Big Ben Super Stainless

These are not good blades, I got them as a freebie with my merkur 33C on amazon. While they were slightly better than the merkur blade that came with the razor, that isn't saying much.

I was beginning to think that the razor was to blame for all the blood that I was loosing when I used the merkur and had begun to drift away from it towards my gillette slim and superspeed. Fast forward a bit and I give my merkur another shot, and it starts to eat my face off again. I slap in a gillette super stainless and I get the best shave I've gotten so far.

It's not so much that this blade doesn't perform, it does shave, but somehow it makes any razor it's in into an instrument of chaos. It'll nick you in ways the same razor with a quality blade won't and will give you razor burn where others won't. It lasted at least five shaves for me and I was consistently cutting myself the whole time.

In short, you get what you pay for, a poor blade for a low price. Caveat Emptor

I didn't think too much of the Big Ben blade. From a price standpoint, these blades are fine but definitely do not stand out from other blades. In fact I would place these blades on the lower end of the scale. However, they can give you an acceptable shave, provided your standards are not too high. Lord produces other blades that are better and, in some cases, for less money.

Price: They are relatively inexpensive but you can get better blades for about the same money or much better blades for a little more.

Quality: I neither found they blades to be better than average nor exceptionally bad either, given their price point. The finish is typical of a budget razor blade.

Sharpness: The blade are sharp enought to do the job but, again, they are lacking when compared to other blades of similar pricing. They tug a little during the strokes , indicating to me a less than perfect hone and edge. I don't get this issue with most other blades.

Longevity: I get less shaves from the Big Ben than other blades but not so much that they are grossly defficient. I seem to get 1 less shave than other similar blades, which offsets they low prices from a cost per shave standpoint.

Smoothness: They are not a smooth blade when compared to other blades. However, they are not uncoated but don't expect these blades to glide seemlessly across your face. Again, we not talking a rough shave but they are definitely lacking in smoothness.

Packaging The blades are individually wrapped but are not packed in anything but typcial budget blade packaging.

Although I wouldn't buy these blades again, I wouldn't say they are unusable. They are not a long lived blade and their lack of smoothness makes them a blade that would be unsuited to most people looking for the "nice shave" feeling in the morning.

I get close shave out of these, but also some irritation. Nice and inexpensive blade. Racer (from the same plant) is better for me.

PRICE:Seems to be about what one would expect from a middle of the road offering from Lord, earning an 8 from me in this category

QUALITY:Appearance-wise, nothing to write home about, but we're not really looking for a beauty pageant winner, are we? No fireworks as far as logos or special fonts printed on the blades, simply "BIG BEN" over "SUPER STAINLESS". Not the sharpest blade print I've witnessed, but certainly better than some, so I gave the Big Bens an 8 in this category, as well. As a small aside for those of you who simply hate glue on your blades, the Big Bens have it. Two extremely small, dare I say miniscule spots on one side of the blade. These earned this blade an 8 from me.

SHARPNESS:Impressive coming from a fairly inexpensive offering. Effective and efficient removal of stubble from this blade, and it didn't seem to fade on subsequent shaves, either, buying an 8 in this category.

LONGEVITY:This blade resulted in 4 smooth, close, and relatively irritation free shaves for me, resulting in an 8 in this category. I give 2 points for each completed shave the blade nets me.

SMOOTHNESS OF SHAVE:Impressive results from the Big Bens on this note. Only 1 small nick, and 1 weeper over 4 total shaves, both of which were(I'm convinced) my fault due to weak technique. Since I can't blame the blade, I'll award a 9 for this category.

PACKAGING:The normal 5 blades contained in a cardboard box over a printed paper wrapper over wax paper. The logo is kind of cool, if you like London, but didn't evoke any great retro throwback emotional reactions from me, personally, so I gave an 8 here.

I used this blade in my Z3 SS. Just a small note for those that care. I also wrote, "What a sleeper of a blade!" and "NICE!" in the notes I use to keep track of my blade travels. Definitely a pleasant surprise in an almost forgettable package.