Bic Blades

[unky_gumbi]

So today I started to shave with one of my trusty Dorco 301ST blades only to realize that it had gone past what I consider its usefulness. I had received a couple of BIC blades with the sample soap from TGQ but had been a little afraid to try them out because of what Munky88 had said about their aggressive sharpness

Bic's may not be the best to start with. but neither are the merkurs. I've never used a bic, so this is just speculation. But they're on the aggressive sharp side.

and had visions of my experiences with the Feathers and Derbies. Well while I was changing out the dorco and not being one to shy away from a fear for long, I decided, what the heck give it a go. So I loaded up on of the BICS and set off down what could be a painful irritated night. I had also decided that I had been pleasuring myself too much with the TGQ soap and that I should save some of it and get into a rotation of the soaps I have so that every third day I get to enjoy the pleasantness of the TGQ Armani Black Code Type, so I lathered up with the L'Occtaine Cade soap.
I went through my usual ritual, put some hot water on the soap, fill the sink and let the brush and bowl soak while I hop in the shower. I get out of the shower and get ready to whip up my lather and the sink is dry, turns out I didn't get the plug fully engaged, but no problem the bowl is full of water and the brush is sitting in that so I can refill the sink while making the lather and applying the pre shave, everything is back on track.
I lather up and let that sit on my face for a bit while I pour some alcohol over the new blade ( I do this with every new blade) give it a swish in the freshly filled sink and start the first pass. As soon as the razor hits my face I feel that sickly sting. Great I think haven't even made the first stroke and I have cut myself. Turns out that I didn't cut myself, but instead when I refilled the sink I used straight hot water and it didn't have any time to cool off before shaving, and that heavy chrome head of my EJ89 holds a lot of heat
So now on to the shave itself, with every stroke of the razor I could hear the blade doing its thing, but with no pulling or dragging. With the Cade soap that is impressive because it doesn't lubricate as well as my other soaps. After the first pass (N/S) and rinse I could tell that I was getting a close shave tonight, but I still feared the irritation to come, because this blade cuts more aggressively then the Derby and is close to the feathers in feel, but I was committed to the shave and blade now so there was no turning back, on to pass 2 (diagonally, ear to chin) and more of the same. by now I am starting to like this blade, but the feather incident is still in the back of my head. Pass 3 (diagonally again but nose to corner of jaw) by this time with a feather or derby I am feeling some serious burn coming one and call my shave done even though I am not at NBBS, but with the BIC that irritation isn't there but the shave is about as close as a 4th pass already, so I go straight to a blade buffing and touch up. In the end I did get a little irritation touching up the stubborn spot, but not much. I would call the shave some where between NBBS and BBS but closer to BBS. Irritation was minimal at most and easily taken care of with my after shave balm. I think I found my "I want a quick close shave blade" or my "I am late for work but need to shave blade" For me personally it does everything the Feathers promise to do without the pain.

Ratings out of 10
Sharpness: 9.5
Aggressiveness: 9
Smoothness: 7
Longevity: 6.8
Packaging: ?? don't know because I didn't get a package just a couple of blades
Price: ?? they was free to me but I am sure they still be the crap out of a cartridge blade for price
Over all shave: 8

They may not be a daily blade for me, but my first run was with my worst soap. Now that I have decided to rotate my soaps, each blade will get to run on a different soap each day till it is dull so we will see how it works with the others before I make up my mind. In the long run its a good blade that suits my face, razor, and shaving style, so I would have no problem recommending it to others and backing it up with a "if you don't like them I will buy them off you for the price you paid".

 

[Gollnick]

Glad to hear you liked them.

Your story was quite a read... a shaving suspense thriller.

As to packaging, they come individually wrapped in waxed paper, then five blades in a small cardboard box, then twenty small boxes in a larger cardboard box. No plastic in the packaging at all. 100% recyclable.

As to cost, $20/100 is typical (www.westcoastshaving.com), so they are inexpensive. I consistently get six great shaves from a BIC blade.

I like BIC blades a lot, so I'm glad you had a good experience.

 

[Will Power]

I like them too, but they can be a bit inconsistent. Sometimes(not often it's true) a new one can be awful and doesn't shave well at all.

 

[unky_gumbi]

So I thought I would give a longevity update on the bic blades. I have 4 shaves in on the first one now, each one a 3 pass with blade buff and touch up. I have used it with the L'octaine, Proraso Green Tea and Aloe, and the TGQ soaps. It has worked great with each soap, so no complaints there. On this last shave I was starting to get a bit of pull towards the end, but with the toughness of my beard 4 shaves is reasonable, I think the best I have gotten was 6 shaves off one blade. I do change blades out early because of the sensitive skin issues I have so I think tomorrows shave will be with a different blade. I am tempted to see if I can push it for one more shave, but I think better sense will win out when push comes to shove. I also think that I may start reviewing my other blades, just because I like telling people what I think.

 

[Gollnick]

... I think better sense will win out when push comes to shove...

Push and shove are not words which should be associated with shaving.

DE Blades are cheap, so it's a false economy to try and eek out one more shave from a past-prime blade. There's just no economic imparative for it.

I suspect that this is especially true for you, my friend, because I have come to see that you really demand a great, smooth, close, clean shave. This puts you at a special risk to try to push a blade too far. For a demanding shaver such as you, it's best to change the blade at the first sign of difficulty.

 

[unky_gumbi]

Nah I don't push blades past their prime, the one that is in there will be replaced when I shave tomorrow. I am always curious to see how many blades I have tossed before their time because my face was a little sensitive on a particular day or I just missed my lather by enough to cause some drag. I dealt with bad burn and irritated skin for my whole shaving career, full beard at 15 and am 45 now, I am not going to deal with that again for the sake of a 20 cent blade. I tend to average 5 shaves out of a blade with the DE, with the Fusion I would get maybe 3. I could toss a new blade on every shave and still be ahead of the game cost wise, but the money isn't the reason I switched, I switched because of the better shave, and well I just really like the ritual of traditional shaving. I like it so much that I am trying to get the guys at work and my friends to switch over too. I am even trying to learn how to use my right hand to shave now too so I don't have to miss a day after my surgery, guess getting bumped back a month had its advantage