YouTube Videos With Smartphones Revised:

I saw a video from a friend's YouTube channel today and it was very sad to see it. His computer equipment is failing that he uses to make videos and it's not in his budget to make videos. So I thought I would take the time to do a revised edition of my "Making Videos with Smart Phones" blog post. First the reasoning behind it is because I want to help my friend and secondly, I had a piece of equipment fail on me. It's extremely easy to upload a video in 1080p Full HD without the need of video software and no computer is needed to do so. First you do need a camera app and for those of you with Samsung Galaxy phones, I highly recommend the open camera app seen below. The factory camera app will work but the open camera app is much better and much easier to use than the factory camera app is. I have no clue about the other phones that's available on the market today but there's a 95% chance that it will definitely work on them as well. This app is free and has no ads. Here's the link to this specific app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.sourceforge.opencamera&hl=en :

Now for those whom wish to edit their videos and add photos and such, you are not going to beat Cyberlink by PowerDirctor. There is 1 catch though and that is the limit of HD is only 720p without the subscription but on some phones you will not be able to tell the difference and yes the app itself is free but it also does contains ads to but you can easily skip them. Here's the link to this awesome video editing app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cyberlink.powerdirector.DRA140225_01&hl=en :

^ Both apps can share directly to YouTube with no issues. All you need is an internet connection and you are good to go. For Android based phones this is past being easy. All you do after you record your video is hit the share button seen below:

Next you will see the screen below:

You then simply select the YouTube icon and then type in the name and information/description of your video and follow the on screen instructions and your video is uploading. It takes about an hour or less depending on how long the video is. I usually try to keep my videos around 20 minutes or less and I set the video duration to a maximum of 1 hour recording time. Another thing I highly recommend getting is a Micro SD card which can be seen below:

^ This is not needed unless you plan on making long videos but if you keep your videos to around 20 minutes or less, you don't need it. But it does help if you have long videos. You can find these at Walmart for a reasonable price. For audio I use a simple plug and play lapel microphone that you can find on Amazon for around $10 to $12 dollars and it does make a difference:

^ That's all I use besides a basic magnetic suction cup mount to make YouTube videos and the mount was only $20 dollars which can be found in Walmart as well.

Resoltuion & The Leaf:

Sorry folks, but there won't be a shave video today due to technical difficulties which is extremely annoying to say the least. For today's shave, I needed a Soap Commander fix really bad so I grabbed their resolution scented soap which was a limited edition from last year. The scent is fresh Frasier fir pine scent with a hint of cranberry sweetness that's rounded off with a touch of bitterness from fresh Mistletoe. It's a fresh and clean type of scent. And to finish off this shave, I went with a nice healthy dose of good old Skin Bracer :

The Gillette Wilkinson Sword blade was great but I clearly had the blade in the wrong slots which is why I have a slight touch of razor burn after 2.5 passes. So from now on, I will be using the middle and top slots only with the leaf razor. But other than that, these blades are great and extremely comfortable. Now onto the technical difficulties. For some reason, the open camera app would not record videos over 6 minutes in length. So I got rid of a few apps that I was not using and set the maximum video recording time to 1 hour. I really should shorten it down even further to (30 minutes or less) because it does not take me that long to shave. Before when I was making straight razor honing videos, I had the maximum file set to unlimited and just never got around to resetting it. As you can see below, I got it fixed and performed a test and recorded some footage while I watched a shave video to see if that fixed everything and it did:

^ Having the camera stop recording on you while you are trying to film a shave video is annoying to no end. This was taken after 16 minutes of recording time. I wanted to toss the phone out the dang window but since I'm paying on it still, I better not. When it comes time to upgrade, I am seriously looking at Apple's I Phones with more internal storage. By the way please avoid the Samsung tablets. They suck and don't half work 90% of the time. Even after installing the factory updates and restarting both tablets, we still had issues with them and the apps still wouldn't work. So come November 29th, 2019, those tablets will be removed from my Verizon account.

