Origin of blades an important factor?

[Occam]

I'm beginning to think that there are several factors which shape the DE blade industry as we know it. My personal favorite thing about DE razors is the fact that here we have an example of a universal standard in a truly international way that dominated the first 3/4 of the 20th century. We all crave standards in this world of designed non-compatibility. And in the DE razor blade the world had it.

I know of no other product that was used as widely and was standard across the board. Nowadays every corporation goes out of their way to make their product incompatible with others to insure lock in, if they can get away with it.

Anyhow let me come to the point. I was thinking about the origin of various blades currently made and thought about some of the factors that might influence blade qualities that are desirable and perhaps hypothesise about the importance of this.

The well known blades are:

1. Feather - Japanese made - known for its sharpness though this is thought of as both good and bad depending on your outlook. The Japanese love engineering superlative products and tend to keep the best products confined to their domestic market. Feather is I believe really one of these products. Made in essence as the best in the world product that wealthy Japanese men can depend on for DE shaves. The sharpness is said by some to not be durable. In a sense the Japanese beard is generally sparse and thin and the Feather is probably the finest blade made for this type.

2. Dorco - Korean made. Like the car industry, the Koreans are always on the tails of the Japanese. An also ran, mediocre blade in most people's opinions. The Korean 'beard' is much like the Japanese one.

3. Merkur - German made - have a legacy from their Solingen golden age of blade manufacture. Merkur is typically German. Again engineered like all German products to a reasonably high standard. The blades are probably made only because of the Merkur razor business. A Merkur blade for your Merkur razor is how the thinking goes. Blades are not bad, but not good either.

4. Gillette - various countries - various qualities. The one time king of blades but now with vested interests in non DE razor blades cannot be considered as anything but in the market because it has to be in a sense.

5. Derby - Turkish made - the interesting one. A country in which cartridge razors are still the exception rather than the rule. A country whose men typically have heavy beards. People's opinion is generally positive on these in terms of their sharpness and durability.


My hypothesis is that most 'thin' bearded men are quite satisfied with the cartridge razors and probably never flirt with the DE razor. My impression is that many gents who have taken up (or never left) the DE razor are those who have been unable to get good shaves from the cartridge systems that excel in cutting thin beards. They have heavy beards and are looking for superlative shaves.

I see men on the street who appear to have excellent shaves and can see that they are thinly bearded. It's quite rare to see a thick bearded gent who has a very smooth shave nowadays and when you do, and you are looking for it, it says something about that man that's subtle to those who aren't aware of it; and yet very loud to one who is aware of the difficulty of achieving that close shave.

I have noticed people, older men, in the past week who have lowered their gaze from my eyes to my cleanly shaven cheeks and I can see a certain look in their eyes that tells me that they are impressed in a way. Seeing the stubble or patches of odd beard here and there on their lip line I can only think they're tired of shaving nowadays. But they know a good shave when they see one.

I think that the Derby is interesting in that it is marketed to a country of heavily bearded men and one would think that it might be tailored towards that style of beard. Perhaps that's why it's hit a chord with DE aficionados here. I can't wait to try my new Derby blades when they arrive.

[marsos52]

you are so right with all your comments shame on gillette and all the other american based companies for letting there true share of the market slide away from them

i am so glad the double edge industry has remained univeral maybe it is because there are only a few companies making razors and many more companies making blades

[Leisureguy]

The makers of razors and double-edged blades also went out of their way to make their blades compatible with competitors' razors but their razors incompatible with competitors' blades. Lots of ingenuity went into that, and I have a few purchases from eBay of razors that I thought would be fun to use, only to find that they required a manufacturer-specific blade. Still, through acquisitions and agreements, we did finally arrive at an almost universal format, though even today blades vary slightly in width (cutting edge-to-cutting edge) and depth (thickness).

A few more blades worth considering, in my opinion, and I think well-known, though that depends on the group:

Astra Superior Platinum -- very nice, sharp, and smooth. Stainless steel, long-wearing.

Treet Blue Special -- carbon steel, so some care must be taken wrt to rust, but (for me) extremely smooth and sharp, and even lasts for several shaves (provided I rinse in rubbing alcohol of 91% or better after shaving).

Gillette Silver Blue -- an extremely nice blade. (I'm listing only blades that I personally like, of course.)

Wilkinson --- sharp, smooth, and great to shave with.

The world of blades is quite large, since most of the globe continues to shave with a double-edged blade.

[cooncatbob]

Just because a blade is made in a country doesn't mean they made the steel.
Steel for DE blades comes as a ribbon and is shipped to the blade manufacturers.
Someone post a Popular Mechanic article from the 30s about Gillette's razor making technology and they got their steel from Sweden.
Bob.

[JarmoP]

I doubt many things from the original posters thread.
First of all Gillette Platinums are my all around blades. They are available as the only ones here locally, but they are also sharp and good.And of a good quality.
Also I think my whiskers are thick and so need a good moisturization and lathering.
And for my whiskers those "Swedes" and the one sample blade of Feather I have used seemed just best.

So far I have tried Derbys (2 blades) and Dorco (1 blade) and Crystal = Super Platinum = Israeli personna (1 blade) and none of those seemed sharp enough except on my cheeks that is of course the easiest area on beard growth.

And on below my nose and chin area I found that there was a tug with these blades above mentioned as these were not "sharp enough".

Using a Merkur HD as my razor.

[Squire]

I have a very heavy, fast growing beard, and the best blade for me is the Feather irrespective of which razor used.

Regards,
Squire

[notthesharpest]

Occam - you missed the Russians, many of whom have considerable beards, and whose blade factories are ... variable, to say the least.

