In Kathmandu I went to a barber for a shave and the feeling was so good I decided to renounce the ways of multiblade cartridges and bought a Merkur safety razor. I bought a pack of Merkur blades, but I wonder ...
what is the difference between one blade and another?
And how many shaves can you get from one blade?
most people swear by feather blades, i get about 3 per shave, but 2 is probably best...
I converted a few months back, i am currently using Gillette 7 o'clock blades (yellow pkt) and usually 4 shaves possibly 5 shaves a blade.
Used Derby blades which were ok but not as good as the above.
Feather blades are good. Whichever blades you go for, you can get lots and lots of life out of them buy stropping them, I use an old pair of jeans but you can use the back of your arm.
I use a Muhle R89 tis the best shave ever for me and I use 7oclock sharp blades because they give a nice smooth soft shave
other blades I have used are
Feather- too dam sharpe and I cut myself alot and I suffered razor burn. Not for me
Derby - felt blunt
Merkle - ok nowt special
Wilkingson sword- not very good
please note these are my findings but for othere folk may dissagree but each to there own
Gilette 7oclocks for me good for about 3/4 shaves
2 is probably best...
Gets expensive !!
I must be a wuss. I can get a week's worth out of a feather. Mind you I wouldn't use them if at all under the weather...Reservoir Dogs stylee.
Merkur Razors are excellent.
Merkur blades are awful. Expensive but the worst I tried from about 6 different types.
I use Feather blades now, they can be a sharp on the first shave but they settle down and they last for about 4 or 5 shaves.
They are not that expensive 50 Feathers
I would recommend getting a sample pack and trying a few different blades, something like this Sample Pack
Exactly what ^ he said 
I'm 13 months into DE shaving and wouldn't dream of going back.
The only thing i've found recently is that I now prefer my Merkur to either of my vintage Gillettes, but thats just down to now sort of knowing what I'm doing with the razor.
Feathers every time and about 4 or 5 shaves per blade.
Looking forward to tonights shave !
Just about to give these razors a go - I ordered a Parker "Interceptor" with a selection of blades. Any tips?
yes
Take your time
Let the weight of the razor do the work
Enjoy ( strange thing to say but shaving is a pleasure nowadays)
Must have:
1. Palmolive shave stick. 49p - 69p depending on where you buy them.
2. Nivea sensitive aftershave balm (non-alcohol). 3 for the price of 2 at Waitrose now. Total £11.02
3. Alum block or styptic pencils. (£3 - £5, 79p - £2.99)
4. Shaving brush - plenty to choose from but Kent brand is fine (£20 to £120 depending on how rich you are but spending around £40 is fine).
5. Aftershave for men like this 400ml (£19 - £25) - 
6. Atomizer for the aftershave above. Must have unless you want to swim in your aftershave. Cost saving feature. (£3.50 - £6)
7. Razor Blade bulk buy but only if you like them:
i) Gillette 7 O'Clock - yellow or green package or any of the Gillette range DE blades. (£25 - £35)
ii)Personna - blue package but with red wrapping. (bulk buy £20 - £26)
iii) Try sample pack.
Avoid Merkur DE blade if you can as they have received poor reviews. Same apply to Laser as they are some cheap crap.
Feathers here, 3 shaves per blade for me. £12 for 50 blades on eBay.
Crikey, my Wilkinson Quattos last weeks and weeks before I've had enough and need to change em.
Must have:1. Palmolive shave stick. 49p - 69p depending on where you buy them.
2. Nivea sensitive aftershave balm (non-alcohol). 3 for the price of 2 at Waitrose now. Total £11.02 (MTFU
)
3. Alum block or styptic pencils. (£3 - £5, 79p - £2.99) (Or learn to shave properly)
4. Shaving brush - plenty to choose from but Kent brand is fine (£20 to £120 depending on how rich you are but spending around £40 is fine). (or 4,00€ for badger from Carrefour)
5. Aftershave for men like this 400ml (£19 - £25) - (??? WTF? Wanna smell like a whores handbag???)
6. Atomizer for the aftershave above. Must have unless you want to swim in your aftershave. Cost saving feature. (£3.50 - £6) (I'm lost for words...)7. Razor Blade bulk buy but only if you like them:
i) Gillette 7 O'Clock - yellow or green package or any of the Gillette range DE blades. (£25 - £35)
ii)Personna - blue package but with red wrapping. (bulk buy £20 - £26)
iii) Try sample pack.
Avoid Merkur DE blade if you can as they have received poor reviews. Same apply to Laser as they are some cheap crap.
Must have? holy crap...
TBH I find the 3 blade thingies die after about 2-3 shaves and I don't have a very rough stubble. I've been considering this for a while myself but the expense seems large in comparison with just another pack of blades for my normal one.
@ don simon
However, I would agree with most of them particularly the Nivea after shave balm, it is great value stuff!
venus. current blade is ooooohhhh ages old: pits, bits and legs
Pah to all of you! 3-day stubble, carefully cultivated with a beard trimmer, is the way forward. Less hassle, plus you get to annoy the other half with little bits of ginger hair all over the basin. Win-win!
Well I have the razor, a whole stack of blades by a variety of manufacturers, some shaving soap and cream to try. Pretty good range of things to have a go with basically (and just ordered some pre/post shave stuff too).
Tonights efforts just using the shaving cream (Omega) worked pretty well, that was with an unbranded "Israeli" blade. No cuts or anything 
The rest of the gubbins should arrive tomorrow, hopefully this will finally banish the ingrowing hairs!
+1 @ don simon.
You are not supposed to paste yourself with Nivea nor swim yourself in the Proraso put it this way and both are practically scentless unlike your Gucci stuff.
Yes, the atomizer looks like something you might pleasure yourself with but they do work by comparison to pouring 400ml aftershave onto your palm. The badger brush is optional but a proper one will do the job better.
coffeeking
TBH I find the 3 blade thingies die after about 2-3 shaves and I don't have a very rough stubble. I've been considering this for a while myself but the expense seems large in comparison with just another pack of blades for my normal one.
I don't have tough stubble too and I can use the same DE blade for 2 weeks! Sometime more if I use them in rotation. 
I either have soft hair or I am really tough reading most of the above. Mach 3 used to last me 2 months and DE blades are up to 2 weeks. I find shaves 3 & 4 are perfect as if the blade has just bedded in.
I use Derby by the way that's about 5p per week.
I dipped into, er, proper shaving after a STW shaving thread a couple of years back.
Merkur HD + Derby Extras + soap bowl + brush (latter from local supermarket. Initial outlay more than the Mach3 type things, but ongoing costs much cheaper. Have since added a shaving mug, nicer brush and soap.
Decided to branch out on the blades and trying the sample pack linked above.
Wouldn't go back to the multi-blade cartridges. Those are strictly for my legs...
Wouldn't go back to the multi-blade cartridges. Those are strictly for my legs...
(Tannoy) Calling don simon ... calling don simon ... (Tannoy)
I'd like to change blades every shave .......but....realistically I get about 4 or 5 before I really feel that it's blunt. Warton must have a beard like Desperate Dan! Must try the stropping thing as it obviously works.
And BTW another vote for feathers and Nivea Balm which has a nice soothing sting to it.
chewkw - MemberWouldn't go back to the multi-blade cartridges. Those are strictly for my legs...
(Tannoy) Calling don simon ... calling don simon ... (Tannoy)
I concur. 
Feather blades £20 for 100 - change every 4/5 shaves
Merkur razor about £30. Mine's adjustable, always have it on position 5
Alum block £5? can't remember
Tub of shaving cream £5, Body Shop - tried all sorts, this seems to work best. A tub lasts about 3 months
Shaving brush £6 from Body Shop - again, works as well as any
Total annual cost - probably £25. Considering that I used to change the blade on my Gillette Fusion on a weekly basis (£2 a go), plus I used to use shave gel (a can a month - £3 a time), that's a big save AND the shaving experience is a load better.
Only downside is that you need to use decent technique - easy to cut yourself if you don't pay attention, whereas this was pretty well impossible with the multi-blades.
Although I've no plans to ditch my speedy, close-shaving Gillette Fusion for something that could slice my face off I did have a grumpy old man moment in Tesco the other day when I noticed a pack of 8 blades for the powered version of the razor was £3 more expensive than the blades for the non-powered version. I mean wtf, they look identical apart from the colour and I can't believe the blades themselves are different (yes I bought the cheaper ones :p ).
7 o'clocks were probably best for me, not a lot in it tbh.
I get 2 decent shaves from each blade, sometimes a third but I nearly always get drawn into that new blade feeling. They're cheap enough anyway.
Started with a very basic soap and brush but splashed out a bit more on a decent soap recently which appears to have made an improvement.
Next will be a new brush, then more blades followed by a new razor, even better soap/cream etc. (think bike upgrades)
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