Gillette Wilkinson Sword On Deck:

This is one blade that I have been wanting to try for a really long time and just never got around to it until now. As far as I can remember, I have never used these blades before in any razor. I even went back and searched my blog to make sure and saw no shave of the day posts with these blades. I have 2 friends that swear by these blades and they are Ken Kirkup (a.k.a. Kensurfs) and my buddy, Anthony Esposito. Anthony is normally a straight razor guy but he does use DE safety razors when he is in a hurry and he will grab these blades before anything else. Ken uses these on a regular basis but does try other blades:

They come from India but they do have the P&G logo on the back and mention that these are a trademark of Gillette U.S.A. They also come single wrapped:

Another thing I noticed is that these blades are extremely thin. They were also much easier to snap in half for the Leaf razor as well which is a very good thing:

I am looking forward to trying these blades mainly because I have never tried them before in anything. I'm certain that this will also be the last Gillette blade that I have not tried before as well. The Gillette Platinum Plus in the DE 89 was one of my favorites with nearly identical results from the Polsilver Iridium blades coming in an extremely close second. So those will definitely be interesting. So will the Gillette Platinum, Astra Greens which I got great results with in other razors. I also plan trying the blades that came with it which will be next after these.

Feather + Leaf = 3 Shaves Max:

The live was great. If you follow Strike Gold Shave on Instagram, you can watch the replay of our shaves. Mine went okay but you can definitely tell that it was time to switch out the blade. So that puts my shave total to 3 multi pass shaves on a Feather DE blade in the Leaf razor. That tells you how tough my beard has gotten over the past 4 years. When I first started in February of 2013, I could get 10 multi pass shaves out of a Feather blade with a mild twist to open razor. Now I'm down to 3 in a mild razor. That is a huge drop in longevity:

The 3rd shave on a Feather blade is usually the most comfortable shave in ANY mild or medium DE safety razor, in this one is fell short in the comfort part of that equation and the blade kept wanting to grab in a few spots. That usually means that it's time for another blade. I've been hearing a lot about these Gillette Wilkinson Sword blades so I will be trying them next:

So this means that the blade search continues. There's not too many more blades left that I've not tried in other razors and only a handful that I have not tried period and this Gillette Wilkinson Sword is one that I have never tried before ever so it will definitely be interesting.

Making Videos With Smartphones:

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I thought I would take the time to put together a blog post on what I use to make my shaving videos on YouTube and how I use my smart phone to make these videos. So let's get started. Below is a shot of everything that I use to make a shave video in terms of equipment. I will give you all of the information on the equipment and where to get it and what it costs. I'm totally addicted to making shave videos:

First thing you will need is a mount and the one you see below you can get at Walmart for $20 U.S. Dollars. And it's been an exceptional mount with no issues:

It does come with adhesive backed metal plates that can be installed inside your phone's outer casing. I prefer just to go ahead to put the adhesive metal plate on the back up my phone since there's a 90% chance that they won't be reselling this phone when it comes time to upgrade. It did fall on me once and the only reason it did was because I did not take the time to wet the suction cup of the mount itself. Other than that one time while I was in the shower, it never falls:

The magnet is extremely strong and isn't going any where at all. In fact you have to use some strength to remove the phone from the magnet. You will definitely be able to tell and feel the power of the magnet. Trust me when I say that your phone isn't going any where unless the entire mount comes off:

Now for those who want to upload videos using memory cards, I have the perfect tool for you to use and it's extremely easy to do. Here's the link to this device but I do recommend spending the extra money for the better quality versions as mine isn't too good but it does still work: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PKZ0NZM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 :

You simply plug this device into your phone as shown below, select the "my files" option and then go down to the camera app that you used to record the video and select it. Then you highlight your video and hit the options button and hit copy. You will then be asked where you want to copy it to which is called "USB drive". That's where I copied the video to and I created a file name that uses the same name as my camera app to make it easier to find. You see when you plug this device into your phone with a micro SD card, all of your BASIC data is copied except for photos and videos. After you select which ones you want to copy, you can then simply remove the memory device and insert the memory device (memorycard, thumb drive etc.) into a computer or laptop and upload that way:

