Miyamoto Musashi (c. 1584-1645), author of The Book of Five Rings, was a great swordfighter of Japan. His skills became so great that in one famous duel he didn’t bother to use a sword: he just carved a wooden sword from an oar on the way to the duel:

In April 14, 1612 aged approximately 28, Musashi had his most famous duel with Sasaki Kojiro who wielded a nodachi [two-handed Japanese battle sword - LG]. Musashi came late and unkempt to the appointed place — the remote island of Funajima, north of Kokura. The duel was short and Musashi killed his opponent with a bokken that he had carved from an oar, while traveling to the island.

This occurs to me because of the succession of good blades I’ve been experiencing. Though I can discern some differences, they all seem excellent. Giovanni, the proprietor of RazorandBrush, says in a comment that he put in his sampler pack the cream of a vast universe of blades—he actually used the blades and rejected those that he didn’t like. So his sampler pack is a biased sample already, but still—with blades, different shavers react differently. I would expect to find some that I didn’t like (except in the unlikely event that he and I have the same response to blades).

So I decided to try an American Personna blade this morning, to determine whether I have somehow transcended blade limitations. (The AP has an indifferent reputation, though, as always, some really like it a lot.)

I used Mr. Glo, of course, and I’m wondering whether the use of that pre-shave soap (Musgo Real Glyce Lime Oil soap, to give it its proper name: MRGLO) is what has made the difference. Certainly when I first used it, I noticed a jump in the quality of the shave. So, maybe…

Then I lathered, using Acqua Di Parma shaving cream (still working on a generous sample I got)  and my Simpsons Harvard 3 Best Badger. Very fine lather.

I loaded an English Rocket (sort of a better-made Super Speed) with a new American Personna blade. A very good shave. A couple of minor nicks (not even requiring My Nik Is Sealed), though it seemed a tame blade. Perhaps a tiny bit of razor burn. But a very smooth face in three passes.

So: what’s up? Of course, with AP, as with all blades, YMMV. And they are currently sold (in drugstores, Wal-Mart, and the like) at a price way above what they’re worth (IMHO). Still, a good shave.

In this latest edition of the book, I did add that, in addition to the sampler packs, a shaver should also buy all brands of blades available locally to include in the testing. Based on this morning’s experience, good advice.