Personna Medical Prep Double Edge Razor Blades, 100-pak

Normally get 3-4 shaves from a blade, but easily get 6 from this one. Great value/shave!

These are my go-to. Very sharp. I've been through a lot of blades over the years looking for what works best for me, including most of a 100 pack of Feathers. These Persona Med Preps are as sharp as anything I've tried, and outlast the Feathers - at least for me. My barometer for longevity is how many shaves I get before I start getting burn, weepers and the occasional chunk out of my face. Two maybe three shaves out of the Personnas, things start getting dicey with the Feathers near the last passes of the second shave. For reference; I have a heavy beard, use a Merkur slant bar, Col Conk Amber at home, and Cremo when I travel - which accounts for about 70% of my daily shaving time.

Simple as always with West Coast.

These Gard to find Blades are a good as Feathers, perhaps better.

I know most veteran shavers might believe otherwise, but somewhere in the last couple of years, these blades seem (to me) to have changed a bit. Older Med Preps are the best blades I've ever used. They have the perfect, harmonious synergy of smooth and sharp put into one very fine edge. I ordered (3) 100 packs of Med Preps recently because I'm running low on my older supply. I've tried two blades from each of the new 100 packs, and I'm left feeling a little disappointed. I've yet to have a shave with any of the new blades where I am free of at least a few tiny cuts. I do have very sensitive neck skin, and I also seem to get above normal irritation with these newer blades. That being said, the parts of my skin that aren't on fire or weeping a little sangre are extremely smooth and hair free. And the shave lasts very well. Of the six new Med Preps I've tried, I could only make it through 2 shaves each (due to discomfort), as opposed to a guaranteed 5-6 from the older Med Preps. I'm hoping that maybe I just drew out the bad ones randomly, and that they tend to improve as time goes. At what these cost, there are much better, and more comfortable, shaves to be had for me (Specifically, Personna Reds in UK packaging). If I find that the blades in the boxes start trending more towards the older Med Preps, then it's money well spent. I don't mean to make these sound horrible. They aren't. They just don't seem to be as smooth and comfortable as the older iteration. And as I mentioned, I can get much more comfort and equally sufficient shaves from products that are far less expensive.