The 2024: 1-Blade, 1-Week, *Daily Shaving Adventure

[cranewarrior]

This week I want to try one of the Chinese blades I will choose RhinoceRos Swiss. The GSBs and Treet Kings I'm going to put aside and save them, they will last me a long time.
I will start my shaving tomorrow with this Chinese razor blade, then the other week finally the Matgicol blade.

The FlyDear Super Platinum out-performed many more heralded blades for me. I am curious if the Rhinoceros XR and Matgicol Super Platinum can do the same as their sister blade.

 

[blethenstrom]

Boring if you mean in the positive way that is, that you could use it every day without getting bored? Not boring that you tires of frequent use of the same Derby Premium blade.


I had tried it and only had one ladas left, another fantistic blade.
Too bad they are made by the same Russian company Voshkod and are not easily found these days.

Indeed boring in a good way. Great shave results every time. In my opinion a boring blade is a good blade because they are very consistent and that is what I want in a great blade.

 

[Pinto90]

The FlyDear Super Platinum out-performed many more heralded blades for me. I am curious if the Rhinoceros XR and Matgicol Super Platinum can do the same as their sister blade.

I will tell you for sure tomorrow if Rhinoceros XR is worth comparing them and if I like them, I have about sixty or seventy of these blades.

Yea, you're right! Rhinoceros, Matgicol Super Platinum are made by the same company that makes FlyDear Super Platinum and I believe they also make or or they also produced the Doreo blades ,although I am not sure.

 

[ShavingPrimate]

I have not been posting in here in a while, but I might as well give you an update. I am doing one blade, one week but I also use one full tuck straight.

Which is fine and a good thing. Repeating with the same blade is confirming the quality control of the blade.

It is also providing an extended exposure to a specific blade. Lets us know that it does in fact last the week.

It is quite a boring blade, which is a good thing. Boring means consistent and you cannot ask for more than that.

Nothing wrong with "boring"!

Reviews of different things are prone to excess hyperbole. The point out this and the point out that. In reality, things need to be in balanced proportions.

When you really achieve a good balance, nothing needs to stand out apart from the thing as a whole.

 

[ShavingPrimate]

I have only used the Derby Extra and it was just fine, albeit mild. The Premium is priced very closely to the baseline Extra model. It seems like an odd strategy of product positioning but would seem to be a great deal for consumers.

I get the impression that the Premium was initially intended to cost more.?

 

[cranewarrior]

I get the impression that the Premium was initially intended to cost more.?

Maybe so. When I peruse the AMZ prices for 200 packs, I can buy Extras or Premiums for the exact same price. Makes me wonder which I should get if I were looking for blades. Common sense says 'buy the Premiums!'.

The Premiums get decent feedback here.

 

[ShavingPrimate]

Maybe so. When I peruse the AMZ prices for 200 packs, I can buy Extras or Premiums for the exact same price. Makes me wonder which I should get if I were looking for blades. Common sense says 'buy the Premiums!'.

The Premiums get decent feedback here.

I bought both. Couldn't really tell much difference?

I had the Derby Platinum remaining after lasts years challenge. This is the blade I started this year off with.

After a couple of shaves, I decided to bring on the Extra and make this a two week comparison.

At the end of week #2, I made these observations:

"Shaved with both blades over the two week period, shaving daily. Seven shaves on each blade. Both blades came through their week with flying colors.

In the end, I could discern no difference between the Premium and the Extra. One day with one, one day with the other, etc."

If I recall correctly, I paid about the same price for both on Amazon a few years back.

I also had been under the impression that the Premium would be noticeably more expensive.

 

[ric164]

I finished my week with the German Personna Red this morning. It performed beautifully. No complaints at all. Didn’t seem to hit my top 3 level of comfort and performance but I would still be satisfied with it if it was the only blade available.

So after using 9 blades I have basically two tiers of personal preference. My top 3 in one tier and then followed by the 2nd tier. Each tier has no rating as far as preference.

Next up which will be my last blade in the rotation is a Bic Chrome Platinum.

Here is my personal ratings for how the blades performed for me.

1. GSB*
2. 7 O’clock Yellow*
3. Perma-Sharp*
4. Astra**
5. Lab Blue**
6. Lord Platinum**
7. Nacet**
8. Personna Medical Prep**
9. Personna Red**

*These are tied for this position (tier 1).
**These are tied for this position (tier 2).

Have a blessed week men.

 

[cranewarrior]

Gillette Minora Stainless

I had a tough time ranking this razor blade this week which I used 4 separate times. On one hand, the Gillette Minora is a pretty decent performer, reasonable comfort and smoothness and it performed well on 3 of the shaves before diminishing considerably in sharpness for the fourth effort. On the other hand, it wasn't made for the American market, so while it isn't difficult for me to buy, the cost is at a slight premium. I paid $16.99 + tax for a hundred of them, and that's not expensive at all in the big picture of things, yet I have blades I enjoy just as much that are a third the price.

