, psfred. They're next in my sample pack to try. Your review gives me hope, as they don't have the best reputation around here.

 

[sharpstar90]

I just had the exact same experience in my Progress! Like you said, magically wiped the whiskers off my face. I am about to try it in my Merkur 45. They work amazingly in an aggressive razor. Maybe Derby gets a bad wrap from people using them in razors that are too mild.

I wonder if the Turkish manufacturers designed them with the Yuma razor in mind. That thing is scary aggressive. I have one and I've never even used it! I bet a Derby would be perfect in it.

 

[Peppery John]

The difference shavers are finding in blades upon revisiting is probably because they're a better, more experienced and accomplished shaver now. This is the time to move up to a feather, however, once you've use a Feather for most shavers there's no going back, the end...

 

[Balthier]

well maybe i'll have to try it again in an aggressive razor never them to be horrible, but maybe lacking in sharpness. Derby premium on the other hand is amazing probably usta too, but never tried them. I hear they might be the same targeted for a different market.

 

[tube_guy]

I like the Derby blades. I have some old ones from about 2007, and they are a great blade for me. I also prefer aggressive razors. Back when I would regularly use Derbys, I would run a Merkur Progress wide-open. Just before the top-cap loses contact with the sprung base-plate, which if I remember right was about a 15 setting. I'd always get a great shave.

 

[BigJ]

Glad the Derby blades work for you!!

Reviews help, but not nearly as much as a few shaves!!

 

[fast shaver]

The Derby Extra blades I have are rough & tuggy. Might be a Q.C. problem or real old stock.??

 

[epipeman]

The Derby Extra blades I have are rough & tuggy. Might be a Q.C. problem or real old stock.??

That's how Derby Extras are in my experience. However I love Derby Premiums and Ustas are great.

 

[Ted Danson]

I finally got my Rex Ambassador and decided to shave with it this morning (I normally take Tue and Thu off from shaving). Since I have read that the Rex is aggressive, I decided to use a Derby Extra. I got a pretty ok shave with it. I think it was more of trying to figure out the angle and pressure than the blade. Overall, no irritation and no weepers. Wouldn't call it a DFS, more of a FS I guess. Overall, I liked the blade.

 

[J-MN]

My main reason for not liking Derby has been the inconsistency in quality. It seems that I get a sample pack about once a year from when I order other products, so I periodically use them. When I get a good one, I like them a lot, but I always seem to get some really bad blades intermixed with the good ones.

I just received a sample pack of both Derby Extra and Derby Premium blades and so far they have both been good, but I've only used one of each so far, so we'll see how it goes this time as I work my way through them.

 

[dan86]

My main reason for not liking Derby has been the inconsistency in quality. It seems that I get a sample pack about once a year from when I order other products, so I periodically use them. When I get a good one, I like them a lot, but I always seem to get some really bad blades intermixed with the good ones...

Same experience for me with Extras. My first pack was bundled in with my second safety razor (DE89) after having gotten on well with my Wilkinson Sword Classic razor and the Wilkinson Sword Classic blades.
First Derby blade was fine but the second one I tried was really tugging and felt rough during the first shave and for the first and only time since I tried DE shaving I ended up with one red, spotty neck the following day. I threw that blade straight away. The third one started feeling rough after two shaves IIRC and I was glad to finish the pack.

I’ve since had other packs bundled in with samplers and used them in more aggressive razors. Again I‘ve had such a mixed bag of decent quality and poor quality I‘d be reluctant to buy them in a sufficient quantity.

 

[ivan_101]

I have read it a few times here and on other forums. The Derbys were fine around 2008-2009. After that they were changed and became pretty bad for years. Word is in the last 2-3 years they are getting better. Especially if you tried a blue one, which has emerged only in the last years. Unfotunately all my derbys are post-2009 and are terrible. With my last order form the razobladeclub, I ordered 1 Derby Premium blade. Will have to try it soon.

 

[Demolition]

I have a mix of Derby Extras, both old stock (vertical label) and new stock (horizontal label). There are threads discussing (for example, here and here) how the sharpness and smoothness rose, but the longevity and consistency dropped as the thickness of the blade changed over time; the new stock are 0.01mm thinner.

I haven't used any of them, yet. Still trying to decide whether to try the old ones or new ones first.

However, I have tried the Derby Premiums and find them to be very good blades.

 

[chuckd]

I haven't used any Derby Extras in five years or so. My main complaint about these is that I could never get more than one shave from a blade: the first shave was very good, but then, mysteriously, the blade wouldn't cut after that. Even though they were cheap, the math didn't work relative to other slightly more expensive brands that would last me a week or more (Astra SP, US Personna, Gillette Silver Blue, etc.).

 

[Pippirull]

I find the Derby's to be good blades too. Yes, they are on the dull side, but when I use them I get a comfortable, irritation free shave, and they are dirt cheap.
What more can I ask?

 

[Samon]

I had a free 5 pack (old vertical label) in my EJ de89 but didn't have any interest in trying them because i bought a load of high end and premium blades to try first and heard derbys suck.

Anyway I used one today in my piccolo and it was great. north to south + south to north = BBS no strange cuts or irritation even on my sensitive skin. I got brave and figured why not and I'm glad I did, praise the razor or the blade, either way it worked for me. Hopefully the next 4 function properly lol

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I have the old type that most here seem to hate. Works fine for me. I often use them for travel, as I can ditch the blade in the rear slot on the box for ease of disposal.

 

[Ridpath]

I’ll echo the comments about the Derby Extra being surprisingly not horrible. The first 100 blade “pillar” I ever finished was the Derby Extra.

To be fair, I was studying then and probably just wanted a pack of whatever blades were cheap - might be that over time, I learnt to work with the blade’s characteristics. But Derby Extras have never given me trouble in any razor. Not the closest shave, not by a long shot; but far from unusable or horrible.