A disquisition on blade sampler packs

I’ve mentioned blade sampler packs so frequently—and it’s such an important idea to convey to the novice DE shaver—that I thought I should do a post just on that topic. (By “DE shaver” I mean a person who shaves with a double-edge (DE) blade (and, presumably, a razor to hold the blade).)

I cover these points:

• Why sampler packs are needed
• And it’s not just the blade that affects the equation
• What it means for a brand of blade to “work for you” (or not)
• Sources of sampler packs
• How long does a blade last?
• How to use the sampler pack and how to explore when the time comes

I should note that Leisureguy’s Guide to Gourmet Shaving the Double-Edge Way includes all this information and substantially more. You can look at the reader reviews and decide from those whether you think the book would be helpful to you.

Why sampler packs are needed

The sampler packs arise from the unpredictability of any individual shaver’s response to any brand of blade. Any brand of blades will work extremely well for some (who praise the brand) and won’t work at all for others (who condemn the brand harshly). Blades are the very epitome of YMMV. You cannot rely on either the praise or the condemnation: you have to try blades to see how they work for you.

Asking another shaver, “Is this brand of blade good?” (“for me” implied) is like asking someone, “Does cilantro taste good?” (“to me” implied). To the latter question I can give a solid “Yes” (for myself) and my daughter can give a solid “No! Not at all!”, but neither of us can answer whether it will taste good to you, which, after all, is why you’re asking. The best we can say is, “Try it and see how you like it.” So it is with brands of blades.

Novices have great difficulty with this notion: they cannot help thinking that their experience with a brand of blade is intrinsic to the blade and doesn’t depend on themselves. So they will say things like, “Brand X sucks! You might as well use a steak knife!” — clearly thinking that everyone else will have the same experience with that brand that they did, and not accepting the answer “Whether a brand works really depends on the individual, so you have to try it.” People in general have great difficulty in accepting the idea that their experience is not universal, but (alas) it’s not.

Some really do not like this answer, either receiving or giving it, and cling to the hope that some sort of answer will let a shaver know in advance whether or not he will like the brand—i.e., whether it is worth trying. I was accused (probably rightly) of inconsistency by referring people to the reader reviews of my shaving book as being helpful for a decision, but not referring people to reviews of the brands of shaving blades. Herewith is such a referral.

Still, you’ll notice for every brand there are those who love it and those who hate it (just as with cilantro), and you cannot know into which group you yourself will fall until you try the brand.

Just to be clear: one shaver after reading this post asked, “Okay, got it. But which brands are “trash” brands that I should avoid?” The point I want to make is that the brands that are “trash” for some may be great for you. You cannot know in advance. A brand that redefined for me what “a great shave” means was dismissed as a “trash” brand by another, who said it was like using the edge of a tin-can lid—that is, it did not work so well for him. But for me it was great.

I cannot (apparently) emphasize enough that YOU HAVE TO TRY A BRAND to know whether it will work for you in your current razor, or not. There is no shortcut. There is no list “These brands work for pretty much everyone” and thus will work for you, or “These brands are trash” and thus will not work for you. Some brands seem to work for many—but often people take the first “popular” brand that works for them and believe that they’ve found their best brand and then stick with it regardless of how bad the shave experience that results.

Recently, though, Sharpologist published a very interesting article on the science of blade sharpness. Based on that article, I did buy some Treet Platinum Super Stainless blades and found, when I tried them, that they are indeed very good. And I did note that some of my own favorite brands (Gillette 7 O’Clock SharpEdge (yellow package), Personna Lab Blue, Voskhod) fared relatively well.

I encourage shavers to explore popular brands but also to explore unpopular brands. The brand that was great for me was NOT a popular brand. Some brands do have a preponderance one way or the other, but even if only a few hate (or love) a brand, what if you are one of those few? You can’t use the brand statistically: “I love this particular blade 60%, and hate it 35%, and am indifferent 5%.” With the individual shaver and a particular blade, it’s a 100% decision. So the individual shaver has to try multiple brands, rather than simply pick those that are (statistically) popular.

If it were not like this—if shavers responded in the same way to a blade of a particular brand (which many novices believe is the case and simply ask “Which brand is sharpest?” as if that would be the best brand for them)—then there would exist only one brand of blade: THE blade. Perhaps it would be sold in different colors of packages, or with different decorations printed on the blade, but everyone would use it because it is the “best” blade. But life is not like that, and so the sampler packs exist.

Some shavers do indeed ask “Which blade is sharpest?” (thinking sharpest = best) and generally are told that Feathers are sharpest. They then buy 100 Feather blades and shave only with those. One man who took this route posted a plaintive query: he had been shaving for Feathers for months and still got serious nicks in every shave, and he wanted to know how others somehow managed to avoid that. He apparently assumed that his experience (with that razor and with Feather blades) was just what DE shaving was like, and he had to put up with it. It’s not what DE shaving is like—or at least, not what DE shaving should be like. With a good razor and a brand of blade that’s good for you (and with good prep and good technique) you will get very smooth shaves very easily and nicks will be rare. (I explore this further in my Guide.)