So, should I rank it solely by performance, or does cost have to factor in some? To me, the Minora is a lesser version of the Gillette Silver Blue. It's not as smooth, not as sharp, not as durable. And it actually costs me more to buy than the GSB. Hmm... Taking a look at the rankings I have, I probably need to bump the FlyDear up, but I will leave it be for now.

cranewarrior’s Completely Subjective Rankings of Blades Tested in 2024

#1 Gillette Silver Blue
#2 King C Gillette (China)
#3 Treet Platinum
#4 Dorco ST300
#5 Treet Dura Sharp
#6 Lord Cool
#7 Lord Silver Star
#8 Durablade Sharp Hi Platinum
#9 Shark Super Chrome
#10 Gillette Minora Stainless
#11 Durablade Sharp Titanium
#12 FlyDear Super Platinum
#13 Lord Racer
#14 Super-Max Super Stainless (Vidyut)
#15 Doalco ST300
#16 Jifuli Platinum Edge
#17 Gillette London Bridge (China)
#18 ASCO (Orange) by Lord

 

[ShavingPrimate]

On the other hand, it wasn't made for the American market, so while it isn't difficult for me to buy, the cost is at a slight premium. I paid $16.99 + tax for a hundred of them, and that's not expensive at all in the big picture of things, yet I have blades I enjoy just as much that are a third the price.

So, should I rank it solely by performance, or does cost have to factor in some?

I think that cost is a factor that should be figured in the overall evaluation, as well as longevity.

You have evaluated many of the entry level blades, cost wise, more than I have.

But I have found that there are many > $10 blades that preform well against others that cost two to three times as much.

Maybe you get a good shave out of a blade, but it's performance may be limited to only a couple if shaves.

Another blade may give an equally good shave but it may last for twice as long while costing only a penney or two more.

To me, the Minora is a lesser version of the Gillette Silver Blue. It's not as smooth, not as sharp, not as durable. And it actually costs me more to buy than the GSB.

I would agree that the Minora is a lesser version of the GSB. The GSB for me, seems to cover all if the bases.

I find that the Minora is similar to the Rubie.

 

[ShavingPrimate]

Week 20 Ends: Blade is the Astra Superior Platinum and the Astra Superior Stainless. This is week number two a two week shave-off, alternating blades daily.

Not much to say. I found them pretty much the same. Both made it through the two weeks.

I will comment that I have been using the KCG razor for these weekly challenges this year.

I decided to do this because the KCG is basically an average representation of X'89 type razor.

While this will have little effect on the weekly longevity, it might fall short on evaluating the overall shave quality when making blade comparisons.

With that in mind, I will return to razor rotation.

 

[ShavingPrimate]

Week 21 Begins: Something a bit different for this week.

When I started the 2023 Weekly Shaving Challenge, I had a couple of blades remaining from the 2022 rotation.

They are:
Dorco ST300 (4)
Dorco Prime (4)

With that in mind, I am curious to see if I can pick up where I left off a year and a half ago and take these blades through seven shaves?

That will be this week's challenge. Three shaves that remain for each blade.

 

[blethenstrom]

My first blade from the Ladas Stainless Steel tuck came to a conclusion on Saturday evening and it has been a great one. Razors used was the KCG and later in the week the Swing SB.

The shaves with the KCG were certainly sufficient, but not quite to my normal shave closeness standards. I also cause myself a little bit of irritation due to over shaving.

The Swing SB is a much more blade forward razor than the KCG and it certainly made the shaves very easy and plenty close. No irritation whatsoever and solid upper end DFS++ shaves. No complaints.

For this week the second Ladas blade is up and I am starting out with a mild razor again in the Merkur 41C.
Happy shaves everyone!

 

[cranewarrior]

Week 21 Begins: Something a bit different for this week.

When I started the 2023 Weekly Shaving Challenge, I had a couple of blades remaining from the 2022 rotation.

They are:
Dorco ST300 (4)
Dorco Prime (4)

With that in mind, I am curious to see if I can pick up where I left off a year and a half ago and take these blades through seven shaves?

That will be this week's challenge. Three shaves that remain for each blade.

One of the threads topics I recall seeing repeated a few times is what kind of clean up do you do. A common answer is just a rinse and then they leave the blade in the razor to dry by itself. I'm on the other end of the spectum where I rinse, disassemble the razor, and towel dry razor and blade before letting it finish air-drying naturally. I argue this method lessens the oxidation rate of the razor/blade and will prolong life of both.

It would be fun to shave with both cleaning methods comparatively over something like 7-10 shaves and see if you could detect a difference. I would wager it matters a lot with some of the carbon steel razor blades that may not have long-lasting protective coatings.

 

[blethenstrom]

One of the threads topics I recall seeing repeated a few times is what kind of clean up do you do. A common answer is just a rinse and then they leave the blade in the razor to dry by itself. I'm on the other end of the spectum where I rinse, disassemble the razor, and towel dry razor and blade before letting it finish air-drying naturally. I argue this method lessens the oxidation rate of the razor/blade and will prolong life of both.

