Wet Shavers' preferred blades

Brothers of Briar

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Shaved with a Gillette New Long Comb made in either the 1920s or 1930s. To be honest, I could shave with this every day. It's too aggressive for my tastes, but that's really the only downside to it. I'd like to try the Standard version. It's said to be a bit more mild than the open comb style, but that's usually the case. The design of the head insofar as consistent, perfect blade alignment is so very smart. It's probably how every fixed razor should be based. There are obviously other designs that arrive at the same destination, but this thing is most impressive in that regard. And to think they stamped out millions of them and didn't have to CNC from billet and charge $200-1000. I think they were like a $1.49 at the time, which I'm sure was still a good chunk of change for the average laborer. Around $22+ in today's money.

I was listening to a podcast maybe last month, and the guest was a writer. I can't remember the name off hand; someone from The Sopranos. He happened to mention an argument he had with the constume department because they had all the extras in scenes with beards, poofy mustaches, etc. This was a period piece in the 20s. He said it was one of the only times he stepped outside his writing role and raised some hell with another department. He scolded them for the beards, because at that time, EVERY man had purchased one of these Gillette New razors and was clean shaven. It was the overwhelming trend to have zero facial hair because this razor was a cultural gamechanger, and to prove his point, he told the costume department to look up college yearbooks online. He hadn't included the Gillette razor in the story, but it indeed did play a role in the story because of how it had affected men in that period. There wasn't a single beard, sideburn, mustache to be seen in these old yearbook shots.
 
Reading through this thread, I realize how little I know about double edged razors. I have three, but only remember when I bought the most recent one. I looked at my Amazon history. It's a Parker, bought in 2015. When I bought that razor, I bought a sampler of 100 blades and still have many. My shaving brush was my father's and the soap I use is a clear hand soap, Pear's.
pears-bar-soap-pure-gentle-natural-oils-orange.jpg

My whiskers are white, almost unnoticeable if I skip shaving for a day or two. I do buy a 6-pack of disposables at the Dollar Tree a couple of times a year and use those razors once to shave the back of my neck. When I've tried to use one of the double edge razors on my neck, I usually gave myself a sizeable cut.
 
Been using a 1962 Gillette Fatboy butterfly adjustable for eons!! Get my blades from West Coast Shaving!! Works for me!! FTRPLT
 
I've been satisfied with every brand in the sampler I purchased. For price alone I ordered 100 Shark blades for $5.49. I figure that's about a two year supply.
 
how to say this without sounding like a jerk...that article isn't written by people who are into DE wet shaving. I say that because a well known, artisan brand like Above The Tie wasn't even mentioned. That article is big name stuff, like if someone wrote about tobacco and only mentioned Lane and Peterson . That's not to say those razors are crap, but it really is only a surface view of the DE razor situation. And I'm not saying this either because $400 razors weren't mentioned. It's simply not from someone INTO the hobby. Those are all mass produced razors, though the Feather is considered an upper level quality razor (all stainless steel). It's a lot easier to get away with that perspective when talking about blades, because the machines necessary to make blades aren't something just anyone can build and create a start-up.

*there's a ton of interesting, obsessive razors being designed and sold these days. same for brushes and new knot development. and a lot of those razors are less than $100, and the brushes are less than $30. you don't have to spend a load to get into that next tier.
 
Enjoyed the article!! Thanks for posting!! Razors are a bit Merkur "heavy!" Never owned one; I do not like Merkur blades!! I agree on first getting a "closed comb" razor starting out, or an adjustable one. I still recommend getting one of the old Gillette butterfly adjustables on eBay!!! Putting a new Wilkinson Sword blade in mine today!!!! FTRPLT
 
I was nosing around Ebay and found a Gillette King C razor, open box, for $11.00 shipped. I think the seller goofed up. It didn't appear to be open box and it came with 5 blades in the box. I had no idea what I was getting! I expected the twist butterfly top like the Gillette razors my father had. This is a three piece, long handle, rather heavy razor, like my Parker. I like the extra weight and feel. I haven't shaved with it as yet. I think it'll be fine. In the past week, I spent under $16.00 for a razor and 100 blades, which should last me for years. My older brother spends that on his multi-blade disposables every couple of weeks.
 
This morning I put an Astra blade in the Gillette King C that I bought on Ebay. I shaved immediately after getting out of the shower. It was so smooth shaving, I had to run my hand over my cheek to see if the whiskers were still there.
 
About, a month ago I decided that I was done buying expensive cartridges, I did some research and everyone was raving about the German Merker razors.They were right ! This shaver makes what used to be a chore into a delightfully rewarding experience,Loaded with Russian astra super platinum blades and proraso shave cream ,shaving is now quick and easy.The astra blades were very cheap on E-bay and are high quality too.
 
I've got about half a box (25ish) of Viking blades that don't seem to like my face. If anyone is interested but me up I'll send them out to you.
 
Corking your blades (or styrofoam or packing peanuts). This is for the extremely sharp, and sometimes considered "harsh", blades like Feather. I've never seen this before, but I do know that I prefer blades after a few uses. I wasn't always like that, but through continued experimentation, that's my conclusion. I don't drink wine much, but it's been a while since I've seen anything but a screw or foam cork. I think whiskey bottles still use cork too.

 
After years of trying other blades (including Feathers), I finally settled on the Gillette Silver Blues. They are sharp and smooth for me. I haven't bothered to try another blade since.
 
After years of trying other blades (including Feathers), I finally settled on the Gillette Silver Blues. They are sharp and smooth for me. I haven't bothered to try another blade since.
Those are my favorite blades. The best combination I've found between sharpest and smoothest. Before I ran into them, I'd picked up a 100-count of Astra Greens, so I'm stuck with those for a long while. I don't mind, but yeah, those Blues are great.
 
Those are my favorite blades. The best combination I've found between sharpest and smoothest. Before I ran into them, I'd picked up a 100-count of Astra Greens, so I'm stuck with those for a long while. I don't mind, but yeah, those Blues are great.
Well, I just keep seeing things on BOB that I have in common with others on here. I have been wet shaving for years. I have been using Feathers exclusively for years, but will give the Silver Blues a try.
Where do you purchase them? I also used a straight razor for a long time.
Tnx,
Alan
 
Well, I just keep seeing things on BOB that I have in common with others on here. I have been wet shaving for years. I have been using Feathers exclusively for years, but will give the Silver Blues a try.
Where do you purchase them? I also used a straight razor for a long time.
Tnx,
Alan
Unless I was also shopping for soaps, a brush, etc, I'd check ebay first. If I was looking to buy a bunch of stuff at once, I'd check Maggard and italianbarber. I really don't think you can beat ebay prices, but those places have good sales here and there too.

The caveat is that if you just want a tester pack of 5 blades, I'm not sure ebay is a good option. Maggard and italianbarber might be the cheaper route. There are other shaving stores too, so do a google search. I can't remember the others offhand.
 
Unless I was also shopping for soaps, a brush, etc, I'd check ebay first. If I was looking to buy a bunch of stuff at once, I'd check Maggard and italianbarber. I really don't think you can beat ebay prices, but those places have good sales here and there too.

The caveat is that if you just want a tester pack of 5 blades, I'm not sure ebay is a good option. Maggard and italianbarber might be the cheaper route. There are other shaving stores too, so do a google search. I can't remember the others offhand.
Tnx so much. At one time I ordered from Ken's , but he went out of business which caused some problems and I will let it go at that!
 
Try "West Coast Shaving" for your DE blades. Good prices, large selection, plus several different "sampler packs" offered.
 
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