Blade Selection - Paralysis by Analysis! Help please…

[mcgruff]

For me, mild razor and sharp blade gives a great shave. I very quickly zeroed in on Nacets: sharp, consistent, good value. And gratuitous cruelty to crocodiles.

 

[hotmetal]

Ditto, I like Nacet in my Tech. Crocs not so much!

 

[Bogeyman]

Understood, what im trying to get to is how do I know ..

 

[De 2]

There is a blessed simplicity in being easily pleased. If you find a blade that gives you a close enough shave that doesn't cut you and gives you 3+ shaves then, to me, you have solved the problem.

A technically minded person will give us their interpretation on why some blades perform better than others given that they should all be the same thickness and width and sharpened with very similar equipment and techniques - or so I would have thought.

 

[mrasparini]

My experience: tried about 15 different and only 1 stood out. Then there are 2-3 which are really crappy and the others in between are equivalent.
The one that stands out is the universal one: any razor, any growth. I am not saying what it is because it's subjective.
Took me about 2 years of testing to settle...

 

[hotmetal]

Tune in next week to find out which that is... Dum, dum da-dum dum lalalala la laaaa...

 

[Jester]

Enjoy the experience. I know I could put a Gillette Super Blue through my Merkur 34C and be DFS every day, but......
.

 

[Bogeyman]

Of course, the OP could just by an injector razor and be done. It's simply a better "mousetrap".

 

[Dickie]

Enjoy the experience. I know I could put a Gillette Super Blue through my Merkur 34C and be DFS every day, but......
.

I *think* that Super Blue are the best fit for my 38c… or Feather…..or….

 

[Hourwerk]

Lord blades work particularly well with the Carbon and Timeless razors. I get most of my blade recommendations from reading reviews on shaving forums. I then buy a small qty of them to try out. This works for me

 

[Dickie]

Cool, I have those to try ..that’s Thursday sorted… GSB were not my friend this morning, but I was in a rush and the lather for pass three a bit thin..

The quest continues, Merkur and Bic blades added to Astra green in the relegation zone

 

[TobyC]

SpeedyPC posted this elsewhere.


All the blades below are only tested using the Merkur 34C/G.

Remember YMMV depends on your own stubble and your own shaving techniques.

Feather Hi-Stainless <---- Very very sharp
Kai Stainless
Gillette Nacet
Vintage Gillette Aussie 'Gold' Super Stainless (spoiler)
Vintage NOS Schick Plus Platinum
Vintage NOS Gillette Bleue Extra
Gillette Stainless red & white (old) the old version is no longer available on the market
Gillette Minora Stainless (new) see above FYI
Polsilver Super Iridium (old) & Wizamet Super Iridium (new) both are the same blade
BIC Chrome Platinum
Gillette 7 O'Clock Black Super Platinum
Gillette 7 O'Clock SharpEdge (yellow)
Gillette Platinum & King C Gillette
Wizamet Polsilver Brown Stainless
Gillette Rubie
Gillette Silver Blue
Astra Superior Stainless
Vintage NOS England Wilkinson Sword
Treet Platinum (orange & white)
Astra Superior Platinum <------ Middle of the road everyday shave
Vintage US Gillette Super Stainless (spoiler)
Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Stainless (green)
Perma-Sharp
German Wilkinson Sword
Tiger Platinum (grey)
ASCO Super Stainless (orange)
Parker Premium Platinum
Rapira Platinum Lux
Rapira Super Stainless
Rapira Swedish Super Steel
Ladas Super Stainless
Rockwell Swedish Stainless
Gillette Sputnik
Voskhod <---- This is the low level, not the lowest crap blade
Cloud Super Stainless <--- worst than Voskhod, the Chinese cheapest crap blade.

 

[Dickie]

Thanks very much to you and speedy, this is great! I will add my findings as I go in case it helps others.

What is ymmv?

 

[Dickie]

I’ve started to look through my list and it seems that where there is a PLATINUM blade I like these the least… Is this common? Tiger, Astra, Derby all the same outcome … I guess it’s skin type derived?

 

[SeanC]

SpeedyPC posted this elsewhere.


All the blades below are only tested using the Merkur 34C/G.

Remember YMMV depends on your own stubble and your own shaving techniques.

Feather Hi-Stainless <---- Very very sharp
Kai Stainless
Gillette Nacet
Vintage Gillette Aussie 'Gold' Super Stainless (spoiler)
Vintage NOS Schick Plus Platinum
Vintage NOS Gillette Bleue Extra
Gillette Stainless red & white (old) the old version is no longer available on the market
Gillette Minora Stainless (new) see above FYI
Polsilver Super Iridium (old) & Wizamet Super Iridium (new) both are the same blade
BIC Chrome Platinum
Gillette 7 O'Clock Black Super Platinum
Gillette 7 O'Clock SharpEdge (yellow)
Gillette Platinum & King C Gillette
Wizamet Polsilver Brown Stainless
Gillette Rubie
Gillette Silver Blue
Astra Superior Stainless
Vintage NOS England Wilkinson Sword
Treet Platinum (orange & white)
Astra Superior Platinum <------ Middle of the road everyday shave
Vintage US Gillette Super Stainless (spoiler)
Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Stainless (green)
Perma-Sharp
German Wilkinson Sword
Tiger Platinum (grey)
ASCO Super Stainless (orange)
Parker Premium Platinum
Rapira Platinum Lux
Rapira Super Stainless
Rapira Swedish Super Steel
Ladas Super Stainless
Rockwell Swedish Stainless
Gillette Sputnik
Voskhod <---- This is the low level, not the lowest crap blade
Cloud Super Stainless <--- worst than Voskhod, the Chinese cheapest crap blade.

Aside from nudging the Bic and Permasharp up the table a bit, this list largely mirrors my experience

 

[De 2]

Aside from nudging the Bic and Permasharp up the table a bit, this list largely mirrors my experience

For sure, there are some obvious omissions, but would go along with that list apart from near bottom of the list Voskhod which I thought were pretty good, above average anyway, not that I will be a repeat buyer however good or cheap they are.