UPDATE This article in Sharpologist presents some very interesting findings on blade sharpness.

And it’s not just the blade that affects the equation

Let me add that it’s even more complex than suggested above. What “works” (or not) is not simply the blade. It’s the combination of blade, razor, and shaver. If the shave is not satisfactory, it’s the combination that doesn’t work, not any single element.

This was brought home forcibly to me when I got a new Weber polished-head razor. I already had the Weber DLC and the Weber ARC and both were (and are) among my favorite razors, so I was eager to try the polished-head model: same head geometry, different finish. I popped in a new Kai blade—a very good brand for me, both sharp and smooth—and proceed to shave. Ugh! I got a terrible shave: very harsh, with razor burn. I was aghast—and disappointed. Could the finish on the razor head make such a difference? I tried the next day: same result. I was sorely let down, but changed to an Astra Superior Platinum blade and tried once more—and this time got the familiar Weber comfort, smoothness, and overall excellence of shaving. Terrific shave.

So it was not the razor that was the problem. It was the blade. No, wait: it wasn’t the blade—Kai blades work extremely well for me — in other razors. So it was the combination. And then I realized the third element: me. I would have bet any money that a Kai blade in a Weber razor will work great for some other shavers. And indeed I did later hear from a guy who really likes a Kai blade in his Weber razor.

Feather blades, to take another example, work extremely well for me in some razors (for me, only in the Feather premium stainless razor, the Gillette Tech, and a couple of others), but a very skilled and experienced shaver I know cannot use a Feather blade, regardless of the razor: his skin simply cannot take that particular blade. So you cannot really blame blade, razor, or shaver: the combination may work, or it may not. But to say that the problem is inherent in any one of those is trying to make things simpler than they are. (Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.)

One implication of this is that with any new razor, you will have to do some renewed blade exploration. A brand of blade that’s best for you in one razor may not be best—or even good—in another.

Note, however, that while you can change the brand of blade and/or the particular razor, you cannot change yourself—you can change your prep and your technique, but not your skin nor your beard: you are a constant. But do understand that a blade and razor combination that works well for you may not work at all for someone else.

Different men can get a very different experience from a given brand of blade and from a specific model of razor, and that is easy to understand: men vary a lot in their beards (tough, thick, and wiry to sparse, soft, and downy), in the sensitivity of their skin, in the quality of their prep routine, and so on. But, FWIW, here are razors that I have found to be both comfortable and efficient.

Sources of sampler packs

So far as I know, these are the only current sources for sampler packs. Links to the vendors’ sampler packs, in alphabetic order:

• BullGoose Shaving Supplies (in the US)
• Connaught Shaving (in the UK)
• Details for Men (in the US)
• Em’s Shave Place (in the US)
• Fendrihan (in Canada)
• Kinetic Blue (in Australia)
• Maggard Razors (in the US)
• Razor Blades & More Co. (in the US)
• Razor Blades Club (in Europe but offers €1 flat-rate shipping worldwide)
• RazorsDirect.com (in the US)
• Royal Shave (in the US)
• The Shave Den (in the US)
• Shave Nation (in the US)
• Shave Shed (in Australia)
• Shaving.ie (in Ireland)
• Shoebox Shaveshop (in the US)
• Straight Razor Designs (in the US)
• TryABlade.com (in the US but offers $5 flat-rate shipping worldwide)
• West Coasting Shaving (in the US)
• Via Amazon.com
• Via eBay.com

In general, I suggest getting as many brands to try as possible: the largest sampler pack with the broadest range of brands. One important point: don’t buy sampler packs that include only one blade of each brand. Though rare, it is possible to get a blade that’s a dud. I’ve had it happen, and if it’s a brand you commonly use, you know it’s a dud and simply replace it. But if it’s from a sampler pack with only one blade from the brand, you have no idea whether the brand is bad for you or whether the blade was a dud. Thus a sampler pack with one blade per brand is essentially useless: if a blade is good, then the brand is probably good, but if the blade is bad, you are left in the dark.

What it means for a brand of blade to “work for you” (or not)

When you first begin DE shaving, you may be unsure how to distinguish a blade that “works” for you versus one that “doesn’t work.” If a blade “works,” it cuts the stubble easily and cleanly and does not tend to nick. If you’re paying close attention to pressure (light) and to the correct angle (as though the blade were sliding on a layer of lather, almost parallel too the skin being shaved), it should not feel harsh or cause irritation. (If the angle is too steep, so you scrape your skin, or if the pressure is too great, you’ll get razor burn and/or nicks regardless of the brand of blade).