I think it has more to do with industrial standards in the particular factories and less to do with the local beards. For instance, I don't think the sharp Japanese blades are an accident, considering the Japanese reputation - but I think the good Turkish blades are also due simply to high standards in their plant.

[BeatlesFan]

The world of blades is quite large, since most of the globe continues to shave with a double-edged blade.

Y'know, I've always wondered about that. I travel frequently in Europe, where the electric razor and/or cartridge blades rule. So certainly the Europeans do not continue (by and large) to shave with the DE.

I imagine it's different in less developed countries. Given the far, far lower per capita incomes in these countries, it wouldn't seem likely that men would spend $3 for a cartridge.

Does anyone have any statistics or other hard evidence relative to worldwide shaving habits and DE usage?

[Lionhearted]

Just because a blade is made in a country doesn't mean they made the steel.
Steel for DE blades comes as a ribbon and is shipped to the blade manufacturers.
Someone post a Popular Mechanic article from the 30s about Gillette's razor making technology and they got their steel from Sweden.
Bob.

7 AM and Sharp stainless blades are made in Bangladesh using steel from Sweden on machinery built in England by Wilkinson.

Richard

[Occam]

I've bumped this thread because the iphone has no copy paste and this issue came up again today on another thread.

[JimR]

Listen guys, I feel like this is treading on dangerous ground. "Japanese men" don't have lighter and finer beards. Where did this information come from? Which Japanese are you talking about (there are, despite official Japanese claims, different ethnic groups that are native to Japan)?

And if the Korean beard is much like the Japanese one, why aren't Korean blades much like Japanese ones?

I can only speak from my personal experience, living in Japan for more than 4 years now with a Japanese family, and working in a Japanese workplace. While there may be some Japanese men with light, fine beards, there are plenty with thick, luxuriant beards (which few men grow out because of societal constraints; like they shave their arms, chests, foreheads, etc.). I will say that one notable difference is that most Japanese beards that I have seen have been pretty straight, as most Japanese hair is.

Also, I know from bitter experience that Japanese hair tends to be much coarser than Caucasian hair (I get "petted" a lot, amidst cries of "your hair's so soft!"--on my head, arms, etc.).

I really don't think this analysis is on the mark. I don't think that the engineering is as customer specific as you think it is--ESPECIALLY in less economically developed countries like Turkey. I think it is more about the design standards in the factory itself. Which I think explains Feather--they are considerably sharper than Kai blades, right Squire? So Kai isn't designed for a Japanese market? No, Feather just went out to make the sharpest damn blades they could.

And, can someone explain to me how "really really sharp" equals "designed for thin, sparse beards"? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

I'm afraid that there really isn't any truth to anything in this, just a lot of sweeping generalizations that appeal to commonly accepted images that aren't rooted in reality.

And you know what? If Merkur are "engineered like all German products to a reasonably high standard", why aren't they any good?

Where's the logic?

[Occam]

And, can someone explain to me how "really really sharp" equals "designed for thin, sparse beards"? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Sharpness... is really a measure of how thin an edge is. You can sharpen a blade to molecular thickness... and it will be wickedly sharp however that edge is delicate and prone to wearing out quickly.

Hence why Derby and other blades have ceramic coatings to help with edge retention.

Feather blades are well known to most experienced shavers to not be as durable as other blades tending to have at most 3-4 acceptable shaves to a blade if that.

Use one on a beard like mine and you'd be lucky to get 3 shaves out of it... my last one was thrown out after 2 shaves.

A thin beard is not going to kill a Feather blade as readily... hence the super sharpness comes at the price of durability.

[Rufust445]

The most important factor about the origin of blades to me is that many of the good ones come from geopolitical hot spots like Russia, Korea, Israel, Turkey, and Pakistan. The supply of blades from those countries could be cut off who knows when.

That besides decisions in the local economy to shut down a plant for one reason or another.

I currently have about 200 blades in stock. May add another 100 in the next few weeks depending on how the current evaluation goes.

Beyond that, who knows where world affairs will be in the next few years.

[Squire]

Stock up on your favorites, that's what I do.

[notthesharpest]

Stock up on your favorites, that's what I do.

Absolutely. But make sure you actually like them first.

[Squire]

That's why I referred to them as favorites.

[Occam]

Everything I've ever stockpiled has gone out of production... now that might be the reason people stockpile but I almost think that the stockpiling might be instrumental to a degree in the demise of these products.

In fact if everyone stockpiles then you can imagine the scenario... the small buying crowd buy all they need for several years... the company sells out and wonders if there is a new demand... produces a stack more thinking their product is selling like hotcakes... no one buys the stock.... as they all have enough... supply outstrips demand... the company folds...

Who knows for sure?

[NewYorkBuck]

Everything I've ever stockpiled has gone out of production... now that might be the reason people stockpile but I almost think that the stockpiling might be instrumental to a degree in the demise of these products.

In fact if everyone stockpiles then you can imagine the scenario... the small buying crowd buy all they need for several years... the company sells out and wonders if there is a new demand... produces a stack more thinking their product is selling like hotcakes... no one buys the stock.... as they all have enough... supply outstrips demand... the company folds...

Who knows for sure?

This exact scenario (using beer instead) was a case during my days as an MBA student. A rock group mentioned a small beer brand in one of their popular songs and it gave a short boost to demand, which worked its way back to manufacturing as a huge long term boost. Interesting case.

[notthesharpest]

That's why I referred to them as favorites.

Not you Squire. Just noticed lately that quite a few relative newbies have hundreds of blades for sale.

[Squire]

Yeah, and next year they will be buying them back.