RayClem's Blade Evaluations

Dave in KY 

Thanks for the offer, but I already placed an order for a few Voskhods. They will arrive in a week - 10 days.

I suspect that will be a guarantee that I will find my older blades in the coming week. LOL.

UPDATE:

As anticipated, I have already located the missing Voskhods. Fortunately, I found them in time to cancel my order for replacements.

I did, however, leave my order for a few tucks of Derby Extra. They have never worked for me, but I reasoned no evaluation can be complete without including these ubiquitous blades. Like Astra SP, Shark Super Stainless, and Shark Super Chrome blades, the Derby greens are often packaged with starter razor kits.

I still plan to use the Topaz Platinum blades on Christmas Day. I will insert the Voskhods back into the lineup for Wednesday's shave.

I have also received samples of AccuThrive prep blades. I will plan to use them Friday in a face-off shave between the prep blades and some Personna lab blues. Both blades are produced by Accutec Blades.

I'm assuming this order for the Derby blades was already placed. I just literally came across two freshly sealed packs of them, I could have sent you one if you need them.

metal_shavings

Thanks for the offer, but Amazon had 30 Derby blades for $6, so I ordered them. I could have picked up a 10 blade pack at my local Sally Beauty Supply for $3, but it would have taken me 1/2 hour to save $3. That is not a great use of my time, even if I am retired.

I used to have quite a few Derby Extras in my den, but they performed so poorly for me that I PIFfed them a few years ago. I am hoping that more recent Derbys might be better than the ones I have used in years past. I was pleasantly surprised by the Derby Premium blades. I considered Derby Extra to be in the same category as Shark Super Stainless and Shark Super Chrome, but maybe Derby improved their process over the past few years; at least that is my hope. Over the years, my razors, shaving soaps and technique have improved as well. I am hoping I can at least complete the shave with them.

When I complete the evaluations, I will have far more blades in inventory than I can ever use in my lifetime, so I plan a PIF of any blades I do not enjoy using. I suspect the Derby Extra will be one of them.

metal_shavings

Thanks for the offer, but Amazon had 30 Derby blades for $6, so I ordered them. I could have picked up a 10 blade pack at my local Sally Beauty Supply for $3, but it would have taken me 1/2 hour to save $3. That is not a great use of my time, even if I am retired.

I used to have quite a few Derby Extras in my den, but they performed so poorly for me that I PIFfed them a few years ago. I am hoping that more recent Derbys might be better than the ones I have used in years past. I was pleasantly surprised by the Derby Premium blades. I considered Derby Extra to be in the same category as Shark Super Stainless and Shark Super Chrome, but maybe Derby improved their process over the past few years; at least that is my hope. Over the years, my razors, shaving soaps and technique have improved as well. I am hoping I can at least complete the shave with them.

When I complete the evaluations, I will have far more blades in inventory than I can ever use in my lifetime, so I plan a PIF of any blades I do not enjoy using. I suspect the Derby Extra will be one of them.

No problem. That's definitely a good deal. When I first started traditional wet shaving, I started with the Derby and Shark blades with my Merkur 38C. This is probably good for beginners since they're known not to be the sharpest of blades. I'm definitely gonna give the Derby blades another shot since I haven't used one of them in forever. I probably will at some point with the Shark blades as well, but I did use one not super recently, but not super long ago either, and I remember tossing it after the first shave.

metal_shavings

Thanks for the offer, but Amazon had 30 Derby blades for $6, so I ordered them. I could have picked up a 10 blade pack at my local Sally Beauty Supply for $3, but it would have taken me 1/2 hour to save $3. That is not a great use of my time, even if I am retired.

I used to have quite a few Derby Extras in my den, but they performed so poorly for me that I PIFfed them a few years ago. I am hoping that more recent Derbys might be better than the ones I have used in years past. I was pleasantly surprised by the Derby Premium blades. I considered Derby Extra to be in the same category as Shark Super Stainless and Shark Super Chrome, but maybe Derby improved their process over the past few years; at least that is my hope. Over the years, my razors, shaving soaps and technique have improved as well. I am hoping I can at least complete the shave with them.

When I complete the evaluations, I will have far more blades in inventory than I can ever use in my lifetime, so I plan a PIF of any blades I do not enjoy using. I suspect the Derby Extra will be one of them.

No problem. That's definitely a good deal. When I first started traditional wet shaving, I started with the Derby and Shark blades with my Merkur 38C. This is probably good for beginners since they're known not to be the sharpest of blades. I'm definitely gonna give the Derby blades another shot since I haven't used one of them in forever. I probably will at some point with the Shark blades as well, but I did use one not super recently, but not super long ago either, and I remember tossing it after the first shave.

Because there are millions of shavers in the world (both male and female) who shave faces, heads and various body parts, there is a need for a wide variety of blade sharpness levels. Thus, I wanted to cover a fairly wide range of sharpness levels. However, if a blade is not sharp enough to cut my beard without tugging, I am not going to be able to complete the evaluation.

Dave in KY 

Thanks for the offer, but I already placed an order for a few Voskhods. They will arrive in a week - 10 days.

I suspect that will be a guarantee that I will find my older blades in the coming week. LOL.

UPDATE:

As anticipated, I have already located the missing Voskhods. Fortunately, I found them in time to cancel my order for replacements.

I did, however, leave my order for a few tucks of Derby Extra. They have never worked for me, but I reasoned no evaluation can be complete without including these ubiquitous blades. Like Astra SP, Shark Super Stainless, and Shark Super Chrome blades, the Derby greens are often packaged with starter razor kits.

