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the weird turn Pro. Feather Pro disposable straight razor blades.

The Japanese industrial company Feather makes some of the scariest blades on the planet, and its celebrated Artist Club disposable blade straight razor is a legend among hardcore shavegeeks for sporting the very sharpest blades you can obtain for the purpose of shaving your face.

The Feather straight razor blades come in three flavors:

1. Pro Guard -- the "training wheels" Feather blade, with a wire-wrap guard that protects the skin from ever having the actual edge of the blade come in contact with it.

2. Professional -- designed to replicate the edge and feel of a standard 5/8 size traditional straight razor.

3. Professional Super -- thicker, sharper, scarier -- the most aggressive and ruthless of all the Feather blades, and the closest shave possible today from any razor.

About a month ago, Andy Samuels in the UK came up with the world's best wetshaving idea -- he took a Feather disposable straight razor blade, cut it down to the same length as a standard Schick Injector blade, and installed it in his vintage Injector razor shortly before getting the best shave he ever had.

When I read about Andy's trick on Wetshavers, I tried it myself and haven't shaved with any other razor since. However, my first attempt wasn't successful. I tried a Feather Professional blade instead of the Pro Guard Andy had used, and for some reason my 1940's E3 type Injector wouldn't shave worth a damn. It seemed like it was cutting, but even after two passes, my face felt like I hadn't shaved at all. So I swapped out the Pro for a Pro Guard blade and suddenly the magic happened. Later on I tried a Pro Super blade and that's all she wrote -- this is now my favorite razor and blade rig of any that I've ever tried.

Still, it bothered me that the Pro Guard and Pro Super blades worked wonders in my Injector but the Pro blades didn't work at all. Didn't make sense at all. The way these Feather blades load in an Injector, they're held in place so that the cutting edge is at the exact same position no matter which of the three blade types you install. So why didn't the Pro shave at all, while the Pro Guard and Pro Super cut like crazy?

It's been bugging me so much I finally decided to try the Pro blades again, only this time in a different Injector. Same E3 type, but a different example, yoinked via eBay and scrubbed/boiled (yes, shavegeek chicken littles, you can boil a bakelite handled Injector, as long as you remove the boiling water from the heat once you put the razors in to sanitize them -- I've boiled two dozen of these E-types without incident, which is something I can't say about the plastic-handled L1 now known as "Dali's Injector") till it was shiny as new.

I took a fresh Feather Pro blade and clipped it to the right size using as a guide the fake plastic Injector blade that came in a new-old-stock Lady Eversharp I bought for my ever-sharp lady, who, truth be told, still prefers her Lady Sensor. So now I have a pink long-handled Injector I can take with me if I ever do a stretch at Rahway State --

"You eyeballin' me, fish?!"

"Well, duhh, look at you, silly-- you've got shavebumps all over your face! Here, try my Injector -- "

The Feather Pro blade loaded right into the Injector perfectly, just like the first Pro I tried in my other Injector. But after lathering up with Trumper Violet shaving cream and my Vulfix #2235 brush, it was clear from the very first swipe that this time, the Pro was cutting hair like the other Feather blades.

It did feel different than the Pro Guard and Pro Super blades, though -- the thinner Pro has more give, so it's not quite as unyielding and "my way or the highway" as the Pro Guard and Pro Super. In fact, the Pro reminded me a bit of how a DE blade flexes on the contours of my face when I shave with a safety razor. The Pro is thicker and sharper than a DE blade, but it has noticeably more flex and give than the other two Feather blades.

And the shave? Much closer than a DE, but not quite as scary-close as I routinely achieve with the Pro Super blades in my various Injectors. While the Pro Super gives me a shave every bit as close and long-lasting as a straight razor's, the shave today with the Pro blade felt perfectly close but began stubbling up a few hours earlier than I've gotten used to with the Pro Super blades. I'd place the Pro's shave about midway between the best shave I ever got with a DE, and the shaves I get now with the Pro Super blade in an Injector. I haven't shaved with a standard Schick blade in my Injector lately, but I think the Pro shaves closer than those blades as well.

I still don't have a clue why the earlier Pro blade didn't shave well at all in my other Injector. Maybe the geometry was off, or the first blade was bad, who knows? What I do know is that the Feather Pro blades work great in Injectors, and offer an improved shave over the standard blades currently available for this razor. If you find the Pro Super blades too aggressive and don't want to pony up for the more expensive Pro Guards, the Feather Professional disposable straight razor blades, when clipped down to the proper length, are an excellent choice for an old Injector.