Now this device can use full size memory cards, micro SD cards, and USB thumb drives, but the model I have doesn't work to well at all with the full size memory cards and thumb drives but it does fine with micro SD cards. The thumb drive fits okay but I didn't get any results with it. And the full size memory card does NOT fit very well at all. Now there are adapters out there for those of you that use I Phones and I Pads plus there also some that are specifically made for those devices:

Audio is very important, but it can get expensive really quick as well and I have watched a ton of videos about this specific subject matter and have determined that more expensive is NOT always better. Rhode Microphones does make a smart phone microphone and they start at $60 U.S. Dollars for there lowest model. That is the best microphone you can get in terms build quality. However, the lapel microphone that you see below has beaten some of the best and most expensive microphones on the market today including Rhode Microphones themselves in terms of audio quality. You have seen and heard my videos both with and without this microphone and it does make a huge difference in the audio. Here's the link to this microphone: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074KJ1N3D/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 :

^ Not bad at all for $10 U.S. Dollars. The build quality isn't too good at all and the clip can break real easily but that's okay because I can always use a zip tie and if need be, I can always hot glue it to something if I need to clip it in place. Most of the time, I just plug it into my phone and let it hang down when I record:

Now that pretty much covers the equipment part of the equation. Now for the video recording and digital camera apps. Your smart phone does come with a very nice camera app but if you want a really good one that's extremely easy to use and does NOT contain a ton of ads, then I highly recommend the open camera app which can be seen below and here's the link to that app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.sourceforge.opencamera :

^ It's free and as I stated earlier, contains zero ads. And if you don't want to use a memory card to upload photos or videos, no problem. You can upload it to ANY social media app provided the videos aren't too long. Instagram has been the only social media app that I haven't been able to upload videos to because they are too long but I can go live and there would not be an issue except I have to use a different camera app which I don't like but photos and short videos are no problem. No issues so far on Twitter but I use strictly YouTube for the other platforms including face book. If you don't mind using video editing software and/or paying for a subscription to upload them in full HD, then this app is the best period and is extremely easy to use hands down: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cyberlink.powerdirector.DRA140225_01 :  It's alright and pretty simple to use, but it does have ads unless you get the full version and to be able to use the full HD option, you have to subscribe which I find to be ridiculous. Another thing that annoys me is the fact that you will see the app logo in the bottom right hand corner of all of your videos if you use this app to make them. It's plug and play and uses your phone's primary camera app. Uploading videos to YouTube is stupid slow and it's even slower to transfer it to a memory card using this app. That is one of the many reasons why I chose to get rid of it. But if you want to record 2 seperate videos and place them in one YouTube video, this app will definitely be a life saver for sure which I have used and done before. That's currently what I use to make YouTube videos with. I hope this helps answer some questions and makes things easier for you especially new guys whom are getting into the hobby. Take care and have a great night ladies and gentlemen.

Feather + Leaf Razor = ?

Things just got extremely interesting folks. My friend Ken surfs got a request to use a Feather DE blade in the Leaf razor. I also got asked about it repeatedly in the various face book groups out there and I was also asked. So I went ahead and installed a fresh Feather blade in the top 2 slots of the Leaf razor. So tomorrow's shave just got extremely interesting to say the least:

So you guys know that I'm not pulling your leg, here's a close up:

And yeah it got the top hide of my finger while loading the blade. It wasn't even deep enough to consider it to be a cut and yet it bled this much. You can use your imagination as to how much blood it would have produced if the blade went extremely deep. That is why I don't use straight razors. One good swipe with shaky hands and ugly would not do it justice:

^ I will include a link to this blog post in tomorrow's shave video in the description on YouTube. Plus this combo is getting a real acid test. As of tomorrow, I will have 4 days worth of beard growth. So like I said earlier, tomorrow's shave will for sure be extremely interesting. I was told by someone that this razor really tones down the Feather blades into a comfortable shave. I already know that it will be close because of the Feather blade. It's the sharpest blade you can get. The only other blades that even come close to Feather is the Bolzano Superinox and the Perma-Sharps.