I still plan to use the Topaz Platinum blades on Christmas Day. I will insert the Voskhods back into the lineup for Wednesday's shave.

I have also received samples of AccuThrive prep blades. I will plan to use them Friday in a face-off shave between the prep blades and some Personna lab blues. Both blades are produced by Accutec Blades.

Recently, a DFS-er was nice enough to send me some of the AccuThrives.  Really enjoyed them -- smooth and sharp.  Truly impressive. Used them now for three shaves in two different razors (H&S N075 and Paradigm Salient) and have had incredibly good shaves.  Will be really interested in the comparison to the Person lab blues.

RayClem: are you using the same soap for the blade testing? If not, couldn't that variable be having a significant impact on ratings?

RayClem: are you using the same soap for the blade testing?  If not, couldn't that variable be having a significant impact on ratings?

Dan

No I am using a different soap for every shave. I have about 75 soaps in rotation, all of them elite in performance. Admittedly, there are some minor differences between them, but any one of the soaps I am using for the evaluation are capable of delivering a superb shave. If I have any doubts about a soap, I skip it in the rotation. The biggest difference between the soaps is the duration of the postshave feel.

Today's Shave- Voskhod Teflon Coated Stainless

Voskhod blades were named after the Voskhod rocket developed in the 1960s as Russia and the USA competed to be the 1st to put a man in space and send a man to the moon.
The name translates to "ascent" in English.

The Voskhod blades are the sibling of the Rapira Platinum Lux blade evaluated a few days ago. The stainless blade has a Teflon coating rathe rather than the platinum coating of the Rapira. PL.

I started today's shave with the Topaz Platinum blade in the Karve C-plate razor. That blade was still sharp and smooth. After a few strokes, I replaced the blade the a fresh Voskhod. I immediately noted two changes: the Voskhod was neither as sharp, nor as smooth as the Topaz. As I continued the shave, the blade became sightly sharper, but not enough to achieve a near-BBS shave, even with buffing strokes. Thus, I am rating the sharpness as 4, which is the same as Rapira Platinum Lux, but also Gillette Platinum (old) and Gillette Silver Blue.

When I applied witch hazel after the shave, I received only minor feedback which normally would result in a rating of 4.5 on smoothness. However, due to the face feel of these blades being somewhat rough, I had to be mindful of blade pressure throughout the shave. Had I pursued a closer shave, there would have been irritation. Thus, I am rating the smoothness of the Voskhod blade as 4.

The evaluation spreadsheet has been updated with the Voskhod results. You can find the spreadsheet here:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/71ttt15wy...qo8eb&dl=0

On Friday, I plan to do a face-off shave between the only DE blades still manufactured in the USA by Accutec Blades. One will be the Personna Lab Blue, previously evaluated with disappointing results. The second is the AccuThrive Med Prep blade generously gifted by an anonymous donor. Until recently the Med Prep blades were sold under the Personna brand. As existing stocks of the Personna blades are depleted, they will be replaced with the AccuThrive blades.

Keep up the good work Ray.
Ray got me hooked on soaps a few years back. He knows his business when it comes to the suds. So don't worry about the soap making any difference in his testing.

metal_shavings

Thanks for the offer, but Amazon had 30 Derby blades for $6, so I ordered them. I could have picked up a 10 blade pack at my local Sally Beauty Supply for $3, but it would have taken me 1/2 hour to save $3. That is not a great use of my time, even if I am retired.

I used to have quite a few Derby Extras in my den, but they performed so poorly for me that I PIFfed them a few years ago. I am hoping that more recent Derbys might be better than the ones I have used in years past. I was pleasantly surprised by the Derby Premium blades. I considered Derby Extra to be in the same category as Shark Super Stainless and Shark Super Chrome, but maybe Derby improved their process over the past few years; at least that is my hope. Over the years, my razors, shaving soaps and technique have improved as well. I am hoping I can at least complete the shave with them.

When I complete the evaluations, I will have far more blades in inventory than I can ever use in my lifetime, so I plan a PIF of any blades I do not enjoy using. I suspect the Derby Extra will be one of them.

No problem. That's definitely a good deal. When I first started traditional wet shaving, I started with the Derby and Shark blades with my Merkur 38C. This is probably good for beginners since they're known not to be the sharpest of blades. I'm definitely gonna give the Derby blades another shot since I haven't used one of them in forever. I probably will at some point with the Shark blades as well, but I did use one not super recently, but not super long ago either, and I remember tossing it after the first shave.

Because there are millions of shavers in the world (both male and female) who shave faces, heads and various body parts, there is a need for a wide variety of blade sharpness levels. Thus, I wanted to cover a fairly wide range of sharpness levels. However, if a blade is not sharp enough to cut my beard without tugging, I am not going to be able to complete the evaluation.

You are absolutely correct. I have to say, I have used the Derby Extra Green blades for my last two shaves and they have been fantastic. I used one in my RazoRock Game Changer 1.05-P and today in my Karve Overlander. The Game Changer was with 24 hours growth and the Karve was 48 hours. With both shaves I got excellent audible feedback. I'm not sure what gives you that, but I haven't got it with very many shaves lately. With both shoes I did my usual with the grain and against the grain passes with some buffing and was able to achieve a BBS shave. Smooth shaves, no nicks, no irritation. I only got very minor feedback when applying the alcohol-based aftershave and it faded just as quickly as it appeared. Very minimal. And this is why this is probably one of the biggest YMMV hobbies around!