@metal_shavings Highly Unscientific Blade Longevity Thread

     I swear I am working on this!!! I have 3 blades in rotation now that I'm going through. Maybe I should've just use one or two blades and I would be able to post a bit more often. I waited until I had at least one blade finished and a couple others started before I made my initial post. I also have one blade right now that has lasted way longer than I thought it would have. I thought I would have been done with it five shaves ago easily and it is still going strong. Once I finish with this particular blade, I think I'm going to try to concentrate on just one blade and maybe work a second one in here and there to get another one started as I go and hopefully I'll be able to post a little bit more frequently here.

Now you understand why I did not include blade longevity in my comparison of DE blades. That exercise would have taken me the rest of my life.

     I swear I am working on this!!! I have 3 blades in rotation now that I'm going through. Maybe I should've just use one or two blades and I would be able to post a bit more often. I waited until I had at least one blade finished and a couple others started before I made my initial post. I also have one blade right now that has lasted way longer than I thought it would have. I thought I would have been done with it five shaves ago easily and it is still going strong. Once I finish with this particular blade, I think I'm going to try to concentrate on just one blade and maybe work a second one in here and there to get another one started as I go and hopefully I'll be able to post a little bit more frequently here.

Now you understand why I did not include blade longevity in my comparison of DE blades. That exercise would have taken me the rest of my life.

Geez. Yes. Haha!!! I thought by having one done and 3 others in use I was doing good.

Hmm. I think of blades as having a half-life, like radioactive elements. There's no definite cutoff between "good" and "bad".

More on the "half-life" notion: I find that most blades peak (nicely broken in) on the 3rd use. After 6 uses I start noticing the decline, but still I use all blades 12 times. I have a 12-sided die to keep track. After that, the quality (such as it is) doesn't change significantly until about 24 uses. After 48 or so, it feels half as good as at 24. And so on.

I've hyper-miled a few blades (including Astra SP) up to 100 uses on a single blade, just to see how it went. I won't say that the last 30 were super pleasant, but it was hard not to stare at that 3-digit milestone on the horizon. I had to use percentile dice to keep track.


[edit] The hyper-miling was done with a different razor every night, the same as I usually do.

Hmm. I think of blades as having a half-life, like radioactive elements. There's no definite cutoff between "good" and "bad".

More on the "half-life" notion: I find that most blades peak (nicely broken in) on the 3rd use. After 6 uses I start noticing the decline, but still I use all blades 12 times. I have a 12-sided die to keep track. After that, the quality (such as it is) doesn't change significantly until about 24 uses. After 48 or so, it feels half as good as at 24. And so on.

I've hyper-miled a few blades (including Astra SP) up to 100 uses on a single blade, just to see how it went. I won't say that the last 30 were super pleasant, but it was hard not to stare at that 3-digit milestone on the horizon. I had to use percentile dice to keep track.




[edit] The hyper-miling was done with a different razor every night, the same as I usually do.

You make an excellent point about the half life of a blade. Typically, there is no sharp cut-off between usable and not. You also make a great point about blades needing a break-in period. However, those values differ significantly from one shaver to the next. Apparently, your beard is not so coarse and your skin is not so sensitive. I have a course, white beard and very sensitive skin. I find that the break-in period for most blades is only 1 shave for me. Then the half-life is quite small. For me, Feather blades last 2 1/2 shave before they become too harsh for my skin. The only way I can get my money out of them is by using them for ATG and clean-up passes after most of my beard growth has been removed. Most blades are good for about 4 uses. I think the most shaves I have ever gotten from a blade during an endurance trial is 6. After that, even the sharpest blades are no longer sharp enough to slice through my beard on the WTG pass. They might still be usable for a ATG pass or two.

It seems like many shavers are obsessed with the longevity of blades. However, the answer can be "from one to ninety-nine shaves".  The best answer is to use them until they no longer give a comfortable shave.