A Video App Test?

Today while producing my last shave video using the app below, I noticed that it would NOT let me upload in full 1080P HD without paying a full subscription fee. That is totally unacceptable and here's why. If I was to use my Nikon B500 digital camera to make videos, it costs me NOTHING to upload a video in full 1080P HD. I have also uploaded a video directly from the open camera app in full 1080P HD for nothing as well. My test is to see if I can transfer the video file from the open camera app directly to the memory card and upload my next shave video that way. If it works, then I won't use the app you see below. I still may have to leave it on the phone though because it did put a "pause button" in the open camera app that I have been using:

I can't justify paying a ridiculous subscription fee to be able to upload in 1080P using the app shown above when I already have that ability with another app and with another device. If this test works and I have no reason to believe that it would not work. So this coming Wednesday will be very interesting in the video recording department.

Changing Things Up A Bit:

Today's shave was great, but I did have a tiny bit of irritation. So to fix that, I will be going with just one DE blade split in half and only using it in the 2 top slots of the Leaf razor. The bottom slot is the most aggressive and meant for heavy beard growth which is what I had today when I shaved. I really don't need but 1 blade and the 2 top slots have less blade exposure and tend to be a bit milder. So hopefully that will tame things down a little more in the razor burn and irritation department:

I'm also going with another Personna Lab blue before switching the blade out for a Feather blade. I was also told that this razor really tames the Feather blades down which is a good thing because they were expensive compared to the other blades that I had in my sampler pack at $5.00 U.S. Dollars. I still have some more blades to try specifically the Russian blades.

Personna Lab Blues Are Next:

It's still coffee time here in Southwest Virginia so while I am enjoying some decaf coffee, I decided to go ahead and switch out the Gillette Silver Blue blades for Personna Lab Blue blades in the Leaf razor. This was the first blade I wanted to use in the Leaf for my first shave with it since it's the ONLY DE blade that's made in the United States of America. But thanks to the Postal Service, I had to use another blade instead for the inaugural shave. I have a feeling that I will be liking this combination. The question is how many shaves will I get out of these blades?

I got great shaves with these in my DE safety razors but I didn't get more than 2 or 3 multi pass shaves out of a Personna Lab Blue blade. I'm hoping that these will be extremely good in the Leaf razor. This brand of blades is extremely popular. My friend Don Youngner over at Wet The Face will be very interested in this razor and blade combo. Personna Lab Blue blades is his "go to" blade choice. Very rare that I see him use any other blade than these in his shave videos.

Switching To Milder Blades:

While my phone charges, I thought I would take a moment to switch out the blades. Recording YouTube videos on your phone really runs your battery down. Mean while, the first shave with the Leaf and Perma-Sharp blades was great but today's shave wasn't as good as I would have liked it to have been and that was due to the harshness that the Perma-Sharps tend have. The 3rd shave would have been worse. So for my next shave, I will be trying these Gillette Silver Blue blades in the Leaf to see what happens. My blade sampler pack didn't arrive this past Saturday but they did arrive at the nearest distribution center about 2 hours away. I am thinking that the Feather blades I ordered may have been a mistake but we will see:

^ I've had great success with these Gillette Silver Blue blades and I do have 2 more Gillette brands coming which are the Gillette Wilkinson Sword which I see in a ton of shave of the day posts, along with the Gillette 7 "o" Clock blacks. In addition to those blades, I also have Personna Lab Blues coming. I also have some of the Parker blades left that was given to me by Dr. Mike's Emporium which I really need to try in the Leaf razor. Plus I still plan on trying the Super Platinum that came with the Leaf razor. I will also do a blog post on each blade with the Leaf Razor. In a science experiment there are 2 variables. The independent variable and dependent variable. In this specific experiment, the independent variable is the Leaf razor because it will be used in every single shave that I do from here on out. The dependent variable will be the shave quality itself both during and afterward. The blade changes and so does the shave soap and brush, so they can't be variables in this specific experiment. The biggest factor for me is comfort both during the shave and after the shave. I don't want to use a blade that can't cut my whiskers but at the same time, I don't want a blade that draws blood and causes irritation with each use either.

