Newbie asks: what blades should I try?

Hi everyone,
Thank you all for the advises and welcoming messages. Made me feel very welcome! I'll certainly follow your advises.

This morning I had my first shave with the Ming Shi and a used Supermax blade, and it was so much easier as the Gilette Goal. Do need to work on finding the right angle on every spot better. With the Goal you could just press it a little harder.

I got some ancient blades from my dad which I could sample, but wonder if they'd be of use. Quality wouldn't be consistent over, well, let say 40 years, would it?



Would love to hear your views!

There are definitely some interesting blades there. For sanitary reasons, I am not sure I would use the ones that are unwrapped. You can give the others a try and you should know very soon whether or not the blades will give you a smooth close shave. If they don't, just keep them as collectibles.

All of them.

www.tryablade.com

you can buy singles and there is a super sampler pack of 112 blades http://tryablade.com/blade

Seriously, you will find some blades work really well in one razor and not another and some suck all the time and others are the holy grail and work great all the time in any razor.

Go to TryABlade. Some of my favorites.

Feather
Gillette Platinum
Gillette Silver Blue

Go to TryABlade.  Some of my favorites.

Feather
Gillette Platinum
Gillette Silver Blue

I like all of those too but I've been on a Feather binge for the last few months.

Go to TryABlade.  Some of my favorites.

Feather
Gillette Platinum
Gillette Silver Blue

I like all of those too but I've been on a Feather binge for the last few months.

I started out with Feathers and they are still my favorite in most razors. Especially aggressive razors.

Go to TryABlade.  Some of my favorites.

Feather
Gillette Platinum
Gillette Silver Blue

I like all of those too but I've been on a Feather binge for the last few months.

I started out with Feathers and they are still my favorite in most razors.  Especially aggressive razors.

I agree 100% - it took me a while to figure that out because I initially thought that my sharpest blades would be scariest in my most aggressive razors but it turns out they're best. My ATT and my Wolfman which are both aggressive razors pair very nicely with Feather. The only razor I have that doesn't work well with Feather blades is the EJ DE-89 which is the razor I used at the beginning of my wet shaving adventure. I was making notes of each different blade I tried in the razor and if I go back to the entry for the Feather it just says "Ouch". After acquiring other razors and finding that my experience with the DE-89 didn't always hold true for the new razor, I learned that the key isn't just the blade but the combination with the razor too. An interesting thing I found was that the Feather blade worked great in the Feather AS-D2 (duh) but only for about 3 shaves. Thats not a lot of shaves for one of the pricier blades, however, I found that if I take that blade out of the AS-D2 after 3 shaves and put it in the ikon 102, I could get 3 more decent shaves out of it. I get 6 shaves out of a Feather with any other razor but for some reason not the AS-D2.

That is very interesting. When keeping notes. Is there anything special you keep record of? Now the thing is, I know my shaving routine isn't as stable. As a software testconsultent of profession I'd like to keep a somewhat scientific, 'repeatable' approach, but I figure since I'm still working on the 30 degrees thing etc it's kinda hard to give each blade the 'quality' shave... I would let a robot repeat todays shave if I could ;-)

That is very interesting. When keeping notes. Is there anything special you keep record of? Now the thing is, I know my shaving routine isn't as stable. As a software testconsultent of profession I'd like to keep a somewhat scientific, 'repeatable' approach, but I figure since I'm still working on the 30 degrees thing etc it's kinda hard to give each blade the 'quality' shave... I would let a robot repeat todays shave if I could ;-)

I suppose you can be as detailed as you like. I think some members have made comprehensive spreadsheets. I just jotted the blade and a general comment on what I thought on some note paper. I only had one razor at the time so I didn't bother noting the razor but if you have multiple razors it would make sense to record the razor and I think while you're at it noting the soap/cream and any other pre-shave products you might use as well. I agree with the "repeatable" comment and to that end, if you're experimenting with new products, only change one variable at a time so you can get an idea of the specific product's performance. The end result of recording the data is to have better shaves although to be fair, there are people that just really enjoy recording and manipulating data for its own sake.

My humble suggestion would be to find a razor and blade brand combination that seems to work for you and just stick to that same combination for a month's shaves. This will take away variables and allow you to work on good technique. And, to be clear, by the same blade I mean stick to the same brand/type for that month, not meaning a single blade.

Of the blades that you have from your father, I would day that the Schick Platinum made in Holland would be very good blades. They are stainless steel with platinum coated edges. Maybe save those until you are fairly proficient in your technique.

Good luck and have fun with it! And, please feel free to post questions here at DFS as they come up! You should find that most here are very friendly and helpful!

Sent from my LGL22C using Tapatalk

Hi all, thanks for all the advises. I adjusted my Ming Shi to position 4, and now the Supermax blade acts comfortably for me. Also, I stirred up a colleague and converted him from cardridge (fusion power) shaving to DE shaving. We're sharing stuff and its a lot of fun. Shaving really is getting an issue now ;-)
Also I found out there is a shop in my town specialized in Italian shaving products. They're on holiday this month, but can't wait till they're back.

I must admit. Shaving never has been so much fun. I might get addicted.
Also I find my beard grows back different from what I was used to. More equal over the face than Mach3 and it doesn't itch like it did. A beard of a few days feels softer.

May you all have a wonderful close shave today!