When should you try the sharpest blade, the FEATHER?

[rlsinaz]

Sorry, Eeyore. I don't buy it.

If someone says, "I think X is a little more comfortable than Y, so I spend twice as much because I like the small improvement and blades are cheap", I fully understand them. If someone said, "I get a 10-15% improvment in feel using GSBs...", I believe them as part of YMMV.

When someone says, "X turns my face into hamburger but Y is butter smooth in the same razor", I view that as the equivalent of someone telling me THEIR F-150 gets 87 mpg. It is silly. There just isn't that much difference mechanically. Some? Maybe. I kind of like the GSBs I've tried recently. I kind of think Astra blades might be a little smoother than my long-time standby of Derby...by 5%.

5% difference, or 10%? I believe. 15%? Well, that seems a bit of a stretch, but I'd believe it. YMMV.

500% difference, from hamburger to butter? I'm not buying it any more than I buy the idea of someone getting 87 mpg in their stock pickup truck.

I'll be interested in what Marquis_De_Wyld finds. If someone posted pictures of new Derby blades with edges like trash cans while Feathers look like knives, it would at least give a person REASON to think. But someone saying they can put a Derby in their favorite razor and have their face torn apart? Not a chance.

 

[Eeyore]

Sorry, Eeyore. I don't buy it.

A couple of weeks ago, you asked someone to prove that they could feel the difference between various blades in the same razor. I did exactly that, twice, using a Gillette Rocket HD and using a Schick Krona.

You did not buy that then as well, so I start to feel it's effort wasted.

 

[eleuther0s]

A Feather was the second blade I ever used. I guess this is just me, but I was never really afraid of getting nicked by switching to DE. It's just shaving, after all.

 

[rlsinaz]

A couple of weeks ago, you asked someone to prove that they could feel the difference between various blades in the same razor. I did exactly that, twice, using a Gillette Rocket HD and using a Schick Krona.

You did not buy that then as well, so I start to feel it's effort wasted.

I didn't know you had done it, since I don't read all your posts. However, I don't buy it, so the effort is wasted. Folks post all sorts of things on the Internet, and imagine all sorts of things as well.

I have a slight preference for Astra & GSBs. If I worked at it, I might be able to distinguish between a GSB & Derby slightly over 50% of the time. As I've posted on THIS thread (post 41, and others), I'd buy a 5% difference, or maybe 10%. I don't buy the "Hamburger vs Butter" claims made all the time on this forum.

Claims of mildly varying mileage in a car or truck are totally believable. Claims of huge differences are not. Folks here regularly claim enormous differences between razor blade brands. I don't believe them. And none of the guys I know who use DE razors can feel any real difference either. But then, none of the guys I know worry about the quality of hair in their brush, and most don't even use a brush. Perhaps we're just a bunch of insensitive guys.

 

[Marquis_De_Wyld]

Well, in the interests of reference.... I have got a very close up shot of a 2 pass shave (R/H cheek for reference - I am left handed, ergo that would be on the "bad" side so to speak). This section felt notably smoother than with the same number of passes with a Dorco.
here's the image:



for more reference, here's a quick calibarion shot of fixed unit of measurement (1cm, metal rule... within it's temprature expansion tolerances. Ambient room temp 14 degrees Centigrade.)

View attachment 559920

for further reference, the original calibration image dimensions are 295x328 pixels and is 90.1kb in size in the PNG format.

 

[parachutefactory]

It seems like you just don't want to believe that there is that much differenec that people will be able to feel the difference if they were blindfolded.
But if you take me for example, I used 5 derby's and a astra SP before popping in a feather, and I saw a world difference between first 2 trials and the feather.

I could immediately feel that it was so much easier to shave with less effort, and the difference became ever more evident when I had to do ATG on my neck, which I didn't like to do in long strokes with derby's or astra's because it hurts, but with feather, I had no problem gliding the razor over in one or two long strokes, instead of micro-strokes I did with derby's.

You may not want to believe there is significant difference, but I think people who think otherwise will far outweigh who don't.


However, I am very tempted to do a blind test and see if I can distinguish between feather vs other duller blade.

I might even read up on writeup someone said he posted a week ago.
link anyone?

 

[dionesius3]

There are some lucky folks who can shave almost ant blade and not have a great difference between the quality of the shave. I happen to be one of those lucky ones. Does that mean I know more or am better at shaving than someone else? NO, it means I happen to have that combination of wiskers, technique, prep, and knowledge that allows me to do a decent shave with almost any blade. If one of these variables changes my results usually change.

Shaving is is a process that has many variables, some change the quality of the shave more than others, and we all are different so which variable makes the biggest difference for us is all different. For me Blades are not critical, but hydration is, even with my favorite blade if my face and beard are not hydrated the shave is bad. So I can easily see where for someone else the blade could be their key variable.

making blanket statements of what your experience is has little validity for everyone, so it's best to couch all such judgements with YMMV!
to do otherwise is to show oneself to be both short-sighted and ungentlemanly, and that is neither wise nor charitable.
Lets all back off the blanket statements and enjoy our hobby!

 

[Eeyore]

It seems like you just don't want to believe that there is that much differenec that people will be able to feel the difference if they were blindfolded.

...

However, I am very tempted to do a blind test and see if I can distinguish between feather vs other duller blade.

I did, about a month(?) ago, in a similar discussion, with the same B&B member ... but if someone has decided not wanting to reconsider his position, it is effort wasted.

 

[Marquis_De_Wyld]

There are some lucky folks who can shave almost ant blade and not have a great difference between the quality of the shave. I happen to be one of those lucky ones. Does that mean I know more or am better at shaving than someone else? NO, it means I happen to have that combination of wiskers, technique, prep, and knowledge that allows me to do a decent shave with almost any blade. If one of these variables changes my results usually change!

I envy you!

May I suggest though that some variables are quantifiable... Those we can provide evidence based data on.

I also agree wholeheartedly about dismissing someone else's experience as their opinion of it on the basis that it conflicts with your own. Which, I feel is something that should be considered a lot more on-line... Becoming a KBH is a depressingly easy trap to fall into.