Is it hard to believe that I prefer Feather blades?

JuniorNA · Post by **JuniorNA** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 1:15 pm

I've been reading on these forums for a while now, and I'm thinking the majority of the forum does not prefer Feather blades due to their harshness and roughness....is what I've gathered wrong? Or do some of you prefer them?

Since i've only been DE shaving for a month, I really dont have much of an opinion, but here is what I've tried and I love feathers. They feel great, no tugging, and really cut a lot better than other blades. This is of course, my opinion because i'm using them on my face, so YMMV.

Here is what I've used.

Gillette Blue and Whites
Derby
Wilkinsons
Feathers
Merkur
Israeli Personnas
Walgreen's Super Platinum

( i know, i was excited when I got my DE)

For me, I prefer the Feathers, then Personnas, but I think i'm sticking with Feathers for my primary.

What do you guys think of feathers, and if you had one type of blade to use for the rest of your life, what would it be ?

bleedingface · Post by **bleedingface** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 1:17 pm

When I use a Feather, as long as I'm careful, its a great shave, but I tend to pay for it later. I think it takes off some layers of skin during the shave.

JuniorNA · Post by **JuniorNA** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 1:19 pm

bleedingface wrote:When I use a Feather, as long as I'm careful, its a great shave, but I tend to pay for it later. I think it takes off some layers of skin during the shave.

You might be right...and I probably should go for a less harsh shave since I have very bad ingrowns...but my beard is also very rough and rugged, so I think I prefer Feathers because it can chop through it like cake. The other blades tug for me.

PeteT · Post by **PeteT** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 2:29 pm

I love Feathers, they are the only blades I use, everything else I've tried seems blunt in comparison.

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 3:29 pm

JuniorNA wrote:
bleedingface wrote:When I use a Feather, as long as I'm careful, its a great shave, but I tend to pay for it later. I think it takes off some layers of skin during the shave.
You might be right...and I probably should go for a less harsh shave since I have very bad ingrowns...but my beard is also very rough and rugged, so I think I prefer Feathers because it can chop through it like cake. The other blades tug for me.

If this blade allows you to shave lighter, with no pressure and fewer strokes, then it's great. If it allows you to remove your skin, then it's less great.

Joe Lerch · Post by **Joe Lerch** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 3:48 pm

This blade allows you to do all of that, and it's up to you to get it right. There's not a lot of room for error, so you need to work to get it right..

Getting it right means learning to shave a lot lighter than you're used to and than most think. But when a guy gets it right he won't give up these blades for anything.

I've been DE shaving for nearly 50 years, and the one biggest improvement in my shaving has been switching to Feathers (on all my DE razors). That happened only two years ago. I could say the same for the Feather str8 in its two incarnations (traditional and Japanese styles).

I have found that these blades improve every razor, but some more than others. Strangely, the dreaded slant and Futur did the BEST. They became wonderfully smooth. Gillettes improve the least.

Leisureguy · Post by **Leisureguy** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 3:51 pm

Feathers were my blade until I explored a bit further and found blades that were (for me) sharper and smoother. (YMMV) With good technique (light touch, correct blade angle), they work fine for me, but some find them impossible to use---as is pretty much true of any blade you name.

JuniorNA · Post by **JuniorNA** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 3:58 pm

Leisureguy wrote:Feathers were my blade until I explored a bit further and found blades that were (for me) sharper and smoother. (YMMV) With good technique (light touch, correct blade angle), they work fine for me, but some find them impossible to use---as is pretty much true of any blade you name.

I cant say that I'm experienced enough to be able to use a feather, I can only say that I'm careful enough, and since my beard is a very rough kind, I bonded with the blade. Sure I'm probably using it at 20% capacity of what an experienced shaver can do with it, but it certainly feels good, and cuts through the beard. I can only imagine i'll be even better with it as I get used to it more. I think i've been a little thrown off since I used it on my first DE shave, which means that since I was putting no pressure on it at all, it felt great. Now other blades I use with the same amount of pressure give me more of a tug. I could adjust by putting more pressure, but I liked the convenience of the Feather the best. Had I started with a derby or personna, maybe the feather would have been too rough on me since I'd have to apply a bit of pressure on the blades I mentioned, then I would have moved to the feather with the same pressure and taken off my entire cheek. If anything, the feathers really taught me to use as little pressure as possible, since it was cutting beautifully with that technique.

I will stick with them and try others of course, and see where it takes me.

rdb4198 · Post by **rdb4198** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 5:26 pm

Joe,

I've recently gone through my original blade sample pack, and like most have suggested I've saved the Feather's for last. Well, I have to say I'm glad I waited to see how bad everything else works on my face before getting to the Feathers. I can clearly see and feel the difference on my face when using the Feathers. I've only been using them about a week now, but I really enjoy them.

