DE blades and their YMMV status

The biggest Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV) item in shave dens always seems to be DE blades.  I realize that everyone has a favorite or a hated blade but why?  For example, Personna Medical Preps seem to have a large following but why.  Some blades have both followers and nay-sayers; both Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellows and Israeli Personna Red Packs come to mind, but why?  Finally, some blades, such as Dorco, are almost universally reviled, but why?  So which DE blade do you find extraordinarily good or absolutely loathsome and what is your reason for feeling as you do?

I'm one of those who quite likes Israeli Personna Red Packs.  While no longer my favorites, I find I get quite close, even BBS shaves from them yet they are forgiving to my face.  If there was one downside to them for me it's that sometimes there seem to be QC issues.

I think it comes down to an individuals skin type. some people can tolerate more aggressive blades while others need mild blades. whenever I talk to someone new about traditional wet shaving with a safety razor, I almost always suggest starting out with the Astra SP blades since they seem to be the most consistent for a lot of users.

I think it comes down to an individuals skin type.  some people can tolerate more aggressive blades while others need mild blades.  whenever I talk to someone new about traditional wet shaving with a safety razor, I almost always suggest starting out with the Astra SP blades since they seem to be the most consistent for a lot of users.

The Green Astras (there is also a Blue) are excellent blades for me and I agree with you that a newbie could do a lot worse than starting out with these.

Astra SP

Astra SP

Do you like them or not and why do you feel as you do?

Astra SP

Do you like them or not and why do you feel as you do?

i love them, they are inexpensive and seem to have a good balance of sharp and smooth. i Also like the Rapira reds.

Astra SP

Do you like them or not and why do you feel as you do?

i love them, they are inexpensive and seem to have a good balance of sharp and smooth. i Also like the Rapira reds.

it's hard to beat the price of like $.10 per blade, if you buy the 100 pack of Astra SP blades on amazon. At least last time I looked, that's what they were going for. plus, 3-4 shaves per blade is about a year's worth of shaves.

Astra SP

Do you like them or not and why do you feel as you do?

i love them, they are inexpensive and seem to have a good balance of sharp and smooth. i Also like the Rapira reds.

I couldn't agree more.

I have found that for me, on my open comb razor, the derby blades work wonders, s well as the Astra sp. I guess as I progress with my technique I'll find others I can use. I'm not sure why some however seem to be universally loved.

Finally, some blades, such as Dorco, are almost universally reviled, but why?  

I tried a Dorco st301 last week, and was surprised to find it worked really well for me. Performed very similar to a Voskhod to me. I've heard some say the 301s are much better than the 300s, and since say they are identical, so who knows. 

There are plenty of blades that feel "sharp" to me, but few that feel really, really smooth, too, so that is what I'm always on the lookout for. What that means objectively, I really don't know.