What exactly are USA these Personnas?

[SharpieB]

Hey all,

I ordered a pack of these as an Amazon add on recently for a few bucks. I have never seen this pack and as it was the last pack available I figured, why not? The package arrived pretty mangled and look like they are a few years old.

What are these? They do not have a Personna logo on the blade and the only writing on the blade is “made in USA”and arrows.

NOS retail 5 packs?

 

[Tpach]

I believe that those are “barbers” Personna. Sold at places like Sally’s Beauty Supply. [mention]stoof2010 [/mention] can correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe those are what he referred to as “Barber blues”...

 

[Atlantic59]

Those are the Barber Blades. Not very good. The Lab Blues are much, much better than those.

 

[SharpieB]

I believe that those are “barbers” Personna. Sold at places like Sally’s Beauty Supply. [mention]stoof2010 [/mention] can correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe those are what he referred to as “Barber blues”...

Those are the Barber Blades. Not very good. The Lab Blues are much, much better than those.

Thanks gents.

First shave was actually pretty good. They don’t feel like a long lasting blade and I wouldn’t buy them again though. For under $3/6, they were worth a try.

 

[South Dakota Guy]

Personnas are the most confusing blades ever. They need to put a program online to make it easier to figure out what is what.

 

[Tpach]

Thanks gents.

First shave was actually pretty good. They don’t feel like a long lasting blade and I wouldn’t buy them again though. For under $3/6, they were worth a try.

Totally. If I hadn’t tried Chinese GWS from a local purchase, I wouldn’t have found a good “control” blade. You know, the blade that you know how it’s gonna perform and fairs well with your personal skin.

 

[SharpieB]

Personnas are the most confusing blades ever. They need to put a program online to make it easier to figure out what is what.

No kidding.

My favorite Personna is the Israeli Red. Of course the 200 pack comes in a blue pack with no reference to Israel. And stating they are from “American Safety Razor Co. USA“ really helps clarify things.

 

[hydro-magic]

Personnas are very confusing but the ones you have there may be the same as Labs. I say that because they say "Comfort Coated" and that's all. The ones that people called "Barbers" were the ones that said "Platinum Chrome" and "Comfort Coated". They were sold at Sally's for quite a while too but my theory is once Personna quit making the Platinum Chrome coated blades in the US, they just put the Comfort Coated blades in the same packaging.

Of course, I could be wrong. This is Personna we're talking about so there's a fair amount of guesswork you have to do. If you like the way they shave, I say shave on. Then maybe get some Labs and see if they feel the same.

Edit: it seems in Personna speak, Comfort Coated means Teflon coated and Super Stainless means the same thing if that helps.

 

[Atlantic59]

The arrows printed on those blades makes them look like the Barber blades. All stainless blades are Teflon coated, so "Comfort Coated" doesn't really distinguish one blade from another.

 

[mata_66]

I once bought similar packaged "comfort coated" blades from Maggard and in my experience they are different (and lesser quality) from the Lab blues.

 

[BigJ]

Personnas are very confusing but the ones you have there may be the same as Labs. I say that because they say "Comfort Coated" and that's all. The ones that people called "Barbers" were the ones that said "Platinum Chrome" and "Comfort Coated". They were sold at Sally's for quite a while too but my theory is once Personna quit making the Platinum Chrome coated blades in the US, they just put the Comfort Coated blades in the same packaging.

Of course, I could be wrong. This is Personna we're talking about so there's a fair amount of guesswork you have to do. If you like the way they shave, I say shave on. Then maybe get some Labs and see if they feel the same.

Edit: it seems in Personna speak, Comfort Coated means Teflon coated and Super Stainless means the same thing if that helps.

+1! Personna is the most confusing brand in ‘traditional‘ wet shaving!

My ’problem’ is that I really enjoy some of these products, like the ‘Israeli red’ that I used this AM!!

The ’solution’ for me is to find some I enjoy, then stock up!! Because they may change the packaging or move production, change the name or some other nonsense!!