The Leaf & Perma-Sharps:

Oh my! is all I can say about this Leaf razor and Perma-Sharp blade combo. Wow what a phenomenal and blissful shave. It was the best shave I have ever had in my entire life. At first I thought it was going to be aggressive possibly some what harsh due to the fact that these were fresh blades and these specific blades are known to be a little harsh on the first shave. I did NOT get any of that at all. In fact I could NOT tell there was any blades in the razor at all. It also NEVER clogged up on me either and I used some glycerin as a pre-shave as you will see when the video is finished uploading on YouTube. It also had NO problem removing my 4 day beard growth either:

The pivoting head requires some pressure to keep the razor head flat against your skin which I am not use to doing but it definitely helps in getting a close shave especially on curved surfaces such as my my neck area. This razor is perfect for head shavers and the ladies would love this razor as well. As you will see in the video once it has finished uploading, I was slick as black ice after just 3 passes and the best part is that I had zero weepers. I also did NOT have any need for an alum block and I did NOT get any burn from the aftershave as well. Like I stated earlier, a perfect shave. The scary part is that these were Perma-Sharps and I have Feather blades arriving tomorrow. There's no telling what that shave will be like. Wow what a razor. This Leaf razor is definitely a must buy.

MeWe Wet Shaving Groups:

With Google Plus being dismantled over the next 10 months, a lot of talking has been done amongst members in those wet shaving G+ communities. 2 out of the 3 communities that I'm a member of have moved over to the new social media platform called MeWe which is free to join. So lets get started and yes, I will include the links to these MeWe groups:

^ This is the old classic How To Grow A Moustache G+ community and currently has 1,399 members over on Google plus and has been one of my personal favorites for many years and I was extremely excited to see it up on MeWe. Here's the link to that specific group: http://wetshavinggroup.com/ :

^ My friend Jeffrey Smith has also moved his G+ community over to MeWe which is called Artisan Shaving and can be found here: mewe.com/join/artisan_shaving . I decided to replace Wet Shavers United with Jeffrey's group. I'm currently a moderator over in Wet Shavers United and the owner of that G+ community has gone MIA. I'm pretty sure the owner of Wet Shavers United has been notified of Google's decision to end G+ but I really could not tell you because he has long since left the community and basically left me to watch everything. Wet Shavers United only has 85 members on G+ but a lot of them are inactive:

^ I was invited to this one first by my friend, Don Youngner over at Wet The Face. I have been a member of his G+ community for years and years it currently has 1,118 members over on G+. I was proud and happy to join this group over on MeWe which can be found here at this link: mewe.com/join/wet_the_face :

^ I have also decided to go back onto Twitter and stick with the wet shaving hobby only. Here's the link to my Twitter profile if you wish to follow me: https://twitter.com/knightmare10151 . It's a shame that Google had to pull the plug on G+. There's tons and tons of people on there who wet shave but refuse to use Face Book for various reasons and in some cases, I can't really blame them. MeWe is free to join and you do get 8 GB's of data, but if you want more data, you do have to buy it. The most data you can get is 500 gigabytes and it will cost you $20 U.S. Dollars per month which comes to $240 U.S. Dollars per year but I don't see people needing that much data at all even for a large group. I've got several posts up in different groups including a video on my specific MeWe profile and I'm only using .001 gigabytes of 8 gigabytes total. By the way if you wish to follow me over on MeWe you can find me here on this link: mewe.com/i/stephen.davidson3 . I will miss Google Plus when it's gone by 8/19/19 or sooner.

