Derby Blades

Not to put too fine a point on things, bloody awful for me! First blade I tried when starting out with DE shaving based on glowing reviews and very nearly put me off forever. I bought a stack and gave 'em all away.
 
I have 300 Derby Extra and 300 Derby Premium. They are like the opposite extremes. The Derby Extra are the dullest blade i 've seen. 1st shave, with much work, i can get BBS. 2nd shave, i get areas of BBS with areas of DFS or worse. I usually toss it at the 2nd shave. But extremely smooth blade (because it's not sharp).

Derby Premium is completely different animale. The edge still feels "derbesque" (due to the coating being the same), but it's much sharper and considerably less smooth. Although i think i 've used only 1 or 2 blades till now. I mean, you must be careful with this one, it's nowhere near as dumbproof as the Extra. And also the edge lasts longer (i think i have gone to 4 shaves). I don't like non smooth blades much, but i am a sucker for nice packaging and this is why i bought 300 of them. But, i wouldn't reccommend anyone to make a blind purchase of 100 before trying a tuck, based on what they know from the Derby Extra.
 
I bought 100 blades when I first started and they are very smooth but not enough cutting power for a 2 or 3 days growth. I really wanted to use them so I've been using them in my ATT R2 for a single shave or 2 max for a single day's growth and it's OK..... at least I'm getting some shaves out of them :)
 
I shaved this morning with a new Derby Premium. 99% BBS in 4 passes. It's definitely sharper than the vertical Derby. But in the Weishi, it didn't feel Astra sharp. I had to do some buffing, but not nearly the amount i have to do with the Extra.
 
Went to the barber toady. I don't want to cut my own hair with one arm in a cast.
He was about to shave the back of my neck with a shavette.
He takes a DE blade and breaks it in half.
I enquire which brand of blade he uses.
He tells me it's a Turkish blade called 'Derby', they are really good.
I tell him that I've used those and wasn't impressed.
He tells me that those are different. They are special barber blades, half the size, for barber's razors.
I left it at that... :rolleyes:
 
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