On a quest to find a well balanced blade

andyjreid

andyjreid

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1,773
Hi,

Well over the next few weeks I'm going to be diving into my blade samplers once again to find, not the sharpest, but the most well balanced blade I have. I have found my brushes, cream, AS/Balm of choice and now I feel it is time to try and find a blade to stick with for a while.

I've generally been using Feathers (very sharp but too sharp for regular use I find) and Red Personna (smooth but maybe just not sharp enough).

In my line up I shall be trying Iridum Super, Gillette 7 o clock yellow, Gillette Bleue Extra, Gillette Platinum (Swedes) and Thai Gillette Super Thins.

My worry about this is that I end up falling for the ones which are hardest to come by.

I have other blades to try (Bic, Trig, Treet and a few others) but these are top of the list to try first.

I welcome any additional choices that fellow shavers would advise or recommend.

Andy
 
I really like the shave shack israel blades, which I got be accident. I have the Tesco blades which I think are the same. Some have suggested the red personnas are the same though. I'm not so sure. They are just right for me, and I've been through my sample pack.
 
It may be a faux pas on here, but I really like the German Wilkinson Sword. Sharp enough and really smooth. Russian Gillette Platiniums are hard to come by in the UK, I find them as good as Iridiums.
 
Damian Murphy said:
Blyth Spirit said:
I'm having a great time with Shark SS at the moment in my 34c.

Worth a look.
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I like shark blades as well . Definitely worth a try .
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Me too, thinking of bulk ordering some off t'bay...................got them my 34c and 38c, will keep my feathers for the weekend shave in my Gillette...... :D
 
Cheers for the input guys.

Ian you say interesting but do you actually think it's more of a downfall that im swapping about again? Just curious.

Ok I have looked out 2 of each of the following to try out, Astra SP, Iridium Super, Gillette Super Thin Thai, Gillette 7 o'clock yellow and packs of Bleue Extra and Swedes.

I also have some Bic Chrome Platinum kicking about and on B....r & B...e in the reviews section the first reviewer says "Sharp as a Swedish G but smoother." Has anyone here used these and could you verify this? One of my mates said they chewed him up a bit.

I know I should take the time but what can I say, im impatient ;)

Just noticed 100 Gillette Bleue Extra on t'bay for £8.49 + £1.99 p&p is that a good price?
 
Andy your sounding almost as neurotic as jhclare was on his brush quests. I'd be happy to shave with any of those blades on your list and that's really the way you should view it, by all means reject those that you really don't get on with but learn to appreciate them all. If you can't get satisfactory shaves from those blades then it isn't the blades. A change in prep, lather, technique and post can make as much if not more of a difference to your results.
 
antdad said:
Andy your sounding almost as neurotic as jhclare was on his brush quests. I'd be happy to shave with any of those blades on your list and that's really the way you should view it, by all means reject those that you really don't get on with but learn to appreciate them all. If you can't get satisfactory shaves from those blades then it isn't the blades. A change in prep, lather, technique and post can make as much if not more of a difference to your results.
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I took your advice in regards to post shave and although a high alcohol AS and witch hazel splash didn't provide any cooling sensation there certainly was a lesser period of burn.... if any.
 
Andy,

No. Given that you have had some issues lately, and a change of blade improved things, I think it the right way to go as long as you approach this (I don't doubt that you will) scientifically. You need to keep your gear and prep the same for every blade trial, and I'd suggest a minimum of 3 shaves per blade.

I'm not sure how many razors you have, but quite often different blades work differently in different razors. So, for example, you could do your trial with a Futur and find a great blade, stick the same type of blade in say a Merkur 34C and have it perform less well.

For this reason, I don't think too many of us stick to just one blade.

Ian
 
IanM said:
Andy,

No. Given that you have had some issues lately, and a change of blade improved things, I think it the right way to go as long as you approach this (I don't doubt that you will) scientifically. You need to keep your gear and prep the same for every blade trial, and I'd suggest a minimum of 3 shaves per blade.

I'm not sure how many razors you have, but quite often different blades work differently in different razors. So, for example, you could do your trial with a Futur and find a great blade, stick the same type of blade in say a Merkur 34C and have it perform less well.

For this reason, I don't think too many of us stick to just one blade.

Ian
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I've just got a Futur and a 34C just now and I think I have a Tech on it's way to me. I have already noticed differences between blades in these 2 razors.

As hard as it has been I've been sticking with the same prep/brush/cream for the last while and I have found that at the moment im really happy using Speick cream with a badger brush, face lathering appears to be better. The only thing that I kinda swap about is the razor, couple of shaves each.
 
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