132 Blades - Big Ben Super Stainless

[Kent Kimmons]

Along comes a blade that makes me change my evaluation criteria. When I set up the criteria I figured getting to 6 shaves would be rather rare so I scored six or more a 10 rating, but a few blades now have given me 6 shaves and none have made a full week. I revised my rating system and all previous scores so that 7+ rates a 10 score while 6 rates a 9 score.

The Big Ben Super Stainless was a blade I was sorry to see go. It is my high scoring blade so far with the ASCO Super Stainless I liked so much having a revised score of 8.33. Tail end Charlie is still the Abest High Platinum Swiss Steel scoring 6.33 with the Bic Chrome Platinum trolling the abyss with a score of 6.57. Neither will come near my face again.

I am sorely tempted to buy 100 of the Big Ben's straight away with another 100 order for the ASCO blades. Truthfully, I could shave with them and be quite happy. I won't do it because the next blade may be even better.

In looking forward, I see that the Derby an Dorco blades are not far away alphabetically. Both are, for me, a cause for anxiety. I rate both as being in a dead heat for the worst blades I've ever tried. Here's hoping that they figure out how to sharpen blades when my samples were manufactured. My pervious post on Dorco blades:

Dorco blades are a multi-step process.​

​

Step 1: Call an exorcist​

Step 2: Kill it with fire​

Step 3: Bury the remains​

Step 4: Buy almost anything else.​

​

and, when asked about my desert island blade choice, I replied

Dorco.​

They are about as sharp as a flat river rock so they will be easy to replace.​

​

When asked about my worst blades, I still stand by this reply, but have to add Abest and Bic Chrome Platinum

Absolute worst - Dorco blades regardless of type​

I'd use a butter knife before I would use another - Derby​

Shaving with this blade makes me think it would be more cruel than water boarding - Merkur​

​

Still, for the purpose of this test, I HAVE to give them a chance...

The Big Ben

Revised scores

Next blade - Big Ben Super Stainless (Purple)

 

[J-wall]

So, I used a Big Ben today (Blue wrapper, not Calssic). The shave was really good. No tugging, definitely cutting/slicing whiskers, not scraping or sanding them off. The shaving experience was really good.

But I had weepers and afterwards, some irritation. I did not expect this based on how smooth the shave was. My face is dang near BBS, so I like that. My razor is a Schick DE - pre Krona, metal knob. My irritation pain has calmed down (shaved about 2 hours ago, but it had calmed by about the 1 hour mark) but I can still tell it is tender. This is not as bad as the LORD Platinum or Shark Platinum for me, but not as good as the Shark Chrome or Astra SP (especially on shave 2 and 3 for the SP).

I really wanted the Big Ben to do well. I still want to save money at this, or maybe more accurately I want to find cheap/less expensive things (Arko, Vitos, Skin Bracer, Schick DE's, my $5 Slim) that perform well for me. Blade-wise, yes, I realize that Nacets and GSB's pretty much blow a lot of others away, but there is a part of me that appreciates the obscure and the little guy. LORD is not the smallest little guy, but I was glad the Shark Chrome worked well, and I am looking forward to the LORD Silver Star! Sadly, the Treet Platinum did not do it for me as many had also endorsed it, and I had high hopes. My Dorco experience has not been great, still have the Titan to try though, and the Derby Extra was okay, but not great for me.

My skin is fair, my hair a graying dirty blonde at this point and my beard a red in the early stages of turning white. My beard is not particularly coarse, and though I have not weighed it, I would not say it is really heavy (A few grams? Ha!) but not sparse - age has filled in the gaps (43 now). My skin is not as sensitive as it used to be, and I can shave my neck without irritation now if the blade is right. Sadly, the Big Ben was not the one.

To the OP, @Kent Kimmons , I have appreciated reading your reviews of all these blades. Thank you for your investment of time, effort, and money!

 

[slimshavy]

In looking forward, I see that the Derby an Dorco blades are not far away alphabetically. Both are, for me, a cause for anxiety. I rate both as being in a dead heat for the worst blades I've ever tried. Here's hoping that they figure out how to sharpen blades when my samples were manufactured. My pervious post on Dorco blades:

Dorco blades are a multi-step process.​

​

Step 1: Call an exorcist​

Step 2: Kill it with fire​

Step 3: Bury the remains​

Step 4: Buy almost anything else.​

Good news if you haven't shaved with Dorcos since then: right around the time you had your midadventure, they were switching to the new production facility in Vietnam. From my understanding, the new production blades aren't even related to the old, not even distant cousins. I can only speak to the 300s, which are probably my favorite blade currently, but others swear by the new Titans.
So if you have old ones laying around, do indeed kill them with fire and get the new ones.

 

[nlife]

I actually just picked up a tuck of the 300's, but I haven't given them a try yet. Likely will on the next blade change.

 

[Quaznoid]

BigBen and Asco are just two of the large family of Lord blades. I only use Lord Plats, Rainbow Stainless, Asco Red and Big Ben Stainless. All are excellent.

 

[Kent Kimmons]

Good news if you haven't shaved with Dorcos since then: right around the time you had your midadventure, they were switching to the new production facility in Vietnam. From my understanding, the new production blades aren't even related to the old, not even distant cousins. I can only speak to the 300s, which are probably my favorite blade currently, but others swear by the new Titans.
So if you have old ones laying around, do indeed kill them with fire and get the new ones.

Thanks for that. I'll go into those shaves with better expectations.