BB6 · Post by **BB6** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 6:39 pm

For me it depends on the razor. For my ball ended tech, feathers work great and I will use them without caution. If in my HD though, I do need to be very careful with a feather.

Timpac · Post by **Timpac** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 10:15 pm

I tried them a few months after I first started, didn't work for me. Waited for most of a year before trying again, and they're still no good. I'm definitely good at shaving, rarely if ever have anything approaching irritation, and definitely know how to keep as little pressure on the razor as possible. Still doesn't work. The pic of me I posted around here somewhere shows me two days after shaving with one. All that irritation is solely caused by using a Feather. Merkurs and US Personnas don't do that to me. I have a very tough beard as well, with about 25% of it being best described as copper wire, and get a cleaner shave with almost anything else. If they work for ya, great, but it's not just a tough beard thing, believe me.

JuniorNA · Post by **JuniorNA** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 10:31 pm

Timpac wrote:I tried them a few months after I first started, didn't work for me. Waited for most of a year before trying again, and they're still no good. I'm definitely good at shaving, rarely if ever have anything approaching irritation, and definitely know how to keep as little pressure on the razor as possible. Still doesn't work. The pic of me I posted around here somewhere shows me two days after shaving with one. All that irritation is solely caused by using a Feather. Merkurs and US Personnas don't do that to me. I have a very tough beard as well, with about 25% of it being best described as copper wire, and get a cleaner shave with almost anything else. If they work for ya, great, but it's not just a tough beard thing, believe me.

Wow, thats so weird how all of us have a different take on different razors. I think it's amazing how different or alike we can all be. The Merkurs you mentioned, I used them once out of a pack of 5, and I felt pull and tugging like there were about 100 little men on my face pulling out my hair. I did the same prep as with the feather, but it just didnt cut. I tried another blade (total of 2 blades tried) and it did the same thing. i was hoping that the first blade was a lemon, but unfortunately it wasnt, the other blades did the same.

However, the personnas did feel a little better, no irritation, no tugging, but just caught some hairs and pulled them out on certain angles, which of course, caught me by surprise and I jumped a bit, but the feather can attack my beard at any angle, which is why I like it so much.

Good topic guys, keep em coming.

Happy labor day. Cant wait for BBQ tomorrow and monday.

shavedhead · Post by **shavedhead** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 6:03 am

I guess I must have a harsh beard because they do not hurt my face and after 4 shaves, I get a new one but they are hard to find so I buy generic double edges for now.

Leisureguy · Post by **Leisureguy** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 8:42 am

The way different shavers respond to any given blade really is a mystery. It obviously depends only in part on how sharp the blade is. Much more important, apparently, is the shaver's beard, skin, razor (blade exposure and angle), technique, prep, and the like.

I just came across this machine, which would settle the question of sharpness, but I don't think it would even come close to sorting "good" blades from "bad", since that so wholly depends on the individual shaver's response to the blade, not the blade's objective sharpness.

The Treet Blue Special is really a great blade for me, but I know that some shavers have reported that it's the worst blade they've ever used. So with blades, you really have to go with your own experience.

hyperwarp · Post by **hyperwarp** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 10:16 am

Leisureguy wrote: I just came across this machine

Now we know what a Professional Blade Tester does!!! Hope nobody cuts
their fingers. Obviously, a very Dangerous Occupation !!!! Yowie

Joe, has tested them Non-Professionally & found them GOOD.

Think you're spot-on, Joe, Feather's are a superb edge. Most importantly they work well for you & that's the main thing for any shaver, any blade.

Enjoy your shaves!!

fritz · Post by **fritz** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 12:23 pm

For some time Feathers were the only blade I knew of that would give me a really good, close and comfortable shave. However, the Treet Blue Special blades seem to be slightly sharper than Feathers on the first shave, and about the same sharpness as Feathers on the second shave. I only get 2 really nice shaves out of either blade before it starts tugging. And the Black Beauty blades seem much smoother than the Feathers. Add that to the 12 cents per blade cost versus 30 cents per blade for Feathers, and I was converted! I'm not going to get rid of the 40 or so Feathers I have left, I'll work them into my routine, they're still good blades.

Furrball2 · Post by **Furrball2** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 6:56 pm

I use Feathers 4 -5 days a week and then switch over to Personnas. The Personnas aren't quite as close so they let my face recover a bit and are good for the weekend.

dave

Racso_MS · Post by **Racso_MS** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 8:15 pm

Any unwanted Merkurs can be mailed to me...

I'll pay the postage of course...

How about it Clive, you want to split the postage...

styptic screams · Post by **styptic screams** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 12:13 am

I

Feather blades!

Big-time and for All-time!

mm-hmm.

NeedleRat · Post by **NeedleRat** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 12:25 am

Racso_MS wrote:Any unwanted Merkurs can be mailed to me...

I'll pay the postage of course...

How about it Clive, you want to split the postage...

Sent you a PM!