A blade that “doesn’t work” usually tugs at the whiskers, rather than cutting easily. It’s akin to the sensation you get if you do no prep or very little prep: the blade pulls at the whiskers rather than cutting effortlessly through them. A blade also doesn’t work if it causes irritation or a lot of little nicks, but the more common indication is that the blade acts dull (or as if the prep were inadequate), tugging before cutting.

Experienced shavers all recommend that, as soon as a novice finds a brand that seems to work reasonably well, he should be faithful to that brand while polishing his technique, and not try another brand until he’s consistently getting good, smooth, nick-free shaves — perhaps a month or two.

How long does a blade last?

Novices often ask how long a blade will last. The answer depends heavily on the shaver: his prep, his technique, his skin, his beard, his razor, and also, of course, on the brand of blade. In other words, the only answer is that the blade should be changed when the shave is unsatisfactory—and, after some experience with that brand, the blade is changed just before it becomes unsatisfactory. (If you know that the 6th shave with the brand you use is unsatisfactory, you change the blade after shave 5, so that you never get an unsatisfactory shave.)

The most common sign that a new blade is needed is that the blade starts to tug instead of cutting cleanly and easily—the same feeling you get if your prep is inadequate. Some brands may show it’s time for replacement by suddenly starting to nick a lot. But whenever the shave is no longer satisfactory, try changing the blade. Fairly soon you’ll learn how long a particular brand will last for you.

How to use the sampler pack and how to explore when the time comes

Once your technique is sound, you can begin to go through that sampler pack. In using a sampler pack, it is unwise to skip from brand to brand to brand, one shave each: you would never then learn the particularities of a brand of blade and whether it actually works for you. It would be like trying to learn tennis while using a different make of racquet for each set or each serve: you’d never find your groove.

If you try a new brand and get a terrible shave, discard that blade and try another blade of the same brand—it may have just been a bad blade. (Rare, but it does happen.) If there’s only one blade of each brand, do not buy that sampler pack: it’s useless. If the second blade of the brand also gives you a terrible shave, discard it and mark that brand off the list: it’s obviously not for you.

As noted above, sometimes a brand that doesn’t work well in one razor will work fine in another. One shaver commented that he couldn’t use Astra Superior Platinums at all in his Wilkinson Classic razor (a standard inexpensive beginner razor), but when he got an Edwin Jagger DE8x razor, Astra Superior Platinums turned out to be a best blade for him. So if you have more than one razor, you might want to try the “bad” brand in another razor.

Also, as your technique improves, you may find that a brand that didn’t work well later turns out to work fine. (This happened for me with Gillette 7 O’Clock SharpEdge blades.) So rather than discarding all the blades of the “bad” brand, put the remaining blades in an envelope and write on it the date, the brand, and the reason you didn’t like them. Then after a year, given them another try. You may be surprised. If you get a new razor, you can also try the blades in that: as noted above, any new razor will require some renewed blade exploration.

To get the best results from the sampler pack: Try 3-4 brands from your sampler pack and then use the best of those exclusively for a couple of months. (To stick to the same brand for two months, you will have to buy a couple of packs of that brand so that you can replace blades as they become dull in use.) By keeping the brand of blade constant, variation from shave to shave is (probably) due to prep and technique, so you can focus more on perfecting those by not changing the razor or brand of blade. Also, after two months, you’ll really know what that brand of blade feels like so when you try a new brand the differences are highlighted.

After the two months, start exploring. Call the brand of blade that so far works best for you the “best brand.”

Shave for 4-8 weeks with your current “best brand.” The shorter interval works until you discover your first “fantastic” brand—after that, you might want to try a new brand less often, say every 6-8 weeks. But I urge you to continue trying new brands for a few years.

After 4-8 weeks, try a blade of a new brand. If that blade is better, that becomes your new “best brand”—the brand you use daily. Then, 4-8 weeks later, try a blade of another new brand.

By using this approach you’re always comparing just two brands: your best so far and a new brand. That makes the comparison easy, and by always starting the comparison with a few weeks of shaving with the best so far, you not only get a break from testing, you get a fresh reminder of what a blade that’s good for you feels like before you try the next new brand. And by pacing out the testing, you don’t get overwhelmed.

UPDATE: It turns out that DE blades come in various widths. This is important, since the wider the blade, the greater the blade exposure (the amount the cutting edge sticks out beyond the envelop defined by guard and cap): more exposure in general means greater efficiency and less comfort (and more tendency to nick), but that varies a lot by razor because of differences in head design, blade curvature, and so on.

Some years back, Giovannai Arbate of Razor & Brush (now gone) made a table of blade widths for a number of brands. This post has the full information, but here’s the chart: