Quote Originally Posted by mikey
hello mparker,

wow, you're right, this thread has been going in circles. for me, the feathers are great, the merkurs nick me way to much and the american personnas are way too rough. only the wilkinson's come close to the feather in terms of shave quality but not even in the ballpark.

no offense taken, but i DO NOT have an average beard. any DE blade, schick injector and gillette cartridge lasts me only one week with the exception of the feathers. i have heard that some guys are able to use a gillette cartridge for 4 to 6 weeks <OUCH>.

the again remember "to each, his own", "different strokes for different folks", "your mileage may vary", yadda, yadda yadda...

thanks,
mike
Mparker and I have had many discussions on different boards, and I have to say I'm still not sure why he seems to have such an anamolous situation. A heavy, tough beard doesn't account for it. Also, keep in mind that the Feather supers last the average guy 10-14 days without stropping! It's no ordinary, just sharp blade. When I looked at it under a microscope the edge looked like a microscopic carbide tipped blade. There's something on there besides steel. So, I'm kind of puzzled that an ordinary steel blade would outlast it for Mparker while others can use it for two weeks without even stropping, but do have to strop a steel blade daily and touch it up regularly. Something is at work here that hasn't been accounted for.

I don't think a Personna blade outlasts a Feather DE for anyone else. To me the Feathers feel thinner and more flexible. Others say ther're the same thickness. But even the increased flexibility could cause them to vibrate against a heavy beard. That usually presents a comfort issue, not a cutting issue. If we were talking about str8s, the sharper edge would be less durable, but the Feathers vae some kind of edge treatment which changes the equation and is known to make the edge more durable.

Whatever the reason, Mparker's experiences don't seem to correspond to what's typical or what most of us could expect.

One week on a DE blade is average. A cartridge that lasts a month is an urban legend. we also need to know how often the person shaved, how many passes, and whether he had leather-like skiin and peach fuzz.