Personal care products of all kinds are a ripoff, plain and simple. Women certainly have the most to complain about, but men's razors are right up there, too. They surely must cost about a nickel apiece to manufacture, package, and market. I mostly use the three-blade Gillette cartridges. Also have used the five-blade ones with the battery. Yeah, better, but not worth the extra cost, IMHO (maybe when I was younger...).

Anyway, two things I do that certainly seem to help (or make me feel like I'm helping):
- Make sure to get it as dry as possible when finished. Don't just rinse it off and throw it back on the shelf.
- 10 to 12 reverse strokes on Carhartt (or similar) pants gives a bit of stropping action, I believe.

At the end of the day, it seems some blades last a bit longer than others. That's why I haven't really considered the subscription thing. Feels like I would say, 'well, the new ones keep coming- may as well use them'.