 

[hydro-magic]

The arrows printed on those blades makes them look like the Barber blades. All stainless blades are Teflon coated, so "Comfort Coated" doesn't really distinguish one blade from another.

Personna also made lots of store brand blades in a 10 pack with the arrows on them. Those dispensers just said "Stainless Steel". Nothing about Super Stainless or Comfort Coated but they felt the same as Labs to me. So I think you're right. Pretty much any modern blade will have a teflon coating no matter what the package says.

Should also note that the US made store brand blades haven't been made in somewhere around 5 years. The dispensers stayed the same but the production moved to Israel and then recently to Germany with steps down in shave quality each time (at least for me). The US made store brand blades were pretty good IMO and I still have a few packs of them. I have shaved with them side by side with Labs and couldn't tell a difference.

 

[Blackland Razors]

These ones are interesting. With 99% certainty, they are Lab Blues (the only blade made in the USA), but some people think the coating is different. I see no evidence of that, but I also don't know for sure. The blades are made here and then packaged in Mexico.

And yes, Personna is the most confusing brand in the blade market.

 

[Wogus]

Personna is the most confusing brand in ‘traditional‘ wet shaving!

Could not agree more and it's maddening. I'm a big fan of both the Personna Lab Blue, and the Crystal Super Stainless (aka "Israeli Personna" or "Israeli Blue"), but making sure I got what I want feels like a roll of the dice. So much so it pushed me to buy Gillette Nacets in bulk specifically because the product is easily, and consistently, identifiable.

Branding, Personna... It's a thing.

 

[hydro-magic]

Here are some pics of the various Personna blades I was talking about in my last post...

These are the ones that people used to call "Barbers" that were sold mainly at Sally's. They say Made in USA on the back of the card. Note how they say Platinum Chrome and Comfort Coated.

These were the older US made store brand blades and a lot of times you'll find them with store branding on the card instead of a Personna logo but the back of the package will tell you they're Made in USA Personnas. Notice how they say Platinum Chrome on the dispenser. You can just assume they're also teflon coated I think but mysteriously these blades seemed to shave a lot better than the "Barbers". These blades seemed to go out of production somewhere around 8 or 10 years ago I think and were replaced by the next ones.

These blades replaced the Platinum chrome store brand blades. The dispenser is the same except it says Stainless Steel now. You'll have to look at the back of the card to tell if they're made in USA since the same dispenser continued to be used up to now I think for the Israeli and German made blades. The US made ones seem close enough to Labs to me.

Not sure if that clears anything up. Probably not since we're talking about Personna here.

 

[Wogus]

I don't mean to thread-jack but can anyone clarify if these blades are made by Personna, or not? The brand appears to be Crystal but I seem them labeled "Israeli Personnas" (??) Nothing I see indicates they're manfactured by Personna so I'm confused...

 

[hydro-magic]

One other thing I just thought about. It's a bit of speculation but there are some of the opinion that those store brand Platinum Chrome blades were the same as the old Personna 74's. If you find some of them, you should try them since they're absolute legends.

 

[hydro-magic]

I don't mean to thread-jack but can anyone clarify if these blades are made by Personna, or not? The brand appears to be Crystal but I seem them labeled "Israeli Personnas" (??) Nothing I see indicates they're manfactured by Personna so I'm confused...
View attachment 1175730View attachment 1175732

Those are made by Personna in Israel so they're different from the US made ones but lots of people really like them.

 

[Wogus]

Those are made by Personna in Israel so they're different from the US made ones but lots of people really like them.

Thank you for the clarification! I'm one those people.

 

[BigJ]

One other thing I just thought about. It's a bit of speculation but there are some of the opinion that those store brand Platinum Chrome blades were the same as the old Personna 74's. If you find some of them, you should try them since they're absolute legends.
View attachment 1175736

Don’t try them! (Send those 74s to me for ‘safe’ disposal!! )