Leaf Razor Blade Choices:

The U.S. Postal tracker has been updated and I could not be more excited and happier than I am now. My Leaf razor is scheduled to arrive this coming Thursday as you can see below:

Unfortunately the blades that I want to try first before won't be here until this coming Friday as you can also see below:

Here's a list of the blades that I ordered from Maggard Razors. I spent a grand total of $10.25 U.S. Dollars for 27 blades. This does not include shipping costs because that rate varies based upon location. So I will leave that part out from now on. So lets do some math here. $10.25 divided by 27 total blades = .3796. I'll go ahead and round that up to $.40 cents per blade which is 10 times cheaper than cartridge razor blades:

The reason that specific cost is high is because of the $5 U.S. Dollars price tag on these Feather DE blades which can be seen below:

^ Feather DE blades are the sharpest DE blades you can get in my humble opinion and there are several people out there who would agree with me on this specific statement. They also tend to have an extremely harsh post shave feel afterward. The post shave kindly reminds me of a sun burn with most of my DE safety razors. I have no clue what they will be like in the Leaf razor at all which is why I ordered them. I will do a write up on each and every blade that I use in the Leaf razor. My next blade choice I have been hearing and seeing in a lot of shave of day posts and that would be the Gillette Wilkinson Sword DE blades:

^These were extremely inexpensive at only $1 U.S. Dollar for 5 blades which puts the costs at $.20 cents per blade. I've spent more than that on a cup of coffee so that is definitely a plus. I never got around to trying these blades in a DE safety razor so I will give them a go in the Leaf. Up next is an old favorite amongst many wet shavers and it's the ONLY DE blade that's still being manufactured here in the United States of America and that is the Personna Lab Blue blades:

^ These are made in my home state of Virginia near the Richmond area. I did try the Medical Prep blades which is used to prep a patient for surgery which were only good for 2 multi pass shaves in a DE safety razor and I really loved the Personna Reds which were also good for 2 shaves in the 37C slant. So these will be very interesting. The costs of these blades is $2.00 U.S. Dollars for 5 blades which puts the costs at $.40 cents per blade for this specific go around but you can buy 100 of these blades for around $13 dollars which brings the costs down. My next blade of choice to try out I have tried before and they're crazy sharp. Especially in slants, and that would be the Gillette 7 "o" Clock blacks :

^In your standard DE safety razors, the Feather DE blades are the Ninja Grandmaster when it comes to sharpness while these Gillette blacks are its Master student. These are $2.75 for 7 blades which would be $.40 cents per blade. These will be very interesting in the Leaf. And of course, I will also be trying the blades shown below with the penguins checking things out:

^ The Perma-Sharps I've used repeatedly and are an extremely comfortable blade. The only difference between them and Feather blades is that the Perma-Sharps were extremely comfortable afterward. The Gillette Silver Blues are slightly sharper than Personna but not quite as smooth. The big surprise for me was the Parker Blades which was sent to me by Dr. Mike's Emporium and they are a very comfortable and a solid middle of the road DE blade. I was told by several people that the Leaf razor is what they call a "sleeper" type of razor which means that it might look evil but is comfortable and enjoyable to use in addition to removing the toughest stubble very efficiently. I will find out when it arrives this coming Thursday. So new guys, I strongly suggest and recommend that you make a similar purchase with each and every DE safety razor you buy. The reason behind this is because you can and will get different results with each and every razor even if you stick with the same brand of blades. I'm also wanting to try blades in the Leaf that I did not enjoy in previous shaves. That for sure is going to be interesting.

Bye Bye Reef Point Soaps:

Not a good night at all for the wet shaving community. First we lose Google Plus and now Reef Point Soaps is permanently closing up shop. So once their stock is gone, they are calling quits. I wish them all the best because I had a couple of their soaps sent to me and they were amazing. Below is a photo of a tweet that I took a picture from the How To Grow A Moustache Google Plus community:

R.I.P. Google Plus:

It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that over the next 10 months, Google Plus will be no more if not sooner. That means that the 4 communities that I am a member of, will no longer exist. A Google Plus community is like Google's version of a Face Book group. Over the weekend, a bug infected Google's server and exposed 500K members to being hacked. So in order to contain the security breach, they have decided to put an end to Google Plus permanently. Here's the link to the article that was posted on Fox News: https://www.foxnews.com/tech/google-to-shut-down-following-bug-that-exposed-500k-profiles .

