Yeah. Definitely don't use it to shave -- or any Merkur blade, for that matter. I learned the bloody hard way.

I did save the blades and used them for scraping up paint and finishing paint trim. :-)
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:-) well at least they are not a complete waste!
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Which double edge blades do you guys prefer? Got a linky?
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Try West Coast Shaving. I like both the Feathers and the Gillettes. Here are some sample packs you could try. This is usually where I get my blades.
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The Feathers are good, actually they are great, almost like a beard eraser. However they are too expensive IMO. I use the Red Box Personnas, I find they are almost as sharp and just as comfortable as the Feathers, and they are CHEAP, $10 for 100. At that price I use one blade for 2 shaves and replace it, so the blade never really gets dull. I would have to shave with a feather 7-10 times to get the same cost per shave.
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That's good to know! I haven't tried those blades yet. My next round of buying blades I might have to give those a try. Thanks for the tip.


100th post! I know some of you are pushing into the thousands, but I'll take this as a small milestone. :-)
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See ... and my only regret is I didn't get any RBPs in my sampler pack. It was actually a gift from my wife and she got the smaller sampler rather than the huge one.

That said, you can pickup Feathers on eBay for $34/100 pack. More expensive than the RBPs; but a helluva lot cheaper than any other online store.
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Be wary of these internet sources. I hear their product quality is not as good as buying them from a B&M.
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Razor blades are the opposite of cigars :-) all the best ones are from online retailers. I've never found any blades in the stores that are decient. Unless you need to scrape paint.
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After reading this thread and then looking around at B&B I decided to give a DE a try. Picked up a Merkur 37C and a sampler pack of blades. Hopefully, I end up hating it because if I do like it, it's just another slope to fall down :-).
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Had my first ever straight razor shave yesterday.

I was in downtown St. Paul running a couple of errands after work, and walked by a mens shop called Heime's Haberdashery.

I'd never been in the shop before, but saw through the window they had shaving supplies - and all this recent talk of shaving made me curious - so I stopped in.

Turns out they had an old-school barbershop as well, so I sat in the chair for my first straight razor shave and loved it.

That place is definitely the equivalent of a man spa.
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I'm on my second week with a straight razor and have been hanging out at straightrazorplace.com. It's definitely a great feeling having such a great shave and the routine that goes with it is very relaxing. I'm still working on technique and getting that bbs, but I definitely look forward to shaving now. I used to hate it so much.

Speaking of which, it's time to go shave.
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Did any of you guys get the chance to try out the new razors?
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lol who would've thought yet another gently activity would be discussed at a cigar forum?

I currently use an Art of Shaving kit (I'm on my 2nd one now) I personally hate buying Mach 3's and have reduced myself to just buying a new razor with the two cartridges because it's cheaper than buying 4 freakin' singles.

I'm gonna check out the Merkur HD. :-)
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I've been at it 2 weeks now Merkur HD 38C. Tried the derby blade first as I heard they were forgiving I ordered 100(bad move if anyone wants to try them let me know) They are not a bad blade but I got a much better shave with the personnas(sp?) I used the feather blade today and it's sharp!

As far as Soaps and creams go I'm loving the Tabac so much I almost hate to try another but I bought so many i'll have to. I'm using the Porasco preshave cream putting it on before I shower and between that and the steam from the shower It really opens up the pores. I have been finishing up with a cold water rinse and Thayers witch hazel That is until I tried the ALUM BLOCK now this is a must ! After you shave run the block under cold water and rub over you face stops razor burn and any bleeding from small nics. For a larger nic use a Styptic pencil dries sorta white but stops the bleeding fast.

I finish with a spash of Pinaud Clubman and Nivea extra comfort balm.

All and All I look forward to shaving now and trying the new Razors,Soaps,Creams,Sticks,Aftershaves,Blades.

Badger & Blade Is the shaving equivalent to the Asylum. I never knew there could be so much to learn about the simple task of shaving. It's like smoking a drug store brand cigar someone might be enjoying it but you want to let them know there is so much more out there to try.

Hope you can make heads or tails of this post.
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I must be weird because I am not a fan of alum at all. Every time I use it, the skin on my neck gets super red and irritated.
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I've used it a couple of times. I'm gonna use another the rest of the week; but my initial thoughts aren't super positive. To me, it's now quite as sharp as the Feather and tugs at my beard a little. That said, it's a lot more forgiving than the Feather. :-) Too early to render a verdict, though ... so I'm gonna keep slicing and dicing. :-)
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I have all kinds of new goodies showing up in the next day or so. My first reason for going to a double edge was I am sick and tired of paying for those damn cartridges.

Plus I used to use a brush and mug and I miss the ritual of getting a shave ready and done.

I went with the works
Taylor Of Bond Preshave
Kent/Mitchell's Wool Fat Soap
A 25 blade sample pack including Merkur, Astra, Feather, Derby and Wilkinsons
An Edwin Jagger Classic Razor
And a new badger

Looking forward to getting the package
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That's one of the main reasons I started looking for alternatives. I'm glad I found it and won't look back. Looks like you have some nice stuff coming. Enjoy!
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All of this shave talk has me interested. I went over and joined badgerand blade. Who wants to do a trade? I don't have a DE razor, many soaps or creams. I'll do a really nice cigar trade for a made up starter kit if anyone is interested.
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