It would be fun to shave with both cleaning methods comparatively over something like 7-10 shaves and see if you could detect a difference. I would wager it matters a lot with some of the carbon steel razor blades that may not have long-lasting protective coatings.

I think for carbon blade you certainly will see a difference to do your routine. I bet they would start rusting. Personally I only loosen the head a bit, rinse it under hot water, blow out the excessive water and hang the razor with the blade in it on my stand for the next time. I use my blades a full week, usually about 6 shaves. When I toss the blade I have not noticed any discoloring or anything bad on the blades. The razor gets a cleaned at that time as well. Also, I have not noticed any excessive degradation in the blade either. It is not uncommon for me to have the best shave of the blade on my last use of it.

Anyways having said all this. I do not know what the answer for this is and I know there has been some threads in the past dedicated to this as well. Who knows? It will be interesting to hear what you find out.

 

[ShavingPrimate]

A common answer is just a rinse and then they leave the blade in the razor to dry by itself. I'm on the other end of the spectum where I rinse, disassemble the razor, and towel dry razor and blade before letting it finish air-drying naturally. I argue this method lessens the oxidation rate of the razor/blade and will prolong life of both.

Stainless steel is not "stain-free", it is merely "stain-less".

I never leave water on knives or any blade, stainless or not. I have kitchen knives and folding knives that are made of various steels.

When I am done using a knife, I wipe the residue off of it and wipe it dry.

Besides salt, there is calcium and other minerals in most water. In addition, there is the residue from the shave itself.

Only a small part of the shaving time is dedicated to assembling / disassembling the razor. A minute or two at most.

Rinsing the blade under running water while wiping it gives me the satisfaction of having a clean blade the mineral deposits might adhere to.

We have seen photo of the edges of blades that were taken by electron microscopes.

How much build-up will it take to interfere with the sharp edge of a blade? Not much, I would think?

Plus, it will accumulate with every shave. I enjoy the peace of mind of shaving with a clean razor and a clean blade with every shave.

The effect on a blade depends on the water. In Florida, the underlying lying rock is limestone and there is a lot of dissolved minerals in the water.

Here, in the Smokey Mountains, the underlying rock is sandstone, which is less prone to dissolving in the water, making the water soft, with less minerals.

 

[ric164]

So I finished the week (7 shaves) with the Bic Chrome Platinum and my Brassbird Lite. It performed great. I have no complaints and all 7 shaves were BBS except one, which was DFS+.

This week also completed another rotation through my different blades. This is how they rate for me. Two groups really, the first 3 are my favorites in no particular order and the last 7 are my second choices in no particular order.

1. GSB*
2. 7 O’clock Yellow*
3. Perma-Sharp*
4. Astra**
5. Bic CP**
6. Lab Blue**
7. Lord Platinum**
8. Nacet**
9. Personna Medical Prep**
10. Personna Red**

*These are tied in tier 1
**These are tied in tier 2

Starting tomorrow I will be starting another rotation and first up will be the Personna Lab Blue with my brass Overlander.

Have a blessed week everyone.

 

[cranewarrior]

Gillette Nacet

There's not much reason for me to write a lot about the Nacet. It is a favorite on these forums for good reason: they are sharp, smooth, and fit a wide variety of razors as a good partner. I had three shaves total with the Nacet this week and the Nacet performed well in all three. It cannot transform a poor razor into a great one, but the Nacet will stay in its lane and fulfill its charge of being sharp enough to cut multiple days of whiskers.

This is one of my favorite blades, bar none. It is a shame that a few posters have said that the Nacet hasn't been produced since 2023 and stocks will dwindle away.


ranewarrior’s Completely Subjective Rankings of Blades Tested in 2024

#1 Gillette Silver Blue
#2 Gillette Nacet
#3 King C Gillette (China)
#4 Treet Platinum
#5 Dorco ST300
#6 Treet Dura Sharp
#7 Lord Cool
#8 Lord Silver Star
#9 Durablade Sharp Hi Platinum
#10 Shark Super Chrome
#11 Gillette Minora Stainless
#12 Durablade Sharp Titanium
#13 FlyDear Super Platinum
#14 Lord Racer
#15 Super-Max Super Stainless (Vidyut)
#16 Doalco ST300
#17 Jifuli Platinum Edge
#18 Gillette London Bridge (China)
#19 ASCO (Orange) by Lord

 

[ShavingPrimate]

Week 21 Ends: Something a bit different for this week...

Finished the remaining shaves from the blades remaining from the 2022 rotation.

They were:
Dorco ST300 (4)
Dorco Prime (4)

After finishing the remaing three shaves from both of these blades, picking up where I left off a year and a half ago, successfully taking these blades through a full seven shaves.

Nothing really remarkable, except that they shaved as though there wasn't a year and a half gap between the first four shaves and the last three shaves. That is saying something.

I might have expected some deterioration of the edges from being out of their protective wrappers for all this time.

The Prime had a slight advantage in shave quality over the ST300/ST301.

 

[ShavingPrimate]

Week 22 Begins: Blade is the Feather Superior Stainless.

First shave will be with the KCG.