The first step has already taken place and that was to disconnect YouTube from Google Plus. What that means is that when you posts a video, it will NOT show up on Google Plus. I will miss the 4 amazing Google Plus communities that I am a proud member of especially Wet Shavers United which I had the pleasure of being a moderator of. I will stay with these communities until they are gone. Google talked like it would not take that long before G+ was shut down. I think the only reason they are going to stick around that long is to give people a chance to find other options. My blog is NOT effected or going anywhere as far as I know. So if any news says other wise, I will let you all know first thing. There's also another developing story in the wet shaving world as we speak which I will write about tomorrow.

Leaf Razor Ordered!

Finally, I have ordered the Leaf razor. As many of you know, I have been wanting this razor for quite a while now and a few friends did mention me in some YouTube videos that I should really look into investing in one of these razors and I did. Unfortunately I was not able to get the exact finish I wanted which was the new Matte Silver finish they have recently added so I had to go with my second choice which was black. Right now that's the only finish they have in stock:

The cost was pretty expensive being $82 U.S. Dollars shipped but considering the design and the great reviews it gets, I think it's totally worth the investment. And unlike the One Blade and One Blade Core, I have numerous blade choices available:

I can use just one half of a DE blade and move it from one slot to another to change my shaving experience or go ahead and load three halves for an even closer shave. You can also purchase factory split DE blades for as low as $6.00 U.S. Dollars for 100 blades which is almost nothing. So I am totally excited about this and it's been in the works for a while now. I will do a detailed YouTube video on it and don't be surprised if you see it in every shave video that do once it arrives. Now I am off to purchase a DE blade sampler pack as do I do with ANY DE razor.

Blade Longevity?

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. It's still coffee time for me here in Southwest Virginia and I have switched to decaf for the night. So while I'm enjoying some decaf coffee, I thought I would take the time to address something that I get asked about a lot and that's DE blade longevity. That's one of the two questions I get asked a lot with the other being about costs. This question along with various versions about costs usually gets asked by cartridge users more than anyone else and it's usually from someone who got that eye opening moment when they go to spend all of that money on cartridge refills. They are often quite shocked when I tell them that I average between 3 to 5 multi pass shaves per blade and that I can get 100+ blades for what they are about to spend on that cartridge refill pack. They then start to do the math in their head and end up having that "ah ha" moment. I usually tell them to go online and check it out and then I don't see them again:

I pretty much tell them to go online and search because there are much better choices out there compared to what you find in various big box stores. And if you don't want to use a soap and brush, you don't have to. I've got friends that still use the canned shave foam but use double edge and straight razors instead of the cartridges. I've touched on this a little bit in the past but not a lot mainly because not every one's longevity will be the same. It depends on the razor, how much beard growth you have, what type of skin and hair do you have along with the blade that your are using at that specific moment. So longevity is really subjective. But my answer is usually 3 to 5 shaves per DE blade give or take a little.

Costs: Leaf Razor Vs Cartridges:

It's been a while since I have done a blog post and it has also been a while since I have done a cost versus cost type of blog post as well. So I figured why not do this in a blog post. I will be doing a YouTube video about this on a later date after I purchase the Leaf razor which shaves like a cartridge but uses half DE blades. Sadly, I can no longer use straight razors due to the lingering side effects from a medically induced coma I was put in nearly 7 years ago. I also get cut way too easy with DE safety razors and I'm a free bleeder so as a result of these factors combined with sensitive skin, I am forced to purchase the Leaf razor So with that being said, lets get started:

First I must say that I'm totally disappointed and shocked at how high priced the Gillette Fusion cartridges are. This photograph was taken at my local Wal-Mart and there are other places that charge even more for them which is past being ridiculous:

Sam's Club isn't any better in fact they are worse. So don't be surprised if you walk in there and see a $55 U.S. Dollar or more price tag. Here's what the bulk pack costs you:

^ By the time you add sales taxes, you are looking at a $33 U.S. Dollar price tag for 8 blades that may or may not shave. So lets do some math here. $33 dollars divided by 8 blades = $4.13 per blade (rounded up from $4.125). That my friends is retarded. Being on disability benefits means that you are now on a fixed income and from experience, I can tell you that no one can afford these prices especially us that are on a fixed income. The last package of these that I bought went directly into the trash because every single one of them was a dud blade. In nearly 5 years of wet shaving, I've gotten maybe 3 or 4 DE blades that were duds. Schick was a little better in the price tag but the shave quality was far worse than Gillette hands down:

^ That was for a pack of 4 blades. The bulk pack is roughly about $3 U.S. Dollars less than Gillette's blades. These break down to $2.97 per blade before taxes are calculated in. No wonder the DE safety razor market is taking off like a rocket. These cartridge blades are just too expensive. Now lets take a look at the costs of Harry's cartridges:

^ These were the lowest priced cartridges outside of getting the dirt cheap disposable razors. These break down to about $2.00 U.S. Dollars per blade. I have never shaved with Harry's blades or products before so I can't comment on the shave quality or longevity of these specific blades. Their bulk pack wasn't too bad but they are still too expensive:

^ Once again it's about the same in the price give or take a little. Now let me explain how the Leaf razor works and what exactly it uses. The Leaf razor uses Half of a DE or double edge blade as seen below and the costs of the blades are dirt cheap as well:

You can also customize your shave as well. For example lets say you just want to use just 1 half of a blade instead of 3 and you want it to be mild. You can do that with the Leaf razor as seen below:

Just simply choose how many half blades you want to use and if you just want to use 1, simply decide which slot to install the half blade in. The bottom slot is the most aggressive while the top slot is the mildest. You can even take it further by choosing either a mild, medium or aggressive blade to split in half. So the combinations alone destroy the cartridge razors. Now here's the final nail in the coffin for cartridge razors. The costs of DE blades are almost nothing:

^ This is just one brand of many and the costs of these Personna Lab Blue blades which is an extremely popular blade starts at $13 U.S. Dollars for 100 blades depending on where you go online to purchase them. This specific website is Maggard Razors and right now they are out of these specific blades and they have other brands that priced lower than these and are equally as popular. So lets do some more math here. $13 dollars divided by 100 blades = $.13 cents per blade. I'll take that price over the $5 dollar per cartridge price tag any day. And since you split these in half for the Leaf razor, that's really 200 blades if you just use 1 half of a blade per shave. Now this is where things get even better. The factory split blades are even cheaper as seen below:

^ $6 U.S. Dollars for 100 half blades. There are some that's about the same price maybe a shade higher. So let's do some more math ladies and gentlemen. $6 dollars divided by 100 blades = $.06 cents per blade. It's been a really long time since I've used a Shark blade but some people do like them and this will be a completely different shaving experience because the Leaf razor has NO LEARNING CURVE. So if you have been using a Gillette Fusion, then this is your razor minus the extremely expensive blades. Here's the blades that got my attention just recently:

^ These are just $6.50 per 100 half blades. I recently just used one of these in my Doc razor and it was extremely comfortable in that razor. They do have a premium version which costs $8 dollars for 100 half DE blades:

Plus there are some other extremely popular blades out there as well:

I see the Rapira Platinum Lux and Voskhod blades in a ton of shave of the day photos and videos. In addition to the Astra green labeled blades. I also see these Gillette Wilkinson Sword blades a lot as well. The Gillette Silver Blue DE blades have been a personal favorite of mine:

I've not tried the Parker blades yet but someone is sending me some to try out. All in all, the double edge or DE blades wins hands down. Even the vintage cartridges are too expensive and to be honest, they aren't very good in terms of shave quality. That is one of the reasons why I no longer use my Col. Conk Track 2 razor, poor shave quality during and afterward. So once I purchase the Leaf razor and it arrives, I will be doing blade reviews left and right and the ONLY razor you will be seeing in these reviews it indeed the Leaf razor.