Hi Mate, I can only speak for the Feather Artist SS Folding and the CJB which I had scales fitted. Both are very good the feather has the edge on quality but on shaving hard to tell them apart. There are some well priced Feathers on the Japan eBay site. I agree as above the CJB is a good starting point. As for the blades it a case of seeing which suits you best I like the Feather pro without the guard.